Crossing boundaries: Social-scientific reading of the faith of a Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21–28)

Social-scientific criticism refers to an interpretation of the biblical text that takes into cognizance the social system that produced that text. This article presents a social scientific reading of the faith of a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28. The article outlines models of social systems in Matthew 15:21–28 like landscape and spatiality, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, purity, and social status in order to achieve a social scientific reading. The purpose of this article is to firstly demonstrate that the models of social system in Matthew 15:21–28 served as boundaries to the faith of a Canaanite woman. Secondly, it is to demonstrate that the Canaanite woman crossed such boundaries in Matthew 15:21–28 for her daughter to receive healing. Lastly, the Canaanite woman serves as a model for South African women today who have to cross boundaries like landscape and spatiality, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, purity, and social status.

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Experiences of Induced Abortion among a Group of South African Women

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/008124639702700403 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 214-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Shahnaaz Suffla

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

African Women ◽

Psychological State ◽

Roles And Responsibilities ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

Illegal Abortion ◽

Child Bearing ◽

The Social ◽

South African Women

Abortion, more than most procedures, is embedded in a social context that has implications for psychological responses of women. This study used a qualitative research framework to explore five black women's interpretations of their experiences of illegal abortion. Individual interviews were conducted covering the experience of the abortion decision, the abortion procedure itself, the perceived psychological impact of the abortion and perceptions of coping. A thematic analysis was utilised to explore participants' accounts of their abortion experiences. Overall, the study revealed that the abortion decision is multi-dimensional. Participants' accounts of their abortion experience revealed that for most of them the abortion decision was characterised by some degree of ambivalence. Women of diverse developmental levels, with different personal roles and responsibilities and from varying socio-economic circumstances were found to use abortion to avoid unwanted child-bearing. The manner in which women responded to the procedure was found to be a joint function of their psychological state and of the social environment in which the abortion occurred.

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BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION AND CERVICAL (PAP) SMEAR TEST: ATTITUDES AND SELF-REPORTED PRACTICES AMONG SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.89.5.27-32 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 89 (5) ◽

pp. 27

Author(s):

KARL PELTZER

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Pap Smear ◽

African Women ◽

Breast Self Examination ◽

Pap Smear Test ◽

Smear Test ◽

South African Women ◽

Self Examination

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THE SINS OF THE FATHER: GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

Commonwealth Youth and Development ◽

10.25159/1727-7140/1798 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 57-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lyn Snodgrass

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Black Women ◽

South African ◽

African Women ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Political Issues ◽

Race And Gender ◽

Gender Based ◽

And Gender ◽

South African Women

This article explores the complexities of gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates the socio-political issues at the intersection of class, ‘race’ and gender, which impact South African women. Gender equality is up against a powerful enemy in societies with strong patriarchal traditions such as South Africa, where women of all ‘races’ and cultures have been oppressed, exploited and kept in positions of subservience for generations. In South Africa, where sexism and racism intersect, black women as a group have suffered the major brunt of this discrimination and are at the receiving end of extreme violence. South Africa’s gender-based violence is fuelled historically by the ideologies of apartheid (racism) and patriarchy (sexism), which are symbiotically premised on systemic humiliation that devalues and debases whole groups of people and renders them inferior. It is further argued that the current neo-patriarchal backlash in South Africa foments and sustains the subjugation of women and casts them as both victims and perpetuators of pervasive patriarchal values.

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