POWER IMBALANCES IN BLACK HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS BY MAHLATSANA SINOXOL

Power Imbalances in Black Heterosexual Relationships.

GENRE: ARTICLE
TITLE: POWER IMBALANCES IN BLACK HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS
WRITER: MAHLATSANA SINOXOL, SOUTH AFRICA
REVIEWER: COMFORT NYATI, ZIMBABWE

The writer provides the compass in which he departs his article from the definition of power as derived from the Webster school of thought. Heterosexual relationships have been an ideal threshold deemed apt to engage as the avenue to unearth the dark world behind the curtains of relationships in Africa. This article dominantly from a feminist point of view sends a message that paints a black image of black male Africans dictated by their hyper thirst for power and dominion over their female counterparts. While the female subject bears the yoke of a shuttered slave whose prime duty is to prepare and serve their male partners on the sexual tables. Thus, the article throws an attack as it questions the social and sexual imbalances happening in most parts of Africa fueled by irrational traditional norms.

Some further sites where this imbalance emanates are masculinity, culture and male dominance. It is a discriminatory system that results in gender disparities. A man in Africa is regarded as the superior agent both on the family and society level. Special emphasis was given to the Zulu kingdom of South Africa, typically in KwaZulu Natal.

One of the immediate things a reader can notice from the onset of the article is that it unveils the fluidity of the concept of power which cuts across multiple polarizing sectors stretching from political to religious contexts and not subjugating the most alarming problem of power decentralization, exercise and imbalances that occurs in heterosexual relationships on the continental level.

Scanning every bit of each word, it is doubtless that at the core of this masterpiece lies the heartbeat that intones tones of power issues that have resulted in chaotic male-female African relationships due to the patriarchal system. Among these problems, the writer is very careful to treat and address the concept of power within the context of the triple expression of black women who suffer from their African spouses by exerting the traditional beliefs of masculine approach in any human affair, especially relationships.

Should African females remain docile, voiceless and powerless beings? Feminism emerges to challenge this sickness of equality in relationships. The feminists advocate for a balanced relationship that demolishes any idea of suppression of women's sexual agency while promoting mutual understanding in negotiating power in their relationships. This gives certitude for a flourishing heterosexual relationship not only in Africa but the world at large.