Speakers:
- Janine Hicks (Agenda Board)
- Prof Vasu Reddy & Dr Nadia Sanger (HSRC)
- Prof Monde Makiwane & Dr Catherine Ndinda (HSRC)
- Gabrielle Le Roux (Artist)
- Prof Tamara Shefer (UWC)
Date: 12 November 2013
Time: 12H00 – 14H00
Ageing is an inescapable experience of being human. Veneration of the elderly, widely accepted in many cultures, is premised on the idea that honour and respect is accorded to those who have achieved old age, and the notion that it is also a time to rest from work. Yet, elderly women, are among one of most poverty-stricken groups, among the hardest working as caregivers and the most socially resourceful, yet are far from receiving the social respect that they deserve.
Feminist attention to the gender inequalities that are experienced by the elderly, as a socially vulnerable group, has not been notably significant, and is not an identifiable priority in the Beijing Platform of Action. Ageism and the social prejudice which results in the elderly as a social group being constructed as having no social value, social needs or the capacity to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, need to be challenged.
Indeed many countries in Africa, including South Africa, have yet to implement a comprehensive policy to protect the rights of the elderly and gender-sensitive approaches that addresses the gender-specific needs of women and men. This launch of the special issue focuses on two interrelated themes, ageing and intergenerationality, which are brought into the fold because both have much to say about the fact that there is still much that we do not know, that is unexamined and indeed riddled with taboo, stigma and denial. This seminar, aligned to the launch of the special issue opens up such debate to stimulate further enquiry on gender and ageing and intergenerationality.
Kindly RSVP by 8 November 2013
Cape Town : HSRC, 12th Floor, Plein Park Building (Opposite Revenue Office), Plein Street, Cape Town. Contact Jean Witten, Tel (021) 4668004, Fax (021) 461 0299, or JWitten@hsrc.ac.za
Durban : First floor HSRC board room, 750 Francois Road, Ntuthuko Junction, Pods 5 and 6, Cato Manor, Contact Ridhwaan Khan, Tel (031) 242 5400, cell: 083 788 2786 or RKhan@hsrc.ac.za
Pretoria : HSRC Video Conference, 1st floor HSRC Library Human Sciences Research Council, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Arlene Grossberg, Tel: (012) 302 2811, e-mail: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za