ABSTRACT
Within the complex discussions meant to produce a new racial and social order, however, another aspect of social life was under scrutiny. Like most of colonial Africa, South African society has generally been marked by women's subordination. This chapter describes the legacy of apartheid and how its impact differed for African men and women and then discusses the structural changes in the 1970s which created new opportunities for women. After World War II, however, as the rest of the continent began the process of decolonization, South Africa imposed what white supremacist ideologues called apartheid, or "separate development," to shore up white control. Apartheid administrators considered most African women and children, together with elderly or disabled Africans, surplus appendages who were unwanted in white-designated areas. Throughout Africa, leaders of nationalist movements have promised to challenge gender inequality during the struggle, but then backed off from those promises once they came to power.
