Abstract
Black women in South African continue to experience gender inequality that manifests through gender-based violence, underrepresentation of women in leadership positions at work as well as being subject to gender roles that leave them struggling to maintain a work-life balance. Hence this study aimed at examining the complex realities of women in Ngangelizwe Township, Mthatha, uncovering their agencies and how women draw from their agencies meet their aspirations. Additionally, the study intended to offer a theoretical explanation of the young women’s realities in the area of study. The researcher engaged in an ethnographic study in which 15 young women in Ngangelizwe Township, Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape were scientifically observed and interviewed. The examination thereof led to the recognition of Ngangelizwe Township young women’s agencies as embedded within experiences of vulnerability that is informed by the structuring of their social space. The finding led to the conclusion that the agencies of young women in Ngangelizwe Township, Mthatha should be conceptualised as intertwined within experiences of instrumentality and susceptibility rather than recognised as free from the experiences of susceptibility...
D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)