A mans world?

Are men more equal then women?

The gender debate ,a ongoing conversation...

After thousands of years of male dominance, we now stand at the beginning of the feminine era, when women will rise to their appropriate prominence, and the entire world will recognise the harmony between man and woman

I find it imperative to emphasise the characteristics that make women and men so different. Men are physically stronger. By nature, they are usually more aggressive and externally oriented. In contrast, a woman usually embodies the ideal of inner dignity. Some people confuse such subtlety with weakness; in truth, it is stronger than the most aggressive physical force imaginable. True human dignity does not shout; it is a strong, steady voice that speaks from within.

Action:

·         Men and women must realise their respective equal roles and strive to complement each other in their shared struggle to improve life.

·         We must learn to appreciate and respect your male or female counterpart.

In my eyes, women are just as equal to men; gender does not matter. We as a society need to work towards the end of gender discrimination.

Strikes, all too often accompanied by violence.



protests



The right to strike for the purposes of collective bargaining is one of the fundamental rights enshrined in Section 27 of The South African Constitution. The rationale behind collective bargaining is to maintain industrial peace. “It is one of the ironies of collective bargaining that its very object, industrial peace, should depend on the threat of conflict."

Just recently, more than 30 people were killed in clashes with police during a miners’ strike in Marikana platinum mine near Rustenburg, 100km northwest of Johannesburg. When we go on strike we lose wages, thus we use violence to make sure that the employer listens to our demands fast so that we can go back to work,” said one union member quoted in the report. "There is no other way that the workers can be heard. Violence and strike is the language they hear better” said another worker.”

violence can never be an answer!

The police response has been compared to the brutalities of the apartheid era. It seems like South Africa is taking two steps back, what has happened to our democratic country?

• A called for structural solutions in order to level the playing fields between workers and bosses during strikes. This can be achieved by restricting the rights of bosses to employ scabs.
• We need restore workplace stability and labour peace. Violence cannot become a culture of our labour relations!

Heritage day



celebrate diversity!



Our heritage is very unique and precious because it helps us to define our cultural identity and it therefore lies at the heart of our spiritual well being and it has the power to build our nation. Heritage Day celebrated on the 24th of September reflects the values of a constitutional democracy where all South Africans' cultural and linguistic rights are recognised and protected by the Constitution.

Our heritage has the potential to affirm our diverse cultures and in so doing shape our national character as a “rainbow nation” at peace with itself. The youth of today needs to change their attitude and stop treating heritage day as just another public holiday but instead join into the festivities and embrace their cultures through learning.



festivities



For a nation that has just been through apartheid, which had been declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations, the significance of heritage day cannot be overemphasised in that it facilitates healing.

Importance of heritage day:

·         Opens the doors of learning and culture to all.

·         It builds on the culture of teaching and learning to produce thought leaders and technical skills that our economy needs for growth, development and reconstruction

Moral issues of abortions

shame !

Abortion, like all moral issues, is something we all have an opinion about until we personally are faced with the necessity of making a decision.

The abortion issue is a reflection of our society as a whole, which is why so many people insist on taking a position about it. Many of these people will never have an abortion, many will never be in a position where it is necessary to consider it as an option. Yet, because the abortion issue strikes at the heart of our society, they become advocates for one side or another.

It would be wonderful if people only had children when they were financially and emotionally ready. It would be wonderful if teenager's thoughts and feelings weren’t distorted on sex.  And it would be wonderful if everyone were married or in a long term relationship before they had children. But unfortunately the world does not work that way. People make poor choices, no matter what their age and they are often driven by emotion rather than logic.

By disallowing a woman from making a choice to control her body in the way she sees most appropriate for the situation, society and the law are violating her rights to life, liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness.Most may argue that a person should accept responsibility for their actions, but don't you think it is unfair bring up a child in circumstance that aren't fit to bring up a child in.

Reasons to get an abortion:

• pregnancy from rape
• birth defects
• not having the means to support a child,
• not wanting a child.
• rape

There is more to be considered here than religious beliefs. I believe God is a God of compassion and understanding. God should be the judge of our personal decisions of faith, including abortion, not mortal men and women.Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not promoting abortions in any way ,I'm merely just stating ,if the mother does not wish keep a child because of certain situations they are faced with,abortion should be one of the means available to her, we all make mistakes,this is where we learn and grow from them.

Has being gay become a death sentence ?

Gay hate crimes a epidemic...

Hate crimes against people belonging to minority groups has always been a global phenomenon that has negative consequences for its victims .Unlike in many African countries, homosexual acts are legal in South Africa and discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned, but activists say, gay and lesbian people are often attacked in townships.Behind the "gay-friendly" exterior of South Africa, lies the reality: A society that remains, for the most part, virulently homophobic.

Our very own  president Jacob Zuma said in a September speech that same-sex marriages were "a disgrace to the nation and to God." He also said: "When I was growing up a gay would not have stood in front of me. I would knock him out." He later apologised, but the pain he caused lingered  in the gay community.

I don’t encourage a homosexual lifestyle but I don’t look down on it either, If we are all entitled to the full range of human rights and equal protection of the law then ,I believe , it can  never be acceptable to deprive certain individuals of their rights , not because they have inflicted harm on others or pose a threat to the well-being of others, but simply for being who they are, for being born with a particular sexual orientation or gender identity.

The government’s job does not end with passing rights-protecting legislation but also lies in ensuring that the laws translate into applicable rights for everyone, including the most marginalised groups and individuals.We should take a stand,the time is now.

 

Advocacy Groups with Hate Crime Info

• Rainbow Coalition      
• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
• Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)  
• LAMBDA Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Community Services
• LAMBDA Legal Defense & Education Fund

Look beyond the money:

Do We Work for Money or Love for the Job?

It has become more apparent that many people are driven by the desire of becoming wealthy, thus take on any job that can bring them that much closer to their reality.When choosing a career path, one needs figure out what things in life are important to you i.e. your goals for the future, what you enjoying doing.Obviously, the amount of salary that your chosen career provides, directly effects the kind of lifestyle you can live.

However, it is important not to get blinded by the potential amount of money any given career path might provide because choosing a career path is more than the money you can make. After all, if you do not enjoy what you are doing, at least on some level, you will not give it your all and giving it your best is the kind of attitude that will lead to promotions that subsequently lead to more money through promotions.

passion over money

I've always believed that it's really important to follow your heart when you're job searching. Do what you love and the money will follow. If you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.  One of the leading reasons why we get people who are incompetent in their work is because they chased paper instead of their passion, arriving at work moody ,angry and ready to do a rush job.You have to work your way up the ladder,no one becomes an overnight success!!!!

 

 

Arguments for Money:

■A job is a job and as long as you’re working, you might as well be making the most return for your time investment.

■When you follow a path that leads to money you are developing a skill set that is in demand in our society and have a much better chance of getting hired and keeping a job.

■Your job is your job. You should leave it at 5 PM and enjoy the rest of your life.

Arguments for Job Satisfaction:

■Your passion should be what you do with your time. Life is too short to pursue other people’s or employer’s goals. Pursue your own, and rich or poor, happiness will follow.

■What good is money if you don’t enjoy what you do?

■If you love something you can become really good at it and money will follow.



anti-social ?



The blurry lines of social media

Is social media making us more anti-social?        

We often praise the greatness of social media, but in our excitement we sometimes overlook the dark side of social media .With boundless power, comes great responsibility. We need to take the responsibility to look at, question and try to understand the role of social media in our lives and our societies.

I don’t see anything wrong with social media or social networking , more especially since it has become a great platform for public relations practitioners to build sustainable relationships and maintain effect communication channels  with their desired target audiences , however I must emphasis that there is so much communicated outside of text. Stats have shown that only 10% of communication is spoken through actual words, the other 90% comes through our tone of voice, our physical gestures, subtle eye movements and other things that a computer or cell phone cannot interpret, or represent .Honestly speaking, people are spending more time indoors than before, and when outdoors, they’re forever on their phones having meaningless conversations with people they barely see. Social media is slowly reducing face-to-face interaction, something needs to give…

bombarded with social networks

                                 

Westernisation getting the better of our cultures?

Lobola



Negotiations

There is no doubt that our rainbow nation is being westernised on a daily biases, however the question is “how well can we adapt to these changes?” We look at culture as a mere example, focusing mainly on Lobola. For African cultures, ilobola is a vital part of the customs for families to enjoy and for the man to thank his future wife's parents for raising her from a girl into a woman.This is a custom by which a bridegroom's family makes a payment in cattle or cash to the brides family shortly before the marriage.

There are two sides to the lobola debate. Some say the practise must be abolished because the tradition has lost everything it is  meant to stand for,thanks to western influences:with time,life has become more expensive and love is now for those with "good credit".There is some sort of sensation that tradition has become about greed and not nourishing a relationship between families,as was the original intention. The custom now warrants the parents to expect so much on their “return on investment”.

Some say that we cannot abandon this custom because if we do, we lose everything that is African about us. These are the people who are fighting against what they view as the increasing Westernisation strangulation of African customs.

 

The coming of two families

The process of lobola has been followed for years and I don’t believe it should be changed in any way. Roots are roots. If we are to continue honouring the tradition of lobola as it ought to be, it should be practised with the original intention and all malicious activities that are being attached to it eliminated.

As in any other religion there’s the possibility of abusing the practise of lobola. So it remains a societal responsibility to guard against such tendencies, the only way to go forward is for families to sit down and educate the young one’s what lobola really is or attend lobola lessons.

Weight loss surgery a short cut?



weight loss surgery



One may argue that weight loss surgery is a fast way ticket in weight loss and shouldn’t be recommended to just anyone unless it is really needed (life or death situations).

The decision to go ahead and have Weight Loss Surgery is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Popular diets like Weight Watchers, Slender Wonder, Tony Ferguson, Dukan Diet and even The Atkins diet have shown to work in the short term. However, there is empirical evidence that shows that weight loss surgery is the most effective way of achieving medium to long term results. When compared to Gastric Bypass, Gastric Banding remains the safest surgical option. In, addition, evidence is increasingly showing that surgeons who provide the correct level of post op care will get significantly better results than those who don't. Gastric Banding or Lap Band Surgery, as it is commonly known, is just the first step on the road to recovery. It is therefore strongly recommended by leading obesity surgeons around the world that surgery be combined with a multi-disciplinary approach to weight loss to maximise results.

  



Adopting a healthy life style after the surgery
will bring in long term effect
and achieve objectives

I strongly believe that the surgical approach for each patient should be individualised "One type does not fit all" when it comes to the treatment of obesity. If the obese person fails to achieve weight-loss on their own, then I don’t see a problem in opting for surgery as long as the person is willing to adopt a new healthy life style. The disadvantages of weight-loss surgery are, it relies on the patients cooperation, long-term commitment and self-control.

A day in the mind of an obese person



constant judgement from society



I often ask myself what goes through the mind of an obese person, so I took it upon myself  to do some research. The questions that always seemed to linger in my mind are “How do obese people perceive themselves compared to others?”  , “Have they given up on life?”, “What lead them to let go of their bodies? “ I was always told from a young age that you are your own brand, and how you choose to build your brand and image is entirely up to you; your brand will carry you throughout your life ,first impressions always last and last impression linger the longest.

An anonymous blogger gives us a preview in a day of mind of an obsess person.



First to give you an update…. my new “Weight Watchers” motivation and hype has gone out once again… I do know that I still have to do something… and as I just continue gaining weight, this really is becoming more urgent with every passing day… somehow it still hasn’t hit me yet. Yes, seeing people laugh at me, talking about me behind my back and just giving me “the look” sure makes me want to lose weight, look normal and be a person they only look at because they think I’m “beautiful” but once I’m back with my friends that feeling ebbs too… sometimes I think having friends that accept you is a horrible thing.. Now don’t get me wrong... Obviously it’s the most perfect thing in the world but my brain works like this: If my friends can accept me like this – why can’t everybody else? And do I really need to lose weight to please those people? Every now and then a little depression runs over me… Well sometimes it runs... Sometimes it crawls… and sometimes it stays with me… It must like me more at some points in my life. Instead of letting my emotions do what they wanted (cry) I ate it all up in form of chips, chocolate, pasta, sweets – really anything I could find. Weird thing – I know it doesn’t help… I have done it many times and I only feel worse after. Not just after actually... Sometimes I feel like throwing up and I still continue eating… What in the world is wrong with me? 

This blog certainly shows us the struggles of being overweight or obese and how society perceives obese people, they are clearly marginalised. The obese blogger(and most obese people) knows that they are overweight and needs to address the problem as soon as possible but their will-power dies out very quick, depression kicks in and the cycle of seeking comfort in food gains momentum. This is a sad reality that most obese people go through daily, help from family and friends would be most ideal(exercise,healthy eating plan,motivation etc.) judging the person won’t do them justice as there is already a lot of confusion in their mind.



Has obesity become a norm amoung the African communities?



big is beautiful



To many black women, being overweight is desirable, astounding wouldn’t you say? This belief is now worsened by the idea that being thin can be equated with HIV/ AIDS virus infection. A qualitative study by Mvo et al. (1999) has shown that large body size in the African community in South Africa was perceived to reflect wealth and happiness; it is believed that if a woman is obese or overweight, the body size reflected on a husband’s ability to care for his wife and family. A man with a pot belly is considered wealthy (to a certain extent that they are given the name “Mr BEE”), these incorrect perceptions of body weight are outrageous and have all sorts of troubling implications for rapid increase in weight-related diseases.

All over the world, people go to incredible lengths to match up to the standards of beauty their culture endorses.  When a culture changes, its standards of beauty often change with it.  So to a certain extent, beauty is ‘democratic’, decided by whatever the people happen to prefer. So this brings me to ask the question “has obesity become a norm among the black community?

One of the major challenges with regard to the management and prevention of obesity in South Africa is the cultural variation in the perception of and preference for bigger body sizes, lack of education on obesity is another thing we need to look into among African communities.

Obesity: plays a big role in relationships



Depression and low self-esteem



Obese people may have fewer social and romantic relationships compared to the non-obese (http://www.tree.com/health/obesity-effects.aspx) .When it comes to finding a romantic partner, obesity appears to play a big role, especially for women. According to researchers at the Maricopa Integrated Health System in Phoenix, Arizona (2010), women are slightly more likely to be obese compared to men. Popular concepts of body image and thinness affect women more than men. Obesity self-image is more likely to be negative in women because of society's ideal of the thin woman, an ideal that doesn't have as powerful a male counterpart. For women the standards are much more restrictive. A woman with a wee bit of a round tummy might be judged negatively. There is a bit of a bias there.

It is also common for partners of overweight individuals to no longer find them sexually attractive because of weight gain. These emotions are usually denied or suppressed to prevent hurt and upset. In reality however, these emotions are blocking communication, and although difficult to confront, are only intensifying the problem further.

Address the issue



Constant fighting

Sit down and discuss the issue together, with each partner talking honestly about what you both want, and how you want to achieve it. Partners should remember to be sensitive but honest, at the same time as reassuring them that they will do everything they can to help, and that they are not alone.

Being obese can have a destructive impact on your relationships without you necessarily being aware with it. If you are unhappy about being obese you only have two options – you can either lose weight or learn to accept yourself the way you are. If you continue to allow the issue of weight to dominate your life you will never be happy and your relationships will suffer.

Obesity :wearing down your pocket

Obesity :wearing down your pocket

Not only does obesity affect you heath, it also affects your pocket. In South Africa currently approximately 61% of the population is considered overweight or obese. As a result, more than half of the population not only risk developing chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease (http://www.obesityinamerica.org/understandingObesity/diseases.cfm), but are also potentially placing themselves under severe financial strain due to more frequent medical bills and possible penalties for life insurance or medical aid (http://www.salvagente.co.za/ozone-saunas/obesity-can-cost-you-more-than-your-health/). Obesity also carries a cost in the work place that can result in lost Medicare funds. These costs include both direct and indirect costs, with indirect costs relating to lost wages and productivity lost to illness.

Sometimes one may pay higher life insurance premiums for obesity due to the long term health risks. For the morbidly obese – those with a Body Mass Index (BMI) (http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/) greater than 40 - they may even be declined life insurance or other benefits. Unfortunately, sometimes that wake-up call might come too late if arthritis or heart disease has already established itself.”

Reducing obesity can assist current workers in remaining productive, and reduce diseases related to obesity. For those South Africans suffering from obesity the time to act is now before it causes irreversible damage to one’s health and finances

Comprehending food labels effectively: We are what we eat

It has come to my attention that there is still an alarming rate of South Africans who are illiterate; South Africa has a literacy rate that lays 80% (www.expatcapetown.com/southafrica/litracy-rate). In a developing country, this should not be the case. This poses a huge problem, how are people suppose to comprehend food labels effectively if they can’t read, “we are what we eat”? Colour-coded food labels were proposed to the government but it was declined, the government stated that it is confusing, simplistic and sends the wrong message about healthy choices (www.pushforfoodlables ).

The more practice we get reading food labels, the better we can become in using them as a tool to plan a healthy balance diet. The nutrition facts label is a boxed panel required by the food and drug administration on most packaged food and beverages products. The nutrition facts labels provide detailed information about the nutrient content of the product. The label is intended to help us make healthier choices; it also enables us to compare similar products to see which one might be a healthier choice. You can read the nutrient label to determine the amounts of such nutrients as fat, sodium and fibre in specific products.(www.nutrientfacts:aninteractiveguidetoffodlabels)

Raising an obese nation
The impact of food advertising on obese children



brainwashing !



Advertising directed at children is exploitative (http://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food.aspx#). Children have a remarkable ability to recall content from the ads to which they have been exposed. Product preference has been shown to occur with as little as a single commercial exposure and to strengthen with repeated exposures. Product preferences affect children's product purchase requests and these requests influence parents' purchasing decisions. Up to 5% of boys and a staggering 25% of girls in South Africa are obese or overweight. (http://www.selfmed.co.za/full_story.aspx?nid=13534) 



choices?



Social marketing

Social marketing has been used in the context of community-based obesity prevention programs to promote behaviors such as increased parent–child communication and improved family health. South Africa needs to opt for such marketing as media plays a huge role in our ever so developing country.  Parents serve as important nutrition and physical activity role models. Their behavior fosters child emulation of eating, exercise, and leisure habits, such as media use. Parental modeling can serve as either a risk or protective factor for childhood obesity. To foster beneficial modeling, social marketing can encourage parents to adopt protective behaviors by depicting positive parental role models creating a healthy home environment. Parents who model healthy rather than unhealthy behaviors, such as keeping fruits and vegetables foods in the household instead of junk foods, can lay the foundation for their children to incorporate healthy habits at home and in school and community environments. (http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v18/n1s/fig_tab/oby2009428f1.html#figure-title)



South Africans slowly eating themselves to death

Obese South Africa

Obesity is commonly described as the imbalance between energy intake and expenditure such that excess energy is stored in fat cells, which enlarge or increase in number. Excess body fat frequently results in a significant diminishing of health. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ 

According to the World Health Organization  obesity has become a global epidemic with an estimated 1.3 billion people who are overweight or obese. The dominance of obesity in South Africa is astonishingly high, 29% of South African men and 56% of South African women are overweight or obese. This is higher than that reported in other African countries. Our rainbow nation is rapidly "eating itself slowly to death".

An ethnic comparison of eating attitudes and associated body image concerns in adolescent South African schoolgirl’s survey http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ shows that cultural factors, perceptions and beliefs about body are highly influencing the obesity rate in South Africa. With a country rich in cultural diversity we see that culture influences our weight and shapes our eating .Social gatherings in some cultures encourage overeating, as there is abundance of food. We look at perceptions, in certain instances black women associate thinness with illness and now with HIV/AIDS. Many overweight and obese South African women do not want to lose weight although they may be aware of the health consequences of being overweight. This acceptance of their own obesity may hinder the effectiveness of weight-control programs. Again we see that in black society, a black curvy woman is considered more “attractive looking/and healthy” as appose to being thin.



This poses the question “What is our society doing to educate people about obesity and it dreadful out comes? “. Yes, there are outreach programs such as benifts in medical aids that educated people on nutrition and promote healthy life style   http://momentum.cmpl.com, The minister of heath in pretoria Dr. Aaron Motsoalei, has also called on the international community to put pressure on the food industry to reduce harmful foodstuffs and promote healthy eating habits worldwide , other outreach programs include heath 24 eat healthy programme  hhtp://www.heath24.com but is this enough?