To celebrate Women's Month in South Africa this August, the country's arts and culture ministry has launched an unusual Twitter campaign: "Wear a Doek Fridays." A doek is a square cloth tied around the head. Women have been asked to share "doek selfies," with the ministry's official Twitter account promoting "inspiration photos" of glamorous women wearing fancy doeks.
The campaign has been a social media disaster, its hashtag overrun by criticism and mockery. While, yes, doeks can look fashionable, they are typically kerchiefs worn by black domestic workers. To many they are a sign of subservience, and critics accuse the government of promoting an unequal and submissive view of women. Female members of Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters party have in recent months worn doeks in parliament to symbolize working class solidarity.
Opposition leader Helen Zille, a white woman, was photographed wearing one during elections earlier this year, while stirring a cooking pot on the campaign trial. This went over about as well as the #WearADoek campaign.
The problem,...Continue reading
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