Clive Simpkins
A CHALLENGE to South African marketers is keeping pace with=20 the changes occurring daily as a result of the awakening of=20 the once-sleeping giant of black enfranchisement.
Black women, historically the bottom of the heap in terms=20 of earning power, status and direct influence in business=20 and society, are emerging as a major force.
The Swedish parliament, comprising 40 percent women, may be=20 the tip of a global iceberg. Even if the analogy is=20 particularly apposite for the Swedish personality, it’s an=20 indication that power is shifting even in the West.
In South Africa, we’ve taken almost too casually the quiet=20 impact of people like Frene Ginwala, Nkosazana Zuma,=20 Adelaide Tambo and others. The maverick fringe steals the=20 limelight, but the real doers will positively affect our=20 future. As Indira Ghandi said: “My grandfather once told me=20 there are two kinds of people; those who do the work and=20 those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the=20 first group. There was less competition there.”
Lintas advertising group has just completed an exercise in=20 which they asked black women from various social strata to=20 keep a diary. The diaries and some of the verbatim comments=20 clearly underscore rapidly shifting trends. For example,=20 Betty, a 53 year old domestic worker, and Nomajola (29), an=20 admininistrative clerk, show interesting disparities.
Betty is one of seven people living in a typical matchbox=20 house with two bedrooms. She’s deeply religious with strong=20 family values. Her lifestyle is contained within her home,=20 close friends, church and the odd social event. Her=20 pleasures are focused on the simple things in life.
“When I got home today, I found a surprise birthday cake=20 waiting for me.” She’s very glad. “I’ve finished paying for=20 a new sewing machine.” She enjoys watching her children=20 “playing … doing nice things … performing funny dance=20 acts to radio music … telling jokes and amusing stories=20 about themselves”. Her sources of discomfort and anger are=20 “fighting with the kids … a broken TV set … not enough=20 time with family … always short of money”.
Nomajola lives in a three-bedroomed house with her husband=20 and two children. She leads a multi-faceted life. She’s=20 proud that her son received a merit award for outstanding=20 work in his class. About her social life she says: “I=20 attended a relative’s tombstone unveiling and enjoyed the=20 family reunion.” On her husband: “He and I do not speak=20 with the same voice on disciplinary matters in the home.”=20 She also says: “Husbands need to be treated like your own=20 kids, so they feel good and your marriage will blossom.”
She says men “treat their wives as fools”. She gets angry=20 “when other people are jealous of my attempts to upgrade=20 myself”. Her community involvement comprises “helping the=20 needy … attending ANC-IFP Women’s League meetings for=20
Lintas concluded that these divergent pictures are as much=20 a factor of interfacing with Western thinking and concepts,=20 as they are a response to the changing socio-political=20 order with its attendant opportunities. Let the marketer=20