Abstract
White society in apartheid South Africa is characterised by marked racism and sexism. Nonetheless, despite the legal and economic barriers to women’s equality and a highly developed ideology of the inferiority of women, white women have served in the military for more than fifteen years. This study examines some of the ambiguities that have resulted from the recruitment of white women for white South Africa in general and the South African Defence Force (SADF) in particular.
I would like to acknowledge the help of several people who assisted me in the writing of this study. The Committee of South African War Registers helped me find some of the research materials used in this paper, Gavin Cawthra allowed me to see the then unpublished manuscript of his book on the South African military and he, together with Sharon Macdonald, made very useful comments on early drafts of the paper.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cawthra, G. (1986) Brutal force: The apartheid war machine (London: IDAF).
Davies, R., O’Meara, D. and Dlamini, S. (1984) The struggle for South Africa: A reference guide to movements, organisations and institutions (London: Zed Press).
Grundy, K. (1983) Soldiers without politics (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Argus (Cape Town).
Cape Times (Cape Town).
Citizen (Johannesburg).
Paratus (Pretoria).
Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg).
Resister (London).
South African Digest (Pretoria).
Star (Johannesburg).
Sunday Times (Johannesburg).
Uniform (Pretoria).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1987 Elaine Unterhalter
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Unterhalter, E. (1987). Women soldiers and white unity in apartheid South Africa. In: Macdonald, S., Holden, P., Ardener, S. (eds) Images of Women in Peace and War. Women in Society. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18894-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18894-9_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-42895-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-18894-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)