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absence of the men and young boys, this myth was done away with as
women took over the roles of milking cattle and looking after livestock.
Today at the macro-level, there is too much talk of gender equality.
Throughout the country there are feminist groups which advocate for
equality between men and women. However, this trend is not popular in
rural communities like Makgabeng. It is mostly an urban and semi-urban
phenomenon which is espoused by Western-influenceded women. In the
rural Makgabeng villages, observation is that, women are mostly not
swayed by gender equality slogans. According to Athalia Hlako, such calls
of gender equality are only intended to disrupt stable family lives 651 . Most of
the rural women are still content in respectfully abiding and bowing under
their husbands as compared to the affluent women in townships and towns.
However, because of the fast integration between rural and urban ways of
life because of globalisation and technology among other things, the social
groups which call for social changes, like gender equality, might win and
become dominant even in rural villages such as those in Makgabeng.
With regard to the identity marker of age in the Makgabeng area today,
activities such as sport, music and dance, seem to distinguish different age
groups. Related to this issue is theoretical aspect of identity formation which
Dolby [1999] and Swain [2002] refer to the role of popular culture, especially
651 Interview, Athalia Hlako, Early Dawn village, 17 June 2003.
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