| dc.description.abstract | Winnie Mandela, an emblematic figure in the anti-apartheid struggle throughout her husband's imprisonment, attracted particular public attention in the mid-1980s as her advocacy of political violence earned her approbation amongst many activists at the forefront of the struggle. While presenting herself as an emblem of militancy, she simultaneously constructed a maternal self-image, fostering her reputation as ‘Mother of the Nation’. However, between 1986 and 1989 Winnie Mandela allegedly advocated and participated in forms of violence that contravened struggle norms of militancy and popular notions of ‘good’ motherhood, causing her media transformation from ‘Mother of the Nation’ to ‘Lady Macbeth’. This article analyses societal perceptions of female militancy and violence in 1980s South Africa through media reports, court transcripts and oral history interviews, exploring the ways in which Winnie Mandela utilised, expanded and ultimately transgressed acceptable norms of womanhood, wifehood and motherhood. | en_GB |
