Lebohang Masango

Lebohang Masango is an award-winning children’s author, a published social anthropologist, a poet, storyteller and speaker who crafts compelling narratives across several genres. Quotes I explore how women in South Africa give meaning to aspiration, romance and love in their pursuit of the soft life: a life free of hardship. Some of the considerations, anxieties and choices that women make in pursuit of this ideal amidst the precariousness that engulfs the majority of our population. [In the book] I make a very brief reference to [Netflix show] Indian Matchmaking and how all those families are concerned with the financial well-being of their child’s future partner. Look at lobola negotiations, those negotiations are being made over money. All of this just goes back to us as human beings needing to ensure that we can create families with people who have the financial ability to do so. So I’m just trying to show that there’s nothing about this that’s so alien and so far removed. But I also want to clarify that I’m not advocating that these names [slay queen or blessees] be given to white women or Indian women or adult women of other ethnicities and races, but it is quite revealing that it isn’t, it’s revealing that the only thing that gets reported on [when it’s women of other races] is this is who she is, this is her expenditure and this is how much money she was getting from her partner. The tone isn’t necessarily critical or negative. The kind of misogyny that’s levelled specifically against black women and the pervasive attitude that is held by many people, that when it comes to, specifically black women, everyone feels that they have more of a right to be to be scathing and degrading. We all live in South Africa, we are all grappling with state and security, financial insecurity, health insecurity, to a large extent the insecurity of our public infrastructure. This is something that as South Africans we all are facing. And we all would love relief from that. And so what I’m trying to show with this book as well, it’s not really just about the women that will portray sleek means, I’m hoping people can reflect on themselves, the decisions they’ve made for their lives and the decisions they hope to make tomorrow, and see that we’re no different from these women. Truthfully, I hope everybody reads the book. The way in which people speak about these relationships, a lot of the time can be degrading, shaming and moralising. And so I hope everyone reads the book so that we are able to have this conversation with a little bit more empathy and compassion. “I’m curious if any young people are finding that it’s changing the way they engage with the world. And is it making them want to find wealthy partners to settle down with? Or are they just continuing with life as normal? The hard facts about 'the soft life’ – new book challenges misconceptions about blessees,DAILY MAVERICK(27 November 2022),by Karabo Mafolo External Links Category:Living people Category:Authors