“The People VS Patriarchy” -The Catalyst For Change

16 days of Activism kicks off with one of South Africa’s thought-provoking documentaries that each person should watch and act upon.

South African documentary maker Lebogang Rasethaba and producer Jasmyn Asvat, teamed up to create The People vs Patriarchy, which goes behind news making headlines to investigate what patriarchy is and how it has struck a chord in the hearts of our society. The documentary, which premiered on MTV (DStv channel 130) on Wednesday, 29 November, at 21:15 CAT follows up on last year’s hugely successful and thought-provoking ‘The People vs The Rainbow Nation’, which examined why South African youth continue to believe the struggle is far from over, more than 20 years after South Africa’s first democratic elections.

Through frank and confrontational dialogue with diverse South Africans from different walks of life, The People vs Patriarchy features musician and Inxeba lead actor Nakhane Toure, transgender activist Glow Makatsi and 2017 Aspen New Voices Fellow Koketso Moeti among several others who examine South Africans’ response to an epidemic of violence against women.

Talking about his goals in making the documentary, Rasethaba says: “We have a personal responsibility to accurately unpack and portray the realities of a range of people existing within a patriarchal society. Beyond the storytelling is a greater need to distill an intimate experience. If we had just made a typical film it would have trivialised the issue. We have created a piece of work that bolsters the conversation in a constructive way and offers the important need to begin a personal healing process of dismantling patriarchy within.”

The documentary raises complex questions around the issue including whether boys will be boys; are women in part responsible for raising violent men and are all men culpable?

Producer Jasmyn Asvat adds, “How we perceive our social and personal relationships across gender is important. All other questions about the type of society we create are underscored by our gender relations. This documentary aims to help us get to a place where we face some of the toughest questions around gender violence and how we appropriately respond to this epidemic.”

As for me, living in a country where I look over my shoulders everywhere I go is tiring. I am glad there are people voicing out their frustrations on what this country has come down to. Can real man finally help fight the social scourages that women have been subjected to???

For more information, visit www.mtv.co.za,  like them on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MTVza  or follow

Twitter and Instagram @MTVAfrica and join the conversation with the hashtag #peoplevspatriarchy