CHAPTER FOUR

Whereas the previous chapter focused specifically on the representation of masculinity in Moreletapark, kerksondermure and Doxa Deo, this chapter considers the depiction of gender in the churches in broader terms. A discussion is provided of the manner in which masculinity and femininity are constructed in terms of one another in the visual material collected from the churches. I mainly refer to images portraying women or femininity and these are compared and contrasted with the images of men and masculinity discussed in Chapter Three. As explained in Chapter One, the method of contrasting masculinity and femininity in gender-based research is preferred by various scholars. This method is particularly relevant to a study in a semiotic framework, like the one undertaken in this dissertation, as this framework proposes that masculinity and femininity are constructed in terms of and in opposition to each other (Connell 2001:33). It is, therefore, by contrasting the construction of both that the individual constitution of each may be fully described. Furthermore, researchers are warned that the burgeoning focus on masculinities in academia could participate in the revival of patriarchal exclusion and marginalisation of women and their related issues (Collinson & Hearn 2001:150). This study heeds this warning by considering the representation of masculinity and femininity in tandem.