Sleep apnea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sleep apnea - Essay Example However, the patient also has witnessed apneas as the wife stated and the combination of these two factors is more sensitive in placing this diagnosis. Furthermore, the snoring is distinct loud and can even be heard from downstairs. For the patient I would recommend measurement of his neck circumference and conduct an overnight sleep study or a polysomnography. Sleep apnea has several associated risks and these should be explained to the patient. Firstly, the patient has already began to develop one of the complications which is hypertension. This can be attributed to the depletion of oxygen level in the blood which has a significant toll on the cardiovascular system. The patient also must have an abdominal ultrasound to assess the status of his liver as scarring is a common complication of the disorder. The patient’s family is also at risk of suffering sleep deprivation due to the loud snoring by the patient which can also affect their daily routine. the evaluation, management and long-term care of obstructive sleep apnea in adults.  Journal of clinical sleep medicine: JCSM: official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine,  5(3),

Does sexual equality exists in our society In answering this question Research Paper - 1

Does sexual equality exists in our society In answering this question. Consider whether or not cultural equality exists, whether social equality exists, and whether biological equality exists - Research Paper Example The paper is aimed to discuss different issues related to sexual equality specifically the presence or absence of it. The different factors affecting the concept of sexual equality will be presented and discussed. One example is the exploration of the root causes of gender inequality. Ultimately, the study is aimed to determine the existence of social equality in the society. The study explores the presence or absence of sexual equality. It is a notion that in reality, sexual equality is merely an objective and a concept aimed for since sexual inequality prevails. In addition, the premises found in real societies can only allow for the existence of sexual inequality. There are different views that express the origins and reasons for sexual inequality such as functionalist and conflict theories. The functionalist theory is a way of viewing social inequality to be necessary on the basis of the functions of the different members and components of the society. For example, the role of men is different from the role of women, thus, they need not be compared. Instead these two groups that comprise the society should be view in terms of their complementary roles and functions (Tischer, 2010, p.254). On the basis of this view then, functions designated to every component of the society dictates the dynamics within that social unit. This trend is very evident throughout the history of the human civilization. Even in the earliest societies, men hunt while women attend to the children and the house. Sexual inequality then can be considered as the way of life of the people. What changed then since the said period is the view of the women regarding their role in the society. Due to the long history of having roles attached to the household, the female population became recognized and perceived to be better suited to stay at home while the male population works for a living. It then became increasingly natural to just assume that

Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford University Essay

Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford University - Essay Example This paper aims at identifying the main elements of Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford University that enables the listeners to comprehend and connect with the speaker individually and collectively. In attaining this end, the research will examine the use of logos, pathos, and ethos to make the listeners understand the full speech and some components of the speech. This paper is in the form of rhetorical analysis. It tries to examine the main components of the speech and the kind of message it seeks to communicate to the audience. Rhetoric analysis â€Å"...lays bare or adequately interprets the secret life of a form of communication or speech†. In other words, the paper seeks to decode the main influence that the message seeks to exert on the mind of the listener. It tries to comprehensively examine the kind of information that Steve Jobs seeks to assert on the graduands by breaking down the speak. Rossenwasser and Stephen identify that â€Å"to analyze the rhetoric of something is to determine how that something persuades and positions its readers or viewers or listeners.† Ethos is about the credibility and the ethical appeal that the speaker has over the listener. It is mainly about how the audience relates to the speaker and the contacts that occur whilst the discussion goes on. Although there is no agreed standard in measuring the potency of ethos, the commonest method of evaluating this is to examine the emotions of the audience. The audience reacts by clapping and shouting to show their connection with the speaker. In this speech, there are so many emotions that are shown at different points in the interaction between Steve Jobs and the graduands. There were instances where the crowd screamed and there were other times where they clapped. Also, at the end of the entire speech, there was a standing ovation which gave an indication to a bystander that the speech had had some influence on the people present and this is very much evide nt of ethos. In analyzing the speech of Steve Jobs, there are four main components of ethos that can be conveniently examined to bring to bear the kind of connection that existed between the audience and speaker during the whole speech. Credibility refers to the trust and worth of a person's communication with another. This refers to how factors that cause a listener to place more reliance on the words of another person. First of all, the personality of Steve Jobs is one that grants him so much credibility. Being nominated as the speaker for the event in itself is something that comes with a lot of reputation for the event.

Will let you know the paper later Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Will let you know the paper later - Assignment Example In order to have a fruitful business meeting with the Australians, it is vital to have a clear insight of their culture, communication styles and their behaviors (Schroevers, 2013). For Alison McKenzie to make a commendable first impression at the introductory meeting, there are basic etiquettes that she ought to observe. Establishing contacts with the Australian business people is considerably simple. They pay less attention to first creating solid relationships, and are thus open to approaches from outside their business contexts. In general, Australians do not necessarily require a recommendation from a mutual friend to enter into a business agreement with a foreigner. Nonetheless, having such a connection is normally important, since business relationships tend to be personal (Sabath, 2002). Australian business executives are usually very occupied and busy. As such, securing an appointment with them can be a tricky task. To secure a business meeting with them, it is advisable to book an appointment a month prior to the set date. In spite of their busy nature, they are friendly and approachable. Generally, the working hours in the country start from 9AM and ends at 5PM. Thus, when scheduling a business trip, the material day should not fall within their vocational period, which is between December and February. Depending on the organization’s size, appointment proposals are usually submitted via emails and confirmed through telephone calls (Schroevers, 2013). Australians have a dominantly conservative dress code for business visitors. Australian men put on dark suits and ties, while their women while their ladies wear professional dresses or suits. In Australia, the dress code of an organization is dependent upon the climatic environment that the firm is situated (Schroevers, 2013). For that reason, the business attire may be less formal in tropical regions unlike in towns and cities like

The Politics in Itself Can be a Major Force in Determining Growth and Essay

The Politics in Itself Can be a Major Force in Determining Growth and Development of a ountry - Essay Example On the other hand poor lack of political stability leads to the poor performance of the economy and may act as a significant variable in the collapse of the governmental structures and its functioning (Alesina et al, 1992, p.1). The paper centers on the discussion of the political environment with several policies as well as their implications with respect to two underdeveloped countries namely Vietnam and Bangladesh. An in depth analysis will be guiding the ways in the realization of the theme of the paper. The fundamental notion of the interdependence of politics and economic growth Theoretical underpinnings regarding the correlation of the politics and economic growth is highly based upon the uncertainty effects and that of the productive economic ideas and decisions, investments as well as that of production and labor supply. A high propensity of a change in the government is vehemently attached with the domain of uncertainty about the new policies of a new government with the ri sk adverse economic agents hesitating for adapting productive economic initiatives and finding good ventures in the abroad. Again for the foreign investments to infiltrate within the economy, the foreign political governments usually prefer economies with political stability which directs towards less uncertainty with the policies and property rights dynamics. There is presence of several literatures on the so called association. As for example, Alesina and Tabellini (1990), Tabellini and Alesina (1990), Cukierman, Edwards and Tabellini (1992), 6zler and Tabellini (1991) has developed several models where a government striving with uncertainty engages them in policies which yields sub optimal levels leading to the worsening of the economic condition of the state. These models all state share a common idea which states that outcome of the political instability generates economic inefficiencies. Within the vast domain of the stated model development, mainly within the works of Alesina and Tabellini (1989) examines the fact that effect of the political uncertainty is immensely adverse on the investment and capital injections within the economy. The probability of a governmental collapse with that of the development of a new government are highly prone towards the tax capital and productive activities signifying a substitution procedure of productive domestic investments in favor of consumption and capital flight, which in turn leads to a reduction of domestic production. There are several literatures developed on similar topic but the most relevant part in accordance with that of the elaboration in the subsequent segments has been discussed. Now the paper will plunge into the development of the hardcore mechanics which will reflect the theme of the paper with respect to Vietnam and Bangladesh. The following segment will be focusing on the case study of Vietnam and after that the case of Bangladesh will be considered (Alesina et al, 1992, pp. 3-4). Vietnam-Politic s and economic growth Background & reshuffling the power structure The country of Vietnam has gone through almost three decades of war. In the year 1945, the country declared independence from France which the French government did not recognize. As a consequence, a war broke out between Vietnam and France where France was defeated in the North Vietnam with the outbreak of a civil war. Now with the communal tensions being one of the predominant phenomenons at that time the Americans involved themselves in war with Vietnam, the

Alladin Essay Example for Free

Alladin Essay I enjoy going to the movies. My experience with movies began when my mom and dad first took me to watch Alladin(1992) a Disney feature film. I remember the long line of kids with their parents queuing up for popcorn and soda right before entering the darkened theater. If there was one word to describe how I felt and must have looked while watching what seemed to me giant cartoon characters dancing and singing on the big screen, I am guessing it would be spellbound. Nowadays, my affinity with the movies remains. To me theres nothing better than settling down with popcorn, a soda, and perhaps a slice of pizza and maybe some candy while waiting for the movie to start. For anywhere between $7. 00-$9. 50, I can spend about a couple of hours eating while losing myself in the story that I have stood in line for to watch. Theres nothing else for me to do but sit back, relax and enjoy the program†¦Or at least thats whats supposed to happen. Like most adult relationships, my relationship with the movies has come to be of a love/hate nature. While I still enjoy the films, often I find my reverie and trip to a state of mental suspension interrupted by the most unbelievable and dismaying things. For example, comedies are a favorite of mine. Whether through slapstick or the more sophisticated and witty comedies, I enjoy a good joke as much as the next person does. Unfortunately, when that next persons version of a laugh is loud and unrestrained and mixed with comments of Boy I sure didnt see that coming! that persists even after the funny part is through, it can rather put a crimp on my personal enjoyment. Date movies arent much better either. It can get rather difficult to distinguish whether the sounds Im hearing are coming from the film or from the row behind me. Ive noticed that in particularly mushy scenes, it is not unusual to hear sotto voce whispers of sweet nothings among the courting couples and giggling among the teenaged girls in the audience every time the lead characters would kiss . It can also be rather irritating when, in the middle of a rather climactic scene, some person s mobile phone would just go off ringing. Only three things can possibly happen then. One, the ringing is suddenly silenced by the apologetic offender hitting either the reject or off button. Two, ringing phone will be answered and Ill call you back will be quickly whispered. Three, offender will let the phone play out the whole of his ring tone too mortified to admit ownership of the ringing phone and practically ruining two minutes o or more of the film for the rest of the audience. Of course I havent even mentioned this very select group of people who just cant not take the call †¦ It can be unbelievable how important some people seem to think they are that they forget that they are intruding on the rights of others. And then there are also these people who seem to think that it is their sworn duty and obligation to provide a running commentary of the films story. For some reason, some people who have seen the film before and have gone to watch the movie again with friends feel obligated to assure their companions Dont worry. The bomb wont explode. Just you wait and so-and-so hero will arrive in just a few seconds. After which they proceed to detail how the hero or heroine will save the day. It can get rather tempting to just turn around and admonish them for this. If its not the plot spoilers, there are people who just cant keep their emotions to themselves. I remember one time when I was sitting watching the film Constantine (2005) and heard several screams of the word Run or Hide! in about five different languages from the audience. If I ever needed proof of how culturally diverse America has become, well there it was. Dont get me wrong though. Despite all these, my enjoyment of the silver screen remains. While I admit that there were a few times when I cheated and just opted for a quiet night at home with some select DVDs and some snacks on my sofa, I still go back to the movie theater. I suppose it can be viewed as a quirk of mine but I do miss the battle of wills I get into with my next-seat neighbor on who claims rights to the armrest separating our seats. I miss the stand off that takes place between myself and the guy behind me after I ask him to please take his foot off my seat back. All these things do not diminish my excitement of seeing the anticipation and enjoyment shared on the audiences faces including my own as the movie starts its magic with the flashing of its beginning credits. Most of all, I look forward to the many and various reactions among the audience as the final credits roll on the screen and the house lights come on. It’s sad that some people cant seem to fully appreciate the movie-going experience and treat it along with its audience with the respect they deserve. For me, despite the not so nice experiences in the movie house, the magic and excitement of going to the movies still exist. Our relationship endures and remains strong.

Analysing Post Apartheid Gender Inequality In South Africa Politics Essay

Analysing Post Apartheid Gender Inequality In South Africa Politics Essay Despite the South African constitutions commitment to equal rights for women, the demand for gender equality is incompatible with the preservation of traditional authority in the post-apartheid era. Discuss. Women in South Africa have the most clearly spelt out legal rights in the whole of Africa and when looking at the newly formed constitution the situation for women in South Africa seems to have made a dramatic move in the right direction. After all the constitution prohibits any form of discrimination on the basis of not only gender but sexual orientation. And although it validates both gender equality and the institutions of traditional authority, if they come into direct conflict it is gender equality that will prevail. The national parliament has also moved from being 141st in the world, in regards to the percentage of women members, pre-1994 to 7th post-1994.  [i]  This signals a new era in South Africa, and is mainly down to the ANCs undoubted dedication to gender equality and the introduction of its quota in national elections. However despite the leaps forward in gender equality the fight for womens rights is far from over and it is in the rural areas that the discrimination is most severely felt by women. The South African constitution may be one of the most gender sensitive in the world but this did not come about uncontested by the traditional authorities,  [ii]  who believed the introduction of gender equality would lead to the end of some African traditions, such as, Lobola,  [1]  and in the long term their very institutions. Traditional authorities are seen to be the biggest obstacle facing the women in rural South Africa. This essay will discuss the history of traditional authorities and how the colonial and apartheid eras have influenced and shaped them, the affect they have had of on the development of womens rights and their relevance to understanding the rural womens position. Also the broader tension felt between the principle of elected representation and the continuation of non-electe d chiefs that has implications for the position of women and the country as a whole. And finally a brief look at the question; why did the ANC make concessions to the chiefs at the time of transition. But ultimately that the ANC-led governments belief that they can recognise the institution of traditional leaders while at same time upholding the constitutions principles of gender equality and representative democracy is completely contradictory. Today in post-1994 South Africa the term traditional authorities is an all-encompassing term in which it refers to chiefs of all different ranks and that have jurisdiction over rural people.  [iii]  But this concept of traditional authority has, over the years, has been reshaped and moulded to not only benefit the white ruling governments that have dominated South Africas history but also the patriarchal systems. The two main institutions that were reconstructed were chieftainship and customary law. In the colonial era they were used as a cheap form of administration, later to ensure the successful use of the migrant labour system. In the apartheid era they were used in the states attempt to divide the African population into their ethnic groups so that they would be easier to control. Customary law may be seen by some as a long African tradition but others, as illustrated by Cherryl Walker, believe that customary law is not only sexually discriminatory in the extreme but also a construct of the past hundred years.  [iv]  The chief was also reinvented to become dependent on approval from the centre, for any chiefs that were perceived to be disloyal to the dominant white state, were removed and replaced by more compliant individuals. During this time the most valuable power the chief possessed was the power to allocate land, and it remains so today. This power was beneficial to the apartheid state but has caused massive complications for the reconstruction of rural areas under the new ANC-led government,  [v]  and has been hugely detrimental to the population of rural women and gender equality. The issue of land allocation was one of the largest issues to be resolved facing the new post-apartheid government, and remains so to this day. For the first ten years the new ANC-led government has been very vague on the issue of traditional authorities and land allocation. Traditional authorities took advantage of this indecisiveness and used to their benefit. Things were further complicated by the fact that the constitution recognised the institution of traditional leaders but failed to specify the roles, functions and powers of said authorities. This resulted in massive confusion for the people on the ground and when elected councillors were introduced in 1995/96, the lack of a clear definition led to tension between the newly elected councillors and the traditional authorities, as neither were clear as to what role they would play and considered the other institution to illegitimate. When the ANC came to power and the new democratic constitution was enforced many South Africans believed that the newly elected councillors would take over the function of land allocation, the government indicated that it would become the responsibility of the Traditional rural councils (TRC) however the old apartheid laws were effectively still in place, government officials still used, with a few adjustments, the apartheid procedure and did not recognise the elected councillors as having power to allocate land, as a result by 2000, (the end of the transition period) the rural people had become dissatisfied with the rural councillors.  [vi]   It wasnt until the combination of the Traditional Leadership and Framework Act  [2]  (framework act) in 2003 and the Communal Land Rights Act  [3]  2004, that the government finally clarified the role of traditional authorities. The combination of these two acts drew criticism from a huge range of civil society organisations, ranging from gender activists to land activists, such as, the programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and the National Land Committee (NLC) they considered these new traditional councils to be, as Ntsebeza illustrates, a retreat from democracy and the Communal Land Rights Act was an attempt to revive a defunct apartheid institution which was above all extremely discriminatory of women.  [vii]  The reason that the traditional authorities being in control of land allocation is such bad news for women is because of their continuing use of customary law.  [4]  Despite the fact that gender equality should, according to the constitution, prevai l over institutions of traditional authorities, in practice customary law and practice tend to win in matters marriage, divorce and property ownership (with most chiefs still unwilling to allocate land to women) resulting in deeply patriarchal decisions that lessen womens rights to those of their husbands, fathers or even sons.  [viii]  The principle of customary law has even been upheld in the Supreme Court rulings (2000) despite what is clearly stated in the constitution.  [ix]  This elevation of hereditary chieftainship to a privileged and protected position within local government seriously compromises rural womens access to and influence on local governments.  [x]  The framework act has created councils that are dominated by traditional authorities whilst the Communal Land Rights Act has given these structures extraordinary powers, combined they have effectively given the traditional authorities back the powers that they had enjoyed in the apartheid era under the Ba ntu Authorities Act.  [xi]  Through these acts the national government has majorly failed the women in rural areas in relation to land and womens right over its allocation and use, in effect the government has failed to uphold the very principles in the constitution of equality all they have done is further entrench the concept of male-domination in both peoples minds and the institutions in rural South Africa. One of the major reasons behind the increase in dominance in the traditional authorities in rural areas is due to the lack of a significant civil society movement in particular a powerful Womens movement post-1994 to push for equality. Before the first democratic elections in South Africa, the general womens movement was much stronger. Successfully contesting the traditional authorities proposals to have customary law exempt from the gender equality clause  [xii]  and later defeating their bid to have customary law entrenched itself. The womens organisations also managed to successfully mobilise itself after being sidelined in the constitutional negotiation process to form the Womens National Coalition in 1992, with the aim to draft a charter for womens rights, that would be included or at least consulted when the constitution was drawn up. However this coalition didnt last long after the charter was formalised, the ANC womens league become suspicious and believed that other part ies would use the coalition to better themselves and not women as a whole, and as a result dropped out. This left the womens movement in tatters.  [xiii]  There was a further blow to the movement when the ANC was elected to government as many women that were at the forefront of the womens movements became members of parliament on ANC tickets. Leaving the majority of the womens organisations without key players and leaders. The situation was worse in rural areas for these organisations due to the fact they were predominantly urban based and were nowhere near as organised as the traditional authorities. As a result it was far more difficult for rural women to come together against the repressive nature of the Traditional Authorities as they had no organisation or figurehead to unite under. The traditional nature of rural South Africa is also felt within the rural local councils, where the number of women is actually lower than that of the national parliament. This goes against the western norm that women usually do better at the local level.  [xiv]  Gotez and Hassim illustrate two main reasons for this, firstly that traditional patriarchies can be more intense and immediate in their repressive effect on womens engagement at local level compared to the national and secondly that womens movements capacity to support women in local politics and help develop gender equality policy platforms can be fragmented by decentralisation.  [xv]  The lack of an effective womens movement post-1994, has had a negative effect on the development of gender equality. Another problem women face in rural councils is that they are set up to accommodate a male councillors way of life and not a womans who still have to uphold their traditional responsibilities for the home and family, C onnell argues that this holds dangerous potential for fostering exclusivity in political leadership.  [xvi]  Many believe that there are too many meetings that run late and seem to discuss the same issues over and over, which is just not practical for women councillors who have a family and a home to look after alongside their job as councillors. Unfortunately due to the smaller number of women in local councils than in the national parliament they are unable to ensure that matters such as hours of sitting and childcare are addressed, instead their concerns are ridiculed as womens problems by the male-dominated councils.  [xvii]  These issues enforce the perceptions that women are not capable of serving as councillors and damage the potential contribution of women councillors. Problems like this show just how deeply entrenched male-domination still is in South Africa,  [xviii]  and not just in rural areas but on the national scale. The male domination on real power is st ill very evident. The ANCs history towards Traditional Authorities is very important in understanding why the act the way they do towards them. The ANC was formed in 1912 and many of its founding members were traditional authorities who opposed to the Union of South Africa. However as time when on the ANC became a more radical movement and combined with pressure from its youth League and its communist allies the ANC split in two when it came to what to do with Traditional authorities today; the first being pro traditional authorities providing that they were critical of government policy. The second, who were clearly influenced by their communist allies, argued that the institution of traditional authorities belong to a previous feudal era and should be replaced by a more democratic institution.  [xix]   One of the main questions to be looked at is why the ANC has made so many concessions to the traditional authorities at the time of transition at the expense of gender equality, in spite of their obvious commitment to equality, in particular gender equality, both in the constitution and their own party politics (i.e. the election quota). The ANC has always been split and extremely ambiguous in its views and policy towards the institution of traditional authority. It is also widely accepted that tampering with the power of chiefs threatens to create a mass amount of political problems.  [xx]  Because of this most politicians feel the issue is best left alone. There are a number of possible reasons this. The first being that the ANC is fundamentally urban based and has always been considered to be very weak in rural areas, alongside that it has never had a coherent programme to build alternative democratic structures in the rural areas to try and combat this problem.  [xxi]  And as a result the ANC has been and remains depended on traditional authorities to be their main representation in rural areas. This originated when the party was in exile but has continued to the present day, which makes it difficult for the ANC to alienate them. The ANC has to also remember that it has to take peoples commitment to custom, culture and tradition seriously if it wants keep its support in rural areas and if any program of rural construction is to succeed.  [xxii]  The ANC cannot just rush in and dismantle peoples beliefs and way of life as a large number of people still believe in and support traditional authorities and what they stand for, it will be long and slow process that will have to be carried out with the upmost care, Ismail [1999] illustrates this point well that traditional leaders cannot be abolished overnight without causing some political disequilibrium among the indigenous people especially in rural areas.  [xxiii]   The ANC has also faced direct pressure from the traditional authorities themselves, both through the Inkatha freedom Party (IFP), the Congress of Traditional Leaders in South Africa  [5]  (CONTRALESA) and the right-wing Zulu nationalist chief Buthelezi, who is recruiting chiefs who opposed the ANC during the anti-apartheid era.  [xxiv]  The ANC feels it must maintain a good relationship with CONTRALESA so that it wont lose the support of the traditional authorities who are members and their followers, who the ANC consider to be important voter blocks. Ultimately the ANC had a choice to make; to take the Traditional Authorities head on in order for womens rights to not only be written in the constitution but actually be put into practice and be experienced by women throughout south African society, or to appease the Traditional Authorities and allow for gender inequality to continue despite this going against the very constitution they wish to uphold. Unfortunately (for womens rights) the ANC has seemed to favour the latter option. But the very fact that the ANC has need to make a choice between the two is evidence of the incompatibility of Traditional Authorities and the concept of gender equality. One thing that the womens movement must remember is that getting women into parliament is not a guarantee that she will help promote gender equality as not all women have feminist interests and will most likely represent their parties interests not that of women,  [xxv]  this can be partly due to the party-list system used in South Africa, which means if you want to stay high on the list and remain in parliament you have to tow the party line. There is also the problem that women just dont feel comfortable enough to raise the question of the prolonged gender inequality within South African society, this is generally down to the traditional view upheld by many South Africans. Friedman actually argues that by putting women on committees when they are not comfortable with being in a position of authority may actually be counterproductive for and long-term strategy for empowering women.  [xxvi]  This can be down to the inexperience and uncertainty of women councillors which may l ead to them being unable to effectively articulate their opinions and concerns, leading to the reinforcement of not only the opinion that women are not cut out to be involved in politics but also the very concept of inequality. This is shown very clearly by Goetz and Hassim with their study in Temba in 2000, in which women councillors had made no concrete suggestions except to second motions.  [xxvii]  According to the women in Temba this is because they feel intimidated by the men who still hold the traditional values of women being inferior. men in the council laugh and interrupt our contributions.  [xxviii]  This is a problem that is widely known about to the majority of ANC members but still little is being done to address the issue. It is clear that if gender equality is to be a success then it is not just the traditional institutions that need to change, it is the peoples views about gender as well. Men need to accept women as their equals and women need to be empowere d so that they can be confident enough so that they can stand up for their opinions, concerns and rights. Traditional authorities in their current state are most definitely incompatible with the demand for gender equality. However as customs and traditions are never set in stone but a product of a complex and dynamic history of contestation, co-optation, reconstruction and invention,  [xxix]  traditional authorities could, if they learn to incorporate gender equality and accept the legitimate role of the democratically elected local bodies, in theory be a legitimate part of the South African democracy. However if they continue to push of their unelected body to have increased power and refuse to recognise the legitimacy of rural elected bodies and that women have equal status then they should not have a place in a democratic South Africa, as the very nature of traditional authorities is undemocratic. It is up to the government to follow through with their promise of equality, and particularly for this case gender equality by either removing them completely (which will inevitably be u npopular with a large proportion of the population especial in rural areas) or alternatively force them to become more democratic. In the current state it is unlikely that the government will do so as it could very well play into the hands of their opposition. Therefore there is a desperate need for a strong womens movement to not only put pressure on the government but to also mobilise the women of South Africa to stand up for their constitutional right of equality.