'Gender [Equality] will not Happen in this Family': Cosatu Women's Experiences of Gender Struggles in their Personal Lives

This article analyses the gender experiences of women activists of different generations (some became activists in the early 1970s and 1980s, while others joined unions in the 1990s and 2000s). It explores how women unionists address the challenges arising from the patriarchal gendered relations within their families, households and personal lives. It argues that women's experiences of male domination within their personal lives vary and women therefore utilise different approaches to subvert male power and dominance in their private lives. The article demonstrates the significance of the different contexts in which women experience male domination and how they address it. It further asserts that the changes in the meaning and value attached to being married or single within their social context influence women's decisions to pursue their trade union activism. The social acceptance of divorced and single women with children in the South African society enables women to make choices that meet their personal interests.