Dr. Maki Motapanyane

Educator, researcher-motherhood, African feminist epistemology, cultural studies. Fortis fortuna adiuvat. Views my own. Retweets ≠ endorsement.

[National Film Board of Canada @thenfb]

Flamenco and ballet are not the same. 💃🩰
Watch as a group of senior dancers learn the difference and the art of this dance from Susana and Antonio Robledo in Cynthia Scott's Oscar-winning short: FLAMENCO AT 5:15 → https://t.co/XszvvXqitn
#StreamCanadian

[CTV News Atlantic @CTVAtlantic]

HRM cancels Clam Habour Beach Sandcastle Competition due to dry conditions https://t.co/B5KBU5azRK

[BBC News (World) @BBCWorld]

Giant of African literature Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o dies aged 87 https://t.co/8gNUOTDrbP

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

#WOMS2300 #WOMS3371

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Nigeria's Senate has suspended a female senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, after she accused its presiding officer of sexual harassment https://t.co/GZiyUX03PS

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

#WOMS2300 #WOMS3371

[Veronica, Collagen Scientist 🇵🇱 @celestialbe1ng]

The idea that “women have always stayed home with the babies while men single-handedly funded everything” is pure brain-rot mythology.

For most of history, women worked just as hard as men to sustain their families.

The image of the 1950s housewife the wannabe trad Twitter obsesses over was an anomaly, mostly limited to a certain period and a specific class.

If we look at history, the idea of women being strictly stay at home mothers is a relatively modern and class dependent phenomenon.

So maybe let’s break it down by era and class structure:

Pre- industrial societies (ancient times - 1700s)
• In agrarian and hunter-gatherer societies, women worked alongside men to sustain the family.
• Women farmed, ploughed fields, harvested crops, tended livestock, and participated in trade.
• In hunter-gatherer societies, women gathered and often hunted small game—providing a substantial portion of the diet.
• Domestic work (childcare, food preparation, textile production) was labour-intensive and essential for survival.

Industrial revolution (1700s - 1800s)
• The shift to industrial economies saw many working-class women and children forced into factory jobs, mines, and textile mills.
• Middle- and upper-class women were more likely to stay at home, but even they often contributed through home-based industries (like sewing, managing family businesses).
• In rural areas, women still worked the fields while managing household duties.

19th century - early 20th century (1800s - 1920s)
• Working-class women continued to work, often as domestic servants, in textile factories, or in farming.
• The Victorian “ideal” of the stay at home wife applied mostly to upper-class and emerging middle-class women.
• In many societies, widows and poor women had no choice but to work, often in gruelling conditions.

1930s - 1950s: the “Tradwife”
• The Great Depression forced many women into the workforce, as families needed dual incomes to survive.
• After World War II, with men returning from war, there was a cultural push (especially in the West) to return women to the home.
• The nuclear family ideal, a working dad, a stay at home mum, and children, was heavily promoted in media, but it was largely a middle-class phenomenon.

1960s - present:
• Second-wave feminism pushed women in education and employment.
• Economic conditions / necessities meant dual-income households became increasingly common.
• Today, many women work full-time while still shouldering the majority of domestic labour; essentially doing both.

Soooooo……

Belittling women for working while raising children isn't just ignorant-it's historically illiterate. The idea that women have always been delicate little house pets, shielded from labour while men toiled away, is a delusional fantasy cooked up by grifters.

For most of human existence, women worked just as hard as men-ploughing fields, running businesses, handling trade, and keeping families alive through sheer force of will.

The whole "tradwife" aesthetic doesn’t seem to be about tradition at all; it's a rebranded aristocratic fantasy, where they imagine themselves swanning around in linen dresses on sunlit estates.

These wannabe tradwives are literally historically wrong, but that’s cute and okay, as long as you’re not insulting generations of women who had no choice but to work to keep their families alive.

So don’t erase the labour of farmers' wives who worked the fields, factory women who kept industries running, and market women who ensured their children had food on the table.

You sneer at working mothers today as if raising children while holding down a job is some kind of moral failing rather than the impossible balancing act it has always been.

You’re rewriting history to suit your own delusions.

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

#WOMS2300

[Blake Brown @RBlakeBrown]

Nova Scotian woman murdered by her male partner with a legally-owned long gun. Partner then took his own life. The victim is the fifth woman in four months to be killed by her male partner in Nova Scotia. #femicide https://t.co/k9bsJuUiri

[onjali rauf @OnjaliRauf]

They were:

Electricians
Firefighters
Bakers
Nurses
Tilers
Restaurateurs
Shop workers
Gardeners
Plumbers
Office temps
Builders
Prison guards
Lorry drivers
Carpenters
Technicians
Soldiers...

NEVER again can #women be told our fear of male violence is "irrational".

#GiselePelicot

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

#WOMS3309 #GWGS6617

[Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx @CraigBaird]

Most people may not know the name Laura Sabia, but she had a major impact on Canada.
Thanks to her work, many major reforms came to Canada in regards to gender equality.
So, let's learn about her :)

🧵1/10

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

So thrilled to celebrate academic achievement yesterday with M. Wallace who graduated with First-Class Honours in a double major & received the Women’s Studies Book Prize awarded to our top graduating student. Congrats to all graduates! 🎓

[IAMAS @iamafeministmom]

CALL FOR PAPERS! Join the 2025 IAMAS Conference, Theme: (Re-)producing Motherhood, Motherwork, and Mothering. At Boston University + online in June 17-20. Visit https://t.co/oQEdrBTHmF for more info + to submit your abstract. Last year had over 300 attendees, don't miss out!

[StatusofWomenNS @StatusofWomenNS]

In honour of #IDG2024, the Status of Women Office, @dbdli , and @SenatorWanda , are excited to highlight a series of incredible African Nova Scotian women who are making a difference in their communities.

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

#GWGS6603

[Neil Renic @NC_Renic]

"This significant research gap has long puzzled the discipline..."

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

#WOMS2300

[Stephen Best @BestStephenD]

Look past the people featured for marketing purposes in an organization's public display windows, and you'll notice that the heaving lifting is being done by 'older girls.' This is true of most corporations, churches, choirs, hospitals, entertainment venues, schools, political parties, etc.

I know this is me being grumpy and guilty of overgeneralization, BUT most young people are generally borderline useless, requiring more supervision than they're worth, and most guys are drones.

If you're hiring, and an older women applies for the job, hire them on the spot. And, treat them like the gold they are.

[CBC Nova Scotia @CBCNS]

Panel discussion celebrates Black women in Nova Scotia electoral politics https://t.co/BolRw7Wu7h

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

**REMINDER**: We are still on! Join us this WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13th, 5:30 p.m. at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia @BCC_NS for the powerful Black Women in Electoral Politics Panel!

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

@SH_BordenColley Thank you for sharing! Due to the weather forecast this week, the panel has been postponed to Wednesday, March 13th, 5:30 pm. 🙂

[Dr. Maki Motapanyane @Afro_Balkan]

Due to the weather forecast this week, we have postponed the Black Women in Electoral Politics Panel to Wednesday, March 13, 5:30 pm. Join us then for the same fantastic panel at @BCC_NS the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. Catering by Opus Cafe. ☀️

[MSVU Women's Studies @MSVU_WomensStu]

Due to impending weather, we've needed to change the date for our Black Women in Electoral Politics event. The new date will be Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 5:30pm. Same venue :)