WITS University Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Medical Anthropology – Prof. Lenore

Womanity - Women in Unity

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Lenore Manderson, Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Medical Anthropology in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand; she also holds appointments with Brown University, US, and Monash University, Australia. Prof. Manderson unpacks aspects of medical anthropology, such as the social ways in which people experience health and disease. We consider the impact of Covid-19 in this context with particular emphasis on the burden borne by women, noting that women are typically the primary care givers to the young and elderly; where there is home schooling – this task often falls under women’s responsibilities too; on top of these roles women are still have to maintain their day jobs for economic sustenance. We highlight structural reasons for women experiencing discrimination; we speak about the feminism movement in the 70s; and Prof. Manderson shares some of the challenges she overcame during her career and the achievements she has attained. Tune in for more….