The success of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement depended
on the efforts of some remarkable people who were committed
to their cause. Ruth First and Eleanor Kasrils were two women
who were so committed to the advancement of Africans in South
Africa that they devoted their lives to it. They defied the midtwentieth
century gender expectations—they spent years away
from their husbands and children, working instead to end the
injustices that some experienced every day of their lives. The two
had similar upbringings but they chose to combat the apartheid
system in different ways. Ruth First became an academic and
wrote some of Africa’s most important literature on history and
economics. By contrast, Eleanor Kasrils participated in a more
hands-on style of activism through her work with Umkhonto
we Sizwe, the armed, underground wing of the African National
Congress. How can two women who shared similar upbringings,
beliefs, colleagues, and experiences have paths that diverged
so drastically? What helps an activist decide if the pen really is
mightier than the sword? This study examines the lives of both
Ruth First and Eleanor Kasrils and emphasize the women’s
respective educations, relationships, and writings in order to
assess and find the motivations behind the activism styles of these
two heroines of the anti-apartheid movement
