This study investigates the experiences of women journalists during the last phase of Namibia's liberation struggle against South African rule. Black or white, women journalists in Namibia made significant contribu-tions to the liberation cause -including the founding of a high-profiled newspaper -whilst others worked for media sympathetic to the apart-heid government. Based on interviews and deploying feminist media theory, Maria Mboono Nghidinwa pays close attention to the gendered power relationships in the newsrooms of newspapers and radio stations at the time. She looks at the intense political intimidations which tar-geted women and, in particular, the constraints experienced by black women journalists.

This study investigates the experiences of women journalists during the last phase of Namibia's liberation struggle against South African rule. Black or white, women journalists in Namibia made significant contributions to the liberation cause -including the founding of a high-profiled newspaper -whilst others worked for media sympathetic to the apartheid government. Based on interviews and deploying feminist media theory, Maria Mboono Nghidinwa pays close attention to the gendered power relationships in the newsrooms of newspapers and radio stations at the time. She looks at the intense political intimidations which targeted women and, in particular, the constraints experienced by black women journalists.

Women's contributions against apartheid under the auspices of the Namibian liberation movement SWAPO and their personal experiences in exile take center stage in this study. Male and female leadership structures in exile are analysed whilst the sexual politics in the refugee camps and the public imagery of female representation in SWAPO's nationalism receive special attention. The party's public pronouncements of women empowerment and gender equality are compared to the actual implementations of gender politics during and after the liberation struggle.

The study also examines the changes in women's lives caused by the arrival of Christianity, colonialism, the cash economy and modern values. Using the life story method it allows women to tell their stories themselves and present their own understanding of their situation. The study also tries to outline women's position in the independent Namibia where gender equality is guaranteed by the constitution but not in practice.