Competition
Essay on the impact of toxic masculinity and practical solutions
Dear Participants,
The South African Leadership Gentlemen’s Club would like to congratulate all the participants of the inaugural SALGC Youth Essay-writing competition 2020 for your participation.
The club had embarked on an intense campaign of digital marketing of this competition for a three-month period and that included information and awareness on various national and local radio and print media.
We received an overwhelming support from professionals volunteering their participation in judging the submissions. We expected a high turnout of submissions nationwide and as a result we sought judging expertise from local and international professionals, and were successful to secure including 2 international judges.
Our professional partnership with The 3Mon Digital and Armscor was a solid base through which positive and educative learnings from our national youth was going to be achieved.
The Club leadership understood that since this was an inaugural competition, a lot of learning was expected to come out of the process, and mistakes were also going to be a possibility, though we ensured that these should be as minimum as possible if they were to occur.
We are therefore proud to say a lot has been learned which will be improved on in 2021 and that include the positives which were derived from this year’s process.
After three months of active campaigning for this competition, we were disappointed as the club’s leadership and partners to establish that fewer than twenty five submissions were received nation-wide, and after ninety days of aggressive campaigning for the awakening of SA male youth on the subject of Toxic Masculinity. More than fifty percent of submissions were disqualified, either due to late submission or inadequate submission of mandatory documents in accordance to competition rules.
The remaining submissions were so few that the overwhelming professional advice was to can the project as it did not meet the national threshold of SA male youth voice/representation as expected.
It was then decided that the club will take the learning forward, improve everything for next year 2021, and recognise all the participants who submitted their essays on time and met the evaluation criteria , be recognise with local ambassadorship on the club in their various communities.
The appointed Ambassadors are:
- Thina Njongo
- Phindulo Tshikovhi
- Nicholas Solomon Makola
- Refentse Matseke
- Nkosikhona Phakati
- Lavela Gcolotela
- Kgothatso Ringane
- Mokhele Sekho
- Sinothando Ntsaluba
We would proudly like to congratulate the nine qualifying participants and wish them all the best as club’s 2020 champs in their respective communities nation-wide for the next 12 months and hopefully beyond.
We urge you all to continue following the club’s news from the website, on all our social media platforms and ensure that you do not miss any of the clubs community-based programs including the competition the following year.
On behalf of the entire leadership of the club I will like to thank every single stakeholder who were involved with the competition, from the SALGC hard working project team, our judges, auditors, sponsors, media, FOS, parents and guardians of participants and most importantly our own participants themselves.
Bo’ Tlabakoe
Executive Chairman
Competition Judges
a. Ms. Nkosazana Ndlovu
b. Mr Tshepiso Phiri
c. Mr Sy Tshabalala
d. Mr Frans Manthonsi
e. Mr Kgethi Lentsoane
Competition Sponsors
ARMSCOR
3MON DIGITAL
Complete Rules and Regulations
Participants will create and submit an original piece of writing that responds to the following contest prompt:
South African Leadership Gentlemen’s Club is, for the first time, asking South African male youth to submit works of creative fiction on toxic masculinity, the effects and practical solutions.
We want the essay about the scenario of toxic masculinity towards women, girls, and each other; practical scenarios are on each case and provide creative and practical solutions. Detailed research on the effects of toxic masculinity in South African communities and the psycho-socio-economic effects.
We want the essay that inspires toxic readers to think, “This is a practical and educative solution, and it is inclusive of the perpetrator and to-be-victims.”
To enter this year’s contest, write an original, fictional essay in which the effects of toxic masculinity on women, children, and each other laid bare, both psycho-socio economical and groundbreaking solutions to it.
There are four basic rules:
- Your research must indicate how each category is affected, women, children, and each other.
- Your essay must provide innovative and practical ways to the current
challenges South Africa is facing the effects of toxic masculinity. - Your essay must include your overall learning on the subject matter and detail practical and inclusive solutions.
- Your story must not exceed a maximum of 600 words for the Category A and 900 words for Category B.
All essays must be original work. Any evidence of plagiarism will immediately
disqualify an entry.
Remember: Writers spend time doing research to ensure that story characters, their clothes, their tools, and especially their actions are authentic. Take time to learn about the toxic masculinity subject. The better you understand the subject matter, the better and more practical your essay will be.
All Essays submitted will be evaluated critically and scored on these expected set standard on each Essay:
Organization
- Introduction;
- Focus
- Layout
Mechanics
- Sentence Craft & Style
- Grammar and spelling
- Citing Information and Evaluating Sources
Development
- Content Understanding and Support
- Solution Creativity
- Analysis
- Conclusion
Who is eligible to compete?
The contest is exclusively opened to South African boys of the ages between nine years (9) to the age of twenty-five (25) years. The competition is also open to foreign immigrant boys of the age groups stated living in South Africa legally with authorized documentation.
- Certified ID/Passport to verifying Age group and the validity of the
entrant. - Entrant: between age 9 –15yrs of age by the date of closing. Juniors
group. - Entrant: between age 16 –25yrs of age by the date of closing. Seniors
group
The Competition is categorized in the following Age Groups:
Group A: For the juniors of age nine (9) to fifteen (15)
Group B: For the seniors of age sixteen (16) to twenty-five (25)
All participants for the categories must submit a certified ID or Passport for competition age validation and for confirmation with South African Home Affairs. Prior winners of the Essay Contest who have received a cash prize from Toxic Masculinity essay in any of the above-grade categories may not enter again in the same age group. All foreigners with legal documentation available with the department of home affairs are also eligible for entry.
Directors and working committee members of the South African Leadership
Gentlemen’s Club (SALGC) and its partners and their immediate families or those living in the same household are not eligible to enter this competition.
Entrants must enter with only one submission.
Entrants should submit an original essay in which the effects of toxic masculinity on women, children and each other laid bare, both psycho-socio-economical and groundbreaking solutions to it:
Group A: (juniors 9 -15 years): Essay words to be minimum 300 and not exceed 600.
Group B: (seniors 16 – 25 years): Essay words to be minimum 600 and not exceed 900.
Submissions must not exceed the word limits set above.
While not required, you are strongly encouraged to also submit an annotated bibliography with your story. Your Essay must be constructed to have Organization, Mechanics, and Development in its composition as these are evaluation criteria.
A submission may not contain offensive, libelous, sexually explicit, disparaging or other inappropriate content and may not defame or otherwise violate the rights, copyrights, trademarks, or rights of publicity, privacy, or reputation of any third party. Submissions may not contain any material to promote the sale of a product or service.
Each entrant is solely responsible for the information, data, text, graphics, and other materials included in the submission, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted. A submission must be original and the entrant must:
- hold all necessary rights to all the materials and information in the submission or
- have permission from the holder of such rights, or
- the materials and information in the Submission must be in the public domain.
Winners will have to ensure that they have all rights necessary to permit them to transfer ownership of the essay, including the transfer of any permissions and rights obtained from third parties to the South African Leadership Gentlemen’s Club.
Can I include images or diagrams?
Yes. Each contestant may include one, and only one, image or PDF document file to accompany his submission. Only .jpg or .pdf formats will be accepted
Attached files could be a single image or diagram, a collection of images with captions that have been saved to a PDF document, or the complete formatted text of your submission with embedded tables, diagrams, or images.
While including images may improve your submission, they are not required. Judges will be scoring the text of your submission; attached material may be used to break ties.
To get further details and information go to our Website: www.salgc.org.za for the submission of your Essay where you will enroll to be a participant.
PLEASE NOTE: Your name, address, phone number, or any other personally-identifying information should NOT appear in the attachment. If it does, the file cannot be considered as part of your submission.
An annotated bibliography is a list of resources that you can go to for more information about something you mention or use in your essay. It can also be a list of the resources including humans you used to research and prepare for writing your story.
When creating your annotated bibliography, you may use simplified citations that
include the following information for each resource on the list:
- Title: The name of the resource. A resource can be a webpage, article, person, or another reference.
- Author: The person who wrote or created the resource. There may be multiple authors or sometimes an author can be an organization. If you cannot find an author you may write, “No Author Available.”
- Date: The date the resource was created. If there is no date (for example on a webpage) the citation should include the date the page was reviewed for your essay.
- Location: Where we can find the resource. For webpages, this is the URL. For printed resources include the name of the publisher.
- Annotation: One sentence that explains what useful information can be found in this resource.
The annotated bibliography does not count toward your word limit. The quality of the annotated bibliography submitted with a story may be used to break ties.
To submit an entry, entrants must complete the Online Entry Form at http://www.salgc/ToxicMasculinityessay.org.za. A entrants submission-form which will be found on SALGC website must be submitted latest by stipulated closing date of the competition. Alternatively, submit your essay via an email to competition@salgc.org.za.
In the submission of your Essay, it is MANDATORY to attach the Certified copy of ID or Passport with supporting immigration authorised documentation.
What is the deadline for submissions?
The Competition starts on 1 September 2020, will close at 12:00 midday, 31 October 2020, South African Standard Time. All submissions must be received prior to this date and time in order to be considered.
How will entries be judged and by whom?
Submissions will be judged by a slate of volunteers that include professionals from various academic fields. In addition to checking that submissions meet all of the basic rules, they will be looking for:
- How well researched the subject matter is conveyed by the writer on the submission.
- How inspirational the essay is: how is well modeled around the thinking habits and attitudes of great writers.
- How original, creative, and well-written the story is.
Submissions with annotated bibliographies will be preferred over those without in the event of a tie. Finalists will be judged by SALGC essay Committee and the decisions of the judges are final and incontestable.
When will the winners be announced?
Finalists will be notified in writing via email by December 1st, 2020, and will be required to submit a signed copy of Toxic Masculinity essay Use License and Release giving the SALGC permission to publish the entry should it be selected as a winner.
Winners will be notified in writing via email by December 1, 2020, and the winning entries will be posted on the SALGC website by December 15, 2020.
A list of contest winners may be obtained by submitting a request in writing to:
SALGC essay Competition, 59 Austin Street, Renstown, Hammanskraal 0400.
SALGC runs the program in partnership with THE 3MON.
Winners will receive the prizes listed below:
- First-place winners will be awarded.
- Second-place entries will be awarded
- Third-place entries will be awarded.
There are great prices to be won in each category; from laptops, tablets and software.
All winning entries will be published on the SALGC website.
Prize funds will be distributed to an individual winner (or the winner’s parent or guardian, if the winner is under 18 years old). Any taxes, and all similar fees and assessments, are the sole responsibility of the prize recipient.
Additional Requirements and Disclaimers
By entering this competition, each individual entrant (for individuals under 18 years old, the individual’s parent or guardian) grants the South African Leadership Gentlemen’s Club (SALGC) a worldwide nonexclusive, royalty-free, transferable license to use the essay, or any portion thereof, for SALGC purposes, and grants SALGC a world-wide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable license to use the entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or biographical information for advertising, publicity, and promotional purposes.
If selected as a winner, the individual (and for individuals under 18 years old, the individual’s parent or guardian) hereby agrees to irrevocably grant and assign exclusively to SALGC all rights, including copyright interests in the essays, under all laws, treaties, and conventions throughout the world, in all forms, languages, and media, now or hereafter known or developed without limitation. Use, publication, or dissemination by winners of their respective essays may be permitted at the discretion of SALGC, as approved in writing in advance by SALGC. Submitting an essay to this competition does not guarantee that the submission will be displayed or used by SALGC.
Use by SALGC of a winning or any other submission does not necessarily reflect the views of the SALGC, and in no event shall SALGC assume or have any responsibility or liability for any submission, in whole or in part, or for any claims, damages, or losses resulting from the use and/or appearance of any submission or the contents thereof.
SALGC reserves the right to refuse any submission in its sole discretion. SALGC also reserves the right at any time during the competition to remove or disqualify any submission when it believes in its sole discretion that the entrant has:
- infringed any third party’s copyright;
- failed to comply with these Terms and Conditions; or
- failed to obtain the necessary consents as set out in these terms and conditions.
SALGC shall not be liable for any claims, costs, liabilities, damages, expenses, and losses arising out of:
- SALGC’s use of the submission;
- the entrant’s participation in the competition;
- technical failures of any kind including but not limited to problems or delays arising from software or equipment malfunctions or computer viruses; and (iv) any events outside SALGC’s reasonable control.
By entering this competition, each individual entrant, (and for individuals under 18 years old, the individual’s parent or guardian) represents and warrants that:
- the entrant is the sole author, creator, and owner of the submission;
- except for the material used by permission, none of the intellectual property rights in the submission, or any portion thereof, has been assigned or transferred to anyone other than the entrant;
- the submission, through its creation and its submission as an entry, does not violate any applicable laws of the Republic of South Africa; and
- the submission, through its creation and its submission as an entry, does not infringe upon or violate intellectual property rights held by any third person or party.
Any entrant who supplies false information enters the SALGC essay Writing Contest by fraudulent means, or is otherwise determined to be in violation of the eligibility criteria or terms of Toxic Masculinity essay Writing Contest shall be ineligible for any prize and shall be required to forfeit any prize obtained based on such information or means.
By entering a submission in the contest, each individual entrant (and for individuals under 18 years old, the individual’s parent or guardian) agrees to comply with and be bound by the official rules and decisions of SALGC.
This Contest is void where prohibited. The Contest shall be governed by, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.