ETD Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/104


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Subject: search.filters.subject.Lesbians--South Africa

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    "Not my boxes anyway": textual intersections of gendered, sexual and racial identities in post-aprtheid South Africa
    (2018) Pinheiro, Gabriela Sofia
    The perpetual construction of black lesbian women’s identities with discourses of risk and pathology is problematic, reinforcing stereotypes that blackwash homophobia. Blackwashing discourse invisibilises the complexity, fluidity and plurality implicated in the construction and performance of identities. Further, risk paradigms conceal the agency and power that many black lesbian women demonstrate in their negotiation of post-apartheid spaces. The current study aimed to explore possible ways in which black lesbian women construct and perform their identities in post-apartheid South Africa. Activism performed by, and for, black lesbian women was focalised in the research, diverging from discourses of blackwashing homophobia. Underpinned by feminist, intersectionality theory, a pluralist methodological approach was implemented, combining performativity theories with Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. The data analysed was naturally-occurring, comprising online materials produced by black lesbian female activists. The findings of the study highlighted that black lesbian women in post-apartheid South Africa construct and perform multi-faceted identities. Moreover, discourses of violence featured minimally in participants’ constructions, compared to that which has been foregrounded previously. Instead, discourses of power, agency, activism and resilience emerged – attesting the intricate possibilities that exist at the intersections of gendered, sexual and racial identities in contemporary South Africa.
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    Activist art vs. public performances as sources of activism for black South African lesbians
    (2016) Hackney, Luke David
    Statistics indicate that over the past 16 years (since the year 2000), there have been over 30 black lesbians in South Africa, who have been victims of rape (and in some cases, brutal murder as well) as a result of homophobic violence, which is aimed at “curing” lesbians of their homosexuality. The aim of this research report is to examine how activist methods, such as art exhibitions and public performances, are challenging homophobic violence. The report explores the effectiveness of activist artworks (which include public performances and works by South African artists Zanele Mutholi and Gabrielle Le Roux) in raising awareness and educating South Africans about homophobic violence, which is a daily reality for many members of the South African LGBTQ community. For the purpose of this report, the Queer and Trans Art-iculations exhibition, which was held at the Wits Art Museum (WAM) in 2014, is compared to the annual Johannesburg Pride parade of 2012. These events are analysed in terms of their effectiveness in creating awareness about homophobic violence and how they can improve on being more informative and effective in the future. The importance of this research is to add to the existing body of work around art activism as it explores the ways in which activist artists attempt to make social and political change regarding the South African LGBTQ community.
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    Responding to hate crimes: identity politics in the context of race and class division among South African LGBTI
    (2016-03-01) Clayton, Matthew Ross
    This paper examines race and class schisms among South African LGBTI persons using the lens of hate crimes legislation. While much praise is given to South Africa’s constitutional framework which provides for non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, LGBTI persons still face unacceptably high levels of violence and victimisation. An ongoing trend of violent murders of black lesbian women in particular has mobilised advocacy by LGBTI organisations and other civil society actors to call for hate crimes legislation. This paper takes a critical look at hate crimes legislation and the potential problems of its application in a society with gross inequality and power discrepancies. This critique has as its foundation an acknowledgement that action needs to be taken to address the scourge of violence, while at the same time understanding the intersectionality of oppression and the uneven results achieved by liberal legal reform.