Black women’s discourses about their representation in popular media Kholofelo Nyamah 679135 Supervised by: Prof. Garth Stevens This report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Social and Psychological Research in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. MASPR/18/006/IH September 2020 i Declaration I declare that: Black women’s discourses about their representation in popular media is of my own, unaided work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated by means of complete references. It is being submitted for the degree of Masters of Arts in the field of Social and Psychological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other university. 18 September 2020 Kholofelo Nyamah Date ii Dedication Samuel and Nomalady Nyamah iii Acknowledgements To my heavenly Father, thank you for all that I am and for equipping me with all that I needed to cross this finish line. You are truly the God who comes through. Glory be to God. To my mother Nomalady, without which none of this would’ve been possible, thank you for supporting me financially and emotionally through my later years as a student. Your unfailing love has kept me going, I hope to have made you proud. To my dad Samuel, thank you for your encouragement every step of the way and for wanting to help me with the write-up even though you have no knowledge of this subject matter. You have always believed in me and that alone has helped me complete this journey more than you know. To my brother Montsho, thank you for listening to my every complaint, disappointment and progressive report. Thank you for also pushing me to do better every time I took one step back. Look at us now, all those steps forward have finally led us here, we made it! To Kwanele, you have helped me out with this report in more ways than one, thank you for reminding me when things got hard or uncertain that ‘it be like that sometimes.’ To Vuyo, Zodwa and Nokhetho, thank you for your encouraging words, suggestions, advice, lending me your ears and being my “me too”. Your enthusiasm for this report revived me in the times I had lost mine. To the rest of my family and friends who have been rooting for me since day one, thank you. Your love does not go unnoticed. To my favourite person, David, you have been such an integral part of the completion of this report and I am so blessed to have met you. Thank you for your prayers, input, support, for keeping me going and redirecting me when I had lost my way. To my supervisor Prof. Garth Stevens, thank you for taking an interest in my idea when it was just a seed. Your insight and expertise as well as your support, patience and encouragement have been paramount to this report. It has been a pleasure learning from you. To my participants whose contribution to this study have been invaluable, thank you for your time. Many thanks to you all. May the good Lord bless you abundantly. iv Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the discourses embedded in the talk of Black women about their representation in popular magazines. Representations of women have been disproportionately adverse in their accounts of Black women throughout history. However, alongside these representations, pockets of counter-normative representations also always existed. Post-apartheid South Africa has seen a rapid development and advancement of Black women. This advancement has contributed to greater counter-normative representations that contest the aforementioned ones. The duality of representations that demonstrate both positive and negative constructions of Blackness and women, demonstrate the fluidity of Black gendered subjectivities. Though Black women’s representations have shifted significantly, the underlying pervasiveness of their adverse representations remain. So far, however, there has been minimal discussion or account of how Black South African women receive these images. The participants comprised of 17 Black women who were either in second, third or Honours year between the ages of 18-26 studying towards a degree at the University of the Witwatersrand. Four focus groups were conducted to capture their accounts and the embedded discourses. Parker’s Discourse analysis was used to extrapolate the meanings that arose from the discourses present in talk. The findings demonstrate that the participants both reproduced normative constructions of Black women that essentialised Black femininity in addition to producing counter-normative constructions that offered a number of alternate subjectivities available to Black women. The findings of this study have implications for uncovering how Black women contest and reproduce these representations, revealing different ways in which Black women experience themselves as being both raced and gendered in contemporary South Africa. Key words: Black women, discourse, representation, identity, body, mind, popular media, decolonial theory, intersectionality, habitus, South Africa v Table of Contents Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….i Dedication .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................. v Chapter 1: Background, Rationale and Aims ................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Research Aims .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.4 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Significance................................................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Chapter organisation ..................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2: Literature review and Theoretical Frameworks ...................................................... 10 2.1 Historical constructions of Black women ................................................................................... 10 2.1.1. Antiquity ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.1.2. Colonialism and Apartheid ............................................................................................ 11 2.1.3. Contemporary ................................................................................................................ 12 2.1.4. Recent years ................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Constructions of the body ........................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1. The body ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.2.2. The hair .......................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.3. Colourism ....................................................................................................................... 20 2.3 Constructions of the mind ........................................................................................................... 24 2.4. Constructions of the social position ........................................................................................... 26 2.5 Key Theoretical Resources ......................................................................................................... 28 2.5.1. Decolonial Theory ......................................................................................................... 28 2.5.2. Intersectionality.............................................................................................................. 31 2.5.3. Habitus ........................................................................................................................... 34 2.6 Other studies ............................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology ............................................................................ 43 3.1 Research aims ............................................................................................................................. 43 3.2 Research questions ...................................................................................................................... 43 3.3 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 43 3.4 Participants .................................................................................................................................. 45 3.5 Data collection procedure ........................................................................................................... 47 3.6. Data analysis .............................................................................................................................. 51 vi 3.7 Reflexivity................................................................................................................................... 54 3.8 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion .............................................................................................. 60 4.1. The working woman: Post-apartheid femininity discourse ....................................................... 60 4.1.1. The ‘emergence’ of the Black woman professional: “We've also been stereotyped to be quite slow” ………………………………………………………………………………………… . 61 4.1.2. Disavowing your femininity in the service of the professions: “Macho businesswomen” ...................................................................................................................... 63 4.1.3. Maintaining the status quo in gendered relations of the workplace: “To support the Black man” ............................................................................................................................... 66 4.2. Beauty and sexuality: The body discourse ................................................................................. 69 4.2.1. The sexual objectification of the Black woman’s body: “Is this a thirst trap?” ........... 69 4.2.2. ‘Reclaiming’ the sexualised body: “Owning words like slut even” .............................. 72 4.2.3 Effects of the media on Black women: “I’ve already internalised what Black beauty looks like” ................................................................................................................................ 74 4.3 The difficulties of being a Black woman: Post-apartheid discourse ........................................... 77 4.3.1. Black women and the inseparable reality of a struggle: “You can’t have it all” ............ 78 4.3.2. The Strong Black Woman: “You shouldn’t cry.” ........................................................... 81 4.3.3. The downside of feminism in the home: “Your feminism is a problem” ....................... 84 4.4 Normative constructions of Black femininity: Essentialising discourse ..................................... 86 4.4.1. Idealised femininity: Racially ambiguous ...................................................................... 86 4.4.2. The ‘emergence’ of the African woman: Racially unambiguous .................................. 89 4.5. Non-normative constructions of Black femininity: De-essentialising discourse ....................... 91 4.5.1. Failure to meet the Black standard: “You’re not Black enough” ................................... 92 4.5.2. Atypical display of Black femininity: “You know not just loud and as they say ignorant” ................................................................................................................................. 95 4.6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 97 Chapter 5: Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 98 5.1 Summary of findings ................................................................................................................... 98 5.2 Limitations of the study ............................................................................................................ 101 5.3 Future recommendations ........................................................................................................... 102 5.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 102 References ...................................................................................................................................... 104 Appendix A: University of the Witwatersrand Ethical Clearance ........................................... 122 Appendix B: Table of Participant Demographics ...................................................................... 123 Appendix C: Focus group schedule ............................................................................................ 125 Appendix D: Participation Information Sheet ........................................................................... 127 Appendix E: Consent Form (focus group) .................................................................................. 129 Appendix F: Consent Form (recording) ..................................................................................... 130 vii Appendix G: Focus Group Images .............................................................................................. 131 1 Chapter 1: Background, Rationale and Aims 1.1 Background A large body of literature has investigated the construct of race globally, that works to either advance or oppress certain groups of individuals across time and context, based primarily on physiognomic features. Of importance to this study, is the representation of Black communities – where historically Europeans were interested in the body of Africans and frequently characterised them as ‘beasts’ (Barthelemy, 1999), ‘dark strangers’ (Waters, 1997) or less than human, justifying practices such as slavery (Frazier, 1957). Historically, Blackness has been synonymous with inferiority, ‘Otherness’ or strangeness (Barthelemy, 1999). Alongside these normative constructions was the pro-Black movements which occurred in various parts of the world. The pro-Black movement’s goal was towards the freedom of Black people and anti- racism (Slate, 2012). In the United States of America (USA), these movements included the anti- slavery movement, Pan-Africanism (Slate, 2012), the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s (Gordon, 2000) and one of the most well-known Black power organisations the Black Panthers in the 1970s (Slate, 2012). Slate (2012) further states that, in South Africa, anti-colonial movements such as the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), were in parallel with other movements happening in other parts of the globe. Apartheid and its lens through which Black people were viewed reinforced a poor self-image on the oppressed (Gqola, 2001b). In response to this, pro-Black movements served to rewrite and/or redefine these, emphasising positive images of Blackness (Gqola, 2001b). As such, these movements generated new ways of describing what it means to be Black. This implication is notably not unique to the South African context. In recent years, the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA (Rickford, 2016) further creates a counter narrative of Blackness, one that transcends the body of the African with its references to inferiority, illustrating the mental capabilities of the Black community and the political will to advocate for change and social justice. The duality of representations that demonstrate positive and negative constructions on Blackness and the Black community, demonstrate the fluidity of Black subjectivities. Consequently, South Africa’s history is wrought with inequality due to the apartheid regime and is thus a prime example of the implications of racial hierarchy. During apartheid, psychologists positioned the intellect of the Black population as inferior to that of the White population (Laher & Cockroft, 2013). Laher and Cockroft (2013) further state that this positioning thus legitimised the apartheid system. These dominant discourses of inferiority have very imminent ideological 2 implications for Black people and remnants of these implications still function today. The Black community experiences disproportionately higher levels of poverty (Iqani & Kenny, 2015) post- apartheid. As a consequence, we see that “[r]ace remains a factor in shaping economic inequality, social division and exclusion among South Africans” (Erasmus, 2005, p. 15). However, more Black individuals are joining the middle class – often negatively referred to as ‘coconuts1’ or ‘clever blacks’ (Kitis, Milani & Levon, 2018) as if improving one’s socio- economic standing in life can be equated with a drive towards Whiteness. The commonality of these international and local racial discourses “is that each still views Black people as a ‘problem people’” (West, 2017, p. 263). Consequently, this study is concerned with the manner in which Blackness2 is discussed in relation to its representation by exploring the discursive devices used that work to align or challenge these constructions. Similarly, gender as a social construct has stimulated much debate in the literature. This study focuses on the perspectives and subjectivities of women who historically have been (mis)placed in the gender hierarchy as the result of the patriarchal system. Traditional discourses positioned women as nurturers, sexual objects and passive subjects (Jerald, Ward, Moss, Thomas & Fletcher, 2017). Comparably, Nielsen (2004) conducted a study and found that the ‘exposed girl’ reigns supreme as the dominant bodily discourse. As such, there is a need for a study that discovers the ways in which women contest their representation. South Africa is no different from the rest of the world in the gender debate. During apartheid, women were defined by their place in the home (Hassim, 1991). Since then, media discourse positioned women as the sexualised ‘Other’, passive and vulnerable (Sanger, 2008). A study 1 “Refers to individuals who are lacking in, or confused about, their African heritage, including language” (de Coninck, 2018, p. 164). 2 Originating from a social classification system of race during apartheid, discursively, there was not a singular way in which ‘black’ was used during this era. Those within its categorization were first known as Native, then Bantu, then blacks and finally African (Christopher, 2002). This is the way that these terms were used in apartheid South Africa by the state. In resistance movements such as the Black Consciousness Movement, Gqola (2001a) states that the term black became a racial and unifying signifier for the racially oppressed (encompassing Indian and Coloured races), which is contrary to the apartheid state whose labels were divisive. In post-apartheid South Africa, some of these continue to be used for employment equity purposes (Christopher, 2002). In other instances, some people reject these labels while others embrace them. Evidently, racial identification in a democratic South Africa is fluid (Gqola, 2001a). In the context of this study ‘Black’ as it relates to the target participants, refers to all those who would historically be classified as African in the apartheid era who today would be considered to be in some quarters Black African and are nationally South African. They are those who are the numerically dominant African population (Christopher, 2002) and thus distinguishable from other racial groups. Although this is not a homogenous view, I am holding this view in this study. 3 conducted by Glapka (2018) found that participants were reproducing yet resistant towards sexualised patriarchal discourses of the male gaze. Evidently, “the body appears to be a central battlefield between new subjectivities and old gender discourses both outside and inside young women today” (Nielsen, 2004, p. 21). Even though the above discourses construct a passive woman, Nielsen (2004) observes that even in the face of agency and expression of internal attributes the focus remained on the body. It should be acknowledged that our bodies are the initial and primary way in which we engage with the world but the researcher argues that attributes that transcend the body’s physical presentation should be acknowledged. Given that the trajectory of history of discourses as they pertain to the race and gender of the target participants in this study, were outlined, it is important to understand these in order to understand the intersectional discourses regarding Black women. This is due to the notion that each discourse (raced and gendered) forms a new layer onto previous discourses (Heugh, 2011) which inform the constructions, subjectivities, experiences, and livelihood of Black women today. ‘Black’ and ‘woman’ respectively have been positioned negatively and passively with bodily discourses as the main point of reference. Black women have had to negotiate both racial and gendered discourses which have mainly been to the detriment of their livelihood. The intersectionality of Black women’s subject positions by virtue of these discourses have resulted in the continuance of their low level position in society. As such, Black women’s constructions have been reduced to oversimplified discursive rhetoric, as a consequence of slavery (Jerald et al., 2017). Therefore, the primary focus of this study is to investigate the discourses young Black women use to explore their representations and subject positions in South Africa. Although the pervasiveness of the mammy, jezebel and sapphire3 constructions of Black women continue to flood public discourse, many Black women are responding in opposition to this representation (Muhammad & McArthur, 2015). Hypervisual Black women living in contexts such as Korea have expressed issues of discomfort and marginalisation (Bento, 2018). Evidently, Black women continue to carry and experience their racial and gendered history in a post- colonial society. However, in contrast, other women have used their history to their advantage by participating in a naked protest towards political change (Xaba, 2017). In this way, we see that although the Black female body receives various demeaning labels placed upon it and 3 West (1995) characterised the mammy stereotype as a Black woman who spent long hours doing domesticated ‘work’, the jezebel was a promiscuous woman while the sapphire was a hostile woman notably marked by her anger. 4 sexualisation from the gaze, these can be taken up and used as ammunition in the fight towards social change. This in essence sees a counter-normative construction of Black women as powerful as opposed to its former construction as passive. Racial and gender-based disparity is a marker of South African society with Black women bearing the brunt of this. In particular, the BCM (Black Consciousness Movement) was focused on a singular form of oppression that united all those oppressed while negating other forms of oppression within the Black community (Gqola, 2001b) and thus reproducing an essential notion of Blackness characteristic of colonial discourse. In its pursuit to unify the Black community it fostered and validated a certain experience of Black oppression (Gqola, 2001b) one that is masculine in orientation. As such, feminist writers and critics of that period commented on the dearth of Black women in the movement in addition to their active and equal participation (Gqola, 2001b). Gqola (2001b, p. 14) further argues that language was also used to perpetuate the masculine ideology of the BCM with the well-known phrase, “[B]lack man, you are on your own.” As such, the BCM and other pro-Black movements whose leadership consisted largely of men (Gqola, 2001b), were pro-Black male movements. Although the movement attempted to provide a positive image of the Black community and Blackness, it was centred around creating a positive image of the Black male subject, thus indirectly oppressing the Black female subject. This is another justification for why it is important to focus on the intersectionality of Black and women today. Black femininity is exoticised and hypersexualised in juxtaposition to that of normative White femininity (Sanger, 2015). Through the social mobility of Blackness and womanhood post- apartheid, “a conscious reconstruction of gender practices is now on the agenda in Southern Africa” (Connell, 2000, p. 14). Artist Nandipha Mntambo is one of the individuals working to reconstruct gender practices as she challenges and disrupts heteronormative Black feminist discourse with her pieces that reconstruct Black women in non-heteronormative discursive ways (see Sanger, 2013). These alternative discourses provide new subjectivities for Black femininity. Consequently, although essentialist constructions of women persist which negate the complexities of her identity, Black women are contesting these constructions. It is these stratified experiences and constructions that mark the discourses of Black women today. Discourses that are to be uncovered and revealed in this study by adopting Parker’s (1992) discourse analysis. In the main, the origin of these discourses reflect the phenomenon that, “members of more powerful social groups and institutions, and especially their leaders (the 5 elites), have more or less exclusive access to, and control over, one or more types of public discourse” (van Dijk, 2001, p. 356). As outside discourse originates from opportunistic agents who mean well (Heugh, 2011), by targeting Black women, this study aims to uncover expressions of agreement, agency, assertion and counter-normativity as post-apartheid South Africa gives rise to new forms of subjectivity and embodiment. 1.2 Rationale Historically, the representation of Black women in the literature and popular media has been riddled with various inferior images and dismissive identities. In African American literature for instance, Black women were observed to be categorised within three dominant identities, the mammy, matriarch and welfare mother or queen (Collins, 2002). Black women were also sexually objectified and dehumanised. This is also seen in the literature on African American slave women and their continuous accounts of rape by colonisers (Collins, 2002). Additionally, the account of Saartjie Baartman, a South African woman who was reduced to that of a spectacle in Paris is indicative of this dehumanisation. Young (1997) states that this ‘othering’ of the Black woman is indicative of the ways in which the Black body was differentiated from its ‘lighter’ counterparts. This is thus indicative of how the Black body has been seen as a spectacle, an avenue that this research aims to explore further, using media as the lens through which this phenomenon will be looked into. On the contrary, in the midst of the Black power movements which valorised a masculine form of Blackness over the feminine, some Black women solidified their participation in the freedom struggle which positioned them outside of discourses that reproduced sexist notions of their femininity (i.e. mother, wife and girlfriend) (Gqola, 2001). Women such as Albertina Sisulu, Lilian Ngoyi and Winnie Mandela provided positive representations of Black women during the freedom struggle of Apartheid (Schwartz, 1987). Across the globe, women such as Rosa Parks were at the foreground of the Civil Rights Movement (Clarke, 2000). Although their ratio in these movements paled in comparison to that of men, they demonstrated that the voice of the Black woman matters. The fall of apartheid signalled the rise of the urban Black population (Sisk, 2017). There is now a growing middle class potential in the socio-economic sphere (Iqani & Kenny, 2015). Black South Africans have become more prominent and are at the forefront in many aspects of society namely; politics, education, the economy, governance, etc. (Kitis et al., 2018). However, although the ways in which Black people now navigate the world largely differ, Woodard and 6 Mastin (2005) maintain that Black women are still depicted in a stereotypical manner in mainstream media. Studies conducted demonstrate that the body is maintained as the focal point for societal engagement with Black women in the media (see Motseki & Oyedemi, 2017; Peterson, Wingood, DiClemente, Harrington & Davies, 2007; Sanger, 2015; Schooler, Ward, Merriwether, & Caruthers, 2004). Similarly, Nielsen (2004) acknowledges that there is too much fascination with the body. The literature on women has remained, in the main, disproportionately adverse in its accounts of Black women throughout the ages. Noticeably there is a need to shed light on the representation of Black women, Blackness and femininity (Pilane & Iqani, 2016) that originates from those it constructs which this study aims to do. Notably, although representational devices are an element of this study the object of inquiry in this study is the discourses embedded in the discussion of those representational devices. In light of the above focus on Black women, the researcher argues for a shift from the site of construction as this oversimplification limits the subject positions she is capable of occupying. Post-apartheid has however seen a rapid development of Black women in society that counters this negative representation. So far, however, there has been minimal discussion or account of how Black South African women receive these images. This is because of “South Africa’s particular history of privileging some voices over others…[which] has particular effects in terms of the discursive structure” (Pauw, 2009, p.135) that has coloured the literature on Black South African women thus far. In the effort to minimise the gap of Black female voices, several studies have investigated the identity constructions of Black women (Mophosho, 2013; Taylor, 2017) but few have done so through a discursive lens (see Kiguwa, 2014). Similarly, a number of international studies have investigated how Black women respond to their representation in popular media (Adams-Bass, Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2014; Hall & Smith 2012; Muhammad & McArthur, 2015). Jerald and colleagues (2017) undertook a similar study using quantitative research. However, quantitative research lacks the ability to capture such significant subjective experiences and perspectives. All these studies found that participants rejected their representations. Despite these findings, which highlight the insidious nature of the representation of Black women, very little is known about how Black women in South Africa respond to their representation in popular media using discourse as a methodological tool. A high consumption of media is observed amongst Black youth (Jerald et al., 2017). As such, in light of South Africa’s historical past, and racial composition, it is worthwhile to undertake such a study because of the upward shift in society that Black people and Black women more specifically, have embarked on as the present discourses may differ from both older ones and those existing internationally. 7 Consequently, this study serves to add to the marginal yet progressive discourses that represent and reflect those it speaks about. Discourses are known to construct social subjects, the world around us and the mutual relationship between the two. They also work to reproduce or contest existing ways of being and beliefs in society (Parker, 1992). As a consequence, the study is interested in how the prevailing discourses come to construct Black women. This is important as discourse affects how Black women may act, behave and think about each other and about themselves as individuals. How Black women either reproduce or contest these representations is in itself discourse. Notably, discourses in this context will occur at two levels; firstly, discourses will occur in the talk of Black women about their representation. Secondly, their reflection on their representation and construction, through the use of popular media as a symbolic representation is essentially a form of discourse. As a result of these layers of discourse at play throughout this study, discourse analysis is important. Consequently, the findings of this study will provide implications aimed at uncovering how Black women contest and reproduce these representations, revealing different ways in which Black women experience themselves as being both raced and gendered in contemporary South Africa. 1.3 Research Aims Given that discourse constructs social identities the overarching aim of this study was to explore the discourses embedded in the talk of the representation of Black women in popular media. It has been shown in the context of feminist epistemology that magazines play a pertinent role in the social constructions and processes of gender identities (Pilane & Iqani, 2016). More specifically, it is widely known that Black women engage in media (Jerald et al., 2017). As such, it is these notions that drive the use of this popular medium as a departure point for the discussions and elicitation of discourse that (re)produces subjectivities of Black women. Therefore, this study examined how Black women read and receive these representations. Because discourse allows one to discover what is going on in society, the study also aimed to identify what these discourses reflect about the ideologies surrounding Black women who exist in the broader social context of South Africa. Considering that historical discourses function to advance or supress the livelihood of certain social identities, the study attempted to examine the functions of these discourses in a South African society. In view of this, the researcher arrived at the following research questions. 8 1.4 Research Questions 1. What are the discourses embedded within the talk of Black women when discussing their representation in popular media? 2. What do these discourses reflect about the broader social context in which Black women in South Africa are located? 3. What are the functions of these discourses in maintaining and contesting the constructions of Black women? 1.5 Significance This is an important study because it will contribute to ongoing theorising about feminism globally and more specifically, in the context of South Africa where new forms of Black feminism are competing with feminism internationally. As such, this study will enhance our understanding of Black women’s bodies, minds, emotions and their contradictions. A modern way in which we engage with Black feminism may be arrived at by highlighting the one- dimensional manner in which Black women have been discussed which has real implications for how they have been and continue to be treated in society at large. In paying attention to replicated and differentiated discourses expressed in this study as Nielsen (2004) suggests, we will be able to understand the processes of cultural and social change across temporal and spatial contexts that may work to differentiate Black femininity in South Africa from the global landscape. 1.6 Chapter organisation Chapter 2 provides a literature review on the most pertinent research relevant to this study. It comprises of a timeline of constructions of Black women throughout history. Followed by studies conducted on the constructions of their body and mind. It argues that Black women have predominantly been reduced to their physical bodies in literature while acknowledging the dearth of studies on their internal attributes intellectually and emotionally. Subsequently, theoretical resources underpinning this study are discussed, namely, Decolonial theory and its connection to representation, Intersectionality, as well as Habitus and its ties to performativity. These main resources have been supplemented with relative theories to highlight and address the intricate, nuanced complexities of Black women and their constructions and experiences. The chapter concludes with a discussion into previous studies and discourses of Black women. Chapter 3 describes the methodological foundations of the study. It details qualitative analysis as a necessary means of engagement with the subjective and intricate constructions of Black 9 women. In addition, it argues for and illuminates the use of discourse analysis as a suitable analytic tool in uncovering and critically engaging with the discourses present amongst Black women and how these discourses speak to and against broader societal discourses. The chapter begins with the aims and research questions of the study. These are then followed by a discussion of the data collection process, procedure and data analysis. It is then finalised with the researcher’s reflexive contributions to the study. Chapter 4 presents and critically explores the findings of the data by eliciting the discourses that are present while discussing what they reflect about the location of Black women in the broader social context and their function in the constructions of Black women in South Africa. Chapter 5 concludes the study with a summary of the research findings. Additionally, a brief discussion of the study’s limitations as well as possibilities for future research are addressed. 10 Chapter 2: Literature review and Theoretical Frameworks 2.1 Historical constructions of Black women To understand the discourses present in the talk about Black South African women we need to understand the historical mapping of how these discourses may have emerged. A considerable amount of literature has been published on Black women. Black women have been characterised and constructed differently over time. While an attempt was made to systematically map the constructions of Black women, these are in no way exhaustive of the constructions that are in existence globally. 2.1.1. Antiquity Literature debates the positioning of Black women in African cultures, however, a significant amount agrees to the lack of sexualisation of their bodies or sexuality that characterises later periods, but rather ascribes value to the embodiment of healing and fertility (Badejo, 1996, as cited in Razak, 2016). In West Africa, the body of Black women symbolised beauty, power and sacredness (Razak, 2016). Bigger bodies and women with children were constructed as possessing female power and fertility (Badejo, 1996, as cited in Razak, 2016). In society, they were positioned at the top of the social hierarchy as ‘queen-mothers’, queen-sisters, princesses, chiefs and occasional warriors (Sudarkasa, 1986) in addition to goddesses, priestesses or ancestors (Razak, 2016). The manner in which they were positioned in relation to others in cave paintings (Lhote, 1959, as cited in Razak, 2016) may have indicated their status (Razak, 2016) and construction as ‘great mother’ (Jeffries, 1992, as cited in Razak, 2016) due to her figure painted significantly larger in contrast to those drawn around her. Evidently, mothers were held to a high respectable standard. The jewellery in which she would often times be adorned illustrated this too. In Egypt, Black women were depicted as queens with their beauty linked to a slim waist and bigger thighs, while jewellery worn symbolised material and spiritual power (Hawass, 2009). As such, Hawass (2009) suggests that Black women held high status in Egypt too. Scholars have attempted to erase Black women from Egyptian history (Razak, 2016) as Drake (1991, as cited in Razak, 2016, p. 128) states “[r]ock paintings in the Sahara and pre-dynastic artefacts in Egyptian tombs reveal a keen awareness of difference in physical types, but what meanings were attached to them—aesthetic, erotic, mystical or status allocation—we have no way of knowing.” However, Lhote (1959, as cited in Razak, 2016) is certain about his identification of race in these paintings pointing out that the nature of the Black body is a significant marker and was thus, 11 exemplified in the paintings. Is it no wonder attempts to erase Black women from such prestigious positions in societies were made, positions that were not ascribed to during colonisation. Taken together, African cultures celebrated and revered their women, positioning them as holding prominent places in society due to what Razak (2016) postulates as their social, cultural and spiritual powers. By contrast, in Europe, Black women were regarded as the ‘fantastic Other’, someone who was physiologically different from the appearance of Europeans (Niebryzdowski, 2001). Seroto (2019) notes that travel journals containing descriptions of Black South African people, for the most part, were negative during the 16th and 17th century. Later during the late eighteen and nineteenth century however, Black South Africans were allegedly likened to classical characters in celebration of their difference and beauty by European writers and painters (Glenn, 2007). All things considered, Black women were previously constructed in positive, powerful positions whereas, through the gaze of Europeans, their construction for the most part was juxtaposed to their own, i.e. differentiated from themselves. In this way we see that, Black women from a non- Western lens were praised while through the Western lens, they were ‘Othered’. 2.1.2. Colonialism and Apartheid During colonialism, African American women in art were sexualised and represented as servants (Gilman, 1985). Visually, Blackness was always painted in juxtaposition to Whiteness. It was during this period that Baartman represented the essence of Black women in South Africa and many parts of the world. Domestic work also characterised the labour, construction and position in society of Black women during colonial years globally (Gaitskell, Kimble, Maconachie & Unterhalter, 1983). This construction was cited as the ‘mammy’ who was a docile woman tasked with taking care of White households (Taylor, 2017). Similarly, Black women during apartheid were constructed as powerless under law. However, there were pockets of resistance as they fought tirelessly to reclaim their freedom (Alpeni, 2012) during anti-racist movements (Gqola, 2001b). Although literature provides a linear narrative of Black people as oppressed we should acknowledge the counter-normative discourses of bravery that existed in the fight against inequality (Reddy, 2018). Even in the face of resistance from all women during this period, two of the most prevalent images of Black women during slavery are oppositional sexual narratives, the asexual mammy and the hypersexual jezebel (Roberts, 2010; Taylor, 2017). Accordingly, Black women possessed no legal authority or autonomy over their existence in the world (Smith, 1983) or their narratives. Irrespective of the fact that these constructions are polar opposites, they both share the role of servitude to the White population which defined their lives in society. 12 2.1.3. Contemporary In contemporary film, Jerald and colleagues (2017) note the limited representation of African American women, as passive, nurturing and sexual objects. In contrast, in post-apartheid South Africa, Black women are often constructed as educated, urbanised and belonging to the middle class. However, Black women in sport, such as Caster Semenya, are depicted as masculine (Miller, 2015), a juxtaposition to the aforementioned characterisations. Apart from moments of non-normative representations mentioned above, Black women have however predominantly been in service of the needs, or entertainment to, their European counterparts – thus demonstrating the inferior position they held in society. This inferior position is prevalent in Zimbabwe as Black women, post-colonisation still bear the brunt of control as they are represented as uncultured and in need of governance in terms of their attire by men (Settler & Engh, 2015). Artists like Betye Saar and Murry DePillars have contested the normative images of the mammy and have (re)presented her as “resistant” against the docile narrative in terms of which she has been constructed (Jackson, 2010). This action provides counter narratives to the ones created about Black women by others. Jackson (2010, p. 45) notes that “often the narratives that get told about Black women are exclusive of our memory and experiences.” Consequently, this highlights the need for alternate constructions of Black women that are more inclusive, varied and non-linear regarding their subjectivity, embodiment and place in society. Additionally, what is needed is a speaking back to problematic identities and constructions of gendered Blackness in addition to the power relations that make it possible for such constructions to be (re)produced. Although normative constructions seem to seep through periods of time, Black women continue to challenge these constructions by writing their own narratives and presenting alternate subjectivity. 2.1.4. Recent years In recent years, Black women are portrayed as prone to crises, unmarried, gold diggers, problematic characters and suffering due to interpersonal ills resulting from a man (i.e. physical, verbal and emotional abuse, infidelity and sexual assault) (Tounsel, 2015). Notably, these media constructions limit possibilities of alternate ways of reading, understanding, knowing (Tounsel, 2015) and relating to Black women. While the mammy caters to White families ‘the strong Black woman’ caters to her Black family and community (Nelson, Cardemil & Adeoye, 2016). This discourse offers a counter to the 13 normative and oppressive construction of the mammy but has been argued as equally problematic (Nelson et al., 2016). Woman rappers and singers who have been deemed as equally problematic use their music to communicate their autonomy and sexuality (on their terms) (Taylor, 2017). Because Black women are seen occupying multiple professions that were previously reserved for White individuals, this is a testament to the progress and freedoms, they now enjoy in society without law guiding the way in which they conduct themselves and the occupations they select. The New South African Woman (NSAW) representation arose in line with the upward social mobility of the Black population (Gqola, 2016), thus making it possible to imagine and construct new identities and subjectivities. As a result, the NSAW is agentic, hard-working, career orientated, heterosexually coupled, aesthetically pleasing and sophisticated with her construction produced and perpetuated by multiple forms of media (Gqola, 2016). Gqola (2016, p. 122) characterises her as “existing in an ambivalent relationship to historical [both colonial and apartheid] femininities: simultaneously challenging and re-inscribing them.” This representation although seemingly positive and multidimensional in comparison to the former historical constructions, remains contentious as she continues to be objectified and subject to a man. Black women have more agency as they now willingly participate in the normative representations in popular mediums (Morgan, 1999) and/or choose to challenge them. Even though they are seen to perpetuate these problematic constructions they do so on their own terms (Taylor, 2017). Subsequently, current images of Black women are embedded in beliefs about Black females that appeared centuries ago (Collins, 2002). As such, this indicates the pervasive ideologies that traversed through time to present themselves today. Shaw (1990, as cited in Jackson, 2010) points out that Black people themselves are vehicles and complicit in the perpetuation of the diminishing narratives and discourses that circulate society. For example, Tyler Perry, a well- known black movie director, is known for perpetuating these constructions in his films (Tounsel, 2015). Evidently, the construction of Black women across time indicates a fluidity in representation where Black women occupied both positive and negative representations. In recent years however, more Black women both internationally and locally have made considerable strides to cultivate the depth of their identity (Kitis et al., 2018), but the underlying pervasiveness of their physical appearance and how it is received by the Western world remains. It is for this reason that this study aims to explore the ways in which South African women use discursive practices to understand how our society is shaped by and through these representations. 14 2.2 Constructions of the body 2.2.1. The body There has been a tendency to rely on particular kinds of Black feminist writers in feminist research. A fair amount of work on Black feminism has come from North America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe. By and large, Black feminist work has come from North America. Although there is a universal brand of Black feminism which looks at the ways Black women challenge and manage various oppressions (Norwood, 2013), Black women are not monolithic (Mupotsa, 2010). This is based on the grounds of diversity due to social identities including class, geographical, cultural and national location. As such, this study serves as a means through which we see that differences in social contexts shape and influence the ways in which elements of Black feminism manifest themselves uniquely in a social context like South Africa. One of the focal points of Black women that results in debate, objectification and misogyny is the body (Taylor, 2017). Claims about the body by Western society include beauty, ugliness and sexuality (Erasmus, 2000). Feminist scholars characterise ‘the gaze’ as experienced in relations of power between the oppressed at the hands of the oppressor (Taylor, 2017) i.e. slavery and patriarchy. Baartman’s dehumanising narrative serves as an exemplar of ‘the gaze’ and demonstrates how policing, treatment and perceptions of Black women are linked to the appearance of their bodies (Miller-Young, 2014). Because of this, we see that “the gaze” determines ideologies, and by extension, how others are treated. Consequently, it explains the treatment of Black women’s bodies in American media (Miller-Young, 2014), global media as well as everyday lived experiences, e.g. femicide. It is clear that the appearance of Black women works to “produce discourses that reflect the ways in which women’s physical bodies operate as sites of oppression…where they seem to have little agency in presenting themselves differently” (Sanger, 2015, p. 6), even though considerable strides have been taken towards this (see Gallego, 2016). Previous studies found that the contemporary ideals of Black women in the media tend to influence the minds of young Black women (Jerald et al., 2017; Peterson et al., 2007). A recent study by Motseki and Oyedemi (2017) found that South African celebrities perpetuate the dominant ideals of beauty in society, through having a slimmer body, lighter skin and wearing weaves. Adherence to these ideals was shown to affect the mindset of the authors’ adolescent Black sample. This demonstrates that dominant constructions of Black women reflected in media may align (or dis-align) with self-constructions of many young, Black women. Similarly, 15 Littlefield (2008) observes that African American women’s self-perceptions are significantly impacted by the dominant imagery of Black women in the media. In contrast, studies conducted by Puoane and colleagues (2005) and Okop, Mukumbang, Mathole, Levitt and Puoane (2016) exploring the perceptions of body image amongst obese middle-aged women, found that a fuller figure was associated with positive attributes such as confidence, beauty, dignity, respect, wealth and strength. This finding opposes the ideal body image of Black women in mainstream media and demonstrates that dominant constructions of Black women can be contested. This difference may arguably be caused by age. West (1995) asserts that power, prosperity and attractiveness are associated with thinness in the media. However, as evidenced, normative ideals of the Black body do not neatly align across generations, culture or contexts. Even within sports media, a space where celebratory discourses dominate the different ways in which Black women are accomplishing feats, “[t]acky and inappropriately sexual” was media’s response to tennis player Serena Williams’ tight-fitting catsuit during her tennis match at the 2002 US Open (Schultz, 2005) marking her body’s construction as deviant (Thomson, 1997). In contrast, Anne White, a White woman who wore a similar catsuit in 1985 in the Wimbledon tournament received positive commentary from the public such as, “it’s attractive” (Nittle, 2018). Similarly, Caster Semenya a highly publicised 800m South African track and field Olympian also faced scrutiny from the media (both locally and internationally), society at large and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) board due to her muscular physique. Many have expressed outrage due to Semenya being allowed to compete and proceed to win athletic games but, according to tweets by disgruntled South Africans, question why the same controversy had not followed the likes of Jarmila Kratochvílová, who is the current 800m world record holder (Citizen Reporter, 2018). Evidently, “[i]t seems that the better a [B]lack female athlete is, the more likely it is that society will question her gender” (van der Klashorst & Safarikova, 2018 p. 652) or the appropriateness of her outfits. This phenomenon underscores the pervasiveness of Black women’s bodies as problematic and sexualised and as Schultz (2005) points out, located within racialised discourse. Furthermore, this is indicative of White bodies which have been adorned with beauty while Black bodies are marred with ugliness (Erasmus, 2000). It is notable to mention however that questions were raised regarding Jarmila Kratochvílová’s appearance (McClelland, 2011, as cited in Weiser & Weiser, 2016). However, these questions did not result in the testing and suppression of her natural hormones as it did Semenya. This does however raise awareness of the phenomenon that falling outside of societal 16 norms of femininity results in suspicion and disbelief. As such, although some Black women are accepting of their bodies even when they fall outside of the acceptable body type (White femininity), the media continues to present images that work against counter-normative notions of what the Black body should look like and how it is to be received. Society and sociocultural practices that govern our relationships are largely skewed to a particular set of identities. The work of Mupotsa (2010) cautions against knowledge production that negates a large group of people. As such, Mupotsa (2010) provides a critique of heteronormativity because it normalises ideologies of gender, sexuality and their expressions interpersonally. Therefore, it is important to highlight the pervasiveness of heteronormativity as “[f]eminist spaces in particular, [which are]…sites of struggle, intended to be sites of safety, instead conjure isolation amongst sisters” (Mupotsa, 2013, p. 118). Because this study seeks to go beyond normative representations of the body it is, important to consider these non- heteronormative sexualities that also exists alongside other forms of Blackness. Mupotsa’s (2010) critique rests on the notion that normalised and adequate citizenship in a nation rests upon, and is shaped by one’s conformity to heteronormative practises of society, i.e. within romantic relationships and familial relationships. However, by doing so, she argues that this normalised presentation of gender neglects a large part of the population who do not subscribe to these notions and/or sit outside of predetermined practices of sexuality. For example, because Black women such as Semenya, are constructed in masculine ways (Miller, 2015), we understand the surveillance and ‘othering’ of Black women’s bodies, gender and sexuality in this way because they are viewed through this heteronormative and essentialist lens which assumes a monolithic presentation of gender and sexuality. By virtue of the existence of women like Semenya and many others, we know this to be a fallacy. However, through the normalised and aspirational display of heteronormative relations by dominant societal institutions, we see how power relations and the way in which gender, sexuality and the body stem from patriarchal ideology (Mupotsa, 2010). The concentration of the body as the point of departure for the discussion of the representation of Black women is not to retell and perpetuate the unjust, oppressive ways in which Black women have been discussed, studied and experienced. This study on the other hand, seeks to critique, uncover and perhaps shed light on ways in which other avenues of representation of Black women have been neglected (that goes beyond the obvious externalities). 17 2.2.2. The hair Hair in the Black community is a very provocative and important subject (Erasmus, 1997). Some scholars believe that the experience of Black women in South Africa is unique whereas others believe their counterparts globally share in the complexities of Black hair. One thing is for certain, the texture of Black hair affords one the unique ability to craft and mould the hair into different styles (Johnson & Bankhead, 2014) such as braids, perms, dreadlocks or relaxed (chemically treated) hair (Erasmus, 1997). Descriptions of hair types as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ stemmed from the pencil test under the Population Registration Act of 1950, during the apartheid government which resulted in the classification of races by the hair (Madlela, 2018); if the pencil was caught in the hair the individual was classified as Black due to the coarse texture. Consequently, the manner in which a Black woman wears her hair is believed to reflect cultural and political issues as women who wear their hair straight i.e. closer to White standards are viewed as privileged (Banks, 2000) while others who wear their hair natural (i.e. not chemically treated) are viewed as underprivileged. Subsequently, the identity of the Black woman is unambiguously linked to the relationship with her hair (Johnson & Bankhead, 2014) in addition to gender, race, and culture (Madlela, 2018). Evidently, colonialism has left lasting effects on their ideals of beauty as ‘good’ hair is seen as straight, whereas ‘bad’ hair is kinky (Erasmus, 1997). In line with the literature, Motseki and Oyedemi (2017) found amongst their adolescent sample that weaves were considered a marker of beauty, unlike natural hair which was found to be a nuisance to maintain. Similarly, Madlela (2018) conducted a two-part study, which initially investigated the ways in which Black hair is viewed in advertisements about hair relaxers and then explored the perceptions of Black women in reference to these advertisements. Although the framing of natural hair (i.e. difficult to manage, dull, ugly and displaying Black pride) and relaxed hair (epitome of beauty) differed, Black women justified hair relaxing as a maintenance practice and not an ideal of Whiteness and/or privilege. Additionally, Majali, Coetzee and Rau (2017) conducted a narrative study on African hair and found that ‘good’ hair and ‘bad’ hair do not reflect the known descriptions in the literature but is rather attributed to strong or weak hair within the Black community. Although they move between Western and African styles of hair, it is characterised by personal choice rather than a desire to attain Whiteness. Furthermore, a study in Kenya found that Black women relaxed their hair to make it easy to style, more manageable and consequently save time (Etemesi, 2007). Seemingly, Black women relax their hair for various reasons with all contesting the dominant narrative that relaxed hair is a pursuit of 18 privilege. Also, the literary constructions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ hair do not apply in the everyday lives of Black women today as they did in years past. The natural hair movement has emerged as a response to European standards of beauty (Erasmus, 1997) towards self-acceptance and the maintenance of hair (Johnson & Bankhead, 2014). In a study conducted by King and Niabaly (2013) Black women with natural hair insightfully expressed that those who relax their hair do so under the misconception that relaxed hair is easier to maintain than natural hair. It could be argued that the inability to manage natural hair was caused by never learning how to care for it in the first place as most Black women were born into a home that relaxed and modified the natural hair from childhood, as they learnt from their mothers. Black women did not learn what hair products to use that made the hair more manageable and easier to style. This knowledge only came after, with the natural hair movement. Contrary to popular belief, natural hair can be just as easy to maintain, depending on how you style it as some styles can be kept for several days at a time. It is noteworthy to mention that those who chose to go natural in King and Niabaly’s, (2013) study, say that they did so as a personal choice rather than as a political statement as discourses surrounding natural hair include ‘outspoken’ and ‘Afrocentric.’ As such, this illustrates how spatiotemporal circumstances influence our choices. During this era of freedom and acceptance of hair types that were not previously embraced, famous Jazz musician Hugh Masekela refused to be photographed with Black women who did not have natural hair (Madlela, 2018). Hair in the African community during antiquity was a symbol of status and religion (Byrd & Tharps, 2014) thus indicating its significance. Therefore, it is not surprising that Masekela felt so strongly against women with relaxed hair as African hair was celebrated. King and Niabaly (2013, p. 6) assert that “[d]ue to the context of oppression in which it was created and promoted, it is understandable to view hair relaxers as alienating [B]lack women. However, relaxers have evolved to be part of [B]lack culture and do not necessarily equal self-hatred anymore.” Therefore, it is important that we do not participate in alienating Black women based on their hair choices as this contributes to their continued oppression within the Black community. Instead, Black women should rather embrace, accept and celebrate the diverse ways in which women celebrate their Blackness because these contest the normative discourses on relaxed hair (Thompson, 2008). Not only are Western standards of beauty and acceptance socialised but also institutionalised as King and Niabaly (2013) note that the state of hair determines whether you gain employment 19 and/or entry into school. Although this occurrence opposes the aforementioned call to embrace diverse expressions of hair, it points to the ways ‘good’ hair continue to perpetuate society. In 2016, Black school girls at the Pretoria Girls High were warned by White teachers to relax their natural hair (Ngoepe, 2016). Therefore, not only is natural hair discriminated against but policed where failure to comply was threatened with a banning of school examinations (Madlela, 2018). In response to this, the pupil and the public who shared her views protested against the schools’ discriminatory demands which garnered widespread attention from the media while placing a spotlight on the discriminatory school policies (Alubafi, Ramphalile & Rankoana, 2018). This incident is not unique to South Africa but a similar incident occurred in the USA as a young girl in Florida was almost expelled due to her natural hair (Fox News, 2013). It is clear that when Black women take the opportunity to speak (as it is not freely given) they position themselves as agentic beings that provide alternative ways of being. Hazlewood (2014) conducted a study on the internalisation of perceptions of African American women’s hair in the workplace. She found that the participants believed natural hair decreased their chances of employment thus internalising negative connotations of natural hair, even though these were never expressed outwardly by employers and fellow employees. In the working environment straight hair is believed to be perceived as professional while natural as untidy (Thompson, 2009). Consequently, “[i]t is very difficult to find natural hair professional when professionalism is defined by the dominant majority in power” (Hazlewood, 2014, p. 58). These examples as well as Masekela’s significant act indicate that along with the discrimination and policing of Black women’s hair from others, the Black community continues to perpetuate these normative discourses on hair, even in the face of much needed non-normative discourses. It also illustrates the racialising of what is considered as professional hair. Taking this into consideration, it is no wonder Thompson (2008) advocates for an acceptance of diverse styles, especially when those that are deemed as ‘bad’ hair (i.e. natural hair) negatively impact the schooling environment and working opportunities of Black women. All things considered, hair is powerful and of great importance to Black people as it determines how one may think of themselves and how others perceive and treat them (Thompson, 2009). Due to the social upliftment of the Black community as a whole, women are spoiled for choice in terms of how they want to style their hair. Hazlewood (2014) asserts that with the range of styles available to Black women they need to unlearn the former connotations of Black hair, whether relaxed or natural. Currently, choices in hairstyles are more so about freedom of expression which creates the space for alternate discourses that positively and progressively speak to the 20 different styles of Black hair. This enables a comprehensive representative view of the hair of Black women in all aspects of society. However, we cannot escape the fact that hair care in the Black community is a contentious subject to navigate (Madlela, 2018). This is because Black hairstyles are never synonymous with comfort and ease, whether one wears their hair naturally or straightened, race is always underlying these styles whose discourse is rooted in Western and essentialising notions of Blackness (Erasmus, 2000). 2.2.3. Colourism A considerable amount of international literature exists on colourism (Monk, 2014), less so in the South African context. Colourism which originated from slavery (Hunter, 2002) is a system that privileges lighter pigment over dark (Keith & Herring, 1991). This distinction has permeated modern society, with Black people of lighter skin being considered beautiful, due to its proximity to Whiteness (Hunter, 2002) as the epitome of beauty. Phoenix (2014) experienced this first- hand through a Twitter search of the words ‘dark girls’ which brought up a fair amount of harmful comments. In a similar way that there is a hierarchy of race when it comes to racism, there is a hierarchy of colour when it comes to colourism, with darker skinned women largely experiencing the perils of colourism in the media. For example, Lupita Nyong’o appeared shades lighter in Vanity Fair (Daily Mail, 2014) while Beyoncé also seemed to be significantly lighter (Eriksen, 2012) than her natural light shade. These images both caused controversy and magazines were criticised for their altered images. Implicitly, the messages in these images convey that light skin is desired in the media (Phoenix, 2014). Alexandra Shulman, a British Vogue editor, shares these sentiments by stating that according to research, White cover girls seem to sell better than Black cover girls (Fox, 2010). It is no wonder colourism continues in society, as media supports the ideology, leaving little room for alternate forms of beauty. Evidently, colourism can be used to understand the lack of representation in media regarding the diversity of shades of Black women, and their misrepresentation. Zoe Saldana, a woman of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, was cast to play Nina Simone in the biopic Nina (Chilton, 2013) which incorporated makeup to resemble the appearance of Nina more realistically (an Afro, prosthetic nose and darker foundation) (Bull, 2012). This led to an outcry from the public (Phoenix, 2014) as they felt she was not the most suitable candidate for the role. Not only does this example illustrate the colourist hierarchy effectively but “[t]these casting choices [also] help to perpetuate the marginalisation of women with dark skin by rendering them invisible even at 21 times when people with darker skin are being represented, and should, therefore, be seen” (Phoenix, 2014, p. 103). Seemingly, the colour of privilege and/ or the privilege of colour works to foreground lighter shades even when the character they portray is of a darker shade and/or ethnicity. While colourism is embodied in the media it also exists in smaller but significant spaces. A number of studies found that lighter skinned women were more privileged and contained social capital (i.e. better spousal status, income and education) than darker skinned women (Glenn, 2008; Hunter, 2002). Another study conducted by Viglione, Hannon and DeFina (2011) found light-skinned women received lighter prison sentences than their darker skinned counterparts. Furthermore, in South Africa, a study conducted by Mbatha (2017) demonstrated that reports of colourism in line with the literature were experienced by her sample within their friendship, familial and academic contexts. It is noteworthy to mention that the participants themselves acknowledged the internalisation of colourism in terms of the partners they wanted to date or how they felt about themselves in relation to their darker siblings. Participants further expressed that they had grown out of this mindset and realised that the difference in skin shade has no bearing on who the person is. These examples illustrate that colourism exists in a range of social contexts and more significantly that we can unlearn normative ideology in favour of self- acceptance. Conversely, in a South African study conducted by Dlova, Hamed, Tsoka-Gwegweni and Grobler (2015) a survey of hospital patients found that 33.3% said that they used skin lightening products for the purpose of brightening the skin as opposed to attaining a lighter complexion. On the contrary, Thomas (2012) suggests that the use of lighteners was to improve one’s social and societal prospects as the colour of one’s skin is known to impact on social and economic opportunities. This and other examples support the notion of colourism and the advantages light- skinned women appear to possess over dark-skinned women. These disadvantages and discrimination against darker skin and natural hair have resulted in self-esteem issues (hooks, 2005, as cited in Phoenix, 2014) which in turn drives women to bleach their skin or wear straight hair to fit in and improve one’s social standing both within the Black community and the social community at large, as evidenced above. At the extreme end of the colour spectrum within Black communities, Burke (2015) notes that those with albinism do not enjoy the advantages of a lighter pigment. Those with albinism are observed to be disadvantaged beyond that of dark-skinned individuals as they are killed for their 22 body parts due to misconceptions and connotations around witchcraft (Burke, 2015). Evidently, not all light shades are privileged. A more inclusive representation in popular media would help to dispel these beliefs. This is due to the occurrence that ‘odd’ and ‘evil’ are often dominant descriptions in the media discourses that surround albinos (Burke, 2015). More recently, darker shades and more generally, Black women of all shades have become more represented in the media, illustrating the many shades of beauty that Black women embody, as seen in music videos, movies, series and beauty pageants with examples from Zozibini Tunzi (Miss Universe 2019 from South Africa). Her renowned speech given during the Q&A session displays how Black women are contesting and tearing down the walls of colourist ideology by stating, “I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful. And I think that it’s time that that stops today” (Bhengu, 2019). Colourism illustrates how the appearance of Black women is disproportionately scrutinised (hooks, 2005, as cited in Phoenix, 2014). Even though it is psychologically difficult for Black women to navigate a world (Phoenix, 2014), Black women are constantly challenging, contesting and providing counter discourses to the detrimental ones already in existence. Similarly, Hassan (2018) conducted a study into the manner in which African American women make use of hashtags on Twitter to contest colourist ideals of beauty. Hassan (2018) found that Twitter is a tool that is widely used to celebrate and validate the beauty of darker skinned women even though the women did report that the dark skin ‘movement’ may be insignificant as it brings up other issues including the essentialisation of dark-skinned women. Even so, majority found it necessary as a counter to the colourist discourse on dark-skinned women. Evidently, Black women are active in using their voice, in countering devaluing discourses as Tunzi encourages women “…to take up space. Nothing is as important as taking up space in society and cementing yourself”’ (Singer, 2019). Phoenix (2014) suggests that in countering normative narratives of colourism one should not merely reproduce terminologies but provide alternatives, an attempt that was made by Twitter users in Hassan’s (2018) study with hashtags such as ‘#blackisbeautiful’. In the same way, this study aims to illuminate the mono representation while exploring the multifaceted dimensions of Black women that is absent in the literature. Consequently, considering these studies of the bodies of Black women, not only are Black women marginalised by Western standards of beauty but within the Black community itself. This particular engagement with Black women’s physical appearance raises questions; why this fascination with the Black female body? Are they not more than their physical appearance? Due 23 to the effects of colonialism that continue to permeate society, Black women have been socialised to pay attention to the physical differences that have led to the overbearing scrutiny of the body of Black women. In critiquing societal and literary engagement of the body this research illustrates just that, and how pertinent it is to represent Black women outside the norms and gaze of the Western world. In many instances, the representation of Black women by Western standards has been fallacious. Conversely, not only are Black women observed from a Western gaze as ‘exotic’ as raced beings and objectified as gendered beings, they are stripped away of anything beyond the site of the body. Furthermore, a comparison often occurs between Black bodies and White bodies regarding issues of beauty evident in the studies above. As a result, the body of Black women becomes a site for the reproduction of race, gender and differences in both gender and race. Until now, Black women have been represented in a predominantly passive manner that is in accordance with a Western gaze of beauty and Blackness. On the contrary, there are also alternative representations where Black women use their bodies in very proactive, progressive and agentive ways. For instance, in post-apartheid movements such as FeesMustFall (FMF), Black women mobilised to challenge political activism characterised by men at the forefront of issues affecting Black people (Dlakavu, 2015). As such, Black women led a protest in the fight for free education and to end the exploitation of Black outsourced workers (Dlakavu, 2015). Similarly, a ‘nude’ protest which involved three Black women standing bare-chested between the line of protesting students and armed police in the attempt to end the violence that prevailed during the FMF protest, occurred (Ndlovu, 2017). It is the site of the Black body that continues to bring about attention, dialogue and change even in the midst of violence and chaos as the courageous act accomplished its purpose. It is a site that Black women use to enact their voices and a bold feminine response to resistance (see Xaba, 2017). As such, the body is not only there to be gazed upon in a salacious or exotic manner, but it is also a place where women have mobilised for themselves. There are also other instances of contesting representations where Black women do not have the desire to fit into a narrative of acceptable Black femininity. Particularly, Mupotsa (2015) observes this in her account of Black brides and the disruptions that occur at various sites of the body including, its shape, dress colour, and dress shape that is reminiscent of the ideal ‘White wedding’ that characterises modernity. Not only do these acts demonstrate that Black women are in charge of their ideas but essentially the body is the main device used by women to resist Western ideals of being Black and woman (see Gqola, 2016). These examples also illustrate that 24 irrespective of one’s body shape, hairstyle and pigment, Black women readily and willingly join together to draw attention to and take steps towards eradicating the issues that affect all Black women unlike the previous narrative which seemingly pits acceptable and desirable Black femininity against the unacceptable. Although it is problematic that Black women remain objectified and critiqued on their physical appearance, Black women themselves use this site of femininity to promote change. Evidently, the body garners the attention of others to not only take note but consider the social or political issues being raised. As such, the body actively challenges the largely passive narrative that was described previously in favour of one where Black women are capable authors of their own destinies, representations and experiences. It is this resistance to oppressive and limiting systems that illustrate the determination of the Black woman’s fight against inferiority (King, 1988). 2.3 Constructions of the mind The research to date has tended to focus on the physical attributes of Black women and the way that this has been portrayed through a Western lens. While there has been a focus on the body which is a site of both progressive and regressive constructions, there is less of a focus on her mind. This may be a result of the colonial gaze. Yet, even when there has been a focus on the mind, it is one-dimensional. In particular, Black women have been represented mainly, as caregivers and domestic workers (Collins, 2002; Gaitskell et al., 1983). These representations serve particular kinds of functions and demonstrate a particular level of competence intellectually and emotionally which has real implications in the world. For example, women in academic and employment institutions are underrepresented and disproportionally so (Mabokela, 2003; Moore, 2017). Topics that widely dominate the literature regarding the experiences of Black women in academia include lack of career advancement and challenges to equal opportunity (Davis & Maldonado, 2015). Accordingly, power, gender and race work to influence the academic experience of the Black woman (Moore, 2017) as she is immersed in a space that is dominated by White intellectuals (Davis & Maldonado, 2015). Hull, Scott and Smith (1982) assert that the intellect of Black women is regarded as inherently inferior by White intellectuals as a consequence of belonging to these two categorical groups, i.e. Black and woman. If this line of thinking is still in play today, it is no wonder Black women are struggling to advance in their careers. Kiguwa (2019) observes how exclusionary practices within the academy present themselves as racialisation. She questions, “[h]ow do we engage denigrating moments of representation of our bodies by others – in a context that does not allow us to be individuals, or understood outside of 25 racialized tropes?” (Kiguwa. 2019, p. 11). Evidently, the academy and institutions like this present spaces where Black bodies are not welcomed, and where dominant practices and narratives work to reproduce themselves. Kiguwa (2019, p. 12) describes her experience in the academy as (re)producing an alienated space, “…whether it is the infantilisation, dismissal, disregard of my competence and capacity as an academic and researcher” which is arguably the experience of many Black women in the workplace. In a particular South African study conducted by Jaga, Arabandi, Bagraim and Mdlongwa, (2018) it was found that although the implementation of the Employment Equity Act sought to redress the imbalances of labour relations and access to the workplace post-apartheid, which was previously reserved for White males, a participant disappointingly stated that “nothing has changed” (p. 1). Keeping in line with transformation, gender quotas have been credited for the increase in representation of Black women in political spaces in the government, however, representation does not equate to significant participation in decision-making (Myeni, 2014). Such practices demonstrate the inequalities and unyielding political, cultural and social barriers that affect Black women today even when much ‘change’ has occurred. It is the inability to participate in decision-making that feeds the historical dominant constructions. As stated by Hull and colleagues (1982), the only documentation of Black women’s intellectual experiences which arguably contest the above-mentioned intellectual capabilities of Black women, has been by Black scholars; arguably, without these vital scholars the body would largely remain at the centre. The strong Black women who arguably can be accredited for changes that have come about in advancing women to the positions and spaces they are now able to occupy in modernity, is a contested construction both praised for her resilience and rejected for her characterisation of strength. Conceptualised in several ways, the strong Black woman refers to physical strength and labour during slavery as well as coping with emotional distress (Nelson et al., 2016). As a result, this phenomenon often leads to a rejection of depression and its existence amongst Black women (Edge & Rogers, 2005). This drive to overcome has and is believed to prevent Black women from expressing their needs which are often times ignored as a result (Nelson et al., 2016). It is this silence that arguably contributes to the underreporting and underdiagnosing of mental illness in South Africa (Matlala, Maponya, Chigome & Meyer, 2018). In the South African context, the strong Black women construct is evident in the frequently used Zulu phrase, ‘wathint’umfazi, wathint’imbokodo,’ which translates to ‘you strike a woman, you 26 strike a rock’ (Mojapelo, 2019). Mojapelo is critical of this famous phrase as it normalises adversity, the need to be resilient and to overcome while negating vulnerability. However, Black women should feel safe to seek guidance or assistance if needed. We should not equate strength to the ability to withstand pain and emotional trauma while negating the emotional and psychological effects this may create. In a study conducted by Nelson and colleagues (2016), Black women both agreed and contested the essentialisation of a Black woman’s strength, raising concerns for the way in which it continues to be conceptualised, especially when its description has real implications for how Black women are treated and cared for. Consequently, it is very clear that there are complex representations around the body and mind of Black women as they have been shown to produce both positive and negative constructions respectively. Although these constructions are contested, it is clear that normative constructions are weaved into representations of Black women beyond their body. Consequently, this study aims to seek whether these constructions exist within the discourses present amongst the target sample and how they connect to broader ideological discourses about Black women. 2.4. Constructions of the social position Blackness in a post-apartheid South Africa means grappling with having your blackness interrogated, contested, essentialised etc. As history serves, not only do the Black population contend with the White gaze which has legalised and institutionalised discourses that categorised and constructed the Black subject, but also contend with the Black gaze (Canham & Williams, 2016). According to Canham and Williams (2016, p. 29) the Black gaze “monitors the transgression of class boundaries and established and accepted norms of [B]lack behaviour.” It is through this gaze that we see the, “derogatory labelling of some [B]lack individuals as ‘coconut’ in the South African context [which] is another example of how some subjectivities may transgress prescribed constructs of [B]lackness in this instance and come to be positioned as ‘[O]ther’” (Kiguwa, 2014, p. 80). Because there is a racialisation of language, accent, body type, hair texture, and skin tone, the surveillance of Blackness occurs when individuals appear to possess traits that mimic Whiteness. A study conducted by Canham and Williams (2016) found that Black professionals experience both the constraints of the White gaze which serves to reinforce the position of Whiteness while the Black gaze works to police their Black authenticity. Under this gaze, the Black middle class is believed to have given up their Blackness in exchange for Whiteness. 27 Given the upward mobility of the Black population and Black women, as evidenced in the previous section, we see how further compounded the experience of the Black individual. She is scrutinised not only by her White peers through the questioning of her intellect (Kiguwa, 2019) but by her Black peers too, who question her loyalty to the Black race. Therefore, not only are Black women at the bottom of the gender and race hierarchy but those who fall outside the boundaries of what it means to be Black, are at the bottom of the intra-racial hierarchy. By understanding Blackness and the ways in which it comes to be understood more broadly, we may understand the ways in which the identity of Black women is experienced in different social contexts. Despite the entry of Black women into the professional sector that has moved Black women from lower paying jobs associated with Black femininity to higher paying jobs associated with White masculinity, Black women are still met with barriers and challenges. The constructions of the raced and gendered identities of Black women continue to be undermined. This is evident in the way that ‘woman’ together with ‘work’ remains abnormal (Pauw, 2009). Additionally, traditional gender roles are reproduced in the work place. As such, femininity is constructed as incompetent (Chisholm, 2001). It is no wonder women report receiving less respect than men (Morrison, White & van Velsor, 1987). Therefore, in the same way that Black women report a lack of career advancement due to their race and gender (Davis & Maldonado, 2015), sexist notions of the feminine hinder the career advancement of women in the workplace (Pauw, 2009). The workplace and those who have access to it continues to be racialised post-apartheid as higher unemployment rates are observed in Black women in comparison to Black men and both White women and White men (Pillay, 1985). Evidently, the social mobility of Black women is undermined by their interpolation into colonial and patriarchal discourses (McRobbie, 2009). The maintenance of gender roles and the division of labour in the home continues to be reproduced in everyday discourse (Shefer et al., 2008) and media discourse (Azeez, 2010). In a study that investigated gender identity of men and women living in South Africa (Western Cape), Shefer and colleagues (2008) found that traditional gender roles that mandate the division of labour and patriarchal notions of masculinity and femininity in romantic relationships were reproduced. In this manner, we see a reproduction of heteronormative relations that work to normalise certain relationships over others (Mupotsa, 2010). Contrary to this reproduction, participants also produced constructs of masculinity and femininity that contested gender relational ideology as women were constructed as breadwinners and men, staying in the home. Consequently, although there is a maintenance of gendered and heteronormative ideology, new 28 ways of imagining and practicing gender relations exist. Even though participants in Shefer and colleague’s (2008) study were reported as hesitant towards this change (due to the undermining of masculinity and upliftment of femininity) this is reflective of many shifts that have occurred in South Africa since the ‘fall’ of apartheid. In light of the above literature, Black women’s social positioning appears to be in a continuous tension between progressive constructions that free her from the Western ideology of her Black femininity and regressive constructions that thrust her back into the normative notions of Black subjectivity. These areas of Black women’s lives are so inextricably linked and tied into their identity as Black women. As such, we see how “race [and gender] remains a source of division, mobilisation and exclusion” (Erasmus, 2005, p. 15). This is what makes the positioning, experience and navigation of the world of a Black woman unique from other raced and gendered beings (Collins, 2002). They are never just Black, never just woman but always in any space, both. 2.5 Key Theoretical Resources 2.5.1. Decolonial Theory Decolonialism and the decolonial turn was birthed in Latin America with leaders such as Maria Lugones and Aimé Césaire. Decolonial theory provides a critique of colonisation and coloniality (Maldonado-Torres, 2011). According to Fanon, Satre and Farrington (1963) decolonisation is the departure point of the colonised person. Decoloniality recognises the problems with colonisation and highlights the importance of decolonisation that arguably has not yet been fully actualised (Maldonado-Torres, 2011). Dietze (2014) notes that decolonial theory is agency- centred and looks at exposing epistemologies that were stifled during colonisation, towards a new look on modernity that moves away from the Western view of the world. It is important to note that modernity as it is understood today by decolonial scholars is the face of coloniality under the guise of progress within discourse (Giraldo, 2016). In understanding the decolonial turn in society and in the South African context specifically, we see that, “[d]ecoloniality [is] only made necessary as a consequence of the depredations of colonialism, but in [its] intellectual resistance to associated forms of epistemological dominance [it] offers more than simple opposition. [Decolonial theory] offers…the possibility of a new geopolitics of knowledge” (Bhambra, 2014, p. 120). As such, decolonisation brings to the fore and argues against the notion of the silenced subject through discourse (Kynčlová & Knotková-Čapková, 2017). 29 On the ground, we see how the student protests that began in 2015 countered the notion of the silenced subject as they aimed to disrupt ‘Whiteness’ in response to the current curriculum which promotes a stereotyping of Africa as well as White supremacy and dominancy (Heleta, 2016). It is arguable that the media also tends to present a narrow view of Africa, its knowledge systems and the constructions of Black women which Heleta (2016) argues as unrepresentative of Black South Africans, their knowledge systems and their lived experiences. Because the current curriculum does not cater to indigenous knowledge systems, Heleta, (2016, p. 1) calls for South African universities to “completely rethink, reframe and reconstruct the curriculum” as they remain rooted in colonial, apartheid and Western epistemology which continues to maintain the poverty stricken status of the Black majority. Notably, Fanon (2008) describes the processes of the development of the inferiority complex and the psychological effects of racial oppression. Arguably, it is this very complex that may plague Black students whose learning material does not reflect the way they navigate and experience the world. Fanon (2008) also moves towards the construction of self and rejection of an identity imposed by the White world. As such, decolonial theory works to reveal self-constructions of the Black woman and non-normative narratives that work to depict her in a light that went unnoticed during periods such as apartheid – where she is celebrated rather than vilified. On the other hand, Du Bois (2008) conceptualised double consciousness as a notion that African Americans contain two contrasting identities, one that is African and the other, White American. These identities are in constant conflict but result in a dominant view of oneself through the lens of the White American. It is this lens that Fanon and colleagues (1963) seek to disrupt and change. This theory provides an insight into the lived experiences of Black women during colonisation and the lasting effects that remain post-colonisation. In particular, Phumla Gqola, a postcolonial scholar, brings to the fore the manner in which slave memory is performed in post- apartheid South Africa (Boswell, 2012). As such, the manner in which the representations of this study are received will rest upon these memory formations. It also provides the importance of an identity that works to empower women rather than work to return them back to the oppressed individuals they fought so tirelessly to leave behind. In contemporary South Africa where there is a call to rethink decolonisation, subsequently, there is a call to rethink particular theories of the self and other, which will enable a construction of subjectivity that incorporates the experiences, representations and discourses of Black women in this moment, through the use of decolonial theory. Scholars such as Crenshaw (1989) challenge 30 Fanon and other male scholars as they do not adequately address the experiences of the colonised female subject (Black women). In addition, these male scholars do not address the work we need to do to unlearn essentialising the female subject during modernity. While the oppressive hardships of Black women’s Blackness are identified, those that describe her gender are erased, even though this erasure is a substantial site of subordination that characterises the experience of being both Black and woman. It is for this reason that Lugones (2007) argues that through the expressions of gender, race and sexuality it is possible to understand modernity better as it pertains to the female subject. It should be noted that these articulations of gender, race and sexuality are in no way an attempt to provide an alternate or feminist view on coloniality but rather a rereading of it from the awareness of these social identities that come to characterise its current works in this context (Bhambra, 2014). It has been noted that when the gender of Black women is made visible, the media tends to exoticise women’s bodies (Kynčlová & Knotková-Čapková, 2017). For example, Giraldo (2016) is amongst those who