How do young South Africans give meaning to love? In this paper we draw on findings from an interview study to examine the ways in which young Africans, aged 16 to 17 years in a poor township in KwaZulu-Natal province, express ideals of love and romance. Their claims to love we show are strategic advantages as they negotiate poverty and economic marginalisation. Girls' ideals of love are tied to their aspirations towards middle-class consumerism. Love becomes inseparable from the idealisation of men who provide. Upholding provider masculinity is a strategic means to claim money, fashionable clothes and prestige. Unlike girls, the boys' love investments were focused on farm girls from rural areas in South Africa. Farm girls were constructed as virgins with little investment in commodification. Farm girls are a strategic option through which boys' economic marginalisation experienced in the township girls is reconciled through an exalted masculinity. Love is produced by particular sets of economic and social circumstances through which gender inequalities are reproduced, and should be taken more seriously in working with young people to address gendered social environments and HIV risk.

South African law forbids excluding pregnant teenagers from school and permits young parents to continue with their schooling. However, the existence of progressive policy and law does not by itself ensure that pregnant teenagers and young parents remain in school or experience as little disruption to their studies as possible. Two of the factors influencing the experiences that pregnant girls and young parents have are the attitudes and practices of teachers. We explore how teachers in diverse South African secondary schools respond to young women's pregnancy and parenting. Teachers' responses are situated within a complex set of meanings invoking sexuality (and sexual censure), gender, class and race. We argue that many teachers view teenage pregnancy and parenting as social problems - a domain of sexual shame with negative effects and disruptive to the academic life of the school (including teachers and other learners). Teachers do not monolithically subscribe to such negativity and, in the context of changing policy and gender equality, there are glimmers of hope. Without much support, training or any formal school-based support, many teachers show care and concern for pregnant women and young parents, providing some hope for better experiences of schooling.

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The time has come for re-thinking sexualities in Africa' (Arnfred, 2004: 7). This special issue arose from conversations between the editors and other scholars re-thinking and re-imagining African sexualities during and after two conferences -'Writing African Women -Poetics and Politics of African Gender Research'; and 'From Boys to Men: Masculinities and Risk Conference' -both held at the University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa, in January 2005. This was followed by a 'Call for Papers' and reviewing in the usual way. The issue comprises seven articles and four book reviews, along with, sadly, the obituary of Ronald Louw, a pioneering figure in the South African gay movement and in gay scholarship.In this introduction we provide a framework for and an overview of the seven articles included in this special issue. We begin by discussing the history and historiography of sexuality in Southern Africa. We then examine some of the theoretical approaches used in the study of sexuality in Southern Africa. Finally, we summarize the contributions, drawing connections between them.

In the context of HIV/AIDS, youth have become central to contemporary South African social thought and educational policy concerns regarding changing behaviour, addressing gender inequalities, safe sex and preventing the spread of the disease. Yet we know very little about how youth in specific social contexts give meaning to gender and sexuality. Greater understanding of these processes would appear vital to successful educational strategies in the protection against HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Deevia Bhana and Rob Pattman argue that the lives and identities of young men and women must be central in any initiative to change behaviour. Development (2009) 52, 68–74. doi:10.1057/dev.2008.75

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