De/coloniality, disabled sexualities, and anti-oppressive education: a review of Southern African literature

Abstract

This review seeks to establish the current body of knowledge on the intersection of de/coloniality and the sexuality of disabled individuals. It suggests that few studies problematise the lack of such intersections in Southern Africa. The review locates this dearth of knowledge within the recent rollout of comprehensive sexuality education in schools, which remains silent to intersections of de/coloniality, disability, and sexuality. This analysis builds on the recommendation of Kumashiro to consider marginalised and post-structural theories in developing anti-oppressive education for disabled groups in terms of their sexualities. This becomes relevant as the sexuality of disabled individuals has been subject to institutional oppression based on colonial ideologies of health, beauty, and sexuality, since socio-medical discourses portray disabled individuals as infertile, non-sexual, and degendered. Given the shortage of relevant studies, the review uses the available local and international literature to locate the complex, interconnected structures and actors that perpetuate repressive colonial systems such as ableism, compulsory able-bodiedness, and heteronormativity within sexuality education. It suggests alternative ways of looking at these intersections within the diverse scope of comprehensive sexuality education. It does not claim that decoloniality is the panacea to erase the consequences of coloniality towards disabled sexualities, but suggests that it is one of the modalities that can redress the complex, interconnected systems of post-colonial oppression. The review recommends that future authors consider other marginalised and post-structural theories in conceptualising anti-oppressive education, like Foucauldian theories.

The Sexuality of Disabled Bodies and Individuals with Disability in South Africa's Comprehensive Sexuality Education Scripted Lesson Plans

“…Within the study, Ubisi [13] suggested interrogating discourses of who should be allowed to reproduce (or not), and with whom, which is largely missing in most sexuality education for youth living with disabilities. On the other hand, Ubisi [15] suggested emancipating the sexuality of disabled persons by integrating themes of decoloniality, disability and sexuality within anti-oppressive education like the CSE SLPs.…”

“…Ubisi [13] also proposed post-structural theory such as Foucault's governmentality and Butler's performativity theory to unearth underlying discourses behind socio-medical and cultural discourses about the sexuality of persons living with disabilities, such as who should be allowed to reproduce (and with whom). I have further suggested decoloniality theory as an emancipatory framework to unmask how colonial standards have affected how we view the health and fertility of persons living with disabilities in other work [15]. To date, few studies have considered this knowledge to examine the visibility of the sexuality of persons living with disabilities in South Africa's Department of Basic Education's CSE SLPs.…”

Colonialities of chrononormativity: Exploring the im/possibilities of un/becoming childhoods

“…Like the figure of diffraction below (Figure 2), as the marks of colonisation materialise with ongoing iterations of relations, the spectres of colonisation re-emerge as multiplicitous colonialities and the possibilities they exclude; that is, interference patterns. Entangled with the materialisation of various colonialities, such as those of gender (Lugones, 2007), ableism (Ubisi, 2021), and class (Quijano, 2000), the multiplicitous im/possibilities of becoming otherwise always already exist. The configuration that operates to exclude other ways of being simultaneously defines the parameters for being otherwise.…”