‘I am like a woman’: constructions of sexuality among gay men in a low-income South African community

Rabie, Francois; Lesch, Elmien

doi:10.1080/13691050902890344

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Despite the existence of a significant and growing literature and on homosexuality in South Africa, (for instance Gevisser and Cameron 1995;Niehaus 2002;Morgan and Wieringa 2005;Potgieter 2006;Reid 2006;Rabie and Lesch 2009;Gunkel 2010) academic literature on men who have sex with men within South African Muslim communities is scant. What material there is on Muslim sexuality indicates limited community acceptance and integration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Modes of (in)tolerance: South African Muslims and same-sex relationships

Bonthuys

Erlank

2012

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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In this study we interviewed members of a small, predominantly Muslim community in Johannesburg, South Africa, in order to ascertain attitudes towards people who engage in same-sex practices. We were interested in ascertaining whether community perceptions of homosexuality match the common (Western) assumption that Islam is profoundly homophobic. Our research, while preliminary, shows that although most people condemn same-sex practices on the grounds of religious principle, they also in practice did not act upon these views. Respondents held different views on whether a person is gay or lesbian as result of same-sex behaviour, on the one hand, or same-sex desire, on the other hand. This distinction accords with what was, for them, the difficulty of proving the same-sex practices had occurred given strict Muslim standards of proof. Community attitudes to homosexuality usually involve denial and secrecy in order to maintain the social fabric of daily life and relationships between community members.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Modes of (in)tolerance: South African Muslims and same-sex relationships

Bonthuys

Erlank

2012

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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“…Rabie & Lesch, 2009), the father participants seemed to assume that girls were primarily responsible for regulating men's sexual desire. Implicit in their narratives is the notion that it was daughters' responsibility to not tempt men as demonstrated by Chris: I am worried about the clothes that she wears, it is very tight, and you know how the boys' eyes get bigger.…”

Section: Keeping Daughters On Track To a Better Lifementioning

confidence: 96%

“…This includes poverty, unemployment, lower education levels, overcrowding, poor health facilities and welfare, high prevalence of substance abuse and interpersonal violence (Jewkes et al, 2005). Gender roles and relations characterised by male dominance and female subservience, and gendered division of labour in the home have been found to be dominant in low-income South African Coloured communities (Rabie & Lesch, 2009;Spjeldnaes et al, 2011). These gender constructions are also promoted by the various Christian denominations that are actively supported by and play an influential role in these communities (Engelbrecht, 2009;Shefer et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers, adolescent daughters and gender in a low-income South African community

Lesch

Scheffler

2015

Journal of Gender Studies

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Knowledge about father-adolescent daughter relationships is mostly based on research in North-American and European contexts. Furthermore, it tends to rely on either fathers' or daughters' perspectives, and not on dyadic data. Informed by a social constructionist perspective, this study investigated the fatherhood constructions of fathers and adolescent daughters in a South African low-income community. We used Charmaz' social constructionist grounded theory method. Forty-two interviews were conducted separately with fourteen fathers and their adolescent daughters. Five conceptual categories were identified: (i) Predominance of fathers' provider role; (ii) Fathers and daughters having an 'understanding' in which daughters apparently complied with fathers authoritarian positions; (iii) explicit expressions of affection were mostly limited to special occasions; (iv) Fathers wished a better future for their daughters and attempted to keep them on track to such a future and (v) lastly, Fathers' expected daughters to follow their instructions and not their bad examples. Our findings highlight the influential and constricting role of dominant masculine and feminine gender notions in the discourses and practices of the fathers and adolescent daughters in our study. However, some evidence of contestations were present that suggests the potential of a shift towards more equitable gender relations.

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“…The interaction of racial, classed and sexual scripts in sexual role performances and practice has been shown to influence the lived experiences and performances of gender and sexuality amongst gay men in a South African context Masvawure et al 2015) and attest to the importance of including this population group to understand how intersectionality matters for sexual well-being (Rabie and Lesch 2009).…”

Section: Top/bottom Constructs Amongst Gay Men: Implications For Sexumentioning

confidence: 99%

Top or Bottom? Varsity youth talk about gay sexuality in a Stepping Stones Workshop: Implications for sexual health

Kiguwa

Nduna²

2017

SAJHE

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This article discusses the constructs of sexuality amongst a group of LGBTI university students during a Stepping Stones workshop aimed at exploring their engagement with sexual and reproductive health rights issues as it affects them. These constructs include notions of binary identities of being gay, such as being a 'top' versus being a 'bottom', that are then applied to sexual practices and behaviour that have serious implications for sexual health and bodily integrity. We discuss the intersections of gender identity, sexuality, sexual health and sexual rights, arguing that such constructs are not only limiting in their demarcations of sexual boundaries in relationships and for intimacy but also that attempts to engage sexual health promotion must take into account the intersecting identities of gender and sexuality that are tied to sexual behaviour.

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‘I am like a woman’: constructions of sexuality among gay men in a low-income South African community

Cited by 20 publications

References 32 publications

Modes of (in)tolerance: South African Muslims and same-sex relationships

Modes of (in)tolerance: South African Muslims and same-sex relationships

Fathers, adolescent daughters and gender in a low-income South African community

Top or Bottom? Varsity youth talk about gay sexuality in a Stepping Stones Workshop: Implications for sexual health

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