Title: The prize and the price : shaping sexualities in South Africa /
Authors: Steyn, Melissa E.; Van Zyl, Mikki.
Publisher: HSRC Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Sex South Africa.; Sexual orientation South Africa.; Heterosexism South Africa.
Abstract: "What is the prize, and who pays the price? The desired and the desirable are often constellated through our ideas of what is undesired and undesirable, deeply knotted into our sense of self, our sense of where and how we fit into the world. These notions of desire form the backdrop to this powerful volume which examines the historical continuities and interruptions of heteronormativity in South African society. Leading and emerging scholars disentangle the strands of particular sexual identities, and deepen the reader's understanding of the multiple workings of heteronormativity in South African society in particular, and sexuality in general. Through analyzing where and how heteronormativity intersects with other axes of power and social identity, contributors to this volume reveal that it is not monolithic, and heterosexuality as the South African norm is effectively 'outed' from within heteronormativity. The chapters extend beyond the well researched areas of sexuality - same sexualities, HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence - to less discussed areas, such as childhood sexuality and disability. The multiplicity of issues raised have relevance for a range of readers interested in the fledgling field of Sexualities Studies, and in its significance the scholarship extends well beyond the borders of South Africa"--Cover.
Contents: The prize and the price. Negotiating new deals: Colouring sexualities - how some black South African schoolgirls respond to racial and gendered inequalities; glamour, glitz and girls - the meanings of femininity in high school matric ball culture in urban South Africa; e-race-ing the line - South African interracial relationships yesterday and today. Flipping the coin: renegotiating masculinity in the lowveld: narratives of male-male sex in compounds, prisons and at home; fauna, flora and fucking - female sex safaris in South Africa; are blind people better lovers?; sexuality in later life. Paying the price: The weather watchers: gender, violence and social control in South Africa; nurturing the sexuality of disabled girls: the challenges of parenting for mothers; a decent place? space and morality in a former 'poor white' suburb; less is (m)orr: apres le deluge (or rather: more or less ...): an essay about and conversation with Margaret Orr. Holding onto the prize: heterosex among young South Africans: research reflections; apartheid, anti-apartheid and post-apartheid sexualities; 'astride a dangerous dividing line': a discourse analysis of preschool teachers' talk about childhood sexuality. Que(e)rying the contract: Criminalising the act of sex: attitudes to adult commercial sex work in South Africa; queer marriage: sexualising citizenship and the development of freedoms in South Africa; beyond the constitution: from sexual rights to belonging.