Social Science Education

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Gender, sexuality and violence: an ethnographic case study of 12-13-year-old school girl femininities at a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2022) Govender, Naresa.; Bhana, Deevia.; Moosa, Shaaista.
This ethnographic study is situated at the intersection of gender, sexuality and violence in illuminating the experiences of 12- and 13-year-old girls in a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Rejecting a dominant focus on girls as passive and docile, the thesis illustrates the complex ways through which young femininity is produced, accommodated and challenged in relation to heterosexuality. Given the relative scholarly silence around primary school girls’ constructions of heterosexuality in South Africa, the thesis asserts that such girls’ investment in heterosexuality is a contradictory pursuit: their desires and active agency are self-evident, but so are the oppressive ways through which their own actions serve male interests. I argue that the primary school context is an active site through which young femininities are produced, as girls reinforce and challenge gender norms. Firstly, I focus on the expectations and respectability accorded to the ‘proper girl’ status. Being a proper girl was a dominant expectation and pervaded girls’ experiences in their family, community, and school. Proper girl femininity rested on pre-dominant norms founded on sexual docility and subordination to gender and cultural traditions. These norms were emphasized in relation to male power, and the presumption of girls’ vulnerability and victimhood in regards to sex and sexual violence. Secondly, and notwithstanding these dominant messages, girls contested proper girl femininity. They drew on particular heterosexual strategies and were subjected to - and subjected themselves to - the societal compulsion towards obligatory heterosexuality. The study shows that girls invested in boys and boyfriends, modified their bodies and dressed and engaged in sexual talk and practices through which their existence as sexual beings was illuminated in direct contrast to proper girl femininity. However, their insistent expressions of sexual agency occurred in the context of rape culture at school. Thus, thirdly, the study highlights detailed accounts, from girls’ own perspectives, of the ways in which sexual harassment, violence and inequalities manifested at school through the insidiousness of rape culture. Nearly all the girls interviewed spoke of sexual harassment meted out by boys and other girls, which they either experienced or witnessed. However, girls’ attempts to contest and redress rape culture at school were limited as a result of the broader social and cultural system they lived in being based in turn on patriarchal conditions which offered little support for girls’ experiences of harassment and violence. In this regard, the girls spoke of how their teachers paid little to no attention to gendered and sexual relations as such within the school environment. Rape culture was tolerated and normalised. In this way, the school was found to be complicit in the casualisation of gender binaries, gender-based violence and misogyny. Culturally-embedded notions of emphasised femininity were also used as a powerful tool to regulate girls and a means of disassociating them from expressing agency and speaking out about their experiences of sexual violence within the school environment. Finally, the greatest significance of a study of this nature lies in its contribution to the designing of suitable intervention strategies to support South African primary schoolgirls in their experiences of gender, sexuality and violence. These strategies must take into account the complex and early formations of femininities that are outlined in this study. An approach that recognises girls’ pleasurable investments in the development of their own sexuality, as well as their potentially damaging investments, while also underscoring the need for a greater focus on younger girls’ femininity in South Africa, is more necessary than ever. This should be a vital and necessary step in working towards ensuring that schoolgirls are equipped with the skills and knowledge to negotiate their sexualities in more positive and gender-equitable ways, rather than in ways that are harmful to their sexual and emotional well-being. IQOQA Lolu cwaningo olu-ethnographic luzinze kwimpambanonjulalwazi yobulili, ngokobulili kanye nodlame ekuqoqweni kwesipiliyoni samantombazane aneminyaka eyi-12 neyi-13 ezikoleni ezisemazingeni aphansi KwaZulu-Natali. Kuchithwa umbono odumile wokuthi izingane zamantombazane kummele zingatshengisi mizwa. Ucwaningo luveza ubunkimbinkimbi bendlela izingane zamantombazane ezikhuliswa ngayo kanye nendlela ezizizwa ngayo ngobunye ubulili. Ngenxa yokwentuleka kocwaningo mayelana nendlela amantombazane abuka ngayo ubulili eNingizimu Afrika, lolu cwaningo lugcizelela ukuthi izingane zamantombazane mazifundiswe ukucabanga ngobulili ngendlela ehlukile: izifiso zazo kanye nokwenza kwazo kuba sobala, kanti kanjalo nezindlela ezicindezelayo ezenza ukuthi zenganyelwe ngabesilisa kufezeke nezidingo zabesilisa. Ngiqakulisa ngokuthi unzikandaweni wasesikoleni esisemazingeni aphansi yindawo ekahle yokubumba imiqondo yamantombazanyana ukuba amelane nobunye ubulili. Okukuqala, ngagxila kokulindelekile kanye nenhlonipho eye inikwe ‘intombazane eqotho’. Lokhu kwenza izingane zamantombazane zibe nesipiliyoni nemfundiso ethile emakhaya azo, emphakathini nasesikoleni. Ukuba intombazane eqotho kuncike kwimfundiso edumile eyakhelwe phezu kwemikhuba yokuthoba efundiswa izingane zamantombazane etholakala nasemasikweni. Le mikhuba ibifakwa ezingqondweni ukuze abesilisa babe namandla kunabesifazane okugcine sekwenza abesifazane bahlukunyezwe. Okwesibili, yize kunjalo, amantombazane abe eselwela ukuzimela njengabesifazane. Asebenzise amandla alobu obunye ubulili, okusuke kulindeleke kubulili ngabunye emphakathini. Ucwaningo luveza ukuthi amantombazane azinikele ukubukeka kubafana, nasemasokeni, ashintsha indlela yokugqoka, ashintsha nemizimba yawo kanye nengxoxo yawo mayelana nezobulili okwenza ukuba avele ngenye indlela eyehlukile kunale elindeleke entombazaneni, axoxa ngezocansi njengalokhu benza abesilisa. Kepha indlela aziphatha ngayo ngokobulili akwenza kuzikandaweni womkhuba wokudlwendulwa owenzeka ezikoleni. Ngakho-ke, okwesithathu, ucwaningo lubeka imininingwane, ngeso lamantobazane, ngezigameko zokunukubewa ngokocansi , udlame kanye nokungalingani okukhona ezikoleni ngenxa yesiko lokudlwengula. Cishe wonke amantombazane abe ababambiqhaza akhulume ngokuhlukunyezwa ngokocansi okwenziwa ngabafana namanye amantombazane, bekubona kwenzeka noma kwenzeka kubona. Kepha izikhalo zawo amantombazane azibanga nampumelelo ngenxa yendlela umphakathi kanye nesiko okucabanga ngayo lusishaya indiva lesi sikhalo. Ngale ndlela, amantombazane akhuluma ngendlela othisha nabo abangawunaki umkhuba wokuhlukumeza ngokobulili kanye nagokocansi esikoleni. Ukudlwengula kwakubekezelelwa futhi kubukeka kuyimpilo. Lokhu kwenza isikole sibe nesandla ukubhebhethekisa lesi sihlava. Kanti nalo usiko lunesandla ngokuba lubheke amantombazane ngendlela yokuthi akumele akhulume ngezimo zokuhlukunyezwa ngokobulili abhekana nazo esikoleni. Okokugcina, ukubaluleka kocwaningo olunjenganalolu kuncike ekutheni lube nomthelela ekuletheni izinguquko ezikoleni zaseNingizimu Afrika ezinkingeni zobulili, ngokobulili kanye nodlame. Lawo masu kuyomele abheke ubunkimbinkimbi nokushesha kokuqala ukuzinaka ngokobulili okuvezwa yilolu cwaningo. Ucwaningo oluthinta injabulo yamantombazane ekuzikhuliseni ngokobulili bawo, kanjalo nobungozi balokhu, kube kubhekwa ukubaluleka kokugxila emantombazaneni asemancane eNingizimu Afrika lubaluleke kakhulu. Lokhu kumele kube yisinyathelo esibaluleke kakhulu ekuqinisekiseni ukuthi amantombazane athola amakhono nolwazi okufanele ukubhekana nobulili ngendlela efanele okunezindlela ezilimazayo ngokobulili nemizwa.
Parents’ views on transgender identities and the implications for learners.
(2021) Tshibe, Thembisa Princess.; Bhana, Deevia.
The systematic mistreatment of transgendered people within our society at large, and particularly in rural South Africa, is still endemic. Parents, however, can play a very crucial role in challenging and changing the assumptions their children have about transgendered people. Thus, this study addresses the ways in which parents understand trans identities and he implications thereof for children. The research design for this study adopted the use of semi structured individual interviews using photo-elicitation methods with parents residing at Umgababa, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, who currently have children in primary school. Two research issues underpinned the study. Firstly, the study sought to understand parents’ constructions of transgendered identities. Secondly, the research attempted to comprehend the ways that tradition and culture shape parents’ attitudes towards transgendered people. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data gathered from the participants. The research findings of the study revealed limited understandings of transgender identities amongst the parents interviewed. They also showed that rural parents’ reactions towards transgendered individuals are deeply grounded in heterosexual morals that are re-enforced by culture, tradition, and religious affiliations. This study also concluded that the violence aimed at LGBTQI+ identities in patriarchal communities regularly results in gender non-conforming individuals feeling powerless and fearing for their lives. Consequently, the results of the study indicated that parents and school staff members need to work more closely together if they are to gain collective insight relating to transgender issues. The dissertation concludes by claiming that parents are the primary influence on their children’s comprehension and behaviour in regard to transgender issues and, therefore, transgender matters need to be thoroughly addressed at the family level. A last conclusion drawn is the fact that parents should become primary ‘change-agents’ in order to help curb the spread of homophobic and transphobic stereotypes within rural communities (as a means of eradicating the gender-binary attitude that continually promotes toxic masculinity within patriarchal spaces).
Primary school teachers’ views on transgender identity.
(2021) Sathyanand, Karen.; Bhana, Deevia.
Teacher perspectives on transgender identity in the South African schooling system is not well documented although there is evidence of inequalities based on sexual orientation. LGBTIQ+ identities are often marginalised, discriminated against, and victims of violent crimes. Teachers can play a role in perpetuating such inequalities but they can also challenge the status quo. An insufficient amount of research on primary school teachers’ knowledge of transgender identities in South African education directed this study. The research design involved semi structured individual interviews and focus group discussions (using photo elicitation methods and vignettes) with primary school teachers from two schools in Chatsworth, KwaZulu-Natal. This study was guided by three research questions, namely: “How do primary school teachers view and understand transgender identity?” “What lived experiences of primary school teachers influence their views and understanding of transgender identities?” “How do primary school teachers’ views and understanding of transgender identities affect the teaching and learning environment?” Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The research findings revealed inadequate knowledge of transgender identity due to essentialist belief systems that impede the construction of gender knowledge. The findings point to a patriarchal society where unequal power relations within the community, culture, tradition and religion repudiate transgender and other non-conforming gender identities. Notwithstanding this, the teachers appeared intent to acquire more information on the phenomenon and extend their professional development. The dissertation concludes with recommendations to facilitate teachers’ perceptions, understanding, and implementation of gender and sexual diversity in primary schools. These include adopting a whole-school approach that looks at developing inclusive strategies of negotiation, compromise, endorsement of well-informed respect for difference, and promotion of conflict resolution practices to deal with difference of opinion. The implementation of these strategies can ultimately benefit primary school environments in maintaining an atmosphere that is trans-inclusive and repute gender discrimination altogether.
School management teams’ perspective of trans: a case study.
(2022) Naicker, Asogan Subramony.; Bhana, Deevia.
Abstract available in PDF.
Teachers’ constructions of transgender identities in rural secondary schools.
(2021) Mbonambi, Gobizazi Lucky.; Bhana, Deevia.
This study seeks to examine South African teachers’ understanding of transgenderism. Although there is ample evidence in South African society of inequality and discrimination based on sexual orientation, teachers’ understandings of transgender identities are not well documented, especially within educational settings. The study utilised a qualitative research design that involved individual interviews with twenty-four teachers across three schools in a working class African rural context. Three research questions underpinned the study. Firstly, the study sought to examine rural secondary school teachers’ constructions of transgender identities and, secondly, the study examined the influence of socio-cultural norms on these constructions and, lastly, the accommodation or rejection of transgender identities in the classroom. Data analysis comprised of thematic analysis to present the research findings. The research findings indicated that teachers had a limited understanding of transgender identity and, further, that teachers’ constructions of transgender identities closely relate to gendered ideologies. The study revealed that teachers’ lack of understanding of transgender identity produces discrimination against gender non-conforming learners, including tolerating homophobia. The research identified heteronormativity, compulsory heterosexuality and related socio-cultural norms as major components which shape how teachers construct transgender identities in their respective schools. Conversely, teachers who identified as gay demonstrated an understanding of gender fluidity by supporting and advocating for the rights of gender non-conforming learners in the school context. The research also found that teachers are not willing to discuss or teach topics involving gender and sexuality as they regard these topics as sensitive. Rather, teachers opt to focus solely on prescribed subject content, indicating that the teaching of gender diversity should fall to Life Orientation teachers. The study also found unequal representation of genders in the Life Orientation curriculum, which results in the erasure of certain genders whilst normalising others. The research concludes by proposing that transgenderism should be addressed in South African schools through ensuring that both teachers and learners obtain a greater understanding of transgender identity. Further, that the prevalence of socio-cultural norms focusing on compulsory heterosexuality, heteronormativity, and gender binarism should be disrupted within school settings. The hidden curriculum can play an important role for all teachers to ensure an inclusive learning environment that does not marginalise gender nonconforming learners.
Young masculinities: an ethnography of 8–9-year-old primary school boys=Ubudoda bezingane: ucwaningokuzimbandakanya Lwabafana Bamabanga Aphansi Abaneminyaka Yobudala Eyisi-8 kuya Kweyisi-9.
(2022) Govender, Diloshini.; Bhana, Deevia.
In this ethnographic study I set out to examine the construction of masculinities among 8–9-yearold primary school boys. This study was conducted in a racially diverse schooling context comprised of a mixed class of low-middle and low income Indian and black boys in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. A purposive sampling method was employed to select 25 boys for this study. In addition, 11 teacher participants were included to enable a broader lens for my analysis of young masculinities. Following the tenets of feminist poststructuralism, I capture the gendered lives of young boys by prioritising their own views and experiences. This study highlights the social processes through which masculine identities were formed –nuanced by race, socioeconomic conditions, culture, gender inequalities, and sexuality– all of which contributed to malleable and plural patterns of masculinities. These variables intersected to shape Indian and black boys’ social interactions, their negotiation of power and their racialised and classed subjectivities which constituted a significant force in their negotiation of masculinities. Departing from traditional adult framings of childhood passivity, the study findings foreground the complexities, contradictions and diverse ways through which young boys construct, redefine, negotiate and share their knowledge of gender and sexuality as active agents of masculinities. Violence and heterosexuality emerged as the most dominant and prevalent way of expressing hegemonic masculinity and male power. Violence was exemplified through performances of strength, fighting prowess, an esteemed physical body and the denigration of femininity. However, this was not a uniform experience for all boys: given their agency some boys sought to denounce hegemonic masculinity by adopting non-violent subject positions and developed a shared solidarity by caring for each other, thus transcending racial divides. Heterosexuality was also a normalising force that regulated boys’ sexuality in ways that constrained or empowered their masculinities. They actively invested in heterosexual masculinity, finding pleasure in it but also navigating the complex terrains related to compulsory heterosexuality, material and economic deprivation and competition for girlfriends. Nonetheless, teachers rendered boys' early engagement in sexuality obsolete due to dominant subjectivities of childhood innocence. Iqoqa Kulolu cwaningo lokuzimbandakanya ngangihlose ukuhlola ukwakheka komqondo wobudoda phakathi kwabafana abaneminyaka eyisi-8 kuya kweyisi-9 basemabangeni aphansi. Lolu cwaningo lwenziwa esimweni sesikole sezinhlanga ezahlukene kuhlanganisa namakilasi axubile kwabamaholo aphansi, naphakathi kwendawo, sabafana bamaNdiya nabaMnyama KwaZulu-Natali, eNingizimu Afrika. Kwasetshenziswa indlela eyinhloso ukuqoka abafana abangama-25 balolu cwaningo. Kwengezwa ngababambiqhaza abangothisha abayi-11 abafakelwa ukwenzela ukubheka kabanzi uhlaziyo lwami lokwakheka kobudoda ezinganeni. Lolu cwaningo lugqamisa izinhlelokwenza zenhlalobantu okwakhiwa ngazo ukwakheka kokuziqonda ngobudoda – okwahluswe kancane ngubuhlanga, izimo zenhlalobantu nezomnotho, amasiko, ukungalingani kobulili, nokuzikhethela ubulili - konke okwaba nomthelela womehlukwana wamaphethini obudoda. Ukwehluka emidiyweni yendabuko yobudala yobungane obungenalutho, okuzuzwe ucwaningo lugxile enkimbinkimbini, yokuphikisana nasezindleleni ezahlukene abafana abaqonda ngazo, bachaze kabusha baphinde bedlule ngazo kwezobulili nokuzikhethela ubulili njengezinsiza eziphilayo zobudoda. Kwavela ukuthi udlame nokwahlukahlukana ngobulili kuyindlela egqamile nenkulu yokuveza amandla obulili. Udlame lwavezwa ngokukhonjiswa kwamandla, ubuchule bokulwa, ukukhonzwa komzimba oqatha nokujivazwa kobufazane. Nokho-ke lokhu kwakungeyona imfanayo kubo bonke abafana: uma kubhekwa indlela yokwenza abanye abafana ababefuna ukuzihlangula ebudodeni obunokuqonela ngokwamukela isimo esingenalo udlame futhi bakha ubunye obunokubambisana ngokunakekelana ngabanye, ngaleyo ndlela bedlula esimweni sokuzahlukanisa ngobuhlanga. Ukwahlukahlukana ngobulili nakho kwakungamandla okwakha isimo esejwayelekile esilawula ukuzikhethela ubulili ebafaneni. Bazinikela bukhoma ebudodeni obunokwehlukahlukana kobulili, bejatshuliswa yikho kodwa futhi beguduza izindawo eziphithene ezimayelana nokwahlukana ngobulili okuyimpoqo, ukweswela izimpahla nangokomnotho nokuncintisana ngezintombi. Naphezu kwalokho, othisha baveza ukuzimbandakanya kwabafana kwezokuzikhethela ngobulili njengento engekho nje ngenxa yokwenganywa ukubuka ngohlangothi lobumnene kobungane. Ucwaningo lwaphinda lwathola ukuthi ukwakhiwa kobudoda bendlaleke bedlula izindawo zezemfundo kuze kufinyelele esimweni semindeni okuyinkundla eqavile yokukhiqiza ubulili ngokwenhlalobantu. Okwazuzwa kuveza ukugudlisela okumqoka ngokushesha, ukusebenza nabafana besebancane ukweseka indlela yokwenza kwabo nokubakhuthaza ukuxoxa ngobudoda ngezindlela ezakhayo. Ngiqakula ngithi izindlela zokufundisa ezigxile ezinganeni ezikoleni kufanele zifake izinhlelo zokungenelela ezihlelelwe ukwakha ukukhula kokuhloniphana nokungabi nodlame.
Young men negotiating masculinities and love in a South African township.
(2023) Dlamini, Melusi Andile Charles.; Bhana, Deevia.
Young black men’s negotiations of love and intimacy, beyond the focus on force and violence, are minimally explored in South African scholarship. While studies have highlighted the ways that heterosexual relationships have functioned as sites through which men maintain their dominance over women, there is limited understanding of the ways that they resist dominant masculinities. Furthermore, recent scholarship has troubled the reductive readings of young black men’s lives, and have called for critical yet sympathetic approaches to understanding their lived experiences (Ratele, 2018). Therefore, this study explores how young black men, situated in the townships of Durban, navigate their experiences of romantic love and intimate relationships. Informed by critical feminist approaches to love and masculinities, this study emphasises the multiple and situated ways of being and knowing, and challenges reductive readings of young men’s lives. Empirical data were generated through individual interviews and focus group discussions with 34 young men in the INK (Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu) precinct of townships in Durban, South Africa. The research findings suggest that romantic love and intimate relationships are an important feature of young men’s daily lives. For most of the participants, romantic love and intimate relationships extended beyond public performances of (hetero)sexual prowess; instead, love was understood as an essential aspect of their shifting subjectivities – from boyhood to manhood. Key relational practices such as ukuchecka, which are often associated with public performances, emerged as important sites through which participants cultivated emotional and physical intimacies. Among the participants, their romantic relationships afforded new ways of expressing love, which enabled them to deemphasise sexual intimacy, which the participants expressed through the concepts of ukuhloniphana (mutual respect) and ukulinda (waiting). Specifically, romantic relationships were also conceptualised as affective sites that enabled the young men to co-navigate their daily lives with their girlfriends. Therefore, in this study, the critical and situated reading of young men’s experiences with love generated new knowledge about their expressions of love and experiences of intimate relationships. Typically thought of as a site of women’s vulnerabilities, these findings suggest that the context of romantic love offers progressive possibilities for young men to resist dominant masculinities. This study illustrates the value of exploring the mundane, everyday encounters of love and intimate relationships in young men’s lives. These findings have implications for local and international masculinities scholarship interested in the transformative possibilities of love and intimate relationships in young men’s lives.

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