Experiences and identity constructions of sexual and gender “non-normative”employees in corporate workplaces in KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

This thesis explores the workplace experiences of sexual and gender “non-normative” employees in post-apartheid South Africa. Work is an important facet of one’s life. Not only is it necessary for economic reasons, the workplace is also a critical social space where people with different backgrounds, traits and abilities interact with each other. Social norms and values are applied and often reproduced, and one of these is heteronormativity. Whilst there has been increasing focus on diversity as far as gender, race and disability are concerned in the fields of Human Resource Management, there has been silences around issues of sexuality and gender identity in corporate workplaces in South Africa. Drawing from three theoretical frameworks, i.e., Acker’s (1990) gendered organisations, Crenshaw’s (1991) intersectionality and queer theory (Butler, 1990), this study aims to understand the complex ways in which employees construct, negotiate and manage their personal (sexual and gendered) and professional identities. Through grounded conversations, informed by narrative methodology, data was gathered from twenty-five (25) participants who self-identify as sexual and gender “non-normative” (‘queer’ according to Western gender and sexual subjectivity labelling). The participants reflected a wide range of occupations, ages and employment corporate workplaces in KwaZulu-Natal. They also reflected wide-ranging sexual (gay, lesbian and bisexual) and gender (cisgender and transgender) identities. The findings suggest that, despite the South African’s progressive anti-discriminatory legislative framework, sexual and gender “nonnormative” employees experience discrimination in corporate workplaces. Such discrimination was found to be covert and included verbal intentional or unintentional microaggressions. This thus influenced how gender and gender “non-normative” employees managed their identities at work. The study also found that, fundamentally, workplace diversity management policies are sluggish in prioritizing aspects of sexuality and gender identities, which exacerbates microaggressions. The study suggests that workplace culture is influenced by regimes of inequality based on the intersectional relations between sexuality, race and gender. This was seen in workplace policies, processes and practices that privilege heterosexuality. Theoretically, this study uncovered new perspectives in terms of the intersecting identities of participants within the context of the workplace. Here, the use of multiple theories has highlighted that the experiences of each sexual and gender “non-normative” employee are different. The theories also helped draw attention to the underlying major structures of power and the dynamics thereof within the organisation that render sexual and gender “nonnormative” employees as invisible. Furthermore, such power relations reproduce heteronormativity in terms of leadership, workplace friendships and administration of policy and practice. This work calls for more work to be conducted in the area of sexuality, with a deliberate inclusion of gender “non-normative” identities within the field of Human Resource Management, as a crucial component of workplace culture. It also appeals for the development of African-based theories that reflect the experiences of African realities, including African sexualities. An advantage of conceptualizing theory is the development of terminologies. Thus, we can move from using foreign words to describe South African experiences.