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Research paper thumbnail of “Give It to Him”: Sexual Violence in the Intimate Relationships of Black Married Women in South Africa

Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society

Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, norma... more Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, normalized experience for many women in heterosexual relationships. While some studies have examined gender-based violence in South Africa, particularly in the form of physical abuse or intimate partner violence, no previous work has simply asked Black married women how they make sense of coercive sexual experiences, or even rape, nor inquired why they continue to tolerate these experiences despite the rights and dignity guaranteed by the South African Constitution. This question is important in the context of marriages where ilobolo (bride wealth) has been paid. With the payment of ilobolo, a new set of expectations regarding sexuality for married women emerges. It is within the context of these new expectations that this study seeks to explore sexual violence, such as marital rape, and women’s agency. By analyzing qualitative narratives from semistructured interviews with Black married South African women between the ages of forty and sixty-two from rural and township areas, we examine how these women interpret experiences of rape and sexual coercion in their intimate relationships with their husbands. The analysis centers on the women’s experiences and perceptions, and it illuminates that these Black married women see their bodies, and by extension their sexuality, as belonging to their husbands, especially because ilobolo was paid for them when they got married. A significant finding of this study is that very few women see sexual coercion as a problem that needs to be remedied, and this is encouraged by their families. Instead, the Black women in this study make sense of sexual violence within marriage in various ways. These include beliefs about how to behave as a woman in marriage, notions of self-sacrifice for the family’s stability, and for some, outright refusal when they are not interested in sex. Ultimately, the study explores some contradictory ways in which women assume their sexual agency in marriage while simultaneously engaging in unwanted and forced sex.

Research paper thumbnail of “Give It to Him”: Sexual Violence in the Intimate Relationships of Black Married Women in South Africa

Signs, 2021

Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, norma... more Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, normalized experience for many women in heterosexual relationships. While some studies have examined gender-based violence in South Africa, particularly in the form of physical abuse or intimate partner violence, no previous work has simply asked Black married women how they make sense of coercive sexual experiences, or even rape, nor inquired why they continue to tolerate these experiences despite the rights and dignity guaranteed by the South African Constitution. This question is important in the context of marriages where ilobolo (bride wealth) has been paid. With the payment of ilobolo, a new set of expectations regarding sexuality for married women emerges. It is within the context of these new expectations that this study seeks to explore sexual violence, such as marital rape, and women’s agency. By analyzing qualitative narratives from semistructured interviews with Black married South African women between the ages of forty and sixty-two from rural and township areas, we examine how these women interpret experiences of rape and sexual coercion in their intimate relationships with their husbands. The analysis centers on the women’s experiences and perceptions, and it illuminates that these Black married women see their bodies, and by extension their sexuality, as belonging to their husbands, especially because ilobolo was paid for them when they got married. A significant finding of this study is that very few women see sexual coercion as a problem that needs to be remedied, and this is encouraged by their families. Instead, the Black women in this study make sense of sexual violence within marriage in various ways. These include beliefs about how to behave as a woman in marriage, notions of self-sacrifice for the family’s stability, and for some, outright refusal when they are not interested in sex. Ultimately, the study explores some contradictory ways in which women assume their sexual agency in marriage while simultaneously engaging in unwanted and forced sex.

Research paper thumbnail of “Ducking, diving and playing along”

Qualitative Research Journal

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the fieldwork dilemmas a young, female, heterosexu... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the fieldwork dilemmas a young, female, heterosexual, indigenous South African researching everyday negotiations around heterosexuality within township families encountered in negotiating her own heteroerotic subjectivity within the field.Design/methodology/approachA heterosexuality studies approach is here combined with a critical feminist research methodological perspective.FindingsThe paper argues that researchers are often unprepared for having to negotiate their erotic subjectivity within the field and that such negotiations can be compromising to the researcher in a variety of ways.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that more might be done to prepare researchers for negotiating identity aspects such as sexuality in the field since that negotiation impacts on one’s research and the researcher’s sense of self in the field.Social implicationsThe paper critically interrogates what negotiating one’s erotic subjectivity in the fie...

Research paper thumbnail of An Exploration of Intimacy in the Heterosexual Relationships of Young People in a South African Informal Settlement

South African Review of Sociology, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Amongst African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Among African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, Technologies and Social Change: An Impression

South African Review of Sociology, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of “A Guy ‘Does’ and You Don’t, They Do You Instead”: Young People’s Narratives of Gender and Sexuality in a Low-Income Context of South Africa

SAGE Open

The intensive research focus on young people’s sexuality in relation to risk means that young peo... more The intensive research focus on young people’s sexuality in relation to risk means that young people’s sexuality is often pathologized. We thus miss out on the day-to-day lived realities of how young people negotiate gender identity as well as sexuality in complex, nuanced, but normal ways. This article contributes to an emerging body of research that highlights how young people negotiate gender identity and sexuality in their day-to-day lives, by focusing on the narratives of young persons engaged in heteronormative relationships in a resource constrained setting in South Africa. We offer insights into dominant, but also alternative discourses of gender and sexuality that are not highlighted in the literature in this field. Furthermore, we offer new empirical insights into how socioeconomic status shapes their gender identity, beliefs about sex and their sexual practices, contributing to a small but emerging field of research engaging with the intersection of gender, sex, and socio...

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Amongst African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Among African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2014

The ways in which young men and women embody dominant and alternative discourses of femininity an... more The ways in which young men and women embody dominant and alternative discourses of femininity and masculinity are profoundly shaped by their local realities, as well as the sociocultural discourses they are exposed tosomething that is often overlooked in much literature regarding youth sexuality. While common theoretical conceptions of masculinity and femininity suggest that there are normative or dominant discourses of sexuality, emerging research focusing on the ways in which young people engage with multiple, seemingly contradictory discourses is sparse. This chapter considers the dominant ways in which young people's sexuality has been considered in literature, particularly in literature focusing on Africa, and points to emerging bodies of literature that challenge researchers to more deliberately embody and contextually locate young people's sexuality. In doing so, two key arguments are made: firstly, that academic discussions of sexuality often refer to dominant norms and values regarding gender and sexuality, but very seldom consider local-level realities and negotiations of multiple and competing discourses of sexuality; and secondly, that in the context of HIV, very little research is aimed at understanding youth sexuality (and particularly African youth's sexuality) outside of a discourse of risk and risk prevention. By challenging these two dominant trends in the literature on youth sexuality and noting emerging literature that does the same, this chapter makes the case for a research agenda that seeks to consider youth sexualities in ways that are nonjudgmental, that seek to understand youth voices about their experience of sexuality, and are sufficiently contextually located. Such an approach would make way for a literature on youth sexualities that is far more embodied and revealing. *

Research paper thumbnail of “Give It to Him”: Sexual Violence in the Intimate Relationships of Black Married Women in South Africa

Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society

Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, norma... more Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, normalized experience for many women in heterosexual relationships. While some studies have examined gender-based violence in South Africa, particularly in the form of physical abuse or intimate partner violence, no previous work has simply asked Black married women how they make sense of coercive sexual experiences, or even rape, nor inquired why they continue to tolerate these experiences despite the rights and dignity guaranteed by the South African Constitution. This question is important in the context of marriages where ilobolo (bride wealth) has been paid. With the payment of ilobolo, a new set of expectations regarding sexuality for married women emerges. It is within the context of these new expectations that this study seeks to explore sexual violence, such as marital rape, and women’s agency. By analyzing qualitative narratives from semistructured interviews with Black married South African women between the ages of forty and sixty-two from rural and township areas, we examine how these women interpret experiences of rape and sexual coercion in their intimate relationships with their husbands. The analysis centers on the women’s experiences and perceptions, and it illuminates that these Black married women see their bodies, and by extension their sexuality, as belonging to their husbands, especially because ilobolo was paid for them when they got married. A significant finding of this study is that very few women see sexual coercion as a problem that needs to be remedied, and this is encouraged by their families. Instead, the Black women in this study make sense of sexual violence within marriage in various ways. These include beliefs about how to behave as a woman in marriage, notions of self-sacrifice for the family’s stability, and for some, outright refusal when they are not interested in sex. Ultimately, the study explores some contradictory ways in which women assume their sexual agency in marriage while simultaneously engaging in unwanted and forced sex.

Research paper thumbnail of “Give It to Him”: Sexual Violence in the Intimate Relationships of Black Married Women in South Africa

Signs, 2021

Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, norma... more Studies have shown that violent, unwanted, and coerced sexual intercourse remains a common, normalized experience for many women in heterosexual relationships. While some studies have examined gender-based violence in South Africa, particularly in the form of physical abuse or intimate partner violence, no previous work has simply asked Black married women how they make sense of coercive sexual experiences, or even rape, nor inquired why they continue to tolerate these experiences despite the rights and dignity guaranteed by the South African Constitution. This question is important in the context of marriages where ilobolo (bride wealth) has been paid. With the payment of ilobolo, a new set of expectations regarding sexuality for married women emerges. It is within the context of these new expectations that this study seeks to explore sexual violence, such as marital rape, and women’s agency. By analyzing qualitative narratives from semistructured interviews with Black married South African women between the ages of forty and sixty-two from rural and township areas, we examine how these women interpret experiences of rape and sexual coercion in their intimate relationships with their husbands. The analysis centers on the women’s experiences and perceptions, and it illuminates that these Black married women see their bodies, and by extension their sexuality, as belonging to their husbands, especially because ilobolo was paid for them when they got married. A significant finding of this study is that very few women see sexual coercion as a problem that needs to be remedied, and this is encouraged by their families. Instead, the Black women in this study make sense of sexual violence within marriage in various ways. These include beliefs about how to behave as a woman in marriage, notions of self-sacrifice for the family’s stability, and for some, outright refusal when they are not interested in sex. Ultimately, the study explores some contradictory ways in which women assume their sexual agency in marriage while simultaneously engaging in unwanted and forced sex.

Research paper thumbnail of “Ducking, diving and playing along”

Qualitative Research Journal

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the fieldwork dilemmas a young, female, heterosexu... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the fieldwork dilemmas a young, female, heterosexual, indigenous South African researching everyday negotiations around heterosexuality within township families encountered in negotiating her own heteroerotic subjectivity within the field.Design/methodology/approachA heterosexuality studies approach is here combined with a critical feminist research methodological perspective.FindingsThe paper argues that researchers are often unprepared for having to negotiate their erotic subjectivity within the field and that such negotiations can be compromising to the researcher in a variety of ways.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that more might be done to prepare researchers for negotiating identity aspects such as sexuality in the field since that negotiation impacts on one’s research and the researcher’s sense of self in the field.Social implicationsThe paper critically interrogates what negotiating one’s erotic subjectivity in the fie...

Research paper thumbnail of An Exploration of Intimacy in the Heterosexual Relationships of Young People in a South African Informal Settlement

South African Review of Sociology, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Amongst African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Among African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, Technologies and Social Change: An Impression

South African Review of Sociology, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of “A Guy ‘Does’ and You Don’t, They Do You Instead”: Young People’s Narratives of Gender and Sexuality in a Low-Income Context of South Africa

SAGE Open

The intensive research focus on young people’s sexuality in relation to risk means that young peo... more The intensive research focus on young people’s sexuality in relation to risk means that young people’s sexuality is often pathologized. We thus miss out on the day-to-day lived realities of how young people negotiate gender identity as well as sexuality in complex, nuanced, but normal ways. This article contributes to an emerging body of research that highlights how young people negotiate gender identity and sexuality in their day-to-day lives, by focusing on the narratives of young persons engaged in heteronormative relationships in a resource constrained setting in South Africa. We offer insights into dominant, but also alternative discourses of gender and sexuality that are not highlighted in the literature in this field. Furthermore, we offer new empirical insights into how socioeconomic status shapes their gender identity, beliefs about sex and their sexual practices, contributing to a small but emerging field of research engaging with the intersection of gender, sex, and socio...

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Amongst African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of “Let’s Go 50/50”: The Everyday Embodiment of Sexuality Among African Young People

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, 2014

The ways in which young men and women embody dominant and alternative discourses of femininity an... more The ways in which young men and women embody dominant and alternative discourses of femininity and masculinity are profoundly shaped by their local realities, as well as the sociocultural discourses they are exposed tosomething that is often overlooked in much literature regarding youth sexuality. While common theoretical conceptions of masculinity and femininity suggest that there are normative or dominant discourses of sexuality, emerging research focusing on the ways in which young people engage with multiple, seemingly contradictory discourses is sparse. This chapter considers the dominant ways in which young people's sexuality has been considered in literature, particularly in literature focusing on Africa, and points to emerging bodies of literature that challenge researchers to more deliberately embody and contextually locate young people's sexuality. In doing so, two key arguments are made: firstly, that academic discussions of sexuality often refer to dominant norms and values regarding gender and sexuality, but very seldom consider local-level realities and negotiations of multiple and competing discourses of sexuality; and secondly, that in the context of HIV, very little research is aimed at understanding youth sexuality (and particularly African youth's sexuality) outside of a discourse of risk and risk prevention. By challenging these two dominant trends in the literature on youth sexuality and noting emerging literature that does the same, this chapter makes the case for a research agenda that seeks to consider youth sexualities in ways that are nonjudgmental, that seek to understand youth voices about their experience of sexuality, and are sufficiently contextually located. Such an approach would make way for a literature on youth sexualities that is far more embodied and revealing. *