‘… a huge monster that should be feared and not done’: lessons learned in sexuality education classes in South Africa
- Shefer, Tamara, Kruger, Lou-Marie, Macleod, Catriona I, Baxen, Jean, Vincent, Louise
- Authors: Shefer, Tamara , Kruger, Lou-Marie , Macleod, Catriona I , Baxen, Jean , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6314 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020933 , http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/aspj/2015/AhugeMonster.pdf
- Description: Research has foregrounded the way in which heterosexual practices for many young people are not infrequently bound up with violence and unequal transactional power relations. The Life Orientation sexuality education curriculum in South African schools has been viewed as a potentially valuable space to work with young people on issues of reproductive health, gender and sexual norms and relations. Yet, research has illustrated that such work may not only be failing to impact on more equitable sexual practices between young men and women, but may also serve to reproduce the very discourses and practices that the work aims to challenge. Cultures of violence in youth sexuality are closely connected to prevailing gender norms and practices which, for example, render women as passive victims who are incapable of exercising sexual agency and men as inherently sexually predatory. This paper analyses the talk of Grade 10 learners in nine diverse schools in two South African provinces, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, to highlight what ‘lessons’ these young people seem to be learning about sexuality in Life Orientation classes. We find that these lessons foreground cautionary, negative and punitive messages, which reinforce, rather than challenge, normative gender roles. ‘Scare’ messages of danger, damage and disease give rise to presumptions of gendered responsibility for risk and the requirement of female restraint in the face of the assertion of masculine desire and predation. We conclude that the role which sexuality education could play in enabling young women in particular to more successfully negotiate their sexual relationships to serve their own needs, reproductive health and safety, is undermined by regulatory messages directed at controlling young people, and young women in particular – and that instead, young people’s sexual agency has to be acknowledged in any processes of change aimed at gender equality, anti-violence, health and well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Shefer, Tamara , Kruger, Lou-Marie , Macleod, Catriona I , Baxen, Jean , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6314 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020933 , http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/aspj/2015/AhugeMonster.pdf
- Description: Research has foregrounded the way in which heterosexual practices for many young people are not infrequently bound up with violence and unequal transactional power relations. The Life Orientation sexuality education curriculum in South African schools has been viewed as a potentially valuable space to work with young people on issues of reproductive health, gender and sexual norms and relations. Yet, research has illustrated that such work may not only be failing to impact on more equitable sexual practices between young men and women, but may also serve to reproduce the very discourses and practices that the work aims to challenge. Cultures of violence in youth sexuality are closely connected to prevailing gender norms and practices which, for example, render women as passive victims who are incapable of exercising sexual agency and men as inherently sexually predatory. This paper analyses the talk of Grade 10 learners in nine diverse schools in two South African provinces, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, to highlight what ‘lessons’ these young people seem to be learning about sexuality in Life Orientation classes. We find that these lessons foreground cautionary, negative and punitive messages, which reinforce, rather than challenge, normative gender roles. ‘Scare’ messages of danger, damage and disease give rise to presumptions of gendered responsibility for risk and the requirement of female restraint in the face of the assertion of masculine desire and predation. We conclude that the role which sexuality education could play in enabling young women in particular to more successfully negotiate their sexual relationships to serve their own needs, reproductive health and safety, is undermined by regulatory messages directed at controlling young people, and young women in particular – and that instead, young people’s sexual agency has to be acknowledged in any processes of change aimed at gender equality, anti-violence, health and well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
“Bold Distinguished You”: a critical discourse analysis of the representation of masculinity in Destiny Man, 2012 - 2013
- Authors: Hutcheson, Lauren
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56032 , vital:26767
- Description: Radical social and economic changes have transformed the employment opportunities available to black men in South Africa, and consumer magazines like Destiny Man have been quick to respond. Historical shifts in the configuration of an ideal black masculinity have been proposed over time in magazine representations of black men. Critiques of the representations of black men in consumer magazines pre- and post- independence interrogate the politics of the ways in which black masculinity has been, and is, configured around classed identities. In this study, I present the findings of a critical discourse analysis (CDA) on the construction and representation of masculinity within a contemporary South African’s men’s lifestyle magazine, Destiny Man. This study presents an analysis of the subject positions that this magazine constructs for its male readers. Destiny Man proposes particular kinds of discursive subjects in its sets of representations, both in word and image. The images and copy validate a neo-liberal elite masculinity achieved through self-surveillance and a variety of technologies of self, with the ultimate focus on material success. I argue that these representations have implications for the development of masculinities in a context marked by extreme inequality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Hutcheson, Lauren
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56032 , vital:26767
- Description: Radical social and economic changes have transformed the employment opportunities available to black men in South Africa, and consumer magazines like Destiny Man have been quick to respond. Historical shifts in the configuration of an ideal black masculinity have been proposed over time in magazine representations of black men. Critiques of the representations of black men in consumer magazines pre- and post- independence interrogate the politics of the ways in which black masculinity has been, and is, configured around classed identities. In this study, I present the findings of a critical discourse analysis (CDA) on the construction and representation of masculinity within a contemporary South African’s men’s lifestyle magazine, Destiny Man. This study presents an analysis of the subject positions that this magazine constructs for its male readers. Destiny Man proposes particular kinds of discursive subjects in its sets of representations, both in word and image. The images and copy validate a neo-liberal elite masculinity achieved through self-surveillance and a variety of technologies of self, with the ultimate focus on material success. I argue that these representations have implications for the development of masculinities in a context marked by extreme inequality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
“Ha! Relationships? I only shout at them!”: Strategic management of discordant rapport in an African small business context
- Lauriks, Sanne, Siebörger, Ian, De Vos, Mark A
- Authors: Lauriks, Sanne , Siebörger, Ian , De Vos, Mark A
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/385338 , vital:68009 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2015-0002"
- Description: This study demonstrates how and why interactants at a tyre fitment centre in Grahamstown, South Africa, manage discordant interpersonal relationships in strategic ways. Individuals in a post-apartheid small business respond to their social and economic context and exercise agency to their advantage in doing so. This study draws on linguistic ethnography (Rampton 2007) and the Rapport Management Framework (RMF, Spencer-Oatey 2000b, 2011), itself a development of politeness theory (Brown and Levinson 1987). An initial RMF analysis ran into difficulties around interactions that at first glance appeared to be oriented toward Rapport Challenge and Neglect. Upon closer examination, it appeared that discordant rapport was being actively maintained in this business. This led us to address underdeveloped areas of RMF that were not responsive enough to describe naturally occurring small business interactions, and propose an Enhanced Rapport Management Framework to overcome its inadequacies. We conclude that people may deliberately maintain discordant relationships when it is in their best interests to do so. Thus, contrary to a common-sense belief that harmonious social relations are an intrinsic good, we found that promoting discordant social relations can be understood as a rational response to individuals’ social and economic contexts, particularly in conditions such as those in many postcolonial African societies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Lauriks, Sanne , Siebörger, Ian , De Vos, Mark A
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/385338 , vital:68009 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2015-0002"
- Description: This study demonstrates how and why interactants at a tyre fitment centre in Grahamstown, South Africa, manage discordant interpersonal relationships in strategic ways. Individuals in a post-apartheid small business respond to their social and economic context and exercise agency to their advantage in doing so. This study draws on linguistic ethnography (Rampton 2007) and the Rapport Management Framework (RMF, Spencer-Oatey 2000b, 2011), itself a development of politeness theory (Brown and Levinson 1987). An initial RMF analysis ran into difficulties around interactions that at first glance appeared to be oriented toward Rapport Challenge and Neglect. Upon closer examination, it appeared that discordant rapport was being actively maintained in this business. This led us to address underdeveloped areas of RMF that were not responsive enough to describe naturally occurring small business interactions, and propose an Enhanced Rapport Management Framework to overcome its inadequacies. We conclude that people may deliberately maintain discordant relationships when it is in their best interests to do so. Thus, contrary to a common-sense belief that harmonious social relations are an intrinsic good, we found that promoting discordant social relations can be understood as a rational response to individuals’ social and economic contexts, particularly in conditions such as those in many postcolonial African societies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
“Mother of the Nation”: representations of womanhood in South African media
- Authors: Hunt, Sally
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/139229 , vital:37717 , ISBN 9789027206565 , https://benjamins.com/catalog/dapsac.65
- Description: The discourses of the post-apartheid South Africa embody symbols of change and promises of new lessons in history. This is the first volume that brings together analyses of a variety of discourses produced in South Africa through which we follow the evolution of transitional processes in the country’s political institutions and in the opinions of its populace. The book offers to the reader a visit to the Parliament, a peek into the internet forums, analyses of the country's official papers and speeches, and the media accounts. Through all these discourses we see the burning questions – "Who Are We Now?" and "Who Do We Want To Be?" – being repetitively examined and identities cross-formed while the country deals with new, post-apartheid challenges, as well as successes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Hunt, Sally
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/139229 , vital:37717 , ISBN 9789027206565 , https://benjamins.com/catalog/dapsac.65
- Description: The discourses of the post-apartheid South Africa embody symbols of change and promises of new lessons in history. This is the first volume that brings together analyses of a variety of discourses produced in South Africa through which we follow the evolution of transitional processes in the country’s political institutions and in the opinions of its populace. The book offers to the reader a visit to the Parliament, a peek into the internet forums, analyses of the country's official papers and speeches, and the media accounts. Through all these discourses we see the burning questions – "Who Are We Now?" and "Who Do We Want To Be?" – being repetitively examined and identities cross-formed while the country deals with new, post-apartheid challenges, as well as successes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
“Peer pressure” and “Peer normalization” : discursive resources that justify gendered youth sexualities
- Macleod, Catriona I, Jearey-Graham, Nicola
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Jearey-Graham, Nicola
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019877 , https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-015-0207-8
- Description: “Peer pressure” is associated in the scientific literature with a range of risky sexual behaviors and with undermining public sexual health messages. Interventions are instituted encouraging young people to resist peer pressure or to model positive peer norms. Taking a discursive psychology perspective, we show how young people themselves use the discourses of “peer pressure to have sex” and “peer normalization of sex” to explain and justify youth sexual activity. Using data from focus group discussions about youth sexualities with students at a South African further education and training college, we show how participants outlined a need for young people to be socially recognizable through engaging in, and talking about, sex and how they implicated peer norms in governing individual sexual behavior. Both discourses pointed to a gendering of peer-endorsed sexual norms: masculine virility, the avoidance of shameful virgin or gay positions, and multiple sexual partners were emphasized for men, while the necessity of keeping a boyfriend and avoiding a “slut” position were foregrounded for women. These discourses potentially undermine the aims of public sexual health programs targeting youth. Nuanced engagement with peer group narratives, especially how sexual activity is explained and justified in a gendered fashion, is indicated. , Full text access on Publisher website: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-015-0207-8
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Jearey-Graham, Nicola
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019877 , https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-015-0207-8
- Description: “Peer pressure” is associated in the scientific literature with a range of risky sexual behaviors and with undermining public sexual health messages. Interventions are instituted encouraging young people to resist peer pressure or to model positive peer norms. Taking a discursive psychology perspective, we show how young people themselves use the discourses of “peer pressure to have sex” and “peer normalization of sex” to explain and justify youth sexual activity. Using data from focus group discussions about youth sexualities with students at a South African further education and training college, we show how participants outlined a need for young people to be socially recognizable through engaging in, and talking about, sex and how they implicated peer norms in governing individual sexual behavior. Both discourses pointed to a gendering of peer-endorsed sexual norms: masculine virility, the avoidance of shameful virgin or gay positions, and multiple sexual partners were emphasized for men, while the necessity of keeping a boyfriend and avoiding a “slut” position were foregrounded for women. These discourses potentially undermine the aims of public sexual health programs targeting youth. Nuanced engagement with peer group narratives, especially how sexual activity is explained and justified in a gendered fashion, is indicated. , Full text access on Publisher website: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-015-0207-8
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
Nonlinear optical behaviour of indium-phthalocyanine tethered to magnetite or silica nanoparticles.pdf
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189933 , vital:44948
- Description: Nonlinear absorption and optical limiting properties of indium phthalocyanine (complex 1) tethered to magnetite (SiMNP-1) or silica (SiNP-1) nanoparticles have been investigated using 10 ns pulses at 532 nm laser excitation. The optical limiting behaviours of the nanocomposites and the bare phthalocyanine are compared. Investigation of the triplet state dynamics revealed highly efficient triplet state absorption in the SiMNP-1 dyad. A large nonlinear absorption (βeff) that increased with decrease in the peak input fluence was observed for SiMNP-1. The SiNP-1 composite showed a slight increase in βeff with decreasing peak input fluence. The nonlinear optical data obtained for the SiNP-1 are within the same range of those of the indium phthalocyanine alone. The nanosecond nonlinear absorption and the optical limiting of the nanocomposites are shown to be dominated by a strong excited state absorption from a two-photon pumped state. Nonlinear scattering effects and strong excited state absorption from a two-photon pumped state account for the enhanced optical limiting behaviour of SiMNP-1 relative to the phthalocyanine alone.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189933 , vital:44948
- Description: Nonlinear absorption and optical limiting properties of indium phthalocyanine (complex 1) tethered to magnetite (SiMNP-1) or silica (SiNP-1) nanoparticles have been investigated using 10 ns pulses at 532 nm laser excitation. The optical limiting behaviours of the nanocomposites and the bare phthalocyanine are compared. Investigation of the triplet state dynamics revealed highly efficient triplet state absorption in the SiMNP-1 dyad. A large nonlinear absorption (βeff) that increased with decrease in the peak input fluence was observed for SiMNP-1. The SiNP-1 composite showed a slight increase in βeff with decreasing peak input fluence. The nonlinear optical data obtained for the SiNP-1 are within the same range of those of the indium phthalocyanine alone. The nanosecond nonlinear absorption and the optical limiting of the nanocomposites are shown to be dominated by a strong excited state absorption from a two-photon pumped state. Nonlinear scattering effects and strong excited state absorption from a two-photon pumped state account for the enhanced optical limiting behaviour of SiMNP-1 relative to the phthalocyanine alone.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015