- Title
- ‘Now we are real women’: playing with gender in a male prison theatre programme in South Africa
- Creator
- Sutherland, Alexandra
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date Issued
- 2013
- Date
- 2013
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469579
- Identifier
- vital:77269
- Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13569783.2013.787262
- Description
- The use of sexual violence as a means of power and control within the South African prison system has been well documented. Sexual violence is intimately linked to the gendering of roles, such that rape and coercive sex is used as a brutal means of imposing a feminised identity; a violent enactment of who penetrates and who gets penetrated. Within this context, this article aims to examine both the performative and performed notions of gender and sexuality in relation to a prison theatre project located in a medium-security male prison in South Africa. I situate myself as a white feminist working within a black, all-male context, and examine moments from our theatre-making when men assumed feminised or female roles, and gender was actively and deliberately played with in an uncensored, open way. This article aims to analyse the relationship between the deliberate performance choices within the theatrical frame and the performative notions of gender and sexuality that are played out external to the theatrical moment. I question when and how prescribed gender scripts that dictate an aggressive and often violent masculinity might simultaneously be enacted and violated through theatrical performance.
- Format
- 13 pages
- Format
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance
- Relation
- Sutherland, A., 2013. ‘Now we are real women’: playing with gender in a male prison theatre programme in South Africa. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 18(2), pp.120-132
- Relation
- Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance volume 18 number 2 120 132 2013 1470-112X
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
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- Visitors: 21
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Collections
Gender Action Forum (GENACT)
Sutherland, Alexandra (Prof)
SDG 05. Gender Equality
RU Department of Drama
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | ‘Now we are real women’.pdf | 664 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |