Hi, my peeps,
So, I think I’ve narrowed it down to two possible dissertation topics. Anyone care to weigh in? (C’mon, NYUers, I know you’re reading…)
OPTION #1: “Rainbow Nation: Democracy and the Consolidation of LGBT Political Community in South Africa, 1986-2006.”
South Africa is a fascinating paradox for anyone interested in studying sexual rights: one the one hand, it has the most liberal egalitarian Constitution in existence, which enshrines both gender equality and protections for sexual minorities. On the other hand, a deeply entrenched culture of patriarchal and homophobic violence mocks these revolutionary principles, creating a climate of fear and intolerance that is deeply palpable. It seems that the story of sexual rights in South Africa has reached a tipping point, where either these new rights will take hold and begin to create substantive social change, or the active, de facto resistance to this new legal regime will render these rights virtually meaningless for many LGBT South Africans. The story of how this came to be engages South Africa’s processes of democratization and constitution-making, as well as its rapid (by comparative standards) mobilization of a large network of NGOs focusing on sexual rights. This dissertation project examines the relationship between South Africa’s democratization and the consolidation of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender political community. I want to analyze the rapid NGO-ization of sexual rights here, and its accompanying schemas of authenticity and authority, as well as it’s racial politics- and how they affect and are affected by the surrounding culture of patriarchal gender relations and violent resistance to sexual rights. By doing this, I hope to gain insight into the classic sociological question of whether law can, in fact, create social change.
OPTION #2: “Beyond the Body: Toward a New Theory of Gender-Based Violence”
This idea is less formed in my head, but I’ve got a bunch of data collected which I plan to analyze once I’m home. Broadly, I want to level a critique of the concept of “gender-based violence” employed by international human rights activists and NGOs. Essentially, the argument goes like this: the typical idea of gender-based violence relies on two distinct principles: (1) an essentialized notion of harm, (2) to a female body. Thus, IHR activists concern themselves with violent things that happen to womens' bodies: marital rape, genital cutting, veiling, etc. My work in South Africa provides evidence that there are many types of harm elided by these formulations: there are forms of gender-based violence that are about gender stereotyping and/or sexuality (e.g. reparative rape of lesbian women because they are lesbians, the identification of lesbians for attack because of atypical gender performance). There are also ideological forms of gender violence, like patriarchy and its associated legal regimes, property laws, legal exclusions, etc. There are institutional forms of gender violence, like the failure of police to intervene in domestic violence cases, because that is the “private” sphere, or the lack of specific policing or tallying of hate-based criminal activity. It would seem that the limited formulation of gender violence by human rights activists allows them to avoid engaging with thorny issues of cultural practice and western interventionism, but at the same time, it exacts its own consequences in the form of limited public understandings of what gender actually means. The dissertation would examine the history of debates around gender violence in a selection of cultural contexts, American, African, and possibly a third, to make sense of what might be done to forge a more comprehensive model.
What do you think? I'm listening... (See under-used "Comments" option below...)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The 07-07-07 Campaign
“Sizakele and Salome should have been here.”
This was the slogan embalzened on the t-shirts on marchers at Soweto Pride last weekend. It adorned signs and banners at the parade yesterday, too.
I realize that I’ve been mum about my actual research agenda here, and there have been a number of reasons: First, it’s shifted a bit as I’ve made myself available to what I’m experiencing. Second, though six weeks away from home can feel like a very long time, six weeks in a new cultural context, in a new community of people, in a new place- well, it’s actually not much time at all. I am almost four weeks in and I feel very green, and I’m still working on getting the lay of the land.
I can say this - there is an epidemic of horrific violence against black lesbians in South Africa. On July 7th, 2007, two lesbian women were raped and murdered in Soweto. A few weeks later, a 19 year-old lesbian was killed in KwaZulu Natal. Recent statistics from some community-based research show that astronomical levels of homophobia are experienced by LGBT people here, but black lesbians, in particular, are increasingly the targets of gruesome, often sexualized, violence and harassment (often from members of their own families and communities). Pride photos from yesterday show signs for the 07-07-07 Campaign- a coalition of activists and organizations here working to end this rampant homophobic violence.
I’ve been working in and among many of these activists during my time here, and I’m bearing witness to incredible spirit in the midst of daunting obstacles. South Africa has a deeply ingrained culture of patriarchal violence, in general- and a big, big crime problem. As we know from many examples from all over the globe, there is often a rise in crime and violence that accompanies the aftermath of democratic transitions- but the deeply gendered nature of what’s going on here feels, to me, particular to this time and place. Many people here fear violence, carry that fear with them daily- but the burden that rests on black lesbians, and in particular, masculine women, is deep and heavy.
This story seems to have galvanized people across the globe. Do a Google search for “Sizakele and Salome” and you’ll find articles and blog posts from the US, Europe, the UK, Africa, Asia… Marches and demonstrations have happened in many cities. People are touched. I find myself also deeply affected by it, even as I stand in solidarity and in wait for my return to a place where I feel mostly safe on the street. And, it goes to the heart of so much of what I do in my life and my work- which is to think about the ways in which our ideas of gender matter, what happens when we deviate from those norms what are the prices that we pay, emotionally, bodily, materially.
Anyway, for those who are interested, there is much to be found on the web about the campaign, including info on some of the more than 20 organizations joining together in protest of the police inaction on their behalf. Read up on it- I imaigne you'll be moved, too.
This was the slogan embalzened on the t-shirts on marchers at Soweto Pride last weekend. It adorned signs and banners at the parade yesterday, too.
I realize that I’ve been mum about my actual research agenda here, and there have been a number of reasons: First, it’s shifted a bit as I’ve made myself available to what I’m experiencing. Second, though six weeks away from home can feel like a very long time, six weeks in a new cultural context, in a new community of people, in a new place- well, it’s actually not much time at all. I am almost four weeks in and I feel very green, and I’m still working on getting the lay of the land.
I can say this - there is an epidemic of horrific violence against black lesbians in South Africa. On July 7th, 2007, two lesbian women were raped and murdered in Soweto. A few weeks later, a 19 year-old lesbian was killed in KwaZulu Natal. Recent statistics from some community-based research show that astronomical levels of homophobia are experienced by LGBT people here, but black lesbians, in particular, are increasingly the targets of gruesome, often sexualized, violence and harassment (often from members of their own families and communities). Pride photos from yesterday show signs for the 07-07-07 Campaign- a coalition of activists and organizations here working to end this rampant homophobic violence.
I’ve been working in and among many of these activists during my time here, and I’m bearing witness to incredible spirit in the midst of daunting obstacles. South Africa has a deeply ingrained culture of patriarchal violence, in general- and a big, big crime problem. As we know from many examples from all over the globe, there is often a rise in crime and violence that accompanies the aftermath of democratic transitions- but the deeply gendered nature of what’s going on here feels, to me, particular to this time and place. Many people here fear violence, carry that fear with them daily- but the burden that rests on black lesbians, and in particular, masculine women, is deep and heavy.
This story seems to have galvanized people across the globe. Do a Google search for “Sizakele and Salome” and you’ll find articles and blog posts from the US, Europe, the UK, Africa, Asia… Marches and demonstrations have happened in many cities. People are touched. I find myself also deeply affected by it, even as I stand in solidarity and in wait for my return to a place where I feel mostly safe on the street. And, it goes to the heart of so much of what I do in my life and my work- which is to think about the ways in which our ideas of gender matter, what happens when we deviate from those norms what are the prices that we pay, emotionally, bodily, materially.
Anyway, for those who are interested, there is much to be found on the web about the campaign, including info on some of the more than 20 organizations joining together in protest of the police inaction on their behalf. Read up on it- I imaigne you'll be moved, too.
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