By: Nii Ajen
Norms in Society
- Western versus African Perception of what is deemed homosexual classifications
- Sex as a discussion topic
- Boarding Schools in Africa- Do you feel that English Boarding schools in Africa promoted homosexual activity in Africa?
"When a Woman Loves a Woman" in Lesotho: Love, Sex, and the (Western) Construction of Homophobia.
By: Kendall
1. What are the metaphoric connections between water and Black queerness? How does it bring women in the black Diaspora together?
- The theme of struggle and oppression.
2. Language and culture: What constitutes sex? Western women verses African women. The concept of Western sexual freedom.
3. The disconnection between sex and love.
Recent news story. South African lesbian raped and stabbed 25 times in the face, chest, and legs. This story is connected to the article by M. Jacqui Alexander and the issue with heterosexual violence towards homosexuals.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/eudy-simelane-corrective-rape-south-africa
Presenters: Jenesha and Shantala
7 comments:
In thinking of sexuality, we can also consider the influence of heteropatriarchical state control, as described extensively by Mama and Alexander. State sanctioned violence against marginalized communities that are already prone to sexual oppression and acts of horrific violence - women, sex workers, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ community - simultaneously claims 'protection' while decreeing heternormativity, then blames the victim in sub-par laws that ultimately are not enforced. Rape is used as a state weapon, as a weapon of racism, as a weapon of sexism, as a weapon of homophobia. Heterosexual (usually white, usually male) postulating in spaces of state legislation on what constitutes 'moral' and 'normal' sexuality means sexual minorities always already are sexual minorities. (Consider Marilyn Frye's essay on lesbian sex - sex between women cannot be defined when exclusively utilizing a framework of heterosexual sex).
Colonialism lives on in the form of white tourism to countries like the Bahamas, where Bahamian women are expected to sustain their nation's economy with their own sexual servitude. This illuminates the ways in which state control remains white and Euro-centered; the power continues to rest in the hands of the colonizers. Homophobia becomes, then, a western import. It is important to the Bahamas to not appear 'queer' because it would marginalize the Bahamas even further in the view of the colonizer: namely the United States.
All that I've said is said far better by Mama and Alexander, but I am particularly interested in the impact of Western colonialism in shaping (domineering? re-writing? obliterating?) African and, in this case, Caribbean ideologies of homosexuality. I look forward to hearing your presentation, and to continue working with you on our project around these issues : ).
After reading Black Atlantic, Queer Atlantic I was left a bit confused about the definition of queer. I (and i guess you can attribute this to my ignorance of definitions used within the LGBT community) always thought that queer was another word for an individual that has sexual relationship with another individual of the same sex. However, on page 199, the author called the mati relationship between the women on the ship queer. Although she does write that some of the relationships may have been sexual and some may not have been sexual, she groups them all as queer. So, my question is: Is queer just a relationship between two people of the opposite sex, even if it is not sexual? I ask this because throughout the article, it seems like the definition of queer changes. Ex. in the fictional story described by the author about the two women trying to escape to PR, the relationship the characters had was sexual and called a queer relationship. So if the mati relationship is queer because a relationship existed (with or without sexual connections) and the relationship of the two characters is queer because of the sexual relationship, then queer seems to be all inclusive (at least in this article). So do friendships and sexual relationships both fall within the queer category?
I do agree with the author that the
I just watched Shantala’s posted video, and I am disgusted. The men in the video were saying that because the women were lesbians, they were not normal and therefore needed to be “fixed.” I cannot believe that some people truly believe that a persons normalcy is determined by his or her sexuality with all the other qualities that exist (integrity, humility, sincerity, etc). This affirms my belief that oppression exist in communities wdere stupidity and ignorance reign supreme.
This also shows that women are not valued in most societies. It also shows the existence of male privilege. Men can do whatever to these women because they are placed at a higher level than women and are valued more than women. In order for these acts to stop, men need to acknowledge that they are given privilege, acknowledge that the fact that they are given privilege is wrong, and vehemently voice their opposition to their privilege and such horrible acts. However, because most men appreciate they dominance ( be it actively and/or passively), they are unwilling to acknowledge their privilege and the irony is that these same men will denounce the oppression imposed by the western world. This attitude of only thinking about what others are doing to them (the men) and not what they are doing to others (the women thy oppress), depicts narcissism at its worst.
"Sex is not about sex,then; it is about pain."(Black Atlantic)It seems that throughout the articles, sex is complicated by the issue of pain. For African women (or otherwise women in general) who are a victim of rape as a result of oppression towards their sexual orientation, it seems they must define and re-define intimacy and sex on their own terms. Revising this definition also makes sex about regaining power that challenges the predetermined, colonial and 'moralized' systems that have made sex about pain. i think these systems endure and provoke sexual violence by maintaining a fear birthed by ignorance among the people as that exhibited in the posted video. to go so far as to call lesbians inhuman is in itself inhuman. people are people first no matter what but fear makes peopl anticiapte the worst case scenearios..."women's sexual agency...have always been troublesome to the state...erotic autonomy brings with it potential of undoing the nation entirely."(alexander)Not so much the nation but the systems imbedded in it really. sex also seems to be about survival, being sexually and at once spiritually adept with one's self, at peace internally. In "Black Atlantic, Queer Atlantic" the example of Erzulie's Skirt dempnstrates the depths of sexuality in nurturing the self. I also had the same question as Amelia but it seems here also sex is about more than sex; it's about relationship. There are many sub-titles and intricacies related to what sex is and means for lesbian relationships but that appears natural not inhuman, as sex is and can be a complicated issue on its own.
I think an interesting ideal that emanated throughout the articles was the idea that homosexual relationships did not operate in the best interest of the nation. However, we must not forget that the ideals of a community were based upon a male dominated society, existing to perpetuate and maintain the notion of male "superiority". As discussed in previous readings, the land of Africa was feminized, depicted as a woman waiting to be “penetrated, conquered, and violated”. It seemed that throughout time, as the status of men advanced, women were left in the background to fend for themselves. The chauvinistic ideals set by European male dominated societies have time after time reduced the rank of African women. The views expressed by the men in the video were extremely offensive. To envision that women are subject to such violent occurrences simply on account of who they choose to love is disheartening. I think that the notion that because a woman is to be seen as purely sexual, any circumstance in which her sexuality is not flaunted is seen as disrespect to masculinity is ridiculous. In my eyes, I believe that your identity should never be able to be taken away because of the circumstances of another. I question the mental state of these men, who partake in this “corrective rape”, and ponder why they feel it is so necessary that they have to fight for something that I feel should be permanently ingrained in their being, their masculinity.
I have been studying violence against women since I entered women's studies department. However, I did not realize that rape could be about sexuality until now. We did not talk a lot about sexuality until recent several years in my country. I always thought that violence against women is a type of gender-based violence. After watching the video "Rape for Who I Am", I finally get how race, gender, sexuality are intertwined all together in terms of violence. While heterosexuality is deemed as a priority in white people's world, it is also deemed as white peole's priority in the black world. In that way, homosexual black women are facing different types fo hierarchy on differenct levels but at the same time. This idea shocked and impressed me a lot. I will figure out a way to add this angle of sexuality into my research on violence against women.
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