Nongayindoda: moving beyond gender in a South African context

ABSTRACT

In her groundbreaking text, Male Daughters, Female Husbands, Ifi Amadiume offers an ethnographic account which depicts, among others, gender in the making in Nnobi society in Nigeria. This paper, drawing from Amadiume’s work, looks at three related specific moments of understanding gender and sex categories in a South African context. Through empirical research based on a qualitative study; a literary text; as well as visual arts, the paper tracks the notion of nongayindoda, a Nguni term for (gender) fluidity to offer new insights that go beyond Western gender binaries. Nongayindoda has been used to refer to masculine women or men-like women. In some contexts, it has been assumed to relate only to women who have chosen not to have relations with men. Some have considered the term derogatory and thus shied away from using it. In this paper, the term is turned upside and interrogated to reveal broader meanings. In the end, I argue that nongayindoda offers an opportunity to move beyond gender.

KEYWORDS:

• Amadiume
• binary
• gender
• language
• nongayindoda
• sexuality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zethu Matebeni

Zintombizethu Matebeni holds the Research Chair in Sexualities, Genders and Queer Studies at the University of Fort Hare. Zethu is also a visiting Professor at the Centre for Women and Gender Studies at the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa.