What's in a name? Exploring the sexual identity of Black Women-Loving-Women in Soweto

abstract

The material conditions within which the Black Women-Loving-Women (WLW) exist as a sexual identity are dominated by homophobic violence, particularly in South African townships contexts. This Briefing will draw from a research study which used Q methodology to capture expressions of the Black WLW's sexual identity. The sample size of the research was 50 Black WLW who lived in various sections of Soweto. This Briefing aims to explore terms Black WLW use to express their sexual identity and also what terms in their respective neighbourhoods are used to identify WLW. In unpacking the politics of naming, it will highlight the overlap of different terms used to self-identify and used by others to label such women. While terms such as ‘isitabane’ (township slang for non-gender conforming) and ‘lesbians’ were commonly used, the meanings attached to them complicate how they are negotiated and expressed. Furthermore, terms such as ‘ngqingili’ (township slang for non-gender conforming) and ‘queer’ were rejected in the Sowetan context. This Briefing will discuss how and why such terms were dismissed. The discussion will also show that more than one term was used by Black WLW to self-identify. As a result, issues relating to subcultures, gender expressions and roles within relationships, and self-acceptance as part of owning one's sexual identity were evoked. Self-identifying terms and how others identified WLW in Soweto makes non-gender conforming and/or same-sex practicing women vulnerable to homophobic violence. What is in a name becomes a continuous struggle for existence and visibility with oneself, the lesbian and gay community, and within the broader communities.

Keywords:

• Sexual identity
• Black Women-Loving-Women
• homophobic violence

Notes

1. According to folklore ungqingili, is an animal that does not understand itself because it engages in both opposite and same sex acts. It has been received as derogatory by same-sex identifying people but some self-identify as ungqingili as means to give positive meaning to the term.

2. According to Morgan and Reid (2003) inkonkoni is known as the blue wildebeest which is a wild animal found in Southern Africa. The association with same-sex acts is on the basis that the wildebeest is sexually indiscriminate. However, Ntuli (2009) contends that the term is specific to isiZulu and is used to identify a passive or submissive same-sex engaging men also known as ismeshi or skhesana.

3. The term also referred to both men and women whose gender at first glance was ambiguous and who were thought to possess both female and male genitalia.

4. In Potgieter's (2005) Western Cape sample, it was not surprising that the Xhosa speaking women who said they loved other women had their own terms as they used Nongayindoda, a Xhosa word used to self-identify by same-sex practicing people and isitshuzana in some townships.