Passing through professionalism: South African Black male teachers and same-sex desire

ABSTRACT

Framed using queer theory and intersectionality theory, this paper unpacks the various ways in which Black South African male teachers who engage in same-sex relations negotiate and manage their identities in a context deeply riddled by the history of apartheid. Eight male teachers were interviewed using a life history methodology. Consistent with many international studies on the work experiences same-sex identifying teachers, the paper argues that the interviewed male teachers draw on a passing act in order to manage their identities in school contexts characterised by a culture of heteronormativity. This adopted passing act mainly draws upon the enactment of hyperprofessionalism, a localised form which safeguards same-sex ‘desiring’ teachers against possible homophobia. While this form of passing grants teachers significant respect and power, leading at times to the disruption of homophobia, not all teachers enjoy this power. Some teachers are forced out of their schools by threatened managers. The paper calls for more interventionist work at both basic education and higher education levels in South Africa in order to make schools more inclusive and welcoming for all students and teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Queer
• teachers
• professionalism
• homophobia
• identity management
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Wokeness is a concept with US origins which has been appropriated mainly by South African university students, particularly during the #Rhodesmustfall and #Feesmustfall movements to signal their understandings on the functioning of power and oppression in society. Essentially, being woke involves having an understanding of the intersectional manner in which oppression occurs. This often, but does not always, involves having a good understanding of concepts and theories of oppression. Ashlee, Zamora and Karikari (Ashlee, Zamora, and Karikari 2017, 90) define wokeness as having a ‘critical consciousness to intersecting systems of oppression. Specifically, to be a woke person is to hold an unretractable embodied consciousness and political identity acknowledging the oppression that exists in individual and collective experiences.’

2. See https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/kzn-teacher-accused-of-filming-himself-having-sex-with-pupils-to-appear-in-court-20160828, for example.