Suchergebnisse

1.Introduction: The changing landscape of South African masculinities -- 2. Inclusive and orthodox masculinities: Multiplicity versus reification -- 3. Spornosexuality: Gym-work, online pornography and social media -- 4. Contextualizing the present study: Methodological considerations -- 5. Facilitating muscular ideals through gym work -- 6. Sharing spornosexual imagery: To porn or not to porn? -- 7. Two sides of the same bicep? Problematizing the 'hard-soft' simile -- 8. Concluding reflections: 'Do we really want to be 'macho' gym-bunnies?'.

Lesbian and gay studies emerged in the late 1950s and provided what several academics considered a homogeneous representation of the lesbian and gay community. Based on the critique of this view, queer theory came to the fore during the early 1990s, as a political initiative to highlight the diverse nature of homosexual experiences. Both paradigms heralded indefatigable insights into the lives of these two sexual minorities, yet without a necessary bridge between the homogeneous and the heterogeneous. The objective of the article is to provide a theoretical contemplation of how the manner in which the principles that lesbian and gay studies and queer theory respectively exude, may complement each other so as to offer a link between the 'homogeneous' and the 'diverse', pertaining to the lived experiences of gay men and lesbian women ; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21528586.2012.678624 ; DOI:10.1080/21528586.2012.678624

Increases in overt displays of homosocial tactility among men and declines in homophobia and homohysteria are contributing globally to changes in the social dynamics of masculine expressions. Said changes spill over into various social institutions, including that of contact sport. Long regarded as a hypermasculine context, studies show that rugby has become more inclusive. Although research conducted in the US and UK is well-documented, the topic remains under-researched in South Africa. To this end, the article relates findings of a qualitative sociological exploration of seven self-identified gay rugby players and their experiences of homohysteria. The findings showed that the participants mitigate homohysteria through accruing gender and body capital and establishing horizontal homosocial brotherhoods with their gay and heterosexual teammates.

In this article we problematise the fact that human rights legislation, whether intentionally or otherwise, reinforces binary categories such as 'heterosexual' or 'homosexual'. This form of 'othering' highlights the incongruence between what the legislation offers and sexual minorities' lived experiences. We argue that human rights thus constitute a double-edged sword that may discourage 'coming out'. Our critique of human rights is based on the findings of a research project in which 1 086 pre-service teachers across six national public tertiary universities in South Africa participated in a survey and/or in focus-group discussions (FGDs). The survey findings suggested that participants see human rights as implying freedom, dignity and equality for all, irrespective of sexual identity. Yet, a closer analysis of the data revealed that gay and lesbian participants do not necessarily experience the freedom, equality and dignity entrenched in human rights documents. An analysis of the data from the FGDs supported this notion as it revealed homophobic 'othering' attitudes on the side of pre-service teachers. Finally, we reflect on the ways in which the boundaries of 'the closet' have been reinforced through the 'othering' of sexual selfhood and consider how pre-service teachers grapple with some of the complexities surrounding issues of sexual diversity in education contexts.