This chapter focuses on black teenage girls’ expressions of gender and sexuality on social media platforms mediated by sexual double standards embodied in the Zulu cultural concept of isimilo (good moral behaviour). The chapter examines how specific ideals of isimilo encompassing dress, sexual activity and cultural customs that regulate sexual conduct and emphasise sexual purity are used to underscore girls’ social media expressions and representations. Thirty teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years located in a township setting on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal participated in the study. Individual semi-structured interviews, photo-elicitation methods and focus group discussions were utilised in order to produce data. The findings of this chapter reveal that cultural ideals of isimilo lead to the reinforcement of restrictive gender standards, which creates affects that serve to limit girls’ sexual becoming(s). This study argues that whilst social media assemblages provide a forum for girls to confront hetero-patriarchal preconceptions, sexist ideologies are also reinforced. This duality is discerned through oppressive materialities, comprising both human and more-than-human elements, enforced through gendered expectations and cultural dictums that govern girls’ conduct.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Between Respectability and Resistance: Zulu Cultural Norms and Girls’ Online Sexual Expressions

  • Zandile Mhlongo

摘要

This chapter focuses on black teenage girls’ expressions of gender and sexuality on social media platforms mediated by sexual double standards embodied in the Zulu cultural concept of isimilo (good moral behaviour). The chapter examines how specific ideals of isimilo encompassing dress, sexual activity and cultural customs that regulate sexual conduct and emphasise sexual purity are used to underscore girls’ social media expressions and representations. Thirty teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years located in a township setting on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal participated in the study. Individual semi-structured interviews, photo-elicitation methods and focus group discussions were utilised in order to produce data. The findings of this chapter reveal that cultural ideals of isimilo lead to the reinforcement of restrictive gender standards, which creates affects that serve to limit girls’ sexual becoming(s). This study argues that whilst social media assemblages provide a forum for girls to confront hetero-patriarchal preconceptions, sexist ideologies are also reinforced. This duality is discerned through oppressive materialities, comprising both human and more-than-human elements, enforced through gendered expectations and cultural dictums that govern girls’ conduct.