This is like seeing a human body totally from a different angle

137 Pages·2014·1.47 MB·English

by  Theron _ Liesl

‘This is like seeing a human body totally from a different angle’
Experiences of South African cisgender partners in cisgender-trans* relationships

Liesl Theron
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A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree
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of Master of Social Sacience
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African Gendetr Studies, Faculty of Humanities
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University of Cape Town
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2013
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COMPULSORY DECLARATION
This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work.
Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has
been attributed, and has been cited and referenced.

Signature: Date:

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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No
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quotation from it or information derived from it is to be

published without full acknowledgeement of the source.
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The thesis is to be used for private study or non-
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commercial research purposes only.

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Published by the Universit y of Cape Town (UCT) in terms
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of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author.
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Abstract

To date, the knowledge available about cisgender-trans* couples and their experiences is located in
the global North. Research situated in the interest of trans*, transgender and transsexual people’s
lives most often furthers scholars’ understanding of gender. In my research, I employed strategies to
look at the experiences of the cisgender partners of masculine identifying trans* persons, in order to
learn more about gender
Post-apartheid South Africa is a country that is vibrant with discussions in mainnstream platforms
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about contemporary political and socio-economic matters, regularly framed in sexist approaches
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with clear patriarchal messages. How and where does the trans* masculine person find role models
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and what is that impact on the cisgender-trans* relationship?
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Bringing together literature from the global North and South Africa, I formed a theoretical
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framework that served as the context to support my reCsearch. As a feminist, I employ both feminist
theory and transgender theory in my qualitative stu dy. I interviewed fourteen cisgender partners of
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masculine identifying trans* persons. From the rich data, five themes emerged and were analysed

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through a content analysis approach.
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Findings indicate that through laborur of love (Ward 2010), gender is co-created with the assistance
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of family members. This suggvests that conformity to a heterosexual script is the ulterior motive for
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this collective co-creationn of gender. Cisgender partners, who experience instructed silence,
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especially when it is partnered with isolation, are enfolded in deep epistemological loneliness.
Nothing has been said about the numerous sexual partners that the trans* person had in the lesbian
community prior to his coming out as trans*, and a collective community self-scrutiny might be at
the root of lesbian policing. The final theme unravels the possibility that cisgender-trans* couples
are well accepted in society, regardless of their sexual orientation, if they are willing and able to
commit to a heteronormative script.

Key Words: Cisgender; Trans*; Cisgender-trans* couples; Relationship; Heteronormativity

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Images: Peterson Toscano1

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Dedicated to the cisgender partners who participatedT in this research.

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1 Peterson Toscano, preparing for his stage show Transfigurations, Cape Town, January 2009. Images were taken by
Caroline Bowley. Toscano is a cisgender activist raising awareness about the damage caused by gay reparative therapy. He
is also vocal about cisgender privilege. His theatrical play, Transfigurations, features stage narratives of at least six people
in the Bible who could according to him be understood as trans* or gender nonconforming. To find out more about his
work, see his website: http://www.petersontoscano.com/transfigurations. Peterson Toscano and Liesl Theron presented
together at the (Gender Studies) West Virginia Wesleyan College, September 2010.
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Acknowledgements
There is an old African proverb which says, “it takes a village to raise a child”. I want to say it takes a
support network of friends to complete a thesis. This writing experience and journey full of
turbulence has convinced me that the village I come from is filled with inspiring, supporting and
warm people. I particularly wish to thank a few friends, colleagues and family who proved amazing
and inspirational supporters:
Prof Jane Bennett: for your encouragement and understanding, for knowing when to let me cry,
when to be strict, when to let me work through things and for keeping me on my toes. Thank you for
your guidance and for ‘being there’ in ways unimaginable – you were there every step of the way.
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Margie Lagerwall, board members and colleagues at Gender DynamiX: I am thankful to have shared
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a village with you, especially through the last home stretch; the entire 2013 was not easy for any of
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us. Thank you, dankie, ngiyabonga, enkosi kakhulu, merci beaucoup.T

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Jessica Scott and Melody Meadows: without your ongoing support, I don’t know how this would be...
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For the sharing of many meals in all ways and forms, from those early dinners after seminar during
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our Honours year, meals at the river, the famous GNOs, White Grass, exploring brinjals and my

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challenge to slip spices into dishes... thank you foor allowing me to be in your life as that meant that

this thesis took over your life too. y
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Ingrid Meintjes: thank you for all the msany, many visits you and Boo made to me, discussing,
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unpacking, challenging, in generael firing and inspiring thoughts, those we had with salmon – it was
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good.
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Beth Adams, Estian Smit, Brett Miller, Alok Vaid-Menon, Natasha Grave, Molly Egerdie, Cynthia
Smith: for helping me to think through my thoughts, technical support and being part of my process.
Prof Amanda Swarr: for inspiration, for understanding, for knowing.
To those who patiently waited while I put life on hold: I saw less of you, and you forgot what I looked
like – thanks for believing I will eventually enjoy your company again. My small family – Lidia and
Hannes (Mom and Dad), Ronel, Billy and Elai – I didn’t see much of you this year. Friends – Pam,
Robert B, Nodi, the Leather Bat, my three personalised Bears, Lex, and Delia – I ought to see all of
you more often.
Zanele Muholi, Mzikazi Nduna and Marlene Wasserman – in 2008, all of you encouraged me to take
up further education, thank you for believing in me.
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Trapped!

I’m tired of this body
that was imposed on me
never given a chance...
never offered a choice!
fully dressed when we make love
covered by bandages
when we go out!

Love your body... they say
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love yourself... they tell me
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I cannot stand this casing!
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that covers my true identity

and conceals the joy within...
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I cannot feel my lover’s breasts
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against my aching chest!
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My lover cannot touch me

cannot build me up f
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like I do her... Oh fucking hell!

Will I have to live
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and die t
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in this cocoon; this shell s
that deprives me r
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yet leaves me exposed
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to pain and suffering!
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to loneliness and hunger! n
Love your body... they Usay
love yourself... you say to me

But your stares, your looks
remind me everyday
that something is wrong...
where do I go
I’m trapped
within myself and within
your constricting walls

- Chan Mubanga2

2 See Mubanga, 2010 at Reference list
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 7
1. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................... 9
1.1 Global North ............................................................................................................................... 10
1.1.1 Definitions from the global North: considerations of language and race .......................... 10
1.1.2 Gaze and performance: Who is ‘gawking’, who is ‘acting’? ............................................... 15
1.2 South African trans* contextualised .......................................................................................... 21
1.2.1 South African socio-political realities - visualising South African trans* ............................ 21
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1.2.2 No understanding of the present, without the past... ........................................................ 22
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1.2.3 Visibility through law: Amendment of Act 49 of 2003 and iTts current status .................... 23

1.2.4 Repercussions with the Civil Union Bill: One step forweard, two steps sideways ............... 23
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1.2.5 Sangoma or doctor? Conundrum of a dual medaical system ............................................... 24
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1.2.6 Early school drop-outs and the economic cycle of unemployment ................................... 25

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1.2.7 Homophobia → {Transphobia} →Hate crimes .................................................................... 26

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1.2.8 Gender perspectives throught an intersex and trans* lens ................................................. 27
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1.2.9 Transgressive visibility trhrough art: a thin line between ‘visualise’ and ‘spectacle’ .......... 30
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1.2.10 Recent inclusionsv in South African trans* research and academic work ......................... 32
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1.2.11 {In} visibility of {research into} trans* people’s relationships – a look at cisgender-trans*
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intimacy ......................................................................................................................................... 34
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 37
2. Research Design and Methodology ................................................................................................. 38
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 38
2.1 Epistemology {flowing into Positionality} .................................................................................. 38
2.2 Positionality {continues from Epistemology} .............................................................................. 40
2.3 Ethics .......................................................................................................................................... 44
2.4 Methods and Methodology ....................................................................................................... 47
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Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 54
3. Data Presentation and Analytical Findings ...................................................................................... 55
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 55
Themes .............................................................................................................................................. 55
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 107
4. Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 110
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 110
4.1 Labour of love: what does it take to create gender and who is involved? .............................. 110
4.2 Communication: silence is not golden ........................................................n............................. 112
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4.3 Double spectacle: [lesbian] cisgender partners – policing required to gain control? ............. 114
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4.4 Elize and Gertie: heteronormativity runs through it................................................................ 116

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Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 119
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Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 120
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References ............................................................... ........................................................................... 122
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Annexure: Guided interview questions ......... ..................................................................................... 135
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Introduction
Cisgender3 partners of trans*4 persons contribute to the act of co-creating gender through their
performance in the supporting role in the transition process (Ward 2010). In this Master thesis I
want to build on previous scholars’ work focusing on this “labour of love” while highlighting the
diversity of cisgender partners’ experiences with respect to ethnicities, cultures and contexts beyond
the global North from which this theory emerged. I plan to subvert the usual ‘looking at gender
through transgender’ by looking at gender work through the experiences of cisgender partners in
cisgender-trans* relationships. As an academic endeavour in its own right which takes seriously the
silenced and marginalised experiences of cisgender partners, my research propnoses that this
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perspective is also an important contribution to deepening gender scholarship, especially in the
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global South.
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I have divided this thesis into four chapters, the first chapter of wehich creates a theoretical
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framework consisting of two sections. The first section highlights the literature which informed my
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thought process. I draw on theoretical literature from tChe global North to amplify the impact of
northern lexicons in the shape of definitions and di scourses on the identity formation and
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movements for justice for trans* people in South Africa. In this section I also present a brief history

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of the emergence of trans* terminology, cisgender-trans* relationships in history and the possible
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reasons for the invisibility of such relastionships. The second section in my literature review aims to
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ground the reader in the South Aefrican context. I attempt to present all the sources available to me
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at the time of finalising this thesis, while simultaneously navigating challenges around the limited
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amount of forthright trans*-specific literature. Here, I draw on the work of a few South African
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artists working on trans*-related projects. Furthermore I utilise South African blog articles and
organisational material with trans* content. I highlight organisational material, such as conference
reports, informational booklets and the limited published South African articles, which is
predominantly situated in advocacy, health, HIV/AIDS, sex work and other pathologising realms. In
this South African context section I briefly consider trans* in history, approached in a South African
trans* in a pre- and post apartheid time frame.

3 People who identify with their sex at birth.
4 I use the word trans* freely in my writing, indicating and respecting trans includes transgender, transsexual, transvestite
and gender non-conforming. See more at the section: ‘Definition conundrum’ and at www.transactivists.org/trans/
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In the second chapter, my choice of content analysis as a method allowed me to utilise a wider range
of sources in addition to the limited literature in academic spaces. Although the disposition of
content analysis gives me the option to draw on a wider range of sources, especially in the South
African context of my literature review, it also creates a challenge in the manner I present my data
and analysis. I raise this concern in the analysis section. In my discussion under the subheading
‘ethics’ I speak about the richness of the open sharing from interview participants, how my
relationship to them or their partners positioned me in a way that I was trusted with deep and very
intimate information, which, on the other hand, contributed to my own sense of distress and inner
conflict.
The third chapter in which I present data and analysis became a challenge in that I had to decide to
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either limit myself to a much smaller amount of data, with more refined, limited themes analysed to
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a greater extent, or, as a second option, present a broader thematic selection of data which will
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create a platform for future research and articles. Because this researTch is the first to explore this

specific topic in South Africa, I chose to present the broader themeatic overview of responses in the
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hope of contributing to future research that is urgently needed in this field.
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In the fourth and final chapter I discuss my data and analysis with four main findings, drawn from

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interviews and literature. I discuss my conclusioon that cisgender partners and cisgender-trans*

couples who manage to follow a heterosexyual script might receive greater acceptance in South
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African society than cisgender partnersi or cisgender-trans* couples who deliberately subvert
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heteronormativity. r
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I proceed with suggestions for future research, in which I indicate my desire to continue to a
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doctoral thesis in this fUield of cisgender-trans* couples and trans* masculinities in South Africa and,
perhaps, other African countries.
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