Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The (In)Visible Gay in Academic Leadership

Implications for Reimagining Inclusion and Transformation in South Africa

  • Chapter
Academic Autoethnographies

Abstract

The South African Constitution (1996) recognises historical and structural inequalities pertaining to groups “based on perceived or ‘real’ differences” (de Vos, 2004, p. 185). Law thus has an important role to play “in reordering …power relations in ways which strive to ensure that all individuals are treated as if they have the same moral worth” (de Vos, 2004, p. 185). Rothmann (2014, p. 84) noted that “though decriminalisation [of homosexuality has occurred, this does not] …ensure an eradication of homophobia” through legal or constitutional provisions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Ahmed, S. (2010). The promise of happiness. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Appiah, K. (2005). The ethics of identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arendt, H. (1973). The origins of totalitarianism. London, England: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Barnard, J. (2007). Totalitarianism (same sex) marriage and democratic politics in post-apartheid South Africa. South African Journal of Human Rights, 23(3), 500–525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berlant, L. (2011). Cruel optimism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, L. (2014, June 13). Bowdoin College says gays must be allowed to join and vie for leadership in Christian groups on campus. The Christian Post. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/bowdoin-college-says-gays-must-be-allowed-to-join-and-vie-for-leadership-in-christian-groups-on-campus-121540/

  • Botha, H. (2004). Equality, dignity, and the politics of interpretation. SA Public Law, 19, 724–751.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branson, D. M. (2007). No seat at the table: How corporate governance and law keep women out of the boardroom. New York, NY: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, E. (2005). Witness to AIDS. New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, H. (2008). Autoethnography as method. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, N., Dewaele, A., van Houtte, M., & Vincke, J. (2011). Stress-related growth, coming out, and internalized homonegativity in lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth: An examination of stress-related growth within the minority stress model. Journal of Homosexuality, 58(1), 117–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, J., Kippax, S., Onyx, J., Gault, U., & Benton, P. (1992). Emotion and gender: Constructing meaning from memory (Gender and psychology). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Education. (2002). Issues on gender in schools: An introduction for teachers. Pretoria, South Africa: Government Printing Works.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vos, P. (2004). Desire and the re-imagining of the South African family. South African Journal of Human Rights, 20, 179–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, C. (2007). Telling secrets, revealing lives: Relational ethics in research with intimate others. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(1), 3–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), Art. 10. Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1589/3095

  • Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998. (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1953). The sacrificial role of cattle among the Nuer. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 23(3), 181–198. Retrieved from http://nueronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/The-Sacrificial1.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, D., & Msibi, T. (2011). Teaching about heterosexism: Challenging homophobia in South Africa. Journal of LGBT Youth, 8(2), 157–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, N. (1996). Gender equity and the welfare state: A post-industrialist thought experiment. In S. Benhabib (Ed.), Democracy and difference: Contesting the boundaries of the political (pp. 218–241). New Jersey, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A., Short, N. P., & Turner, L. (2013). Introduction: Storying life and lives. In N. P. Short, L. Turner, & A. Grant (Eds.), Contemporary British autoethnography (pp. 1–16). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gremond, P., & de Gruchy, S. (1997). Aliens in the household of God: Homosexuality and Christian faith in South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: David Philip.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education South Africa (HESA). (2010). Sector position paper on the report of the Ministerial Committee on transformation and social cohesion and the elimination of discrimination in South Africa’s public higher education institutions. Pretoria, South Africa: HESA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M. (2014, June 15). Homosexual behavior policy leads lawyers to vote to deny Christian university law school accreditation. The Christian Post. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/homosexual-behavior-policy-leads-lawyers-to-vote-to-deny-christian-university-law-schoolaccreditation-121524/

  • Morley, L. (2013). The rules of the game: Women and the leaderist turn in higher education. Gender and Education, 25(1), 116–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ndashe, S. (2010). The battle for the recognition of LGBTI rights as human rights. Perspectives, 4(10), 4–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nel, J. A., & Judge, M. (2008). Exploring homophobic victimisation in Gauteng, South Africa: Issues, impacts and responses. Acta Criminologica, 21(3), 19–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rancière, J. (2006). Hatred of democracy (S. Corcoran, Trans.). London, England: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy, V. (2002). Perverts and sodomites: Homophobia as hate speech in Africa. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 20, 163–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy, V. (2010). Identity, law, justice: Thinking about sexual rights and citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa. Perspectives, 4(10), 18–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, R. (2008). Writing the othered self: Autoethnography and the problem of objectification in writing about illness and disability. Qualitative Health Research, 18, 1717–1728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothmann, J. (2014). (De)constructing the heterosexual/homosexual binary: The identity construction of gay male academics and students in South African tertiary education (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton, L., Riordan, S., & Simonis, D. (2006). Gender and the transformation agenda in South African higher education. Women’s Studies International Forum, 29(6), 572–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit, N. (2013). The contribution of labour law and non-discrimination law to empowerment and social justice in an unequal society: A South African perspective. The International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 29(4), 375–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. (2014, May 26). South Africa appoints first lesbian to cabinet. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/26/south-africa-appoints-gay-minister-lynne-brown

  • Soudien, C., Michaels, W., Mthembi-Mahanyele, S., Nkomo, M., Nyanda, G., Nyoka, N., … Villa-Vicencio, C. (2008). Report of the ministerial committee on transformation and social cohesion and the elimination of discrimination in public higher education institutions. Retrieved from https://www.cput.ac.za/storage/services/transformation/ministerial_report_transformation_social_cohesion.pdf

  • South African Human Rights Commission. (2012). SAHRC equality report. Retrieved from http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/Equality%20Report%20Final%20October%202012a1.pdf

  • Stubbs, A. (Ed.). (1987). I write what I like: Steve Biko. A selection of his writings. Oxford, England: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner, M. (Ed.). (1993). Introduction. In Fear of a queer planet: Queer politics and social theory (pp. vii–xxi). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. (2007). The world we have won: The remaking of erotic and intimate life. Oxford, England: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wicomb, Z. (2000). David’s story. Johannesburg, South Africa: Kwela.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, P. (1995). Metro Broadcasting, Inc v FCC: Regrouping in singular times. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 191–200). New York, NY: New Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education Sciences, North-West University, South Africa

    Robert J. Balfour

Authors
  1. Robert J. Balfour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Daisy Pillay

  2. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Inbanathan Naicker

  3. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Sense Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Balfour, R.J. (2016). The (In)Visible Gay in Academic Leadership. In: Pillay, D., Naicker, I., Pithouse-Morgan, K. (eds) Academic Autoethnographies. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-399-5_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-399-5_9

  • Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6300-399-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation