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Troubling the Visibility and Invisibility of Non-Normative Sexualities in Schools

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Troubling the Teaching and Learning of Gender and Sexuality Diversity in South African Education

Part of the book series: Queer Studies and Education ((QSTED))

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Abstract

The teachers in my study position LGB learners into visible and invisible groupings, both as a school problem. In this chapter, I trouble this positioning within schools, which can be understood as an ambivalence between visibility and invisibility, both which marginalize non-normative sexuality. To develop this argument, I have organized this chapter into two sections. The first presents a discussion of the teachers’ construction of LGB youth as invisible, denying their existence at school. The second expounds the super-visibility of non-heterosexuals as victims of bullying and harassment and as “loud and over the top.” Both positions of visibility and invisibility spur on the dominance of heterosexuality and simultaneously downplay the need for educational reform.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Dennis A. Francis

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  1. Dennis A. Francis
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Francis, D.A. (2017). Troubling the Visibility and Invisibility of Non-Normative Sexualities in Schools. In: Troubling the Teaching and Learning of Gender and Sexuality Diversity in South African Education. Queer Studies and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53027-1_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53027-1_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53026-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53027-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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