I've got two men and one woman’

Ancestors, sexuality and identity among same‐sex identified women traditional healers in South Africa

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15098396
AutoresRuth Morgan (0000-0003-2559-2359, University of the Witwatersrand), Graeme Reid (0000-0002-6404-2459, University of the Witwatersrand)
Año2003
Volumen5
Número5
Páginas375-391
Fecha de publicación2003-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369105011000064146
OpenAlexW2103251981
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas2

This paper presents preliminary insights into the complex nature of the same‐sex orientation of seven women who are sangomas (traditional healers) in Soweto. Data was derived from an ethnographic study, used as the appropriate methodology because of the veiled and secret nature of same‐sexuality amongst traditional healers. In‐depth semi‐structured interviews were taped in audio or video format, transcribed and translated into English. A close reading of the transcripts in relation to notions of gender, agency, kinship, community and power revealed that the belief system of the sangomas provides a window into different categories of sexuality in an African framework through which the interaction and intersection of their personal same‐sex desire, and that of their male ancestors, can be viewed. Sangomas construction of identity and desire shifted between that of personal agency and that of a dominant male ancestor. This required constant negotiation and encompassed elements of both the ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’. In the case of these sangomas, same‐sexuality the basis of marginality assumes a social status and becomes a source of power

Aesthetics · Ancestor · Art · Ethnography · Human sexuality · Kinship · Linguistics · Negotiation · Social science · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Anthropology · Gender Studies · History · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Philosophy