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Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2019.

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Main Author: Sparrow, Melissa Jade
Other Authors: Painter, Desmond
Format: Thesis
Language:en_ZA
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Sparrow, Melissa Jade
author2 Painter, Desmond
author_browse Painter, Desmond
Sparrow, Melissa Jade
author_facet Painter, Desmond
Sparrow, Melissa Jade
author_sort Sparrow, Melissa Jade
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2019.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/107236
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language en_ZA
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:47:00.921Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/107236 Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia Sparrow, Melissa Jade Painter, Desmond Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology. Queer theory Intersectionality (Sociology) Gender identity Transphobia Transgender women -- Education (Higher) Sexual minority college students -- South Africa UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2019. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a cisheteronormative society, queer people are often silenced and othered by cisheterosexual researchers. This study was to be different in that a queer womxn researcher was to highlight and amplify the voices of queer womxn. The purpose of the study was to explore the way that queer South African womxn in tertiary education make sense of as well as negotiate queerness and queerphobia in their daily lives. These experiences were explored in a process consisting of three steps: Firstly, an in-depth semi-structured interview was conducted. Secondly, the womxn participated in a two week long process in which they made use of journaling. Lastly, a short debriefing interview took place in order to ensure that the researcher completely understood the journals. Ten participants were recruited using purposive sampling, and thereafter the data was examined through the lens of queer theory. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used in order to organise the data into meaningful themes. Five main themes arose from the data: identity, experiences of queerness, gendered queerphobia, systematic and institutionalised queerphobia, and being a queer womxn at university. Throughout the results it became evident that the intersectionality of the womxn’s varying identities and the uniqueness of each queer individual impacted heavily on the way that they experienced being queer, on how they experienced queerphobia, as well as the way that they interpreted queerphobia. Queer students did not feel that the university was an inclusive space for queer people, and continued to feel marginalised and othered within tertiary education institutions. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ’n cisheteronormatiewe samelewing, word queer individue dikwels stilgemaak en vervreem deur cisheteroseksuele navorsers. Hierdie studie is anders as vorige studies omdat die navorser ’n queer womxn is wat die stemme van queer vroue op die voorgrond plaas. Die doel van die studie is om ondersoek in te stel na die manier waarop Suid-Afrikaanse womxn in tersiêre onderwys sin maak van queerheid en queerfobie in hul daaglikse lewe. ’n Proses wat uit drie stappe bestaan is gebruik om hierdie ervaringe te verken: Eerstens, is ’n in-diepte, semi-gestruktureerde onderhoud gevoer. Die womxn het tweedens ’n joernaal gehou oor ’n tydperk van twee weke. Laastens, het ’n kort onderhoud plaasgevind ten einde te verseker dat die navorser die joernale heeltemal verstaan het. Tien deelnemers is gewerf deur middel van doelgerigte steekproefneming en daarna is die data ondersoek deur die lens van queerteorie. Interpretatiewe Fenomenologiese Analise is gebruik ten einde die data in betekenisvolle temas te verdeel. Vyf temas het uit die data na vore gekom: identiteit, ervaringe van queerheid; geslagtelike queerfobie, sistematiese en geïnstitusionaliseerde queerfobie, en om ’n queer womxn op universiteit te wees. Deur die resultate het dit duidelik geword dat die interseksionaliteit van die womxn se verskillende identiteite en die uniekheid van elke queer individu baie beïnvloed is deur hoe hulle dit ervaar het om queer te wees, hoe hulle queerfobie ervaar het, en deur hoe hulle queerfobie geïnterpreteer het. Queer studente het nie gevoel dat die universiteit ’n inklusiewe spasie vir queer individue is nie, en het voortgegaan om gemarginaliseerd en vervreemd te voel binne tersiêre onderwysinstellings. Masters 2019-11-27T09:38:53Z 2019-12-11T06:54:19Z 2019-11-27T09:38:53Z 2019-12-11T06:54:19Z 2019-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/107236 en_ZA Stellenbosch University viii, 149 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Queer theory
Intersectionality (Sociology)
Gender identity
Transphobia
Transgender women -- Education (Higher)
Sexual minority college students -- South Africa
UCTD
Sparrow, Melissa Jade
Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia
title Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia
title_full Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia
title_fullStr Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia
title_full_unstemmed Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia
title_short Being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in South Africa: Identity and queerphobia
title_sort being a queer womxn within the context of tertiary education institutions in south africa identity and queerphobia
topic Queer theory
Intersectionality (Sociology)
Gender identity
Transphobia
Transgender women -- Education (Higher)
Sexual minority college students -- South Africa
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/107236
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