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This paper explores the salience of sport in the lives of eight-year-old and nine-year-old South African primary school boys. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data, I argue that young boys' developing relationship with sport is inscribed within particular gendered, raced and classed discourses in South Africa. Throughout the paper I show differences and durability of meanings across the social sites that affect and position blacks, white, boys and girls. It is argued that young boys' early association with sport is centrally about identity and doing sport, or at least establishing interest in sport is one important way in claiming to be a real boy. The findings have implications for the call by the South African Government to get the nation to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective in this study was to explore what HIV and AIDS mean to seven- and eight-year-old children in South Africa and how sexual and gender dynamics are embedded within these meanings. Against representations that associate young children with innocence, the paper argues for a more capacious view of young children as sexual and gendered agents with the ability to exercise their rights. In contrast to research that addresses children as relatively passive desexualised beings, focusing on their dependence on adults, their innocence and their need for protection, this paper examines how HIV and AIDS are constructed and negotiated by young people. It views children not simply in terms of their need for sexual rights but as potentially active participants in the negotiation of their rights. Viewing children's rights as highly contested, the notion that young children have sexual rights opens up possibilities for children (including those from marginalised groups) to talk about their concerns and pleasures, fears and hopes, as well as issues relating to sexual rights and resistances. By working creatively with teachers, it may be possible to broaden young children's knowledge of HIV and AIDS and sexuality within a more supportive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective male sexual violence is part of a continuum of sexual coercion in South Africa. This paper is based on long-term ethnographic work in an urban township in the former Transkei region. Drawing on intensive participant observation and interviews with young men in particular, it attempts to make sense of emergent narratives relating to streamlining , a local term for a not uncommon form of collective sexual coercion involving a group of male friends and one or more women. The paper begins with an overview of existing anthropological literature on collective male sexual violence, going onto elaborate the different scenarios associated with group sexual violence in the fieldsite. It seeks to provide a multi-layered contextualization of the phenomenon by considering prevailing gender discourses, subcultural issues pertaining to the urban tsotsi phenomenon, the rural practice of ukuthwala (bride capture), young working-class Africans' experiences of marginalization, and the complex links between political economy and violence in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the genealogy of sexual violence as a public and political issue in South Africa, from its initial marginalization and minimization during the apartheid era, through to the explosion of anguish and anger which marked the post-apartheid moment, and most dramatically the years 2001 and 2002. Of particular interest is the question of how and why the problem of sexual violence came to be seen as a scandal of manhood, putting male sexuality under critical public scrutiny. The paper argues that the sudden, intense eruption of public anxiety and argument about sexual violence which marked the post-apartheid period had relatively little to do with feminist analysis and politics (influential though this has been in some other respects). Rather, the key to understanding this politicization of sexual violence lies with its resonances with wider political and ideological anxieties about the manner of the national subject and the moral community of the country's fledgling democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the publication of the reports by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), many research papers have documented inequities, explaining causal pathways in order to inform policy and programmatic decision-making. At the international level, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect an attempt to bring together these themes and the complexities involved in defining a comprehensive development framework. However, to date, much less has been done to address the monitoring challenges, that is, how data generation, analysis and use are to become routine tasks. Objective: To test proposed indicators of social determinants of health (SDH), gender, equity, and human rights with respect to their relevance in tracking progress in universal health coverage and population health (level and distribution). Design: In an attempt to explore these monitoring challenges, indicators covering a wide range of social determinants were tested in four country case studies (Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, and Vietnam) for their technical feasibility, reliability, and validity, and their communicability and usefulness to policy-makers. Twelve thematic domains with 20 core indicators covering different aspects of equity, human rights, gender, and SDH were tested through a review of data sources, descriptive analyses, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. To test the communicability and usefulness of the domains, domain narratives that explained the causal pathways were presented to policy-makers, managers, the media, and civil society leaders. Results: For most countries, monitoring is possible, as some data were available for most of the core indicators. However, a qualitative assessment showed that technical feasibility, reliability, and validity varied across indicators and countries. Producing understandable and useful information proved challenging, and particularly so in translating indicator definitions and data into meaningful lay and managerial narratives, and effectively communicating links to health and ways in which the information could improve decision-making. Conclusions: This exercise revealed that for monitoring to produce reliable data collection, analysis, and discourse, it will need to be adapted to each national context and institutionalised into national systems. This will require that capacities and resources for this and subsequent communication of results are increased across countries for both national and international monitoring, including the successful implementation of the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from theories of identity formation and feminist theories, this paper develops an account which is both structural and personal of the social construction of academic women's lives in a South African setting. Such discussion is necessary given the paucity of material on gender in South Africa, and timely in its comparative account of the shaping effects not only of gender, but also of race in the academy. Using life-history interviews, the paper explores and begins to explain the marginalisation of women in South African universities where male and masculine carries greater cultural prestige, and where the gendered economy and gender divisions in private lives shape and constrain academic selves, but where race has been and is a central carrier of power. Using the words of the women, it seeks to unpick the seamless narration of the White, male, masculinist colonial university as a move towards a more inclusive and so more fully human account of aspects of life in South African universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urban informal settlements remain sites of high HIV incidence and prevalence, as well as violence. Increasing attention is paid on how configurations of young men's masculinities shape these practices through exploring how men build respect and identity. In this paper, we explore how young Black South Africans in two urban informal settlements construct respect and a masculine identity. Methods: Data are drawn from three focus groups and 19 in-depth interviews. Results: We suggest that while young men aspire to a 'traditional' masculinity, prioritising economic power and control over the household, we suggest that a youth masculinity emerges which, in lieu of alternative ways to display power, prioritises violence and control over men's sexual partners, men seeking multiple sexual partners and men's violence to other men. This functions as a way of demonstrating masculinity and their position within a public gender order. Discussion: We suggest there are three implications of the findings for working with men on violence and HIV-risk reduction. First, there exist a number of contradictions in men's discourses about masculinity that may provide spaces and opportunities for change. Second, it is important to work on multiple issues at once given the way violence, alcohol use, and sexual risk are interlinked in youth masculinity. Finally, engaging with men's exclusion from the capitalist system may provide an important way to reduce violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing rates of teenage pregnancy is an important part of the agenda of action for meeting most of the Millenium Development Goals. South Africa has important lessons for other countries in this regard as the rate of teenage pregnancy is high but has declined very substantially over the last twenty years. The country experiences waves of moral panic about teenage pregnancy, with assertions that current problems are rooted in accepting or even encouraging the sexual appetites of young people rather than sternly disciplining them. In this paper, we argue that the key to success in teenage pregnancy reduction has been an empowering social policy agenda that has sought to work with young people, making them aware of their rights and the risks of sexual intercourse. Furthermore, family responses and education policy have greatly reduced the potential negative impact of teenage pregnancy on the lives of teenage girls. There is tremendous scope for further progress in reducing teenage pregnancy and we argue that this lies in paying more attention to issues of gender and sexuality, including the terms and conditions under which teenagers have sex. There needs to be critical reflection and engagement with men and boys on issues of masculinity, including their role in child rearing, as well as examination within families of their engagement with supporting pregnancy prevention and responses to pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African research on same-sex sexuality is sparse. Black men living in rural areas, and particularly coloured men, have often been neglected in same-sex sexuality research. This paper describes the findings from a study that explored the sexuality constructions of a group of young, coloured, self-identified gay men who live in a semi-rural, low-income, South African community. Social constructionist grounded theory was used to analyse interviews conducted with 12 men between the ages of 20 and 31. It was found that these men construct their sexuality as being 'like a woman'. In our exploration of this core category, we show how men use notions of femininity to construct their sexuality. We conclude by considering how this group of gay men's performance of femininity could be viewed as reproducing mainstream ideas of gender within their community, while at the same time functioning as acts of subversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaginal practices, such as intra-vaginal cleansing, drying and tightening, are suspected of placing women at higher risk of acquiring HIV and STIs. Yet, there is limited understanding of what these practices entail, what motivates women to undertake them and what their socio-cultural and historical meanings are. This paper explores the range of vaginal practices used by women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and locates these within the context of local patterns of migration and understandings of sexual health and pleasure. Study activities took place at an urban and rural site employing qualitative research techniques: semi-structured interviewing and an additional ethnographic component in the rural site. Vaginal practices were believed to be ubiquitous and a wide range of substances and procedures were described. Strong motivations for vaginal practices included women's desire to enhance men's sexual pleasure, ensure men's fidelity and exercise agency and control in their relationships. The common use of traditional medicines in this quest to maintain stable relationships and affect the course of love, suggests a complexity that cannot be captured by simple terms like 'dry sex'. We argue instead that any interventions to change women's reliance on vaginal practices must recognise and attend to the broader social contexts in which they are embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on data derived from two socially contrasting primary schools in Durban, this paper focuses on how gender and sexuality feature in the teaching and discussion of HIV/AIDS. A detailed analysis of two 'life-skills' lessons in the two schools shows that, despite the social differences between the schools, discussions of gender and sexuality remain muted. Discourses of childhood innocence make it difficult for teachers to provide comprehensive knowledge of sex, sexuality and gender in the primary school 'life-skills' lessons. Implications for teacher training are suggested briefly in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper situates Zulu ngoma song and dance within the related worlds of state and gender politics in post-apartheid South Africa. It poses as its problem the difficulty of retaining the presence of individualized expression and stylized body movement in an analysis that also situates "the body" politically and theorizes it phenomenologically. In the midst of unemployment, an AIDS epidemic and a history of violence in rural KwaZulu-Natal, ngoma is a critical means to attaining responsible manhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]