Queering the Queer
Due to the systemic reality of heteropatriarchy, queer bodies often struggle to find a place of belonging within the African context in general and faith spaces in particular. Even though there has been a shift towards a more inclusive theological discourse within the African Christian faith landsc...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
UJ Press
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ajgr/article/view/1047 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841554877828825088 |
|---|---|
| author | Tracey Sibisi Charlene van der Walt |
| author_facet | Tracey Sibisi Charlene van der Walt |
| author_sort | Tracey Sibisi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Due to the systemic reality of heteropatriarchy, queer bodies often struggle to find a place of belonging within the African context in general and faith spaces in particular. Even though there has been a shift towards a more inclusive theological discourse within the African Christian faith landscape, the bodies of African Izitabane are still predominantly viewed as a Western import and a threat to African culture and its traditions. Because of this, queer bodies continue to find themselves within hostile environments. This has contributed to queer people moving towards alternative spaces of worship and the development of the queer church in which all bodies are welcomed. Although queer bodies have created these alternative faith spaces to move away from the systems of heteropatriarchy that force them to conform to heteronormative standards within the church, a study conducted in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, found that queer people often recreate these systems in their own spaces. The pervasive systemic nature of heteropatriarchy finds expression in the insistence on masculine bodies being placed in positions of authority and the exclusive recognition of relationships that conform to heteronormative standards. In the process of trying to escape the confines of a male centred heteropatriarchal African church, we argue that queer people have not succeeded in tapping into the full potential of the power of “queer” as a tool to disrupt and destabilise the pervasive system of heteropatriarchy. Our contri-bution aims to reflect on our collective queer journey, orientated towards understanding and interrogating the systemic realities underlying and informing the queer appropriation of patriarchy and heteronormativity in Afri-can queer faith spaces.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-95b0569b83c543d585f9164ff4c5b26f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2707-2991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | UJ Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) |
| spelling | doaj-art-95b0569b83c543d585f9164ff4c5b26f2025-01-08T09:00:35ZengUJ PressAfrican Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR)2707-29912021-12-0127210.14426/ajgr.v27i2.1047Queering the QueerTracey Sibisi0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9254-5117Charlene van der Walt1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9744-3101University of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal Due to the systemic reality of heteropatriarchy, queer bodies often struggle to find a place of belonging within the African context in general and faith spaces in particular. Even though there has been a shift towards a more inclusive theological discourse within the African Christian faith landscape, the bodies of African Izitabane are still predominantly viewed as a Western import and a threat to African culture and its traditions. Because of this, queer bodies continue to find themselves within hostile environments. This has contributed to queer people moving towards alternative spaces of worship and the development of the queer church in which all bodies are welcomed. Although queer bodies have created these alternative faith spaces to move away from the systems of heteropatriarchy that force them to conform to heteronormative standards within the church, a study conducted in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, found that queer people often recreate these systems in their own spaces. The pervasive systemic nature of heteropatriarchy finds expression in the insistence on masculine bodies being placed in positions of authority and the exclusive recognition of relationships that conform to heteronormative standards. In the process of trying to escape the confines of a male centred heteropatriarchal African church, we argue that queer people have not succeeded in tapping into the full potential of the power of “queer” as a tool to disrupt and destabilise the pervasive system of heteropatriarchy. Our contri-bution aims to reflect on our collective queer journey, orientated towards understanding and interrogating the systemic realities underlying and informing the queer appropriation of patriarchy and heteronormativity in Afri-can queer faith spaces. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ajgr/article/view/1047queerheteropatriarchyheteronormativitypowerblack queer Christian bodies |
| spellingShingle | Tracey Sibisi Charlene van der Walt Queering the Queer African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) queer heteropatriarchy heteronormativity power black queer Christian bodies |
| title | Queering the Queer |
| title_full | Queering the Queer |
| title_fullStr | Queering the Queer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Queering the Queer |
| title_short | Queering the Queer |
| title_sort | queering the queer |
| topic | queer heteropatriarchy heteronormativity power black queer Christian bodies |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ajgr/article/view/1047 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT traceysibisi queeringthequeer AT charlenevanderwalt queeringthequeer |