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By
Nadia Sanger
The focus of this article is how western notions of heterosexual femininities and masculinities are represented as normative in South African editions of magazines such as True Love, Femina , Fair Lady , Men's Health , Blink and For Him Magazine ( FHM ). Through constant reiteration, magazines play a critical and influential role in defining a particular kind of heterosexuality as the only acceptable sexuality to perform. Allen argues that the media is one space where "(hetero) sexual identity and discursive practices that support an active male and passive female sexuality are deeply embedded...and perceived as normative"[1] . The ubiquitous nature of the media means that children cannot easily escape consuming the gendered scripts produced as normative in South African society. Girls and boys are socialized into particular ways of performing their roles as women and men through magazine scripts which idealize western notions of femininity and masculinity. (Hetero) socialization in popular South African magazine scripts help delimit, erase and produce sexual expression outside of heterosexuality as deviant.
I reflect on thirty-seven South African English-medium editorialized versions of Femina , Fair Lady , True Love , Men's Health , For Him Magazine and Blink between January 2003 and December 2005[2]. Except for Blink magazine, which no longer exists, all six magazines reflect the largest readerships in South Africa, with True Love and Blink being the only magazines targeting a black readership.
Linking Magazines, Heteronormativity and Socialization
It has been widely argued that the media operates as an agent of socialization, privileging and normalizing particular ideas about gender, sexuality and race[3]. Within magazine scripts, maleness, whiteness, and heterosexuality mostly operate as unnamed within binaries of gender, race and sexuality, but are central to the organization of a patriarchal society. McRobbie [4] notes for instance that magazines work to "naturalize and universalize meanings and values which are in fact socially constructed" [5].
Popular magazine scripts highlight that sexual expression is limited to a certain kind of heterosexuality, where black and white women are expected to perform constant bodily work in order to maintain or become heterosexually desirable, and black and white men on the other hand, are represented as inherently heterosexual, desiring multiple female partners for instance, but simultaneously must be taught by the magazine how to behave (hetero)sexually. I now move on to the ways these scripts are played out in magazines.
White Women and Youth
In Femina and Fair Lady , both magazines targeting white middle to upper middle class women, the western notion of youthfulness as ideal is represented as heterosexually desirable 1 in white women. Over and over again magazine content instructs white women to manage and mask the inevitable signs of ageing. Text such as "Awaken your skin's youth: 42 active ingredients for the ultimate anti-ageing treatment. Fine lines are smoothed, facial features are firmer, and your complexion is more radiant and youthful-looking"[6] litters the magazines' pages. This pressure for white women to portray youth serves to locate them as worthy of competing within the heterosexual market - advertisers suggest that if white women want to remain marketable within the racialised heterosexual matrix, they must look youthful.
"Straight Up Gorgeous For Hair That's Smooth, Silky and All Out Lovely": Straightened Hair As Heterosexually Desirable
Recent research in Britain reveals that racist representations of skin colour, facial features and hair texture continue to shape the experiences of black women.[7] This seems to be the case in South African magazines too. In True Love magazine, the idea of straightened hair - as opposed to curly hair, afros, dreadlocks or braids - as heterosexually desirable, is overwhelming (see image 1 for example). One example among many includes a mock letters' page in True Love which appears to be an advertisement for Sofn'free hair straightening products. One question reads "How can I keep my hair looking good?" The response is a passionate "We recommend you use the new Sofn'Free straightening oil until your hair's condition recovers. Then relax with the Sofn'Free Shine Formula sodium relaxer - it has been specifically formulated to give your hair better colour intensity and shine."[8] But straightened hair as desirable in women is not limited to adult women. It seems that little black girls are similarly expected to locate themselves as heterosexually desirable as in the following example: "Stop damage before it starts - with love and Sofn'Free n' pretty . We all know hard and painful it can be to manage coarse hair."[9] Little girls, according to True Love , must be taught from an early age how to perform 'appropriate' and desirable heterosexual femininity.
Exotised Black Heterofemininity
Despite the rare representation of black women in Femina and Fair Lady , when they are represented at all, blackness is often marked on their bodies in ways which present black women as hyper(hetero)sexual. Black women are often portrayed as 'exotic' in ways that white women are not. A special report on a book titled The naked woman: a study of the female body authored by Desmond Morris - who is set up as an expert on women's bodies - discusses his 'discovery' of "not one but four female G-spots"[10] features a full-page photo of an black African woman's naked body shown from behind. Another example of the way race is marked on the black female body appears as a half-page advertisement selling JôJô Africa body products. The main heading of the advert reads "My African Dream" [11] and is accompanied by text and an image of a naked black woman lying on her stomach with her face turned towards the camera against a backdrop of mountain and land, part of the African soil, emblematic of the African landscape. Using terms such as "rare and distinctive", "pure" and "indigenous" to describe the product, the text and imagery imply that black femininity, as signifier of Africa, is again hyper (hetero)sexualised in ways that white women in Femina and Fair Lady magazine are not. A different example of how black heterofemininity is marked while white heterofemininity is presented as 'normal' is a series of advertisements in Femina magazine. While both white and black women appear in this advert, it is one of the few locations where black women are represented in Femina magazine, and they are again described in exotic ways. The bold text accompanying the images of white women reads more neutrally: "Just Now"; "Hey-Hey" and "(Global) Village Girls"[12]. The bold text accompanying three images of black women read as follows: "Wild Life"; " Tula Mama" and "Township Tjerrie - The essence of Africa: Black and White and Animal Prints."[13] Here, white heterofemininity is presented as normative and neutral while black heterofemininity is presented as more sexualised, 'different' and thus 'exotic'[14].
Contradictory Heteromasculinities
While Men's Health , FHM and Blink privilege particular ways of being heterosexual men across racial constructs, these performances are often contradictory. So while there is an overwhelming discourse that men are inherently heterosexual and desire multiple partners: "You know you're a man when at least once in your life you've fantasized about twins"[15] , there is also the overwhelming idea in Men's Health and Blink that men need to be taught how to behave (hetero)sexually: "The best time for a 'nice arse!' shout-out is when there's no chance that you'll be having sex anytime soon..." [16] The contradiction lies in the notion that although heterosexuality in men is presented as natural or biological, men also need to be taught what to do when having sexual relations with women . This seems to be the case across racial constructs so that another example in Blink magazine reads, "Come on guys, with a little guidance and some effort on your part, you can experience the truth of age old legends. Coax your love to burning desire."[17] Across racial constructs, men are contradictorily presented as both biologically heterosexual as well as in need of teaching on how to perform heterosexually.
Conclusion
The overwhelming projection of westernized notions of heterofemininity and heteromasculinity in South African editorialized versions of 'lifestyle' magazines as normative and ideal, constructs homosexuality, bisexuality or any other type of sexual expression as abnormal though its invisibilisation. This leaves little space to express a different kind of sexuality - one where mature white women are considered desirable in their maturity, where black women's hair in braids, dreadlocks or afros, are considered desirable, where black female bodies are not racialised and deemed exoticised, and where men don't feel pressure to perform heteromasculinities which treat them as ignorant. These hegemonic scripts limit and erase the possibility of sexual expression outside its boundaries as normative. These ever-present media portrayals of womanhood, manhood, blackness and whiteness, overwhelming heterosexual expression and ignored homosexual expression, leave very little space for children, socialized within these very narrow margins, to express themselves differently and grow into different kinds of women and men in South Africa. It is important that we start providing our children more choices by investing
References
1. Allen, L. (2003) Girls want sex, boys wants love: resisting dominant discourses of (hetero)sexuality, Sexualities , 6: pg;215-236.
2. South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF). (2003 - 2005)
3. Boswell, B. (2002) Representation of gender-based violence in the media: A case study of two Cape Town newspapers. http://www.gwsafrica.org/knowledge/gbv%20coverage.htm (assessed 12/10/2007)
4. Viljoen, Stella (2007 - in press). 'Masculine ideals in post-apartheid South Africa: The rise of men's glossies', in Hadland, A., Louw, E., Sesanti, S. & Wasserman, H. (eds.) At the end of the rainbow: power, politics and identity in post-apartheid South African media. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
5. McRobbie, Angela. (1999) In the Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music . London: Routledge.
6. Femina , May (2003) pg; 23.
7. Shirley Tate (2007).
8. True Love , December (2003) pg; 89.
9. True Love , October (2004) pg; 273.
10. Fair Lady , January (2005) pg;33.
11. Femina, February (2005) pg; 55.
12. Femina February (2005) pg; 83-86.
13. Femina , February (2005) pg; 79-90.
14. Tate, S. (2007). Black beauty: Shade, hair and anti-racist aesthetics, in Ethnic and Racial Studies , Vol. 30 (2) pg; 300-319.
15. Blink May (2005) pg; 66
16. Men's Health , April (2005) pg; 65
17. Blink , June (2005) pg; 93
* Nadia Sanger is a feminist researcher , working as a senior researcher in the Democracy and Governance Research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council in Cape Town.
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