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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town Performing the Self: Making/Remaking White Male Identities in Post Apartheid South Africa Lincoln Theo THXLlN001 A dissertation submitted in fullfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts in African Studies Faculty of the Humanities University of Cape Town 2004 COMPULSORY DECLARATIONUniversity of Cape Town This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. Signature:----'~'"""'=,I----FIsignature removed_'-----"IF--..."......... _______ Date: __b=--.;..t-=-l \,,---\ O_trf-" ___ Contents Acknowledgements - Page i Abstract - Page ii Introduction - Page 1 Problematic - Page 3 Chapter 1- Disciplines, Methodologies and Discourses - Page 10 Disciplinary Departure Points- Sociology - Page 11 Methodological Approaches- Anthropological Perspectives - Page 17 Auto-Ethnography - Page 17 The Writer as Reader, the Reader as Writer - Page 18 The Self as Authorial Position - Page 20 Undisciplined Theory - Page 22 Materialisation 1: Reminiscences- False Beginnings - Page 25 Identity as Narrative - Page 27 Identity, Textuality and the Social Sciences - Page 27 The Performance of Identity as Narrative Form - Page 28 Materialisation 2: Screenplay- "The Clock" - Page 36 Chapter 2- Power - Page 47 Power and Discourse - Page 47 Materialisation 3: Reminiscences- Making the Child Page 55 - Cross-Dressing Four-Year-Olds - Page 55 - Lion of Africa or 'Swart Gevaar' - Page 55 - Boys Don't Cry Town - Page 56 - Black Friends, Tin Plates and Toilets - Page 56 Power and the Self- Knowledge, Language and Social Discipline - Page 58 Power and Knowledge - Page 59 Language and Self Cape - Page 60 Institutional Power - Page 61 Power and Regulation in South Africa of - Page 63 Materialisation 4: Reminiscences- the Child Learns to Perform - Page 67 - Boy's Toys - Page 67 - White Boys' Clothing - Page 68 - Sporty White Boys - Page 69 - All Post-Pubertal Boys are Perverts - Page 69 Chapter 3- Space, Time and Memory - Page 70 Space, Time/DurationUniversity and Memory. and the Stability of Identity - Page 70 Non-Western Models of Time - Page 74 The Certainty of Whiteness and Maleness in Space and Time - Page 75 Materialisation 5: Reminiscences- Adult Reflections - Page 78 - My Parents - Page 78 - My Sister - Page 79 -Me - Page 80 Chapter 4- Race and Gender - Page 81 Sex/Gender and Male Identity - Page 81 Feminism, Femaleness and Power - Page 81 Feminist Arguments and Maleness - Page 85 Undoing Sex and Gender - Page 86 Sex as Stable Category - Page 88 Sex and Gender Performativity - Page 91 Race, Ethnicity, Nationality and Whiteness - Page 91 Blackness in a White World - Page 92 Nationalism and White South African Identity - Page 94 Anthropological Identity Definition - Page 96 Multiculturalism - Page 97 The Line Between Black and White - Page 97 Hybridity - Page 99 Materialisation 6: Script Rationale- "the Clock" - Page 102 - Character Development - Page 103 - Poetic Amplification - Page 105 - The Cuts - Page 106 Chapter 5- Disturbing The Economies of Race and Gender - Page 108 Subverting Gender - Page 108 Undoing Ethnicity and Race in South Africa - Page 110 Performing the Self - Page 112 The Postmodern 'Utopian' Mechanical Body and the Absent TownBody -Page112 Body Representation as Imposed Vision - Page 113 Performing/Reperforming the Body and the Self- the Philosophy of Being - Page 114 Materialisation 7: The Modified Body- Performing in the Theatre of the Body - Page 120 - The Context - Page 120 - Modern Primitives Cape - Page 121 - Gender Bending of - Page 122 - My Experience - Page 124 - Tattoos - Page 125 - Breast Implants - Page 127 - "Mutable Zen" - Page 130 Conclusion - Page 131 References and Sources - Page 137 Photographic Credits University - Page 139 Materialisations Note: The materialisations for this dissertation were created as part of the process of research in a dialectical way, and were created in parallel with the reading and literature review, the one informing the other. They are an integral part of the academic work in that they are both informed by and informative of the research journey, inasmuch as the creation of the materialisations allowed me to perform my investigation into both the personal experience as well as the academic perspectives thereon. The inclusion of materialisations as part of the dissertation is a departure from the customary academic expression, yet in this context is the most lucid way I can find of expressing some of the intricacies of the topic. Materialisation 1: Reminiscences- False Beginnings - Page 25 Materialisation 2: Screenplay- "The Clock" - Page 36 Materialisation 3: Reminiscences- Making the Child - Page 55 - Cross-Dressing Four-Year-Olds - Page 55 - Lion of Africa or 'Swart Gevaar' - Page 55 - Boys Don't Cry - Page 56 - Black Friends, Tin Plates and Toilets - Page 56 Materialisation 4: Reminiscences- the Child Learns to Perform - Page 67 - Boy's Toys - Page 67 - White Boys' Clothing Page 68 - Sporty White Boys - Page 69 - All Post-Pubertal Boys are Perverts Town - Page 69 Materialisation 5: Reminiscences- Adult Reflections - Page 77 - My Parents - Page 77 - My Sister Cape - Page 78 -Me of - Page 79 Materialisation 6: Script Rationale- "the Clock" - Page 101 - Character Development - Page 102 - Poetic Amplification - Page 104 - The Cuts - Page 105 Materialisation 7: The Modified Body- Performing in the Theatre of the Body - Page 119 - The Context - Page 119 - ModernUniversity Primitives Page 120 Gender Bending -Page 121 - My Experience - Page 123 - Tattoos - Page 124 - Breast Implants - Page 126 - "Mutable Zen" - Page 129 Figures Note: The figures that form part of Materialisation 7 reflect in a graphic way on my personal expression in the context of the modified body, and are dialectical in their interaction with the theoretical element of the dissertation. They images selected are of course subject to interpretations, and I include them as records of my physical transformation, which I comment on from the perspective certain of many readings rather than a critical reading of the images themselves. Figure 1- Lincoln Theo, age 6 Figure 2- Lincoln Theo, age 31 Figure 3- Lincoln Theo, tattoos, front Figure 4- Lincoln Theo, tattoos, back Figure 5- Lincoln Theo, breast implants Figure 6- Lincoln Theo, age 30 Town Cape of University Introduction I start this dissertation with a quote that resonates with me, as a reflection of how I feel about my identity as a white male African undertaking a dissertation the study of which is my very sense of self: The self is an instrument of inquiry. In the end we have no other. To understand the childhood origins of an intellectual passion is to understand the possibilities and limitations of that instrument, the better to see what other instruments one needs to know the world. 1 I usually write of my life with equanimity and poise, making light of my circumstances, berating myself for my deep, dark feelings. I have a sense, from looking at my peers and through my own experience that, in post-apartheid South Africa, the challenges that apartheid has left the country in terms of the need to redress the inequalities of the past has not substantially affected the opportunities of white men, who remain privileged, respected, and employed. White men are arguably still more likely to understand the dominant ideologies of race and culture, since these 2 ideologies are written in their language, made in their image and custom-fitted to their bodies . Yet there is a nagging sense that they are not unproblematically custom-made. I ask whether perhaps I have been custom-made to fit the ideologies, rather than the other way around, and that perhaps I should recognise that the power and privilege which appears to be my birth-right is less like a fur-lined mantle tailored for my pleasure, and more like a suit of armour made to measure for the 'perfect', 'normal' white man (or, I ask myself, is it the average drone?) and that prevents my growth beyond its confines. Perhaps this suit of armour is the very thing that prevents me from reaching a sense of humanity and connectednesspe Town with all people, irrespective of their cultural, racial, or gendered orientation, from performing a role that falls outside of the boundaries of 'the norm'. I feel restricted by the identity I am forced to perform, and I feel a sense of anger and loss in the face of my privilege. I am angry despite myy privilege, of Ca and even because of my privilege. Yet the anger and loss is not about fearing deprivationsit of my livelihood in favour of people who deserve to obtain positions and social standinger previously the sole preserve of white men. I feel removed from the people around me who go about their business, work and play. I feel in some sense deprived of my humanity through my whiteness and my maleness. There is on the surface no real reason for me toUniv feel so lonely in my identity. I have a loving, albeit difficult family with whom I have a strong yet trying relationship, I have a devoted life-partner who puts up with no , Hochschild. AR- The commercialisation of intimate life- notes from home and work (University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 2003) p6 2 There is a range of work done, from a postcolonialist and feminist perspective, on the damage done by patriarchy and the colonialist/imperialist enterprise, to Which I will refer in detail later 1 end of strife from me, yet continues to support and love me, I have friends, an excellent education, a sustainable if somewhat unstable income, a lovely home, and a means of transport.