Coloured Men, Moffies, and Meanings of Masculinity in South Africa, 1910-1960 Cody S. Perkins Flint, Michigan Bachelor of Arts, Michigan State University, 2009 Master of Arts, University of Virginia, 2011 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Corcoran Department of History University of Virginia May, 2015 _________________________ Dr. John Edwin Mason _________________________ Dr. Joseph C. Miller _________________________ Dr. Claudrena N. Harold _________________________ Dr. Denise Walsh Copyright © 2015 Cody S. Perkins Table of Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................... II ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .................................................. V INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................ 28 "Poor Whites" and Degenerate Coloureds: Public Imaginings of Race and Respectability in the Discourse of Segregation CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................ 53 Marshalling Manhood: Declarations of Loyalty and Masculine Citizenship Through Two World Wars CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................ 87 "We Have Material Second To None:" Competing Against the Color Bar and Ideals of Masculinity in South African Sporting Cultures, 1936-1960 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................. 118 "Good Human Material Handled Badly:" Making Boys Into Men in the Shadow of Cape Town's "Skolly Menace" CHAPTER FIVE .............................................................................. 150 The "'Twilight' Life In South Africa:" Moffie Masculinity and Respectability in Cape Town, 1930-1960 CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 178 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................ 188 i Abstract This dissertation explores the ways in which Coloured South Africans, popularly defined as “mixed race,” responded to disparaging and gendered stereotypes about Coloured men during the first fifty years of Union. White South Africans used both popular media and official rhetoric to portray Coloured men as lazy, cowardly, drunkards, and absentee fathers. In response, Coloured men developed a discourse that lionized loyalty, bravery, athleticism, morality, and respectability. Many Coloured men disputed the acceptability of those who they thought threatened their status as masculine and respectable citizens. Gay and transgender men, or moffies, were the center of one such debate during the 1940s and 1950s, while Coloured skolly gangsters drew public ire beginning in the 1930s. I frame my analyses of this discourse around the concepts of hegemonic and subordinated masculinities to demonstrate the ways in which ideals and practices of masculinities often overlapped, reinforced, and challenged one another on local and global scales. Drawing on archival research conducted in Cape Town in 2011 and 2013-14, this project contends that South African gendered identities emphasized inclusivity and cosmopolitanism that contradicted the exclusive and divisive racial identities promoted under White supremacism. ii Acknowledgements I cannot take sole credit for this project as countless people have made their marks along the way. In the early stages of developing the project, Peter Alegi, Claudrena Harold, Jon Lendon, and Christian McMillen all offered advice. Vivian Bickford-Smith and Mohammed Adhikari took the time to meet with me on my first research trip to Cape Town and bolstered my confidence that the project was both feasible and worthwhile. Todd Ellick and Alison Montgomery also shared in that first trip, made suggestions, and were good friends throughout. The staff at the Cape Town branch of the National Library of South Africa was friendly and unbelievably helpful, as was the staff at the Western Cape Archives and Records Service. They made my work in Cape Town enjoyable on a daily basis. I must also make special mention of Jacqueline du Plessis, who was my first Afrikaans teacher and later a good friend who shared her family with my wife and me. I presented several chapters of this dissertation at conferences around the country and offer my thanks to all those scholars and audience members who offered feedback along the way. A portion of Chapter Three was presented at the 2014 “Sports in a Africa and the Global South” conference at Ohio University. Chapter Five was first shared with the participants at the Fall 2014 North Eastern Workshop on Southern Africa. The NEWSA community was incredibly welcoming and encouraging, and I look forward to sharing more work in the woods of Burlington. And finally, Chapter Four found a venue at the 2015 African Studies Association Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. Scholars at each of these iii conferences offered constructive criticisms and friendly advice during an intense year of research and writing. My family has been incredibly supportive through all of my academic endeavors. I am thankful for the never-ending encouragement and optimism of my mom, Cindy, and the support of my dad, Criag. My aunt Patty and uncle Roger have been second parents to me, and I am saddened that Roger passed before he could read this dissertation. I will always be grateful to him for showing me what it means to be a good man. I am forever obliged to my brother Josh and his family for opening their home during my last year of writing. Their selflessness kept us afloat, ensured I would finish the project, and afforded me the opportunity to get to know my nieces. My brother Cory has always shown an interest in my work and made the long trip to Charlottesville to spend several holidays with us, bringing a little bit of home with him. I must also thank my in- laws, Ginny and Ken, for their patience while I inched slowly toward a steady paycheck. During my time at the University of Virginia, I was lucky to have a close cohort of friends and fellow scholars with whom I could work and play. John Terry, Chris Cornelius, Alec Hickmott, Mary Hicks, Trevor Hiblar, Ryan Bibler, Beth Schumaecker, Cait Morris, Tom Butcher, and Noel Stringham all made my time in Charlottesville exceedingly pleasant. Willa Brown, Kristen Lashua, and Evan McCormick are also good friends who read early drafts of several chapters. Jim Ambuske and Sarah Donelson became my second family, and I am grateful for their companionship, humor, and support. iv The faculty and staff of the Corcoran Department of History served me well and I am thankful for their efforts. Jenni Via is a master in all things bureaucratic and always a friendly ally. Paul Halliday and Max Edelson are great advocates for all of the graduate students in their department. Joe Miller served as a mentor in both teaching and scholarship and helped me find my footing as an historian of Africa. Most importantly, this project would not have been possible without the support and attention of my advisor, John Mason. He has always been open to my ideas and pursuits and knew when to rein me in or let me go. I can only hope he will agree to take my author’s photograph for the book jacket. Finally, my most sincere and inadequate thanks go to my wife, Sarah. This project is as much a testament to her hard work, sleepless nights, and dedication to what comes next as it is to mine. I am sure that I did not deserve all of the sacrifices she has made over the last six years, but I hope she feels some of the satisfaction that comes with this finished product. The last period on the last page is her curtain call. This dissertation is dedicated to her. - Memphis, Tennessee April 2015 v Abbreviations and Acronyms AAP – Abdullah Abdurahman Papers APO – African People’s Organisation (African Political Organisation before 1919) A.P.O. – The official newspaper of the African People’s Organisation CSRU – City and Suburban Rugby Union GSD – Gender and Sexually Diverse (an alternative identifier to homosexual, transgender, and transvestite that does not necessarily rely on the categorization of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning designations. GSD represents a spectrum of gender and sexual identities) M.P. – Member of Parliament NEUM – Non-European Unity Movement NLL – National Liberation League NZRFU – New Zealand Rugby Football Union SARB – South African Rugby Union TLSA – Teachers’ League of South Africa WPCRFU – Western Province Coloured Rugby Football Union 1 Introduction Derisive stereotypes and jokes have been at the heart of popular understandings of Coloured South African identities since at least the late nineteenth century. According to one joke, the Dutch commander Jan van Riebeeck landed at Table Bay in 1652, and the Coloured people were born nine months later. The punch line of the joke lays the onus for creation of the racially anomalous Coloured at the feet of lonely White sailors who could not contain themselves at the sight of indigenous women, presumed barriers of race be damned. According to historian Mohamed Adhikari, another joke culminates with the punch line, “God made the white man, God made the black man, God made the Indian, the Chinese and the Jew—but Jan van Riebeeck, he made