Black lesbian (non)representation in ‘gay’ media in Cape Town: constructing a globalized white, male, affluent, gay consumer

Abstract

This study employs critical discourse analysis to explore the construction and representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex identities in ‘gay’ media in Cape Town. The study critically engages with intersecting notions of ‘gay space’, the ‘gay village’, ‘gay community’, ‘westernization’, ‘globalization’, ‘whiteness’ and consumption. Findings include Competing Discourses as well as three major discourses which are: Lesbian (non)representation; White homomasculine territory; and The gay consumer. Discourses of social justice and activism are constructed on the pages of the editorial comment and these contrast with discourses constructed elsewhere in the magazine. The ‘gay’ identities constructed and represented in the magazine are predominantly white, young, male and consumerist. The (non)representation of black lesbian women has a long history in South Africa and this reflects racial, class and gender inequalities. The texts also juxtapose heteronormative, white, gay masculinity with black and coloured gender non-normative and transgender identities. The construction of race in the magazine is embedded in discourses of consumerism that give primacy to a white, gay male consumer with access to financial resources. In the post-apartheid context, the construction of identities in the magazine points towards racial, gender and class displacements and reflects ongoing processes of ‘gay globalization’.