Practices of Power and Abuse in Gay Male Relationships: An Exploratory Case Study of a Young, Isixhosa-Speaking Man in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

This article constitutes a single case study of snapshots of the life of a young, gay isiXhosa-speaking man, and his narrative on relationships. The case study is a part of a broader study exploring gay male relationships with a particular focus on the dynamics of control, power, and abuse. The broader literature on gay relationships, both internationally and locally, highlights the pervasiveness of heteropatriarchal stereotypical constructions in many gay relationships, believed to facilitate unequal power relations (as they do in heterosexual relationships), but also foregrounds a more ‘flexible’ approach to constructing masculinities and sexual roles among gay men. The article highlights the experience of performances of sexuality and relationship that mirror heterosexual traditional roles, with accompanying power inequalities, as well as a shift to alternative, more flexible and possibly more equitable relationships. It is also argued that homophobia, emerging in multiple sites and including internalised homophobia, plays a powerful role in the reproduction of inequality and abusive practices within gay male relationships. The article interrogates some of the local contexts of homophobia in contemporary South Africa and the way in which the participant's experiences, within and outside his relationships, reflect a corroding of self-confidence and sense of power. It also explores the challenges faced in constructing equitable intimate relationships within a society that still adheres to hegemonic practices of masculinity and heteronormative models of relation.