ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the phenomenon of ‘corrective rape’ that first emerged in South African news reports in 2003 (Mufweba and Bhengu, 2003). The chapter provides an overview of colonial practices of stereotyping and othering and the persistent association between homophobia and African sexualities. The term ‘corrective rape’ as a conceptual misnomer is deconstructed in light of the fact that the “black lesbian woman” is often used as trope for racialized and sexualized violence. Blackwashing homophobia, the racialization of violence (Judge, 2018), and pinkwashing homophobia, the liberal politics of LGBTQIA+ inclusion (Lind, 2014) are employed to discuss the perpetrations of sexual violence against queer bodies in a local (South African) and global (American) context. The Brandon Teena story and the representation of sexual violence against a transgender man in Boys Don’t Cry is used as foil to deepen the discussion on corrective rape and the media’s role in forcing the lesbian and transgender subject to make sense. The chapter discusses the importance of applying intersectionality theory in an attempt to deconstruct the relationship between sexual minorities and violence, and the implications this has for social work, research, and practice.
