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Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-124).
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Gender Studies
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613263607365632 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Scott, Jessica |
| author2 | Bennett, Jane |
| author_browse | Bennett, Jane Scott, Jessica |
| author_facet | Bennett, Jane Scott, Jessica |
| author_sort | Scott, Jessica |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-124). |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14598 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:21.255Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Gender Studies |
| publisherStr | Gender Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14598 Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa Scott, Jessica Bennett, Jane Gender Studies Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-124). This research explores the meanings of marriage for South African lesbian women who have accessed marriage as a legal right through the Civil Union Act since its inception in 2006. As a researcher coming from the United States, where same-sex marriage is not nationally available, to South Africa, where same-sex marriage is a constitutionally recognised legal right, my research began with the question, "What has changed?" Because same -sex marriage is highly contested in disparate global spaces, an understanding of how the legislation is being used by those accessing it has the potential to contribute to a body of knowledge encouraging more inclusive legal relationship recognition in spaces where same-sex marriage is not yet legally available. The research makes use of semi-structured in depth interviews with 15 South African lesbian women who have married through the Civil Union Act. The women come from diverse "racial", religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Calling on feminist frameworks theorising marriage as an institution which has historically restricted women's social, political and economic autonomy, in addition to literature framing marriage as a contemporary "battle ground" for human rights, the research attempts to conceptualise the relationship of married lesbian women to their citizenship through their experiences of accessing a legal right embedded in specific cultural, social and religious meanings. The research concludes that while a right critical to the experience of citizenship is being exercised by lesbian women in South Africa, the richer experience theorized as "belonging" has not been fully inscribed in their lived realities. For the lesbian women represented in this research, marriage involves a re- examination of their partnerships as a precondition for the "traditional" celebratory involvement of family and community. Therefore, while marriage has been understood to embody both legal and symbolic meanings, viewing marriage as a human rights issue reveals a fracture between the legal aspects of the institution and the socio-religious contexts that lend it its authority. The research attempts to identify alternative ways of viewing marriage and family constructions by privileging the experience of lesbian women who have accessed marriage from their diverse social and cultural "sites". The research suggests that theorizing marriage from the site of the partners' happiness or fulfilment is a powerful lens with which to destabilise the dominant discourses of respectability most commonly invoked as a point of departure for discussions around same-sex marriage. 2015-11-02T10:54:02Z 2015-11-02T10:54:02Z 2010 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14598 eng application/pdf Gender Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Gender Studies Scott, Jessica Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa |
| title_full | Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa |
| title_short | Just a piece of paper? : lesbian experiences of marriage through the Civil Union Act in South Africa |
| title_sort | just a piece of paper lesbian experiences of marriage through the civil union act in south africa |
| topic | Gender Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14598 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT scottjessica justapieceofpaperlesbianexperiencesofmarriagethroughthecivilunionactinsouthafrica |