Kudzai Vanyoro

• PhD in Critical Diversity Studies
• Researcher at University of the Witwatersrand

Using discourse analysis and semiotic analysis, this article examines how the language and images of the "4men" section of the South African site QueerLife construct masculinity and femininity as (un)desirable aspects in gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (GBTI) men's relationships. The use of "(un)desirable" in this article suggests that the...

Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) is a lens we can use to achieve social justice consciousness among privileged identities in academic spaces. CDL, by Melissa Steyn (2014), consists of ten criteria that reveal how and why specific differences make a difference. Among other things, CDL exposes the workings of power through structures and individual...

Several decades after the abolishment of the formal slave trade, the administrative colonisation of Africa by Europe, and the adoption of progressive international human rights laws for equality, there is no doubt that pro-social justice education is facing a massive backlash from the far right globally. As critical diversity studies teaching and l...

We propose the Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) framework for citizenship education in contemporary heterogeneous societies. It encourages an anti-essentialist, power-conscious awareness of difference beyond notions of citizenship that have been constitutive of the nation and tend to normalise masculinity, patriarchy, heterosexuality, able-bodiedn...

This essay presents a critical diversity literacy (CDL) reflection on the dynamics of resilience as an essentialised human characteristic that is divorced from wider structural and systemic issues. It uses CDL to show how resilience is structural, and how the ultimate question of ‘who can afford resilience and at what cost’ is a pertinent diversity...

As someone who is heterosexual and masculine-presenting, I have come to realise that my brothers and I are part of the problem. At a time when the already high levels of sexual assault, rape and homophobia on campus are getting worse by the day, we straight men need to have an honest conversation.

This paper examines the politicisation of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe through discourse analysis of selected media statements released by Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) officials on the Covid-19 pandemic between March 2020 and February 2021. Theoretically, the paper employs Foucault’s theory of biopower to interpret the state-ci...

The global Pentecostal-charismatic movement is pervaded by freestanding, entrepreneurial, initiatives set up by individuals of diverse credentials and convictions who peddle miracles and advice as “goods”. Many also use self-promoting or income-generating efforts that in some cases can be crassly exploitative. This article examines 40 posts on two...

Using both intersectional and kyriarchy heuristics which acknowledge the interlocking gender, sexuality and class dynamics in the co-construction of power hierarchies, this paper examines how informal herbal healing flyers and posters in the Johannesburg CBD reinforce norms which govern and legitimate desirable male and female bodies and lives thro...

This article seeks to critically analyse how intersections of race and class shape representations of Black and white gay men in QueerLife, a South African online magazine. It focuses on QueerLife's ‛4men' section and how its content represents classed and raced gay identities. My argument is that QueerLife forwards racialised and classed represent...

A critical (de)construction of sexual identity portrayals of the idealized male and female bodies on posters and advertisements in Johannesburg Central Business District

This chapter shows how complicity and privileged irresponsibility sustain power systems through an outline of how the ignorance contract is an important strategy for those who are implicated in oppression. From there, we grapple with the nuances of privilege by way of explaining the concepts of intersectionality, kyriarchy and the abyssal line. Aft...

Hashtagged #ZimShutDown on Twitter, protests erupted in Zimbabwe in January 2019 in response to a widespread national economic crisis and a drastic fuel price hike. This paper shows how the protesters’ use of citizen rage, anger and emotion was criminalised, pathologised and (de)politicised by certain Zimbabwean newspapers, including the Herald and...

In this article, I examine how language informs the systemic and structural manner in which the university space not only marginalises, but also exploits female and gender non-conforming people. I base my account on my experiences in two universities in southern Africa-one in Zimbabwe and the other in South Africa. I aim to show how gender and sexu...

This report summarises the challenges and needs of LGBTIQ+ identifying individuals, community members and the organisation Taung LGBTI in Taung, a small town in the North West province of South Africa. The report is based on information gathered through facilitation by Scope, the GALA Archives and the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS). The...

This article unpacks notions of humour, vulgarity, and allegory in social media discourses during the trial of Oscar Pistorius by analysing the dynamic interactions between South Africa’s judicial system and multiple discourses on Facebook and Twitter. It explores whether social media, in this instance, provided a platform for citizen-led conversat...