Home Linguistics & Semiotics Chapter 9. Sex discourses and the construction of gender identity in Sesotho
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 9. Sex discourses and the construction of gender identity in Sesotho

A case study of police interviews of rape/sexual assault victims
  • Puleng Hanong Thetela✝
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa
This chapter is in the book Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

In this chapter I examine how the linguistic realization of sex discourses in Southern Sotho draw upon cultural sociolinguistic resources of hlonipha (respect) to reproduce traditional gendered identities. Using a sample of interviews of female rape victims by male police officers, I show that women’s access to sex discourses is constrained by the hlonipha culture to which to they are expected to adhere. However, when they raped, and report to the authorities, they enter into a completely foreign discourse environment. This conflict between cultural expectations of women’s traditional discourse (which requires avoidance of explicit sexual terms), on the one hand, and that of the legal system (i.e. explicitness for the sake of clarity and precision of evidence) on the other, is a phenomenon which constitutes linguistic and socio-cultural constraints that contribute to Basotho women’s failure to help bring about the conviction of rapists.

Abstract

In this chapter I examine how the linguistic realization of sex discourses in Southern Sotho draw upon cultural sociolinguistic resources of hlonipha (respect) to reproduce traditional gendered identities. Using a sample of interviews of female rape victims by male police officers, I show that women’s access to sex discourses is constrained by the hlonipha culture to which to they are expected to adhere. However, when they raped, and report to the authorities, they enter into a completely foreign discourse environment. This conflict between cultural expectations of women’s traditional discourse (which requires avoidance of explicit sexual terms), on the one hand, and that of the legal system (i.e. explicitness for the sake of clarity and precision of evidence) on the other, is a phenomenon which constitutes linguistic and socio-cultural constraints that contribute to Basotho women’s failure to help bring about the conviction of rapists.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements xi
  4. Gender and language in sub-Saharan Africa 1
  5. Part 1. Gender and linguistic description
  6. Chapter 1. Issues of language and gender in iweto marriage as practised by the Kamba in Kenya 29
  7. Chapter 2. Language, gender and age(ism) in Setswana 53
  8. Chapter 3. Variation with gender in the tonal speech varieties of Kera (Chadic) 79
  9. Part 2. Public settings and gendered language use
  10. Chapter 4. Language, gender and social construction in a pre-school in Gaborone 97
  11. Chapter 5. Variation in address forms for Nigerian married and unmarried women in the workplace 117
  12. Part 3. Mediated masculinities and femininities
  13. Chapter 6. A new South African man? 131
  14. Chapter 7. The ‘Tinto’ image in contemporary Tswana songs 149
  15. Chapter 8.Language and gender in popular music in Botswana 177
  16. Part 4. Gendered struggles and change
  17. Chapter 9. Sex discourses and the construction of gender identity in Sesotho 205
  18. Chapter 10. Student Pidgin 217
  19. Chapter 11. Gendered linguistic choices among isiZulu-speaking women in contemporary South Africa 233
  20. Chapter 12. Homophobic language and linguistic resistance in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 253
  21. Chapter 13. “I cannot be blamed for my own assault” 275
  22. Part 5. Epilogue
  23. African feminism? 301
  24. Gender, sexuality and language in African contexts 315
  25. Contributors 325
  26. Index 327
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.33.14han

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements xi
  4. Gender and language in sub-Saharan Africa 1
  5. Part 1. Gender and linguistic description
  6. Chapter 1. Issues of language and gender in iweto marriage as practised by the Kamba in Kenya 29
  7. Chapter 2. Language, gender and age(ism) in Setswana 53
  8. Chapter 3. Variation with gender in the tonal speech varieties of Kera (Chadic) 79
  9. Part 2. Public settings and gendered language use
  10. Chapter 4. Language, gender and social construction in a pre-school in Gaborone 97
  11. Chapter 5. Variation in address forms for Nigerian married and unmarried women in the workplace 117
  12. Part 3. Mediated masculinities and femininities
  13. Chapter 6. A new South African man? 131
  14. Chapter 7. The ‘Tinto’ image in contemporary Tswana songs 149
  15. Chapter 8.Language and gender in popular music in Botswana 177
  16. Part 4. Gendered struggles and change
  17. Chapter 9. Sex discourses and the construction of gender identity in Sesotho 205
  18. Chapter 10. Student Pidgin 217
  19. Chapter 11. Gendered linguistic choices among isiZulu-speaking women in contemporary South Africa 233
  20. Chapter 12. Homophobic language and linguistic resistance in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 253
  21. Chapter 13. “I cannot be blamed for my own assault” 275
  22. Part 5. Epilogue
  23. African feminism? 301
  24. Gender, sexuality and language in African contexts 315
  25. Contributors 325
  26. Index 327
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 29.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/impact.33.14han/html
Scroll to top button