CHID 250: Post-Colonial Zimbabwe & African Sexualities
The following is my Nyasha Today paper (a brief rant), inspired by Titsi Dangarembga's "Nervous Conditions" and the "Book of Not".
Today's Others
To me, Nyasha embodies the struggles faced by any member of a society that sets standards and divisions that “others” a section of the population. In our society, we have seen identity crisis due to societal standards occur throughout history. Previously, in our early 18th and 19th century culture, the Cult of True Womanhood and the “ideal masculinity” were troublesome standards that affected the women and men. Those who did not conform, or failed to conform and meet society’s standards of personality and characteristic “excellence” were shunned, and many times medically diagnosed with “hysteria” or “mid-life crisis.” Most retreated to self-medication through opiates and alcohol, if not placed into clinics (like Nyasha).
The idea of “masculinity” developed today’s society’s homophobia. “Homophobia” is the fear of being perceived as feminine or “queer” (any gender orientation or perspective outside of the social binary, heteronormative, or cisgender standards). You see it commonly in today’s society where a man is derogatively called a “pussy” or a “sissy” and is expected to “grow some balls”. This isolates queerness. Both of these populations are examples of Nyasha in today’s society. They are the physical embodiments of the emotional strife faced through alienated members of a society that set divisions through “othering”. Many times in society have there been heteronormative therapy clinics (some still present today, but especially during the Eugenics movement) where we use violent procedures to “correct” the sexual orientation of an individual. In America, suicide is the 3rd common cause of adolescent deaths, and is the 1st common cause for queer adolescents1 being committed at four times the rate of a heterosexual adolescent2. Furthermore, 30% of adolescent suicides (1 in 4) are committed during the ages of 15 to 242; the key period for identity development and stability1. These Nyashas of our day and age are not only shunned from society, but broken until they feel the need to eliminate themselves from society entirely and forever.
Works Cited
A. Voohries, University of Washington “GWSS 257” Lecture. Kane Hall, January 7, 2015.
Garbacik, J. (2013). Gender & Sexuality: For Beginners. Danbury, Connecticut: For Beginners LLC.
Marisa Elena Patrick
To me, Nyasha embodies the struggles faced by any member of a society that sets standards and divisions that “others” a section of the population. In our society, we have seen identity crisis due to societal standards occur throughout history. Previously, in our early 18th and 19th century culture, the Cult of True Womanhood and the “ideal masculinity” were troublesome standards that affected the women and men. Those who did not conform, or failed to conform and meet society’s standards of personality and characteristic “excellence” were shunned, and many times medically diagnosed with “hysteria” or “mid-life crisis.” Most retreated to self-medication through opiates and alcohol, if not placed into clinics (like Nyasha).
The idea of “masculinity” developed today’s society’s homophobia. “Homophobia” is the fear of being perceived as feminine or “queer” (any gender orientation or perspective outside of the social binary, heteronormative, or cisgender standards). You see it commonly in today’s society where a man is derogatively called a “pussy” or a “sissy” and is expected to “grow some balls”. This isolates queerness. Both of these populations are examples of Nyasha in today’s society. They are the physical embodiments of the emotional strife faced through alienated members of a society that set divisions through “othering”. Many times in society have there been heteronormative therapy clinics (some still present today, but especially during the Eugenics movement) where we use violent procedures to “correct” the sexual orientation of an individual. In America, suicide is the 3rd common cause of adolescent deaths, and is the 1st common cause for queer adolescents1 being committed at four times the rate of a heterosexual adolescent2. Furthermore, 30% of adolescent suicides (1 in 4) are committed during the ages of 15 to 242; the key period for identity development and stability1. These Nyashas of our day and age are not only shunned from society, but broken until they feel the need to eliminate themselves from society entirely and forever.
Works Cited
A. Voohries, University of Washington “GWSS 257” Lecture. Kane Hall, January 7, 2015.
Garbacik, J. (2013). Gender & Sexuality: For Beginners. Danbury, Connecticut: For Beginners LLC.
Marisa Elena Patrick