Biography

I am Bapiwe Gobodo a dedicated PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Stellenbosch, my research focuses on the intricate and often racialised relationship between masculinity and violence. Exploring how masculine ideals shape and influence patterns of violence in the local context, my work seeks to contribute valuable insights to the broader discourse on gender, violence, and societal structures.

Current Research Project

My study which is titled “Masculinities and violence: a sociological study on the experiences of young black men from Langa who have been targets of violence” aims to acknowledge that the socially constructed discourse of black men as violent and townships as monolithic spaces of violence constitutes a harmful race essentialism. This study aims to disrupt dominant discourse of black men as violent since they are rarely seen as targets of violence. The aim is to challenge such discourses by focusing on black men as targets of violence at the hands of other men and in a variety of locations beyond the confines of Langa. It explores how these targets navigate life and social spaces within Langa and how such engagements may shape how they make sense of and respond to the violence they have experienced. Furthermore, my study seeks to analyse how issues such as race, sexual orientation, geographical location, and space as textured by historical trauma and poverty intersect and contribute to masculine ideals around achieving hegemonic masculinity for black men.

Supervisors: Prof. Dennis Francis, Dr Samantha van Schalkwyk

Email: 23493577@sun.ac.za | Tel: +27 (21) 808 4047

Recent Publications

Book chapters

Gobodo, B. (forthcoming). The badge , the blazer and those who came before us: A sociological study on hazing in former Model C all-boys schools in South Africa. Sport hazing in the new millenia: Research in the sociology of sport. Emerald Publishing.