The process of coming out is important in trying to understand how a lesbian identity is shaped and re-negotiated within various social spaces in South Africa today. The article argues that it is vital to acknowledge the intersectionality of identities and social spaces in order to understand and conceptualise the coming-out process. The article raises the question how lesbian identities are formed over time and argues that the different stages of identity development are influenced by the individual's other overlapping identities, as well as certain spaces which either permit or prohibit the disclosure of her sexual identity. The study draws on data gathered through a series of qualitative semi-structured interviews with black and white lesbians, and it forms part of an ongoing conversation about the experiences of lesbian women in South Africa, by documenting the identity formation of several lesbian women living in and around Johannesburg.

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This article explores sexual agency and pleasure among heterosexual women in South Africa. By focussing on Tupperware-style sex-toy parties, this article offers a glimpse into a ‘hidden’ world of white, middle-class women living in Johannesburg. What is revealed in this ethnographic account is that these gatherings promise women new ways of enjoying sex, while remaining within the boundaries of heteronormative notions of (hetero)sex. I use the term ‘decently transgressing’ to capture the ways in which the women in this study make sense of their (hetero)sexual selves and how they negotiate their (hetero)sexual agencies, particularly in relation to past and present heteronormative discourses within the South African context. The findings show that there are tensions between women wanting to embrace their own sexual agency and desires, yet at the same time being limited by certain heteronormative norms.

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