Reality bites queer women in YouTube show

Stud Muffinz is a YouTube show where eight people live together in Randburg, Johannesburg, where the show is shot. A reality show where people live together for a period of time is nothing unusual. Big Brother does it, so does The Bachelor. The difference here is that it centres on the lives of queer people.

The show, which only has four episodes out, follows the lives of Corbin, Iris, Masechaba, Wanda, Synper, Khabie, O2 and Gugu as they straddle multiple identities. Masechaba is a queer mother who has to deal with an unreliable co-parent. Gugu is a queer woman who’s also a sangoma.

“We felt that there was a lack of diversity in terms of content on our screens where black femme sexuality is concerned. We wanted to expand into the life of (what it’s like) being a black lesbian in South Africa, what are some of the challenges, in life, at work (and) in relationships,” said Naledi Chai, the content producer and director of the show.

In the second episode, viewers get to find out more about the individuals when they’re all sitting on a bed and speaking about their backgrounds.

In this episode, Masechaba addresses the harmful stereotype that women are lesbian because of some kind of abuse.

“The stereotype is that your father is not in your life, a male figure raped you or some bullshit like that, that you hate men. People forget that some things are genetics.”

The show captures that all queer people want to do is live a life where they can pursue their dreams and love who they love without the risk of being harmed for that.

Wanda admits to being abusive in the past and when asked how she stopped being abusive, Wanda says that she “received help, like anger management classes and stuff like that”.

This admission serves as an educational moment, as intimate partner violence discourse often excludes queer people. In an interview, Ingrid Lynch, the co-author of a 2016 research report that looked at intimate partner violence, said “we remain in the dark about the extent of violence against women in same-sex relationships in South Africa, but global studies estimate same-sex partner abuse to be at least as prevalent, if not more so, than that of intimate partner violence occurring in heterosexual relationships”.

The show isn’t always serious, there are fun moments like when they go to Johannesburg Pride, or when Iris starts making out with someone in the pool. The things they do aren’t treated as an anomaly, they’re just young black queer people having fun.

“It's important that people start seeing black women on our screens being free and being loud and just expressing themselves. I feel like every time we see a black woman on screen it’s either they’re servicing in a marriage situation or they’re pregnant or it’s bad news, it’s about rape or being kidnapped, so we want to create content where people can see black women on screen being loud, being fun, getting drunk because it's part of life,” Chai told Daily Maverick.

Chai says the intention with the show is visibility, particularly the visibility of black queer people.

“It’s also to educate and of course to entertain,” said Chai.

Moude Maude-Swartz, a paralegal officer at OUT-LGBT Well-Being, said that she “commended them for this, but there’s room for growth, there’s room for more”.

“It would’ve been lovely to see more awareness on queer issues (like) their coming out stories, their challenges relating to their sexuality,” said Maude-Swartz.

“I was turned off by how the show perpetuates stereotypes regarding queer women that they like to party, they’re promiscuous. I get that drama sells but I wish that they could’ve merged the drama without the violence,” Maude Swartz told Daily Maverick.

However, Maude-Swartz isn’t writing the show off.

“No one gets it right in the beginning. We need more shows showing lesbian women who are comfortable with themselves and their sexuality. They’re on the right track,” said Maude-Swartz.

What viewers can look forward to is seeing more of that: how everyone overcomes their struggles, how they grapple with being queer in this country and how they all ended up being on the show.

“We’ll be delving more into people’s life journeys,” said Chai.

Social media responses include Gladson Mahetho from Germiston, Johannesburg, who thinks that Stud Muffinz is important in normalising queer people in a world which demonises queer people.

“It’s like a gateway into the lives of lesbian women who are just trying to make it in life and maintain a love life,” said Mahetho.

Another viewer who asked to remain anonymous said that she “wished it was a bit more real like seeing black queer women in the workplace, at home, studying or just dealing with everyday life and not just sex, drugs and rock and roll”.

The first episode was uploaded on YouTube a month ago, with 8,953 views. The second episode has 5,400 views, the third episode has just over 3,000 and the most recent one which was uploaded over the past weekend has 753 views. DM