Sandton girls: consumer femininities, gendered anxiety and urban inequalities in ‘new’ South Africa

This article explores how a group of young Black women from poorer townships like Alexandra in Johannesburg have moved to the wealthy adjoining suburb of Sandton by forming sexual and romantic relationships with wealthier men. These women do not think of themselves as ‘gold diggers' or ‘slay queens' but rather seek to identify as ‘respectable wives'. I explore what their experiences reveals about the politics of race, class, gender, sexuality and urban spaces in post-apartheid South Africa. As I demonstrate, the women have to learn to ‘talk softly', get rid of ‘township accents' and embody a ‘classy' consumer femininity. Through these embodied processes, the women seek to become ‘Sandton Girls' who appropriately belong to a ‘new' consumerist South Africa represented by Sandton. This social process of becoming a ‘Sandton Girl’ is riddled with gendered anxieties and vulnerabilities, whilst also offering opportunities for selfmaking and pleasure.