Sexuality Bibliography -- Part 3

Compulsory heterosexuality/heteronormativity

Lisa Lindsay’s and Stephan Miescher’s edited collection, Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa (section 7a) addresses the construction of masculinities during the socio-economic and cultural transformations of the colonial and postcolonial periods. These changes were such that Nigerian railway men in the colonial era were able to strategically deploy gendered arguments with British administrators to win material benefits, even when those arguments did not necessarily reflect their lives and values, as Lindsay (section 7a) suggests.

The contributions to Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa combine empirical research on African history with theoretical attention to the construction and maintenance of gender relations and identities. In the introduction, the editors contest Connell’s (section 7a) argument that, at any given time, one particular form of masculinity is culturally exalted, arguing instead that in colonial Africa, it was not always clear which notions of masculinity were dominant. Colonial ideologies had limited power and the social flux created by new opportunities and constraints meant that there was a multiplicity of competing masculinities.

Kopano Ratele (section 7a) grapples with Fanon’s question of whether the sexual superiority of black people is real, whilst asking also whether this is an issue worth serious attention. He addresses these questions using discursive psychological understandings of how individuals. practices and identities are produced in a racist society such as South Africa, and how these practices and identities are related to racialised masculine heterosexual desire. With regard to male homosexual identity in South Africa, Ronald Louw (section 7a) registers the point that constructions of masculinity in South Africa have been produced within the context of neo-colonialism, capitalist development and racial domination. Homophobia, whilst not all pervading or uniform, often prevented the emergence of alternative masculinities.

Maleness characterised by potency is a key feature of many African cultures, Bawa Yamba (section 7a) argues. Men practice at being men, a process which necessitates frequent sexual contact with women in order to maintain the characteristics of masculinity. The belief that retaining one’s semen is harmful has implications for how men rid themselves of it. Yamba points that this construction of masculinity often has harmful consequences for women. In the context of masculinity in Egyptian men, Kamran Ali (section 7a) shows how men’s preoccupation with their spouses. orgasmic pleasure is an important element in the construction of masculinity. This construction operates against the backdrop of the popular Muslim belief system of sexual relations being important not only for procreation but as a source of enjoyment for women as well as men.

Anne Mager (section 7a) draws attention to the ways in which organisations of Xhosa-speaking young men and boys were key spaces for the construction of masculinities in rural Ciskei and Transkei, during the 1950s and 1960s. Given the absence of migrant fathers, boys and young men constructed their masculine identities more on the basis of inter-group rivalry, aggressive behaviour and control over girls than intergenerational conflict.

The denial of rights to gays and lesbians is marked by inconsistencies, empirical errors and irrationalities, as Marc Epprecht (section 7b) demonstrates. He points out that the very vehemence of homophobia poses the question of why the power of the state, and mob violence, are required to enforce heterosexual masculinity. More fundamentally, he poses the question of what kind of relationship exists between homophobia and male dominance, suggesting that this relationship is at the heart of the intolerance of sexual diversity, the persistence of gender inequity and the “feminisation” of poverty. Organised action against homophobia spurred the adoption of the Johannesburg Statement on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights (section 7b), in February 2004. The statement was formulated and adopted by a meeting of African lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations, comprised of fifty-five participants from twenty-two groups in sixteen African countries across the continent.

Liz Frank (section 7b) challenges President Sam Nujoma’s condemnation of homosexuals in his address to the SWAPO Women’s Council Congress, in December 1996. Women’s reactions against the homophobia expressed in the President’s speech, illustrate the diverse grounds for solidarity with homosexuals. Women’s arguments included opposing discrimination against homosexuals as a defence of human rights; observing the constitutional prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sexuality; resisting the homophobia of black men who believed that they controlled everything, including women; fighting against the scapegoating of marginalized groups by those in positions of power; and opposing the dominance of heterosexuality in sexual relations and lifestyles.
Following her defence of the rights of homosexuals as members of marginalized social groups in Uganda, Sylvia Tamale (section 7b) experienced virulent homophobic attacks. She reflects on the contestations and discourses surrounding homosexuality in Uganda, highlighting issues of gender, power and identity. Homosexuality, she argues, presents a fundamental challenge to the masculine basis of power entrenched in sexual relations, thus destabilising the core of the heterosexist social order.

Justifying homophobia on the basis of cultural authenticity is a common strategy. Scott Long (section 7b) examines the dynamics of the Queen Boat trial in Cairo, where dozens of gay men were arrested and charged with “debauchery”, and with forming a blasphemous cult. Observing that across the world, sexuality has become a battleground where “rights talk” is set against “culture talk”, Long unravels the political motivations for the crackdown, the history of the legal regime underlying “authentic” tradition and the shifting social understandings of male sexuality in Egypt.

Masculinities

• Ali, K. 1996 “Notes on Rethinking Masculinities”, in Zeidenstein, S. and Moore, K. (eds.) Learning About Sexuality: A Practical Beginning New York: The Population Council/International Women’s Health Coalition
• Collinson, D. and Hearn, J. 1994 “Naming Men as Men: Implications for Work, Organisation and Management”, Gender, Work and Organisation, 1, 1: 2-22.
• Connell, R. 1995 Masculinities Cambridge: Polity
• Friedman, D. 2001 A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis London: Penguin
• Kandiyoti, D. 1994 “The Paradoxes of Masculinity: Some Thoughts on Segregated Societies”, in A. Cornwall and N. Lindisfarne (eds.) Dislocating Masculinity: Comparative Ethnographies London, New York: Routledge
• Kimmel, M. (ed.) 1987 Changing Men: New Directions in Research on Men and Masculinity Beverly Hills: Sage
• Lindsay, L. 1998 “.No Need . to Think of Home?. Masculinity, and Domestic Life on the Nigerian Railway, c.1940-61”, Journal of African History, 39, 439-446.
• Lindsay, L. and Miescher, S. (eds.) 2003 Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa Westport, CT: Heinemann
• Louw, R. 2001 “Mkhumbane and New Traditions of (Un)African Same-Sex Weddings”, in R. Morrell (ed.) Changing Men in Southern Africa Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press/London, New York: Zed Books
• Mager, A. 1998 “Youth Organisations and the Construction of Masculine Identities in the Ciskei and Transkei”, Journal of Southern African Studies, 24, 4: 653-667.
• Mager, A. and Blake, M. 2001 Masculinities: In the Making of Gendered Identities A Getnet Guidebook for Trainers Gender Education and Training Network (GETNET), Cape Town
• Ratele, K. 2004 “Kinky Politics”, in Arnfred, S. (ed.) Rethinking Sexualities in Africa Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute
• Shefer, T. and Ruiters, K. 1998 “The Masculine Construct in Heterosex”, Agenda, 27, 39-45.
• Shire, C. 1999 “Men Don.t Go to the Moon: Language, Space and Masculinities in Zimbabwe”, in A. Cornwall and N. Lindisfarne (eds.) Dislocating Masculinities: Comparative Ethnographies London: Routledge
• Yamba, B. 2004 “The Wailing Song of Male Sexuality: A Valedictory Note on African Masculinity, Sexuality and Maleness in the Times of AIDS”. Paper presented at the Nordic Africa Days, organised by the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, 5-7 October 2001.

Homophobia

• Epprecht, M. 1996 “Culture, History and Homophobia”, Southern Review, 9, 6: 33-38.
• Frank, L. 1999 “Human Rights are Indivisible”, Sister Namibia, 9: 4-8.
• http://www.hrw.org/lgbt/pdf/joburg_statement0213…
• Long, S. 2004 “The Trials of Culture, Sex and Security in Egypt”, Middle East Report, 230. http://www.merip.org/mer/mer230/230_long.html
• Tamale, S. 2003 “Out of the Closet: Unveiling Sexuality Discourses in Uganda”, Feminist Africa, 2: 42-49.
• The Johannesburg Statement on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights
• Yuzgun, A. 1993 “Homosexuality and Police Terror in Turkey”, Journal of Homosexuality, 24, 3&4, 159-169.

Transgressive sexualities

This section addresses a range of sites of sexualities that are either constructed as transgressive by the dominant sexual order, or that are transgressive, from the perspective of feminist politics, within the dominant sexual order. The sites include male heterosexuality; female heterosexuality; same-sex relations, identities and practices in women; and the same in men; intersex; and trans-sexuality. The character of the “transgression” differs in each of these sites. Section 8c, on “Same-sex relations, identities and practices in women and men”, comprises references that address female and male homosexuality within the same text. Where texts address female and male homosexuality separately, they are listed separately (sections 8d and 8e, respectively).

Nuruddin Farah’s novel Secrets, published by Penguin in 1998, does not fit any of the above categorisations, addressing as it does a range of trangressive forms of sexuality in the same text. The novel portrays the story of Somalia’s violent history of civil war, clan hatred and social and cultural disintegration, refracted through the prism of the protagonist Kalaman’s quest for knowledge of his paternity. The breakdown of cultural taboos across a range of spheres is manifested in the range of transgressive sexual practices alluded to - menstruation-drinking, masturbation, homosexuality, bisexuality, voyeurism, paedophilia, and bestiality. Kalaman’s final discovery that he is the result of a gang rape committed by members of a rival clan, points to the power of secrets not only to destabilize at the psychic level but also at the level of the nation.

The literature on male heterosexuality as a site of transgression seems to be most developed in the South African context. The ways in which “normal” male heterosexuality transgresses against women has already been referred to in the work on sexual relations (section 1b). These include the texts by Tammy Shefer and others, Christine Varga and Lindiwe Makubalo, Katherine Wood and Rachel Jewkes (in section 8a). The literature on masculinities (section
7a) is also relevant, including Anne Mager’s (see section 8a) analysis of the construction of male youth identities in rural Ciskei and Transkei. Court evidence suggested that in some organisations, being masculine was synonymous with asserting male control over females in violent ways. Kopano Ratele (section 8a) focuses on the significance of racialised sexuality in the context of apartheid: the production of sexual desire and pleasure take place in a culture defined and fetishised by race. Ratele uses the phrase “kinky politics” to refer to racial perversion: personal and institutional practices, politics and cultures that naturalise difference, in this case, racialised difference.

Moolman (section 8a) argues that for coloured gang members in the Western Cape, the meanings of rape are intimately intertwined with the formation of a racially and economically subordinated masculinity in South Africa. Whilst Moolman concurs with feminist explanations of rape as ultimately an expression of control over women, she goes further to state that gang rape is also about communication among men in a process of claiming heterosexual male identity. Furthermore, some of the prevailing values of hegemonic masculinity, such as control, sexual performance, violence, achievement and competition, are inherent in the act of gang rape. Yvonne Vera’s novel The Stone Virgins (section 8a) explores the ways in which male sexuality becomes depraved after the atrocities of war. Unable to feel any longer, the male protagonist, Sibaso, repeatedly rapes and kills in an effort to recapture the experience of transcendence associated with sexual ecstasy.

Female heterosexuality in Southern Africa has, since colonialism, been radically differentiated on the basis of race. The Introduction to Women Writing Africa: The Southern Region (section 8b) points out that the differential value accorded to white and black women’s bodies meant that the rights of black women regarding sexual reproduction, health and their legal status were ignored, if not violated. Megan Vaughan (section 8b) traces the points at which African women’s sexuality became the focus of shared attention and pathologising on the part of colonial medics, administrators and African male elders. For the colonialists, control over African women’s sexuality symbolised control over society at large. For traditional African authorities, regaining control over women’s sexuality was only to be welcomed, given the weakening of pre-existing controls in the wake of changes introduced by colonialism.

Heterosexual women may be transgressed against by their spouses, as was the case for Karugaba, interviewed by Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza in Women’s Violent Crime in Uganda (section 8b). Karugaba killed her husband who had subjected her to continual abuse and humiliation. She was vilified, however, for even mentioning that one of the several forms of abuse that she suffered at his hands was sexual deprivation. In Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero (section 8b), Firdaus is sentenced to death for her killing of a pimp in a street in Cairo. Her response to a life of oppression is considered transgressive, not the conditions giving rise to the violations that she has suffered.

Brigitte Bagnol (section 8c) examines sexual orientation in two Mozambican provinces, distinguishing “affective-sexual orientation” (or sexual attraction) from gender identity and sexual behaviour. She highlights the need to develop a theoretical framework that is grounded in the Mozambican situation and appropriate to its specificities. The rights of men and women to choice in affective-sexual orientation, and the social, cultural and legal recognition of minorities are also stressed. Herdt’s edited collection, Third Sex, Third Gender (section 8c) analyses the intersection of sexuality with politics and economy, in a manner that may be contrasted with the more anthropological treatment of same sex relations in Murray and Roscoe’s edited collection, Boy-Wives and Female-Husbands (section 8c). Margrete Aarmo (section 8c) contextualises the positioning of lesbians and gays in Zimbabwe within the context of nationalism. She focuses on the discourse used by the ruling party in its effort to reinforce a national identity that is constructed by recourse to culture.

The idea that lesbians (and gays) are “unAfrican” is used by many differing regimes to exclude sexual minorities from legitimate membership of the nation. This claim is strongly contested by the article on “Black lesbians speaking out” (section 8d). The absurdities of efforts by members of the Namibian regime to eliminate gays and lesbians from the country, along with injunctions that Namibians should stop having sexual relations with foreigners, are the subject of Liz Frank’s (section 8d) article. Frank outlines her experience of applying for
permanent residence in Namibia on professional grounds and on the basis of her long-standing lesbian relationship with a Namibian. Kendall (section 8d) describes her search for lesbians in Lesotho, and not finding any women who identified themselves in those terms. What she did find, however, was the existence of widespread, erotic relationships among women. These relationships were not named as such, let alone conceived of as “sexual”.

Jim Wafer (section 8e) addresses the question of how equal rights for gays and lesbians might be achieved in countries where Islam is the dominant religion. He does this by examining the foundation texts of Islam to determine the extent of their condemnation of homosexuality. Whilst sex between males is condemned, the possibility of attraction between males is not considered unusual. Bruce Dunne (section 8e) points to the need for historical research to unravel the expression of homosexuality in the Middle East.

Ambiguities and overlaps in the use of language and the relationship between sexuality and gender are addressed in Rudo Gaudio’s (section 8e) study of the yan daudu, men who dress as women and engage in sexual relations with other (straight) men. Ronald Louw discusses same-sex weddings among Africans in Mkhumbane, a settlement on the fringes of Durban. Such marriages were recorded during the 1950s for at least ten years, until the apartheid regime destroyed Mkhumbane in 1961. Prior to this, same-sex relations had been known to take place amongst gang members and in gold mines, in formations and processes that Louw locates in South Africa’s historical and economic context.

Julius Kaggwa’s (section 8f) autobiographical account of growing up intersexed provides rare insights into this experience from an African perspective. As such, it may be interestingly juxtaposed to Lois Gould’s fictional story of school children’s interactions with “X”, an intersexed pupil, and what the children learn about gender in the process.

Male Heterosexuality

• Keegan, T. 2001 “Gender, Degeneration and Sexual Danger: Imagining Race and Class in South Africa”, Journal of Southern African Studies, 27, 3:459-477.
• Mager, A. 1998 “Youth Organisations and the Construction of Masculine Identities in the Ciskei and Transkei”, Journal of Southern African Studies, 24, 4: 653-667.
• Moolman, B. 2004 “Gang Rape - an Expression of Black, Heterosexual Masculinity”, Agenda, forthcoming.
• Ratele, K. 2004 “Kinky Politics”, in Arnfred, S. (ed.) Rethinking Sexualities in Africa Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute
• Sah, P. 1996 “Confessions of a Male Ingenue: Love as Manipulation”, Manushi, 95. http://free.freespeech.org/manushi/95/ppsah.html
• Shefer, T., Strebel, A. and Foster, D. 2000 “So Women Have to Submit to That .. Discourses of Power and Violence in Students. Talk on Heterosexual Negotiation” South African Journal of Psychology, 30, 2: 11-19.
• Varga, C. and Makubalo, L. 1996 “Sexual Non-Negotiation”, Agenda, 28: 31-38.
• Vera, Y. 2002 The Stone Virgins Harare: Weaver Press
• Wood, K. and Jewkes, R. 1997 “Violence, Rape and Sexual Coercion: Everyday Love in a South African Township”, Gender and Development, 5, 2: 41-46.

Female heterosexuality

• Daymond, M., Driver, D., Meintjes, S., Molema, L., Musengezi, C., Orford, M. and Rasebotsa, N. (eds.) 2003 Women Writing Africa: The Southern Region, The Women Writing Africa Project, Vol. 1 New York: The Feminist Press
• El Saadawi, N. 1983 Woman at Point Zero London: Zed Books
• Kishwar, M. 1997 “Women, Sex and Marriage: Restraint as a Feminine Strategy”, Manushi, 98. http://free.freespeech.org/manushi/99/sexuality….
• Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, L. 1999 Women’s Violent Crime in Uganda: More Sinned Against Than Sinning Kampala: Fountain Publishers
• Vaughan, M. 1991 Curing Their Ills: Colonial Power and African Illness Cambridge: Polity Press

Same-Sex Relations in Women and Men

• Aarmo, M. 1999 “How Homosexuality Became “Un-African”: The Case of Zimbabwe”, in E. Blackwood and S. Wieringa (eds.) Female Desires: Same-Sex Relations and Transgender Practices Across Sexualities New York: Columbia University Press
• Bagnol, B. 1996 “Assessment of Sexual Orientation in Maputo and Nampula”, Mimeo. (Anonymous translation from Portuguese) Maputo, May 1996, Royal Netherlands Embassy.
• Gevisser, M. and Cameron, E. (eds.) 1990 Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa Johannesburg: Raven Press
• Murray, S. 1997 “Gender-defined Homosexual Roles in sub-Saharan African Islamic Cultures”, in Murray, S. and Roscoe, W. with Allyn, E., Crompton, L., Dickemann, M., Khan, B., Mujtaba, H., Naqvi, N., Wafer, J., and Westphal-Hellbusch, S. Islamic Homoexualities: Culture, History and Literature New York, London: New York University Press
• Murray, S. and Roscoe, W. 1998 “Diversity and Identity: The Challenge of African Homosexualities”, in Murray, S. and Roscoe, W. (eds.) Boy-Wives and Female-Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities Bloomsburg: Macmillan Press
• Nanda, S. 1996 “Hijras: An Alternative Sex and Gender Role In India”, in G. Herdt (ed.) 1996 Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History New York: Zone Books
• Tapinc, H. 1992 “Masculinity, Femininity and Turkish Male Homosexuality”, in K. Plummer (ed.) Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experience London, New York: Routledge

Women’s Same-Sex Relations, Identities, Practices

• “Black Lesbians Speaking Out”, 1997, Agenda, 36.
• Clarke, C. 1983 “Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance”, in Moraga, C. and Anzaldua, G. (eds.) This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color 2nd edition New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
• Elliston, D. 1999 “Negotiating Transnational Sexual Economies: Female Mahu and Same-Sex Sexuality in ‘Tahiti and Her Islands’”, in E. Blackwood and S. Wieringa (eds.) Female Desires: Same-Sex Relations and Transgender Practices Across Sexualities New York: Columbia University Press
• Frank, L. 2000 “Being a Public Lesbian in Namibia: Reflections on Some Recently Experienced Absurdities”, African Gender Institute Newsletter, 7.
• Gay, J. 1985 “Mummies and Babies and Friends and Lovers in Lesotho”, Journal of Homosexuality, 11, 3/4: 97-116.
• Kendall 1995 “Looking for Lesbians in Lesotho” Paper presented at a Conference on Lesbian and Gay History, Johannesburg.
• Matzner, A. 1998 “Into the Light: The Thai Lesbian Movement Takes a Step Forward”, Women in Action, 3, 74-77.

Men’s Same-Sex Relations, Identities, Practices

• Achmat, Z. 1990 “My Childhood as an Adult Molester”, in M. Gevisser and E. Cameron (eds.) Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa Johannesburg: Raven Press
• Dunne, B. 1990 “Homosexuality in the Middle East: An Agenda for Historical Research”, Arab Studies Quarterly, 12, 3&4, 55-82.
• Gaudio, R. 1997 “Not Talking Straight in Hausa”, in A. Livia and K. Hall (eds.) Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender and Sexuality Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Gaudio, R. 1998 “Male Lesbians and Other Queer Notions in Hausa”, in Murray, S. and Roscoe, W. (eds.) Boy-Wives and Female-Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities Bloomsburg: Macmillan Press
• Louw, R. 2001 “Mkhumbane and New Traditions of (Un) African Same-Sex Weddings”, in R. Morrell (ed.) Changing Men in Southern Africa Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press/London, New York: Zed Books
• Luirink, B. 2000 Moffies: Gay Life in Southern Africa, translated by L. Nas Cape Town: David Philip
• Wafer, J. 1997 “Muhammad and Male Homosexuality”, in Murray, S. and Roscoe, W. with Allyn, E., Crompton, L., Dickemann, M., Khan, B., Mujtaba, H., Naqvi, N., Wafer, J.,
• and Westphal-Hellbusch, S. Islamic Sexualities: Culture, History and Literature New York, London: New York University Press

Intersex

• Gould, L. 2001 “‘X’: A Fabulous Child’s Story,” in S. Shaw and J. Lee (eds.) Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions, Classic and Contemporary Readings Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company
• Kaggwa, J. 1997 From Juliet to Julius: In Search of My True Gender Identity Kampala: Fountain Publishers

Transsexuality

• Bolin, A. 1996 “Transcending and Transgendering: Male-to-Female Transsexuals, Dichotomy and Diversity”, in G. Herdt (ed.) 1996 Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History New York: Zone Books
• Wikan, U. 1977 “Man Becomes Woman: Transsexualism in Oman as a Key to Gender Roles”, MAN, 12: 304-319.

Sexuality and Pleasure

The theme of pleasure in sexuality has rarely been addressed in the literature on Africa. Earlier, I referred to the privilege and politics of pleasure, in the pair of articles by Patricia MacFadden and Charmaine Pereira in Feminist Africa 2 (section 2a). The politics of sexuality is also the focus of Carole Vance’s chapter (section 9), in this case being addressed through the dialectic of pleasure and danger. Writing on pornography, Marlene Wasserman argues that pornography is not, as generally portrayed, a mechanism for men’s domination of women but proof that men lack power over women. Rather than distinguishing between pornography as derogatory of women, and erotica as sexually explicit material that celebrates mutuality in sexual pleasure, Wasserman eschews terminological labels. Instead, she states that she sees as positive all sexually explicit material that demonstrates positive choice and that celebrates all gendered people equally sharing physical pleasure. This view does not, however, get around the fact that some sexually explicit material exists that is misogynistic and degrading of women, regardless of how it may be labelled.

Audre Lorde conceptualises the erotic as the sensual; the power of the erotic comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person, particularly the sharing of joy. Lorde links the power of the erotic to women’s responsibility to themselves, stating that the latter begins when women are in touch with the power of the erotic within themselves and allow that power to inform their actions upon the world. Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi’s discussion of Calixthe Beyala’s novel novels Tanga and Soleil, foregrounds women seeking women-grounded relationships that allow them to move beyond their marginality in institutionalised heterosexuality and patriarchal ideology. Beyala portrays sensuousness and eroticisation in women-centred existence, in a way that neither precludes heterosexuality nor necessarily signifies lesbianism. Following Lorde, Beyala’s protagonists seek to make connections between domains that are otherwise separated in everyday life: the psychic and emotional (spiritual) from the physical and sensual (erotic), and all of these from the political.

Tshikala Biaya addresses three main questions concerning the relationship between eroticism and sexuality in Africa. The first is the question of whether eroticism in Africa is specific to the continent; secondly, the extent to which Africans conceive of sexuality and carnal pleasure independently of reproduction; and finally, the character of an African philosophy of nudity, and its impact on sexuality. At a more specific level, Abdoulaye Ly focuses on eroticism among the Lawbe ethnic group of Senegal, whose sculpture, language and perfumery are integral to their sexuality. The Lawbe are also the subject of Cheik Ibrahima Niang’s chapter, in her case, the aim being to find ways of eroticising the condom in the context of HIV interventions, through the agency of Lawbe women in traditional erotic culture.

Musallam analyses, in some depth, the right to sexual pleasure among the four main schools of Muslim jurisprudence of the Sunni, and the tensions inherent in the dominant form of birth control, coitus interruptus. He discusses various arguments based on pleasure in sexual intercourse for free women, slave women and concubines (the latter two categories being in existence at the time the schools of jurisprudence were formed) and their varied rights to bear
children. He also discusses Arabic erotica - popular literature comprised largely of anthologies of popular material on sex, which included specific birth control prescriptions. The place of birth control in Arabic erotica, as Musallam points out, is far more prominent than in either ancient Indian or Chinese erotica. Slaheddine Fradj, in his discussion of faith and pleasure in Islam, explores “traditional” and “modern” sexual orders in Tunisia, and young people’s negotiation of the associated desires and expectations. In each of these sexual orders, marriage is viewed as the ideal context for sexual satisfaction.

Fatema Mernissi’s Scheherazade Goes West is an exquisitely crafted exposition of Western men’s fantasies of Muslim harems, juxtaposed against actual lived experiences of Muslim women in harems. Mernissi confronts the question of whether cultures manage emotions differently when it comes to structuring erotic responses. She illustrates how women’s erotic power in many Arab cultures relies on their brainpower, particularly their capacity to communicate and to work at the level of the mind. The aim is to arrive at an intense sharedness of the imagination that is expressed in dialogue. Mernissi points out that a man who wishes to seduce an intelligent woman, who is concerned about the world, must necessarily master the erotic art.

• Biaya, T. 1999 “Eroticism and Sexuality in Africa: Directions and Illusions”, CODESRIA Bulletin, 3 & 4: 41-46.
• Fradj, S. 1999 “Faith and Pleasure in Islam”, CODESRIA Bulletin, 3 & 4: 48-51.
• Lorde, A. 1984 “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power”, in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde Freedom, California: The Cutting Press
• Ly, A. 1999 “Brief Notes on Eroticism Among the Lawbe, Senegal”, CODESRIA Bulletin, 3 & 4: 46-48.
• Mernissi, F. 2001 Scheherazade Goes West New York: Washington Square Press
• Musallam, B. 1983 Sex and Society in Islam Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Nafzawi (16th century) Rawd: Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Nafzawi, Al-Rawd al-“atir fi nuzhat al-khatir (Maktabat al-Manar, Tunis, n.d.) English translation by Sir Richard Burton, The Perfumed Garden of the Sheykh Nefzawi New York: Castle Books, 1964
• Nfah-Abenyi, J. 1997 Gender in African Women’s Writing: Identity, Sexuality and Difference Bloomington, Indianopolis: Indiana University Press
• Niang, C. 1996 “Integrating Laobe Women into AIDS Prevention Strategies”, in S. Zeidenstein and K. Moore (eds.) Learning About Sexuality: A Practical Beginning New York: The Population Council/International Women’s Health Coalition
• Said, E. 2000 “Homage to a Belly-Dancer”, in E. Said Reflections on Exile and Other Essays Cambridge: Harvard University Press
• Vance, C. 1984 “Pleasure and Danger: Towards a Politics of Sexuality”, in C. Vance (ed.) Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality Boston: Routledge
• Wasserman, M. 1996 “Positive, Powerful Pornography”, Agenda, 28: 58-65.

Websites

Rainbo (Research, Action and Information Network for the Bodily Integrity of Women): http://www.rainbo.org
Rainbo is an African led international non-governmental organisation that addresses women’s empowerment, reproductive health, sexual autonomy and freedom from violence as key dimensions of an agenda for African development. Established in 1994, Rainbo has offices in New York and London. The organisation’s major focus is on the elimination of female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) by facilitating women’s self-empowerment and furthering social change. Rainbo has redefined FC/FGM to position it in the context of gender, human rights and the violation of women.

Rainbo works in two main programme areas: the Integrated Initiative Against FGM and AMANITARE (see below). Rainbo’s Integrated Initiative Against FGM was launched in 2003 and comprises support in the form of training, consultations and technical assistance to international donor and technical agencies, African governments and NGOs. The organisation has also developed tools for training, such as a CD-ROM on the design, monitoring and evaluation of interventions concerning female genital mutilation. In addition, Rainbo is developing a web-based centre for information on FGM, including news, key facts, recent advances and updates on successful projects. Finally, Rainbo offers direct grants to organisations with projects focusing on FGM in Africa.

AMANITARE, the African Partnership for the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and Girls: http://www.amanitare.org/
AMANITARE aims to create a consolidated African forum for improving the status of African women and girls by promoting and protecting their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The organisation was formally launched as a ten-year programme (1999-2009), between 31st January and 4th February 2000 in Uganda. Currently, AMANITARE comprises 51 partner organisations in 18 African countries; its co-ordinating centres are in Kampala, Johannesburg and Calabar. The overall co-ordination of the partnership is located in Rainbo (see above). The name AMANITARE refers to one amongst many African queens renowned for their strength and fighting spirit in ancient Nubia.

AMANITARE provides the organisational structure for the exchange of technical skills, leadership training and institutional capacity building. The organisation’s activities include facilitating the exchange and generation of information on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa; creating platforms for communication and discussion among partners and other groups at different levels; strengthening the active participation of partner groups in the policy and decision making process of regional and sub-regional bodies; and forging linkages between partners and other institutions working on issues of sexuality, health services and human rights.

Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre: http://www.arsrc.org
The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre is one of four regional sexuality resource centres being established in Africa, Central and South America, Asia and North America, under the auspices of Ford Foundation’s initiative on “Global Dialogue on Sexual Health and Well-Being”. The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre seeks to promote informed dialogue, information exchange, public education, training and leadership development in the field of sexuality in Africa. In addition, the Centre’s aims include building a network of professionals, advocates and organisations to drive changes in policy and research. The Africa Regional Centre is based in Lagos, Nigeria and hosted by Action Health Incorporated (AHI), a non-governmental organisation that works to improve the well-being of Nigerian adolescents.

A library of electronic documents on the subjects of population and health has been created by partner organisations working in reproductive and child health, HIV/AIDS and population. Documentation on sexuality is sparse. Articles may be downloaded off the web or delivered to readers by email. Partner organisations include a wide range of agencies, from advocacy organisations, solidarity platforms, political platforms, medical and health care organisations, documentation centres, universities, population agencies, municipal services and rural development groups.

Treatment Action Campaign (TAC): http://www.tac.org.za/
The Treatment Action Campaign was established on 10th December 1998, International Human Rights Day. Its national office is in Cape Town and there are six provincial offices. TAC’s main objectives are to ensure greater access to affordable and quality HIV/AIDS treatment for all South Africans; to prevent and eliminate new HIV infections; and to improve access to affordable and quality health care for all. The Treatment Action Campaign works to achieve its objectives using a range of means. These include promoting treatment awareness and literacy among the population at large; campaigning for the prevention of HIV transmission from pregnant mothers to their children by using AZT and Nevirapine; targeting pharmaceutical companies to reduce the costs of all HIV/AIDS medications; and campaigning against profiteering by drug companies and other agencies. TAC is also engaged in building a mass membership and in building networks and alliances with unions, employers, women and youth organisations, religious bodies, lesbian and gay organisations, and other interested sections of the community. The visibility of TAC is maintained through the use of posters, pamphlets, meetings, street activism and letter writing.

Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT): http://www.walnet.org/csis/groups/sweat/sweat.ht…
The Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce was formed in September 1994 in Cape Town. SWEAT seeks to reduce the incidence of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) amongst Cape Town’s population of sex workers. The organisation addresses a range of social issues concerning sex workers. inability to gain access to mainstream services in the region and consequently, their access to HIV treatment.

SWEAT’s centre provides the following services: support and counselling; crisis intervention; referrals to outside resources; condom distribution in city parlours, agencies and stripper/sex clubs to street sex workers; safer sex education in on-site workshops on HIV and STDs; a monthly newsletter; pictorial and easy-to-read guides to safer sex for sex workers and their clients; an information line and telephone counselling; nightly outreach by peer fieldworkers and professional support staff.

IV. Films, videos²

² _{Text taken from catalogues.}

The Film Resource Unit, based in Johannesburg, distributes African films. Their website is http://www.fru.co.za/ Videos are distributed by Learning Resources, whose website is http://www.lr.co.za

Sexual Politics

LE WAZZOU POLYGAME (The polygamous Wazzou)
_{Oumarou Ganda}
50 min 16mm colour 1970 Niger, Argos Films (Francia)

On his return from Mecca, a devout Muslim takes on the title of “El Hadj”. He desires young Satou, although he knows she is promised to Garba. The furious Garba has no choice but to leave the village. Things grow more complicated: the Hadj’s second wife does not accept the newcomer and decides to kill her on the eve of the wedding to prevent the marriage. She makes a mistake and kills one of the bridesmaids instead. The second wife is arrested whilst Satou flees to the town to see Garba. Unfortunately, she cannot find him and turns to prostitution.

SAITANE (Satan)
_{Oumarou Ganda}
55 min 35mm colour 1972 Niger

The film addresses the influence of marabouts on village life. A marabout begins to organise the secret love affairs of a girl, driving her to a sorry end. He is punished, ridiculed and loses his influence on the village.

L.ETOILE NOIRE (The black star)
_{Djingarey Abdoulaye Maiga}
95 min 16mm b/w 1975 Mali

A man is divided between two women: the traditional woman, his lawful wife, and the Westernized woman, a girl at the Black Star bar. He eventually sinks into loneliness. This film highlights the role of money and the extravagant display of success in the daily life of the modern African bourgeoisie.

A COMEDY IN SIX UNNATURAL ACTS
_{Jan Oxenburg}
25 min 16mm b/w 1975 USA - Available on: 16mm VHS

This is a satire on the stereotyped images of lesbians. Each scene is also a take-off of a different genre of Hollywood film - the source of many stereotypes. The film’s use of humour gives it a wide audience appeal.

INVISIBLE ADVERSARIES
_{Valie Export}
109 mins 16mm colour 1977 Austria - Available on: 16mm VHS

Anna, a Viennese photographer and video artist, wakes up one morning to hear a radio broadcast about an invasion by the alien Hyksos. These are invisible adversaries who insinuate themselves into humans and encourage aggression and destruction. But when Anna sets about collecting evidence of their existence, she is not only contradicted at every turn by her “rational. male lover, but begins to realise that man’s monstrosity is already everywhere and that these body snatchers have little to do to achieve their aims. Using a fast-moving variety of techniques - film, video, still photography, dance, performance art, montage - Valie Export demonstrates the meanings and interventions of the media in our lives, while the sci-fi narrative becomes a surreal vehicle for her discussion of sexual and national politics.

17 ROOMS (OR WHAT DO LESBIANS DO IN BED)
_{Caroline Sheldon}
10 mins 16mm colour 1985 UK - Available on: VHS

The audience is shown women doing everything in bed from blowing noses, knitting and drinking tea, to having raucous pillow-fights and intense conversations. This accentuates the point that women are seldom portrayed visually in their beds apart from when they are having sexual interaction with men. In these 17 rooms, ironically, everything is shown except sex.

I WANT YOUR SEX
_{Yaba Badoe}
Colour UK (video)

This documentary examines representations of black sexuality over more than two centuries, spanning figures as diverse as Saartje Baartman (also referred to as Sarah Bartman), Josephine Baker, Grace Jones, Manet’s Olympia, inter-racial “buddy” movies in Hollywood, and Mapplethorpe’s black male nudes. The documentary highlights the basis of these representations of sexuality in myths that are rooted in a history of colonialism and imperialism. A broad range of material is drawn upon, including art, photographs and media images.

Violence

DAASI (Slaves)
_{Jabeen Siddique}
45 mins Umatic colour 1983 UK - Available on: VHS

This documentary is about the social injustice and exploitation of sex workers living in the Karmathapuri area of Bombay, where over 200,000 women and girls (mainly from Nepal - a relatively poor country in comparison with urban India), live and work under the most demoralising conditions. For many women, there seems to be no alternative, but the benefits are high for those who profit by the women’s exploitation. The brothel “business. continues to thrive on the sexual, emotional and physical abuse of women. DAASI (Slaves) examines how society continues to endorse this twentieth-century slave trade - tracing the problem back to the days of British colonialism when large numbers of Indian women were brought in to supply the ready market of soldiers.

RAPE CULTURE
_{M. Lazarus, R. Wunderlich}/_{Cambridge Documentary Films}
35 mins 16mm colour 1983 USA - Available on: 16mm VHS

This film effectively explores those elements in US society that contribute to an ideology that supports rape. Mary Daly characterises “rapism. as a disease of a phallocentric society that
puts all women under siege. When women are not being physically assaulted or confined they are psychologically bound by the knowledge that their society victimises them in the normal course of social interaction. Convicted rapists examine their own socialisation and behaviour in the film and critical attention is paid to media images such as advertising, news films and clips from popular mainstream movies.

PROPERTY RITES
_{Heather Powell}/_{Birmingham Film & Video Workshop}
59 mins 16mm colour 1984 UK - Available on: 16mm VHS

Cathy lives an apparently uneventful life in Birmingham, until she is asked to write an article for a community magazine. The mystery surrounding the death in 1817 of Mary Ashford, and the sensational trial and acquittal of Abraham Thornton for her rape and murder appears to be a straightforward subject, but Cathy gradually realises that things are not what they seem. Why was Mary’s character debated at such length? Why were certain pieces of evidence ignored in the attempt to establish Thornton’s innocence or guilt? In her search for the missing links an event in Cathy’s own life takes on new significance. The film investigates ideas and assumptions underlying common attitudes to sexual violence, and by using a mixture of fiction and documentary material, unravels a previously hidden version of British history.

FIRST COMMUNION
_{Martine Thoquenne}
13 mins 16mm colour 1986 UK - Available on: 16mm VHS

The film addresses the theme of incest, which has been an important cause of mental breakdown in girls and women. Such breakdown is the result not only of the act itself but of sexual guilt - defined in religious terms as inherent in women, since Eve “tempted. Adam. Through fear, an oppressive silence is maintained. The film pieces together a montage of images and memories: bride-like girls shrouded in white, uniformed majorettes and an ever-present dour priest brandishing the symbol of the cross are seen as the voice of a young girl reads letters to her mother in which she tries to articulate her experience of incest. Her confessional tone merges with images of Catholic ritual, highlighting the power and influence of religious mystification over young girls.

JUST BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE
_{Abigail Norman}/_{Prod: Heramedia}
28 mins Umatic colour 1986 USA - Available on: VHS

This documentary focuses on the subject of violence against lesbians. Incidents of police intimidation, physical and psychological harassment, arrests and alcoholism are recalled in interviews with women living in New York. The problems faced by lesbians, particularly Black lesbians who are more susceptible to all kinds of attack, are placed in a political context by linking issues of class, race and sexual identity. Public attitude, at a time when lesbians and gay men are becoming increasingly organised and visible, is highlighted by footage of religious protesters at a Gay Pride march and the testimonies of “concerned. citizens at a New York City Council hearing against the proposed Gay Rights Bill. The documentary raises questions about anti-lesbian violence: where it comes from, what the consequences are and what can be done about it.

Affirming sexuality

DIAL-DIALI (Woman)
_{Ousmane William M.baye}
26 min 16mm 1991 Senegal

The film is a tribute to the beauty of Senegalese women. Young modern Senegalese women rediscover the ancient methods of their grandmothers - fabrics, bead belts, incense, henna.

ERZULIE LA MAGNIFIQUE (Erzulie the magnificent)
_{Veronique Dessout}
10 min video colour 1991 Haiti

In contrast to the violence of the ton ton macoute and sensationalist depictions of Voodoo, the film examines an unusual aspect of Haiti, rediscovering the spiritual and artistic wealth of the island through the portrait of Erzulie, the Voodoo goddess of love, water and fertility.

AIDA SOUKA (Aida Souka)
_{Mansour Sora Wade}
16 min 35mm 1992 Senegal

Kine is a disquette (a young trendy girl) who is initiated into the arts of seduction by a dryanke (a woman who is an expert in the seductive arts). The film is a journey through the perfumes, stratagems and jewels that some Senegalese women use to seduce their men.

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