The problem with previous views of homosexual activity in Africa and elsewhere is that many in the West often look for our own preconceived notions of what that activity should look like rather than trying to see what is really going on. Often observers dont let the Africans talk for themselves and discuss the way they actually live. That they get to do so here is one of Boy-Wives and Female Husbands strengths. See alsoBio
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Boy-Wives
and Female Husbands: Studies in African
Homosexualities Recent developments in Africa have revived the old debate over the presence of gay and lesbian people on the continent. Verbal attacks on gays by the president of Uganda and the firebombing of a gay club in South Africa have competed with messages of support for diverse sexualities by educator Ali Masruli and the US opening of films like Dakan which explore the textured same-sex loving African lives. While it does stretch the imagination to imagine that there are NO lesbians or gay men amongst the millions of Africans living on the continent, it remains difficult to gain some idea of how they actually live their lives, or how those lives were lived in the past. Homophobia, the varied nature of the expression of their desires across the vast continent, and the many different ways same-gender-loving peoples interact, often counter to what we in the west would expect when we talk about homosexuality, also obscures our vision. The myth of "no homosexuality in Africa" has also been used to silence gays and lesbians in the Diaspora as well. Somehow, our same-sex attraction is considered a disease we caught from whites since "real" Africans are not (and can not) be gay. Because same-sex love does not exist on the continent, the reasoning goes, black homosexuals in the Diaspora are going 'against nature' or being inauthentically black, rejecting the traditions of the Motherland for "European Decadence". Or so the story goes. Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies in African Homosexualities goes a long way toward putting that myth to rest. Editors Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe use a variety of sources, some reaching back to the 18th Century, to paint a picture of the continent in which some level of same sex attraction was accepted and considered normal in many traditional societies. Using oral histories, folklore, translations of early ethnographic reports, even court transcripts, Murray and Roscoe have gathered articles that explore the true patterns of same-gender desire in over fifty cultures. They uncover previously hidden stories of mixed gender roles, marriages between women, and relations between men and boys in colonial work settings, where the older partner often paid a 'bride-price' or dowry to the families of their young partners. The key to Boy-Wives and Female Husbands is in its subtitle. It truly is a study of 'Homosexualities'. Just as there are varied cultures and nations on the African continent, so too are there a variety of ways in which those attracted to their own gender have expressed that desire. The problem with previous views of homosexual activity in Africa and elsewhere is that many in the West often look for our own preconceived notions of what that activity should look like rather than trying to see what is really going on. Often observers don't let the Africans talk for themselves and discuss the way they actually live. That they get to do so here is one of Boy-Wives and Female Husbands' strengths. One problem with Boy Wives, however, is the near total lack of information about its contributors. Who are the authors of these articles, one is tempted to ask. Some entries, such as Nii Ajen's "West African Homoeroticism," or Kendall's "'When a Woman Loves a Woman' in Lesotho" are so outstanding the reader may want to seek out more of their work. None of this information is to be found in this volume&emdash; a major flaw. Also, more maps showing where the various countries and or ethnic nations discussed in the book would have been helpful for notoriously geography-impaired Americans. And, as always, one wishes there were more material about the lives of loving women beyond the fascinating glimpses we find here. Overall, Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies in African Homosexualities is an important first step in the continuing development of understanding the nature of same-sex desire in around the world. Part of a series Murray and Roscoe have edited exploring homosexuality around the world (previous works include Islamic Homosexualities and Latin American Male Homosexualities) it offers a tantalizing look at the rich variety of ways our African sisters and brothers have constructed their lives. One hopes that other investigators will follow some of the leads laid out in this valuable volume. © Reginald Harris 2000. All Rights Reserved.
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Chuck
Tarver chuck@blackstripe.com
Last updated: 22 February 2000
by
Chuck Tarver