Eroticism, sensuality and “women's secrets” among the Baganda: A critical analysis
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Date
2005
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Feminist Africa
Abstract
Sexuality is intricately linked to practically every aspect of our lives: to pleasure,power, politics and procreation, but also to disease, violence, war, language,social roles, religion, kinship structures, identity, creativity… the list is endless.
The connection and collision between human sexuality,2 power and politics provided the major inspiration for this piece of research. Specifically, I wanted to explore the various ways in which the erotic is used both as an oppressive and
empowering resource. In her compelling essay sub-titled The Erotic as Power,Audre Lorde (1984) argues for the construction of the erotic as the basis of women's resistance against oppression. For her, the concept entailed much more than the sexual act, connecting meaning and form, infusing the body and the psyche. Before Lorde, Michel Foucault (1977; 1990) had demonstrated how the human body is a central component in the operation of power. He theorised the body as “an inscribed surface of invents” from which the prints of history can be read (Rabinow, 1984: 83).
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Tamale, S. (2005). Eroticism, sensuality and “women’s secrets” among the Baganda: A critical analysis. Feminist Africa, 5(1), 9-36.