FEATURE: Culture and Pleasurable Sexuality in South Eastern Nigeria

In the discourse on sexuality, culture is seen as one of the most important aspects affecting sexuality. Though culture is always in a state of flux, changing continually, in the discourse on sexuality, culture is often imagined as static, unchanging and exerting a limiting impact on sexuality. As in most aspects of human life, sexuality in Africa has been affected through the ages by different developments - economic, political, and social.This paper, drawing from a recent ethnographic research conducted by the author, illustrates how women work within their cultures to exert some level of control in their lives in spite of the limitations that may exist and to enjoy pleasurable sexuality. Examples are from the Efik of Calabar in south-south Nigeria. Read full article.
By Eno Blankson Ikpe

ISSUE IN FOCUS: Peering Through the Keyhole: Marriage, HIV/AIDS and the Implications for Women’s Sexual Health

Marriage is one of the most desired institutions in Nigeria today. Young people, especially women, dream about and yearn for the day they will walk the aisle to the alter on the arms of the man of their dreams; and with the hope of a happy, serene and secure life ever after. But the marriage bed can also become the death bed, with more people (especially women) getting infected with the human immuno- deficiency virus (HIV) within the context of marriage. Thus, the marriage institution is becoming a huge threat to public health security. Yet, events that take place within a marriage are usually relegated to the private; firmly shut off from public scrutiny. Read full article.
By Arit Oku-Egbas
RESEARCH NOTE: Mobilising Religious Leaders to Join the Fight Against HIV/AIDS: Results of a Qualitative Research from Egypt

Strong taboos attached to HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa make it harder to measure the scope of the problem and to plan accordingly. Extreme stigma not only marginalizes those who are HIV-positive but also inhibits people from going for tests in the first place. The difficulty in establishing effective HIV/AIDS programmes comes from a lack of openness to sexuality issues in many of the Muslim countries. There is also the added factor of the attitude to illness and death. As a result of deep-rooted cultural constructs, these are considered taboo subject areas. Read full article.
By Ahmed R. A. Ragab, Mervat Mahmoud and G.I. Serour

   
   

EDITORIAL: Belief, Culture and Sexual Pleasure in Africa

The overwhelming impression of the sexual ethic of culture and beliefs is that of repression and negativism. The over moralization of sexual pleasure and intimacy has led to the view that cultures and sexual pleasure are antagonists. But sexuality and particularly sexual pleasure and culture should be viewed as mutually re-enforcing. This issue of the magazine will attempt to bridge this gap by unveiling the connections between culture, beliefs and pleasure. The intention is to begin a discussion and research on the way cultures and beliefs (could) promote healthy and pleasurable sexuality and how these processes could in turn revitalize African cultures.
Read full article.

REGION WATCH: Tumndo Ne Leel

Tumndo Ne Leel was formed to address the problem of female circumcision among the Kalenjin community in Kenya. Read full article.

VIEWPOINT: Women and Sexuality: A Dangerous Mix?

My Christian beliefs, that form the very component of the blood that runs through my veins, teach me that the ways, norms, values and teachings of the church are not to be questioned. My interest in this paper is to question the interpretation of the word of God, and not the word itself. Our interpretations of the word of God, as other aspects of our lives and thinking are influenced from outside the word itself. Read full article.

SEXUALITY RESOURCES

Poverty and the Social Context of Sex Work in Addis Ababa
By Bethlehem Tekola

The Cultural Myth of Masculinity
By Chris Blazina