Abstract
AbstractThis article is an exploratory journey of cultural visual literacy of “non-conforming” gender representations from pre-colonial Sub-Saharan Africa. It provides select research-based visual evidence of “non-conforming” genders and sexual orientations in traditional cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa as represented in its popular press, scholarly literature, and government and United Nations publications, amongst other sources. These have been selectively described in the context of key cultural themes that include (alphabetically listed): art, folklore, gender behavior, language, marriage, religion, and, sexual activity. The article provides a glimpse of data that were collected during a collaborative project selected by the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy to partner in the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomacy Lab program of engaged scholarship involving two information science graduate students and a faculty member. A few insights from the exploratory journey of the cultural visual literacy of “non-conforming” gender representations are also reported.
Highlights
Public perceptions, press coverage, scholarly literature, and vested interests have drawn close associative relationships between “non-conforming” gender identities, behaviors, and physical markers, on the one hand, and minority sexual orientations, on the other (Watson and Johnson, 2013)
This article is an exploratory journey of cultural visual literacy of “non-conforming” gender representations from pre-colonial Sub-Saharan Africa
The analysis provides an exploratory journey of cultural visual literacy of “non-conforming” gender representations from precolonial Sub-Saharan Africa
Summary
Press coverage, scholarly literature, and vested interests have drawn close associative relationships between “non-conforming” gender identities, behaviors, and physical markers, on the one hand, and minority sexual orientations (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc.), on the other (Watson and Johnson, 2013). A common argument against support of “non-conforming” genders and LGBTI people in these geographic areas (including Sub-Saharan Africa) is that gender “variants” and homosexuality are western constructs that go against their historical and cultural traditions (Badru and Sackey, 2013). Select visualizations of narrative discourse/content analysis of folktales and myths, fiction and non-fiction, song and theatre, and other oral histories are included that identify “non-conforming” examples of Africans who have challenged “traditional” cultural lifestyles and behaviors In this context, the analysis provides an exploratory journey of cultural visual literacy of “non-conforming” gender representations from precolonial Sub-Saharan Africa. The project involved two information science graduate students and faculty collaboration with government officials who together learnt applied research in the process of developing geographic information systems (GIS) for “non-conforming” genders and LGBTI advocacy (Mehra et al, 2018b)
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