Abstract
This article concerns how the Meru in northern Tanzania manage their love affairs. It explores the cultural logic of secrecy in sexual life by focusing on how young people manage multiple and concurrent love affairs in a morally acceptable way, which, in turn, facilitates a thriving atmosphere for the spread of infection and disease. AIDS-prevention campaigns have not simply placed sexual life on the agenda, but have also made sexual life a public affair. Yet, although people's sexual life and their management of intimate relationships have become increasingly troubled with the AIDS epidemic, the campaigns have made little headway against the epidemic. Drawing on my longitudinal fieldwork, I will argue that HIV-prevention programs do not resonate with local practices and principles for managing intimate love affairs, including codes of secrecy, (sexual) shame, and respectability.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
