Intersectionality of Gender and Sexuality in African Cultures

Abstract

Abstract This chapter applies an intersectional feminist lens to unpack a social perspective on the role played by gender and sexuality in African cultures. Placing heterosexual dominance and heteropatriarchal sexual desire at the center of African cultures, the chapter reveals complex interlocking forms of gender and sexual oppression and privileges. This chapter presents some examples of African cultures, and exhibits a radical form of cultural resistance against the gendered African cultural systems that dictate heterosexuality and patriarchy as cultural and social norms. Using secondary data as a part of qualitative research, the chapter applies a textual and narrative analysis from various sources, broader epistemologies, and experience-centered observations to understand the intersectionality of gender and sexuality in African cultures, including the meanings attached to the social and cultural construction and socialization of gender and sexuality. The chapter also applies intersectionality theoretical thinking based on feminist and sociological perspectives to unpack how the intersectionality of gender and sexuality is part of African cultures.