Sexuality, AIDS, and the lures of modernity: Reflexivity and morality among young people in rural Tanzania

Abstract

An understanding of young people's perceptions of AIDS and their sexuality is an essential precondition for the effective planning of AIDS campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa. In examining how young Luo men and women in Tanzania describe their sexual behavior, I show that cultural conceptions of sexuality, gender, and trust have an important impact on their actions. I also show that these conceptions have been rendered ambiguous by globalization, modernity, and by AIDS campaigns themselves. The values that are imparted to young people from family or peers often conflict with the preventive advice provided by both governmental and non-governmental organizations. However, by critically reflecting upon the ambiguities and inconsistencies in their lives, the young Luo have proven to be self-conscious actors and moral subjects who are actively involved in the process of social change. In the concluding section I suggest how elements of self-critique and self-reflection, as well as the often differing perspectives and dilemmas experienced by young men and women, can be taken into account in order to make future educational campaigns more effective.