Dan daudu
Thanks Teju Cole for the link to this article on Sodomy in Nigeria. It reads in the style of City People and is marred by an uncritical homophobia, but is nonetheless a revealing text to read - naming names and practices (well sort of, its not that he gets anatomical).
My favourite bit is this short passage (forgive the pun): "In Kano, there was (and still is) the belief that the vitality and luck of a man lurks in his anus. Homosexuality is also another form of domination, especially by traditional rulers over their fellow men." Kinda contradicts the para immediately before, which tries to blame sodomy on the Arabs and the British..
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All this shows is that men will bugger anything that has a heartbeat and a hole. Heartbeat optional.
A good balanced article: its illiteracy balances its ignorance.
Rudolf P. Gaudio is an anthropologist who writes on the 'yen daudu in Kano. If you have access to J-STOR and search for Gaudio's name, you should be able to find a lot of articles about the 'yen daudu subculture. I am currently reading Ibrahim Sheme's 'Yartsana, in which he fictionally (but with quite a bit of apparent research) explores the karuwa ("women of the night") lifestyle, in which 'yen daudu often play a part. If you can find a copy of the film Bakar Ashana (which is currently banned in Kano, but still floats around), it shows a fascinating portrayal of karuwa and shows several 'yen daudu.
Thanks for the Yen Daudu stuff TC. Anyone else interested: slap 'Yan Daudu' into Google and behold..
Although Kano has instituted a new Sharia law, which bans homosexuality, the city’s notoriety for homosexuality is legendary. During the holy month of Ramadan in 1998, Bashir Yan Tandu, a famous businessman, was beaten up by residents of his quarters in Dala Local Government area of the city. He was caught making love to a nine-year old boy. This is another form of gay practice (pederasty, which involves a male adult and a boy).
the above quote shows how unbelievably ignorant the article is ....linking homosexuality to Pedophilia!Upside is it saves you all the guess work ala city people.
My bad on the spelling. Jeremy, you're right, it is 'yan daudu--not 'yen daudu. I always misspell that because I pronounce it 'yen. But it is 'yan.
It is paedophilia when the boys being buggered are below the age of consent. And as for the practise of selling male wives (boys), let's call this what it is; sexual slavery. Really, it's no different from the Thai brothels specialising in the sale of children, specifically for sex. What consenting adults choose to do with their time and bodies is entirely up to them but when it concerns children and teenagers being groomed for sexual labour, then it's just plain evil. And I know that there are such groups all over Nigeria, not just the northern states.
The article referenced fails on many accounts to pass the muster on good journalistic reporting.
Having read the whole article twice, it is clear that wealthy gay men in Nigeria, not having a place or forum to meet would consider exploiting sexual ambivalence in adolescents on the premise of offering help or desperately need assistance - it is wrong, but that is the way things are.
Young women even get exploited far worse than in this case.
It is surprising that they could not find the sympathy to condemn the killing of a suspected homosexual in a secondary school, rather, they read that unjust act as the pervasiveness of homosexuality in the country.
It was, I would think supposed to be about sodomy laws, rather it looked like an expose of yellow journalism in common salacious tabloid rag.
Then the one about a young man thinking he had lost his manhood after gay sex just shows how ignorant people about sexuality in general and homosexuality specifically.
Homosexuality and homosexual acts have always been practiced all around the world and including Nigeria from the beginning of time, the denial of that does not stop it being a fact.
I feel sorry of all those unconscionably outed by the article, but like we know of all bigotry, even if there was just one homosexual in a multitude of a million, it would still be called pervasive.
That is our world.
Reading Akin's take, I do want to add my two cents' worth on the technical details of the article. It's terribly written, incoherent, and scattered, not to mention the dismissive attitude toward murder because it happened to be a homo's. I could hardly follow it without sprouting a headache.
Ironically, the word verification I had to type in after writing this: BUTTS
Heheheh...
i think the problem is this:
homosexuality is so abhorred in nigerian society, so some nigerian homosexuals get married, go on the DL or assault young boys, who they can bully into keeping quiet because they too feel ashamed.
it's a lot like the catholic church.
one big vicious cycle that could be broken if the stigma was lifted.
that way we'll be able to seperate obscene abuse of children like the one described in the article from mutual sex by two consenting adults.
as long as everything gets hidden in the dark, then it's hard to make that difference.
but nigeria is so backward when it comes to sexual relations.
how many men ever get charged with raping women? how many adults for assaulting children? not to mention sexual harrassment in the office.
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