Sexuality in Africa

This entry provides an overview of sexuality and gender in Africa. It begins by detailing precolonial sexuality and gender relations with the aim of demonstrating that these were quite complex and intended to allow for a diverse array of relational, economic, and social arrangements. It then explores the colonial sexual and gender regime which was introduced to enable a more hierarchical and rigid relational model to facilitate a capitalist economy. The entry makes the argument that rather than a natural phenomenon, sexuality is a social construct whose power is harnessed by political, economic, and social forces to control and govern resources.