Introduction
Despite noted declines in HIV prevalence in some countries Africa still bears a disproportionate HIV burden worldwide. Africa accounts for an estimated 67 percent of people living with HIV in the entire world (UNAIDS, 2008). The number of new infections continues to outstrip the number of people put on HIV treatment worldwide (Shelton, 2007). The raging HIV epidemic is mainly concentrated in East and southern Africa which is “home to less to less than 2 percent of the global population but at least one-third of all HIV-infected people. Infection rates among adults in South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana and western Kenya range from 20% to at least 30%, roughly an order of magnitude higher than anywhere else in the world, outside of Africa”
(Halperin & Epstein, 2007, p. 19). This statistic is worrisome when put into comparison with the concentrated epidemics of the West, where for example, the HIV infection rate in the United States has never exceeded one percent (Sanders, 2008).
The HIV epidemics in east and Southern Africa are unique. They are unique in terms of their mode of transmission and severity. The epidemics are highly generalised and largely heterosexual.
These are sub-Saharan regions where the spread of HIV is not strongly associated with risky sexual behaviour in select population groups but to the general population. Halperin and Epstein (2007, p. 19) note that:
The highly generalised HIV epidemic in southern and east Africa is uniquely severe. Elsewhere, HIV transmission continues to be strongly associated with especially high-risk activities, namely use of injectable drugs, male-to-male anal sex, and sex work, and the most effective means of prevention are now generally recognised. Although HIV has been present for nearly two decades in much of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, extensive heterosexual spread has seldom occurred in those regions. While there is concern over the possibility that it could occur, for the foreseeable future southern Africa will certainly remain by far the most severely affected region of the global pandemic.
Zimbabwe has recently recorded declines in HIV prevalence rates. The HIV declines in Zimbabwe are attributed to changes in sexual behaviour. Three key behaviours, namely delay of sexual debut, reductions in non-regular sexual partners and increased condom use with non- regular partners have been isolated in explaining the decline in HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe (Gregson et al, 2006). Not clear are the factors that have triggered the observed sexual behaviour change in Zimbabwe (Avert, 2009). Several factors have been suggested as possible reasons for the declines in HIV prevalence in some countries in Africa. Foremost is the epidemiological argument that the HIV declines are a natural course of the HIV epidemic where its infectivity intensity weakens over time (Parkhurst, 2002; Brody, 1996; Richens, Imrie & Copas, 2000).
As we attempt to understand the complexities of the Zimbabwean culture, we firstly need to define exactly what it is we mean by “culture”, especially the notion of a Zimbabwean culture.
We also need to disengage ourselves from umbrella definitions of “African” culture. The African culture, as we know it, has been an evolution of contestable anthropological and political definitions couched in binary racial undertones of savage versus civilised, dark versus enlightened,
Defining Culture
Culture has been defined variously as a way of life (Wiredu, 1991 in Verhoeff & Michel, 1997;
Myers, 1993), the meanings which people create, and which create people, as members of societies (Hannerz, 1992). Goodenough (quoted in Geertz, 1971, p.11) says culture “consists of whatever it is one has to know or believes in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members”. In this regard, culture is akin to propaganda. The cultural propaganda makes individuals belong to a certain social group without seeking to question why they do so. Geertz (1971, p. 5) argues that the concept of culture is semiotic, since
...man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental [process]in search of laws but an interpretive one in search of meaning.
Geertz’s (1971) analysis of culture implies that it is not a static but dynamic force. It is constantly in a state of flux shedding of redundant aspects and acquiring new ones in order to compete for survival in an ever-changing social environment. In other words, there is constant dialogue between meaning and action. The actions members of a particular culture engage in are given legitimacy or logical reason by meanings in place to justify those actions. Culture is therefore the energising force that drives a group of people sharing common beliefs, meanings and space (not always spatial). Westen (1985, p. 219) states that “two structures, culture real andculture ideal,form that which, along with an integrating function between the two, will be considered culture”
(Emphasis original).
Culture realprovides an emic (reference values) image of reality (maintains social homeostasis), whilst the culture idealrefers to the actual (etic) goal ranges which reference values should ideally, but frequently do not, approximate (Westen, 1985, p. 220). This analysis conveys an image of a constant balancing act between the emic and the etic resulting in social equilibrium. Individuals have to keep referencing their personal goals and lifestyle to the shared common values and those who transgress are dealt with in a manner that seeks to enhance the social equilibrium.
Society approves or disapproves actions that it construes as enhancing or threatening maintenance of balance and order.
Therefore, people who share an ethnic identity and geographic space can describe Zimbabwean culture as tacitly agreed upon customs and norms. These agreed upon norms and culture prescribes a national identity. Zimbabweans identify themselves as such because they share an ethnic, geographic, and national identity. This identity relates to language, customs, beliefs, and social organisation. However, one has to caution against an implicit assumption that these norms and rules are universally agreed upon. Tensions exist in cultural norms, as culture itself is a contestable terrain.
Human sexuality and (sexual) behaviour, which permeate all aspects of social life and the HIV/AIDS problem, need to be understood by those concerned with the fight against HIV/AIDS. The complexity of defining culture is amplified when one has to define sexual culture and sexuality. Parker et al.(1991, cited in Taylor, 1998, p.79) define sexual culture as “the system of meaning, of knowledge, beliefs and practices, that structure sexuality in different contexts.”
Lear (1997) notes that the study of human sexuality is not only problematic in terms of its inaccessibility but also because of the gendered meanings, expectations, and social class surrounding human sexuality. Human sexuality is complex. Human sexuality is expressed in several divergent forms with a variety of meanings and so are the sexual relationships that people
form. Sexual desire is often described as instinctual, a drive which humans share with other animals.
Human sexual behaviour has been explained in terms of evolutionary processes. Proponents of this view argue that “male promiscuity” and female monogamy are the direct consequence of conflicting evolutionary strategies: for men, to sow their seeds as widely as possible; for women to select the mate with the best genes and the most to invest in offspring (Willig, 1998).
Preferences for quantity (for men) versus quality (for women) of sexual encounters are conceptualised as psychological adaptations to the pressures of natural selection that are different for women, who can only have a limited number of children in their lifetime, and men, whose reproductive potential is much larger.
In the classical argument of socio-biology, sexual behaviour and the emotions associated with it such as love and passion are often contrasted with rationality and forward planning (Clark, 1990;
Clark & Hatfield, 1989; Gupta, 2000). However, how much of this sexual construction is a Western European artefact? Does the framing of sex and sexual relations in this way explain sexuality in sub-Saharan Africa or Zimbabwe? The heterogeneity of African society implies heterogeneity of sexual forms of expression that defy a bipolar categorisation and analysis.
Meanings constructed around sexual activity can vary both within similar cultural and geographic groups (Bauni, 1990; Willig, 1998). Such constructions have implications for sexual behaviour.
Discourse legitimises or privileges particular practices and individuals are positioned differently by different constructions. As Dowsett (2003) observes there are dominant notions attached to sexuality. These are notions of sex hierarchy, male virility, and power. Dowsett further argues that normative conceptions of male sexuality portray it as unrestrained and uncontrollable. “Real”
sex is penile-vaginal penetrative intercourse and other sex acts are not sex and are unnatural (Epprecht, 1998). Furthermore, certain sexual acts place a man in a more powerful position vis- à-vis a woman.
The dominant discourses and notions surrounding sex are problematic in that they are not context free. The context itself assumes a multiplicity of forms, social, cultural, economic, and even political. The context either empowers or disempowers particular sexual acts, for example, the insistence by some Zimbabwean men on “dry sex” despite the negative health consequences associated with it, such as tearing and bruising (Bagnol & Mariano, 2008; Pitts, Runganga, &
McMaster, 1994; Runganga, Pitts & McMaster, 1992, Wijgert, et al., 2001). What makes some men insist on having unprotected penetrative sex even if they are well aware of the likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted infection? Why do some women engage in vaginal drying and douching when it makes sexual intercourse painful? Holland et al.(1991) observed that a woman’s request for condom use during sex could constitute a challenge to dominant constructions of heterosexual activity.
According to Connell (1995), the dominant discourse of hetero-sex sees the male as aggressive and dominant; the first to make indications towards sex, and the female is seen as passive and receptive. Male sex drive is spontaneous and inexorably driven by primitive biological urges. A woman is held responsible for deciding how far things will go and for contraception (Gilligan, 1992). There is a rational need to understand how people construct risky sexual behaviour and negotiate safer sexual relationships.
The complexity of human sexuality adds to the complexity of trying to come to terms with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The complexity is accentuated when sexual behaviour is labelled as risky
the union, elements that are important for understanding sexual behaviour overall and the transmission of HIV (Carael & Cleland, 1994).
The variable social and historical contexts of risk behaviour contribute to the difficulty of predicting human sexuality and disease transmission. For instance, how does one analyse African sexuality given the cultural and ritual diversity accompanying sex in sub-Saharan Africa? When African sexuality is examined should it be done outside the influence it has had from contact with other cultures? In other words, is there such a thing as an African sexuality? These are all questions we need to provide answers to for us to better understand the HIV/AIDS pandemic and develop better and effective prevention strategies.
HIV/AIDS and the African Sexuality Theory
The late 80s gave rise to a school of thought that there is a distinct African sexuality as evidenced by the predominantly heterosexual spread of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Unsafe heterosexual sex is the major route of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. More than ninety- five percent of adult HIV infections in Africa are a result of unprotected sex, predominantly heterosexual sex (UNAIDS, 2002). This raises serious questions about the nature of sexual activity and sexual relations in sub-Saharan Africa.
Caldwell, Caldwell and Quiggan (1989) suggest that the HIV infection patterns in Africa are reflective of the African social and cultural system(s). They argue that anthropologic and ethnographic studies done in West Africa indicate extensive sexual networking among the people.
They argue that despite missionary and colonial attempts to “civilise” or more specifically, westernise Africa, sexuality has remained largely cocooned in traditional norms and “permissive”.
In support of their theory they cite evidence of women “selling sex” at trade markets, women marrying off at very young ages, and sex outside the marriage union as being the norm, and the laxity surrounding illegitimacy of children in African societies (Hunter, 2002).
Caldwell et al.(1989) further argue that Africans have a distinct sexuality that can be contrasted to the Eurasian model of industrialised Western and Eastern societies. Sexual networking is very pervasive and uninhibited in sub-Saharan Africa. Sexual networking is the indulgence in sexual relations amongst people who are connected either by kinship (a cultural taboo in many communities in Africa), communal or social bonds. Caldwell et al.argue that their experience in Nigeria and most West African societies indicated an ever-expanding sexual network and this was the likely determinant of the rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV within these societies. Alluding to anthropological literature from elsewhere in Africa, Caldwell and his team conclude that other African societies outside West Africa have similar sexual networking patterns.
They also review demographic data to ‘prove’ that the high prevalence of infertility in many East and Central African women can be linked to the high incidence of untreated STDs which result in infertility. Since HIV is a sexually transmitted disease they conclude that a high prevalence of STDs naturally explain the high prevalence of HIV in the region. Leaning towards the sensationalised “high-risk” group theory, they argue that prostitution was widespread in Africa because African female sexuality was blatantly free and devoid of moral responsibility.
Women could “sell their bodies” and engage freely in sex without drawing the kind of social disapproval it would elicit in Western society. Later studies would reveal that pervasive male circumcision might have possibly prevented West Africa from experiencing explosive epidemics as those witnessed in Southern Africa (Brewer, Brody, Drucker, Gisselquist, Minkin, Potterat, Rotherberg & Vachon, 2003; Green, Mah, Ruark & Hearst, 2009; Halperin & Epstein, 2007;
Potts, Halperin, Kirby, Swindler, Marseille, Klausner, Hearst, Wamai, Kahn & Walsh, 2008).
Reviews of early anthropological monographs by Setel (1995) and Bauni (1990) on African culture seem to support the Caldwell analysis of African sexuality. An extensive review of anthropological and demographic literature on sexual behaviour and sexuality in Africa by Bakilana (2000) revealed several interesting findings. She found out that there was demographic evidence showing that premarital fertility was on the increase in many African communities.
Early initiation of sexual activity, early onset of menarche and long periods of adolescence were some of the reasons given for this fertility trend. Bakilana (2000) citing data on sexual practices of various traditional African communities, pointed out the variability of sexual practices within sub-Saharan Africa. Different traditional African societies had different ways of proscribing sexual activity. For example, the Maasaiencourages early sexual activity among girls but this is done according to strictly observed age-set rules. Even early Nguni speaking tribes, though encouraging strict chastity before marriage, allowed boys and girls to simulate non-penetrative sex with each other, a practice known as ukusoma(thigh sex) (Buthelezi, 2006; Xaba, Kunene &
Harrison, 2000).
Demographers and anthropologists argue that the high levels of mortality and the need to propagate the clan meant that most traditional African societies encouraged early onset of sexual activity and marriage (Bakilana, 2000; Bauni, 1990). This was done purely for survival reasons rather than sexual promiscuity (Ahlberg, 1994). It was an adaptive response to historical and environmental needs presenting themselves in the given period.
Several scholars have reacted to Caldwell et al.’ (1989) theory of African sexuality (Ahlberg, 1994;
Bakilana, 2000; Chirwa, 1998; Heald, 1995; Le Blanc, Meintel & Piche, 1991; Setel, 1995). They argue that Caldwell et al. model judge African sexuality and culture from a Eurocentric perspective. African sexuality has been a victim of uncontested Western stereotypes (Geshekter, 1999). The stereotypic accounts surrounding African sexuality are exemplified by anecdotal and impressionistic evidence such as preference for dry sex by certain African males, uninhibited sexual cravings, and so forth (Kalipeni & Oppong, 1999; Mrwebe, 1996; Pickering, Okongo, Nnalusiba, Bwanka & Whitworth, 1997).
Geshekter (ibid.) argues, however, that such insinuation about African sexuality remains analytically useless for a continent as diverse as Africa. He criticizes the narrowness of the Victorian Judeo-Christian culture of the West for its shortsightedness and eccentric view of other cultures. The Judeo-Christian view claims that Africans do not conceptualise sex, love and disease the same way as the Western civilisation. “Thus, AIDS ‘educators’ counter ‘shame’ in African sexuality through conservative appeals to restraint, empowerment, negotiating safe sex and a near evangelical insistence on condom use” (Geshekter, 1999, p. 4).
Historically, Africans were viewed as irrational, uninhibited, and indulging in sexual excess. Early travellers’ accounts regaled people in Europe with accounts of primitive and savage males of the ‘dark African continent’ performing “carnal feats with unbridled athleticism, with black women who were themselves sexually insatiable” (Geshekter, 1999, p. 4). These Victorian misconceptions of African sexuality still find their way indirectly into public health discourse on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. As much as there is no empirical evidence to back up the view that the African male indulges in multi-partner sexual escapades no more than his European counterpart, the misconception somehow still persists (Advocates for Youth, 2008). It has become a self-perpetuating myth in the lexicon of public health discourse. Querying the so-called early AIDS belt -- Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Zaire (DR Congo), Malawi, and Zambia-- Geshekter (1999) questioned whether men in this region were more sexually active
that the Africans had a very distinct sexuality that was different from the Eurasian one. The root of this sexual stereotype most likely lie in the trans-national application of public health disease prevention models that are not culturally sensitivity and relevant for outside cultures other than the one it was developed for. Geshekter (1999, p. 4) remarks:
They assume that AIDS cases in Africa are driven by a sexual promiscuity similar to what produced – in combination with recreational drugs, sexual stimulants, venereal disease, and the over-use of antibiotics – the early epidemic of immunological dysfunction among a sub-culture of urban gay men in the West.
A model developed to deal with an epidemic within a particular sub-culture, engaging in distinct sexual lifestyle, cannot be universally applied to heterogeneous communities as diverse as those in found Africa. There are ideological and cultural differences that challenge such an application.
However, Western science and media have been oblivious to the melancholic analyses they perform on African culture, preferring to perpetuate an image of African sexuality that fits with the Western mindset (Anderson, 1998; Chirwa, 1998).
Many African and non-African scholars of African morality and moral reasoning have critiqued Eurocentric interpretation of African culture (Ahlberg, 1994; Heald, 1995; Ikuenobe, 1998;
Myers, 1993; Sempebwa, 1983; Verhoef & Michel, 1997). African and Western people do not view and interpret the world and social phenomena in the same manner (Ikuenobe, 1998). Hence, a Western critique and interpretation of African culture is limited by the divergent views of African and Western lifeworlds.
Ahlberg (1994) reviewed Caldwell et al.’s (1989) African sexuality thesis on three major aspects.
First, its blatant disregard of behavioural and ethical contradictions manifest in moral systems.
Second, the thesis overlooks the impact of Western civilisation on African traditional customs regulating sexuality and social behaviour. Third, it presupposes that African moral systems are primitive and inferior to Western civilisation. The attempt by Caldwell et al. (1989) to project Africans as Homo ancestralisfixated with family continuation (Heald, 1995) negates the central role that rites of passage played in African social institutions. Sex was not a free for all enterprise;
it was regulated by custom and taboo (Buthelezi, 2006). As Verhoef and Michel (1997, p. 394) observe;
Morality within Africa is evolves from the process of living and is rooted in the context of communal life. The distinction between religion and morality is never distinct; it is never an abstraction of reality as it is in the West. Thus, the only way to understand morality in Africa and among Africans is to understand the African conceptualisation of the world or the African ethos.
Ikuenobe describes the functioning of the African ethos or way of life (1998, p. 30) as follows:
The elder displays his or her knowledge to children by providing explanatory and evidential foundations for moral principles. The foundations are represented in the form of anecdotes in real life experiences, or stories in the form of folklore and proverbs which speak to experiences from which children can draw knowledge and learn the probable utility of particular actions in given circumstances.
Traditional African systems did not distinguish between social and religious rules (ibid.). In other words, whatever action or duty one performed within the community the act was viewed from a unitary perspective that embodied both the religious and social aspects of life. When applied to the duties of procreation, a sexual relationship was not seen as a means of gratification of carnal urges between couples but a union that had to be sanctioned by the community or else