2.3. Gender and Culture
2.3.1. Public Image
Public image plays a significant role in how culture constructs gay identities and sexualities.
Robinson defines public image as ―an impression that people in general have of someone‘s character, behaviours, etc.‖(1999:673). Culture constructs gay identities and sexualities based on the public image that gay men present which may be in line or not with cultural expectations of how men should dress, behave and the roles they should assume. According to Cardoso, within Brazilian culture, gay identities and sexualities are largely accepted on account that they remain a public caricature: ―the cultural sense allows any kind of joke about homosexuality, but becomes an issue when it is talked about seriously‖ (2009:464). As long as they do not reflect as serious forms of identities and sexualities, gay sexualities are viewed as caricatures. This is because the public expectation of every man is that he should not allow himself to be ―effeminized‖ by another man through sexual penetration. For example, Klein (1999) writing about Brazilian culture notes that bofes maintain a heterosexual male façade but have sexual inercourse with other men, are paid for it and assume masculine sexual role.
This façade is mainly because identities in Brazilian cultures are publicly performed and being regarded as a gay man who is penetrated, for the bofes, may lead to loss of communal respect, status and standing. Another group called entensido is classified by both Dynes (1995) and Whitman (1995) as ―savvy, masculine male homosexuals, middle or upper class and are perceived as dubious camouflaged persons‖. These do inspire more public respect and social caution since they demonstrate that homosexuality can be a seriously sexual and emotional option, rather than a simple caricature or joke. Phua adds that ―in a way, the manly image a man has to maintain in public is more critical than what actually happens behind closed doors‖ (2010: 587). Brandis (1981) and Lancaster (1992) agree with this, stating that an active gay man ―is considered in all various local idioms, to be a ‗man‘: indeed, in some countries, penetrating another male and then bragging about it is one way in which men demonstrate their masculinity to others‖. Based on these arguments, Brazilian culture expects the performance and maintenance of one‘s masculine identity in public, as only then can one be regarded as a real man. It is for this reason that Dynes (1995) and Whitman (1995) both note that viado, who are homosexuals who take on the female gender and favour passive
sexual intercourse with other men, are termed as gay and usually are regarded as something comic and harmless. The classifications of gay identities and sexualities and the idea of them being entertained as mere jokes do not apply to the Zambian general context in which popular debates on gay identities and sexualities focus on the wrongness of these identities and sexualities.
Although Brazilian culture regards public display of gay identities and sexualities as a joke, it also allows instances in which gay identities and sexualities can be publicly displayed. An example is the transformistas, whom both Klein (1999) and Parker (1991) divide into two groups; one that performs in gay bars and clubs impersonating females, while the other group takes part in carnivals (Klein 1999:244). The second group of transformistas form ―part of the carnival tradition of men dressing as women and taking to the streets‖ (Klein 1999:244).
During the carnival, all men regardless of sexual and gender identity cross-dress as part of the festivities. During the carnivals, all men, no matter their sexualities or identities, are free to cross dress as part of the festivities. This situation is the exact opposite of the gay identities and sexualities in Zambia which are mainly practiced in secrecy and away from public scrutiny. This is so because of fear of intimidation, violence and in some cases arrests. All men culturally exhibit public heterosexual behaviour.
“Discreet” Gay Identities and Sexualities
In other cultures, gay identities and sexualities are constructed and maintained secretly as long as they do not unravel heteronormativity. In such cultures, gay men can perform their identities and sexualities as long as they practice bisexuality and not only homosexuality. In his book Hungochani: The History of a Dissident Sexuality in Southern Africa, Epprecht (2004) gives an elaborate account of pre-modern sexuality and sexual practices among the Shona people of Zimbabwe. He points out how homosexual practices among boys during herding took place as experimentation and part of the learning process. However, upon maturation, a boy would be expected to refrain from such practice as ―interest in male-to- male sex play was expected to wither away as a boy matured, coached on if necessary by the mockery of peers and perhaps a discreet talking-to by elders‖ (Epprecht 2004:32).
Homosexual practices among boys was tolerated because it took place out in the bush and was regarded as a passing phase and not as an identity. A boy was expected to cease engaging in homosexual practices upon entering adulthood, failure to which, he would be subject to mockery from friends and discreet caution by elders. One was expected to be heterosexual
and contribute to communal cohesion as an adult through marrying and having children.
Therefore, homosexual practices were a preserve for youths and not adults. ―As in the case of youthful homosexual experimentation, such behaviour was of no concern to the community provided it remained discreet, but was the subject of mild mockery if it became known‖
(Epprecht 2004:33). Youthful homosexual practices were inconsequential in community as long as it remained discreet. By them being discreet, one would argue that such practices were tolerated among youths as long as they did not tamper with the larger community‘s wellbeing. The notion of discretion is further observed by Epprecht in his article ―‗Hidden‘
Histories of African Homosexualities‖, noting that historical evidence abounds on how African men ―denied relations with other men or boys could be counted as ‗sex.‘ Rather, they were ‗play,‘ ‗accidents,‘ or ‗teasing‘‖ (2005:139). Such discretion also allowed for trivialization of homosexual practices. However, it can also be argued that the pre-modern Shona worldview was informed by its own belief systems, thus, that homosexual practices were regarded as accidents, play or teasing ought to be understood within the Shona approach towards sex and sexuality. Epprecht‘s work resonates with the Zambian context on account of geographical location and also because he deals with Bantu cultures which this study also deals with.
Similarly, Asthana and Oostsvogels arguing about Indian culture note that:
masculinity in India is asserted and publicly acknowledged through marriage and, more importantly, through the production of children. To be a husband and a father is to be a man. Thus, whilst certain qualities such as fighting against and competition with other men are defined as `masculine' (particularly amongst certain social groups) the achievement of successful manhood is more bound up with reproductive behaviour than social performance (2001:707).
Male identities within Indian culture are largely confined within the public spaces through the assuming of gender roles such as husband and father. Implicitly, marriage takes centre stage in the constructions of gay identities and sexualities within Indian culture. Asthana and Oostsvogels observe that ―male and female identities are therefore sufficiently fixed in the Indian gender structure that, providing that a man does not adopt an alternative gender identity, he may engage in `homosexual' activity without compromising his masculinity‖ (2001:708). It can be argued that gay men are culturally allowed to have sexual relations with other men as long as that does not jeopardize their gender roles of being fathers and husbands
in heterosexual marriages. In other words, a male can be both married to a female and at the same time, have other male sexual partners. In this regard, gay men‘s sexualities are not necessarily linked with their gender. Therefore, no matter how much a gay man may have sexual desires for other men, he is culturally compelled to marry and sire children as a mark of maleness. This study is informative to my study because within Zambian culture, like in many African cultures, procreation is a mark of maleness.
Literature discussed in this section has shown that in some cultures, public performance of gay identities and sexualities is regarded as caricature as long as such performance does not signify the seriousness of such identities and sexualities. Therefore, for some gay men, public performance of their identities and sexualities entails acting out a heterosexual façade in order to maintain social standing. Furthermore, active partners in sexual relationships are regarded as exhibiting ideal masculinity. In some cultures, gay identities and sexualities are performed discreetly, as long as they do not tamper with the normative family model where procreation is expected to be the end goal of marriage. The studies by Asthana and Oostvogels (2001) and Epprecht (2004 and 2005) inform this study on the public performance of gay identities and sexualities and some cultural perspective on this. However, the question still remains: is it possible to construct gay identities and sexualities away from the ―public gaze‖? Hence, my interrogating of how gay Christians ―self-construct‖ their identities and sexualities.
Another locus for the construction of gay identities and sexualities within culture are male initiation rites as part of cultural practices. The section below attends to male initiation rites of passage.