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‘Serious Games’: Licences and Prohibitions in Maasai Sexual Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Aud Talle
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Abstract

This article discusses sexual licences and prohibitions among the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania with particular reference to the institutionalized yet controversial sexual relations between young pre-menarche girls and adolescent unmarried men. These relations are referred to as children's ‘play’ in the local vernacular, and as such fall within a larger moral order of age and gender hierarchies that privilege male seniority. The article uses the metaphor of ‘serious games’ adopted from Sherry Ortner as an analytical device in order to capture the dynamic and ambiguous character of Maasai sexual licences and prohibitions. Being at once serious and playful, ‘games’ lend themselves particularly to players' creativity, initiative and agency. The article aims to demonstrate how the structures of the games open up and create space for women and other ‘juniors’ to act intentionally and with purpose in their sexual lives.

Résumé

Cet article traite des licences et interdictions sexuelles chez les Maasai du Kenya et de Tanzanie en se référant particuli èrement aux relations sexuelles institutionnalisées et cependant controversées entre jeunes filles pré-pubères et adolescents non mariés. Ces relations sont désignées sous le terme de “jeux” d'enfants dans la langue vernaculaire locale et en tant que tels appartiennent à un ordre moral plus vaste de hiérarchie d'âge et de sexe quiprivilégie la séniorité masculine. L'article utilise la métaphore de “jeux sérieux” de Sherry Ortner en tant que dispositif analytique pour saisir le caractère dynamique et ambigu des licences et interdictions sexuelles Maasai. à lafois sérieux et enjoués, les “jeux” se prêtent particulièrement à lacréativité, au sens de l'initiative et à l'action des joueurs. L'article cherche à démontrer comment les structures des jeux créent, en s'ouvrant, un espace dans lequel les femmes et autres “subordonnés” peuvent agir de façon intentionnelle et déterminée dans leur vie sexuelle.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , August 2007 , pp. 351 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2007

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