Index

Serena Owusua Dankwa

doi:10.1017/9781108863575.010

Index

Aba Adama (pseudonym), 18

Abotsi, Ernest Kofi, 65–66

abstinence, 56

Abu-Lughod, Lila, 7

abusive dynamics

age difference and, 217

concealment of, 173

emotional, 188

feeling “used,” 199, 202

jealousy and, 203

kinship terminology and, 268

sex workers and, 199

abusua (family, matrilineal family), 85, 129, 136, 141, 169, 227

Accra Central, 190

Accra Girls Senior Secondary School, 192

Accra, Ghana, 14–17, 174

activism. see LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) activist politics

activist-ing, 76

Adizah (Adi) Cortey (pseudonym), 174, 184–189, 199, 215

Adjabeng, Joshua, 84

Teenage Sex and Love, 79

Adomako Ampofo, Akosua, 66, 172, 199

Adwoa Boateng (pseudonym), 80, 84, 97–106, 119, 154, 161–168, 169–170, 172, 176, 213, 220–222, 225–226, 228–240, 250, 263

affect, 107, 117, 119, 271

affect theory, 275

African bodies, as sexualized and racialized Others, 28–32, 277

African migrants, 277

African Women’s World Cup, 178

African-American English, 273

African-American hip-hop artists, 143

African-American women, 42, 119, 144, 259

Afro-Surinamese Creole, 273

Agbenozan, Josephine Enyonam, 9, 10–11, 16, 63, 109, 152, 165, 185, 186, 213

age. see also erotic age, social age

as relational category, 128, 176–178

gender and, 45, 129–131, 271

seniority and, 151, see also seniority

status and, 147

age gaps in relationships, 40, 172–175, 187–189, see also senior-junior hierarchies, sugar motherhood

anthropological terms for, 176–178

sibling terminology and, 226

agency, 155, 204, 206, 222, 264, 273

Agenda, 24

agonwɔle agyalɛ (friendship marriage), 39–41

agonwɔlɛyɛlɛ kpalɛ (”good” friendship), 39

Ahinful, Kwamena, 93

Ahmed, Sara, 10, 117

Aisha (pseudonym), 18, 267

Akagbor, Sena, 241

Akan ethno-linguistic group, 15, 52

anthropological studies of, 32–34

female beauty ideal, 131

matrilineality, 85, 129–131, 141, 169, 176, 228, 245

narrative traditions, 11–12

social and political organization, 224

Akan language

gender and, 40

indirection and, 52–53

terms for same-sex practices, 71

akomofoɔ (diveners), 144

Akwetey-Kanyi, Ashiagbar, 94

Akyeampong, Emmanuel K., 86, 235

Allen, Jafari, 22, 150

Allman, Jean, 141

allusion, 73, 122, see also indirection, verbal discretion, speech norms

Amadiume, Ifi, 31, 127

Male Daughters, Female Husbands, 128–129

ambiguity, 53, 220

in ethnographic research, 8–11

siblinghood and, 241

Ameley Norkor (pseudonym), 57, 72–73, 109–110, 154–158, 169–171, 238

Amoah, Elizabeth, 130

Anarfi, Mrs. (pseudonym), 201–207, 214

anti-gay discourse, 6, 24, 47–49, 61–63, see also homophobic discourse

law and, 63–68

nature and nurture debates, 66–68

anti-imperialism, 42, 62

Appiah, Kwame Anthony, 53–54, 67–68

Arnfred, Signe, Re-thinking Sexualities in Africa, 51

arrival stories, 2–3, 12

Asafo companies, 80, 95–97, 120

Asante, 53

incest bans, 242

king-queen terminology, 163

speech norms, 133

Asantewa, 146

asexual relationships, 263

atwebenefie, 243–244

autonomy. see also economic independence

erotic, 142, 151

financial, 139, 161

of market women, 181

sugar motherhood and, 189, 209

urban women and, 146

baa banyin, 132, see also ɔbaa barima (manly/brave woman)

Badu, Mr. (pseudonym), 59–60, 67

Banks, William, 71

barima (man, manly), 131

barrenness. see infertility

bars. see drinking spots

Bartels, Kwamena, 49–50, 53

Basel Mission, 2, 4, 40–41

bathhouse intimacies, 101, 106, 107–111

privacy and, 108

sharing substance and, 234, 263–264

sisters and, 228

Baule language, 52

Bayo, Adjoa, 179

Becky McCarthy (pseudonym), 208, 244

Berlant, Lauren, 21

Beyoncé, 95

“big men,” 131, 161, 216, 257

“big women,” 131, 146, 162, 216

discretion and, 199

Mami Wata and, 191, 198

sexualized rumors of selfishness, 174

small girls and, 178

binary gender roles, 271–272, see also gender

bi-national families, 2–3

biological determinism, 128

biological kinship, 223

birth order, 112, 225, see also siblinghood

bisexuals, 74

black Atlantic world, 143

queer relationships and, 38, 120, 273–274

black feminism, 144

black lesbians, 119, 144, 166

black masculinity, 143

Black Queens (national football team), 134, 179

Blacking, John, 88–89, 113

blackmail, 212

Blackwood, Evelyn, 25, 136–137, 169

Bleek, Wolf, 130, 138

blood, 235–236, 243, 249, 269–270

kinship and, 228–229

blood friendship, 198, 270

boarding schools

as homosocial bonding space, 270

Asafo companies and, 97

comparisons of, 86–91

dormitory “partner” setup, 90

in Victorian England, 87, 98

kinship terminology, 87–91, 113, 121

lack of privacy at, 116

mother-child terms used in, 80

pre-marital pregnancies and, 40

reports, 4

senior-junior hierarchies, 111–116, 120–121, 173

supi girlfriendships, 80, 81–91, see also supi girlfriendships

supi-supi lesbianism, 91–94

Bochow, Astrid, 56

bodily fluids. see sexual fluids, blood

body ideals, 146

Boellstorff, Tom, 252

Bourdieu, Pierre, 112

bragoro nubility rites, 113–115

break-ups and heartbreaks, 179, 208, 211–213, 233, 244, 246, 257

breasts, 100, 201

holding of, 231

“British Accra,” 190

British colonial administration, 81, see also colonialism

educational system, 87, 122

laws, 41

British Common Law, 64

British Council, 68

British sodomy laws, 77

Brubaker, Roger, 150

Burton, Richard, 28

butch-femme discourse. see also masculine gender presentation

clothing and, 144

emotional butchness, 207

erotic subjectivities and, 149, 152–154, 166–167, 168–171, 207

female footballers and, 132

gender and, 125–127, 271–272

giving and receiving, 211

Butler, Judith, 126, 127, 148, 153, 241

Cameroon, 27, 77

Cape Coast, 81–82, 95, 97

caring, 239–241

cars, gender and, 134–137

Carsten, Janet, 223, 228–229, 235–236, 265

Cultures of Relatedness, 41

Castle School, 83

Castro Varela, María do Mar, 23

casual relationships, 210–212

Catholic boarding schools, 192, see also boarding schools

Catholics, 58

Central Market Kumasi, 16

charismatic Christianity, 48, 54–58, 278–279, see also Christianity

anti-gay initiatives, 68

condemnation of homosexuality, 50

sexualization of public sphere and, 77

Chauncey, George, 67

childhood. see also motherhood, youth

gender and, 134–137

chop bars, 193–194

chop money, 104, 158, 181, 195, 200, 207

chosen families, 253–254, 265

Christensen, James, 132–133

Christian educational booklets, 204

Christian women’s groups, 270

Christianity, 278, see also Pentecostalism, charismatic Christianity

discourse on homosexuality, 66–67, 77

fatherhood and, 141

CitiFM (radio station), 65

Clark, Gracia, 11, 16, 130, 131–133, 139, 141, 178, 194

Clarkson, Kelly, 95

Clifford, James, 7

closeness, 268

ambiguous, 226–228

forms of address and, 222

status and, 234

closet metaphor, 38–39

clothing, 144–145, 162, 275

Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), 276

Cole, Jennifer, 121

Coleman, Khadija (pseudonym), 5

collectivization of love, 174–175, 216–219

colonial records, 4

colonial violence, 44

colonialism, 181, see also British colonial administration

homosexual theories and, 77

imperialist “rescue narratives,” 35

sexual relationships and, 33

colonizing keyhole gaze

male same-sex relationships, 28

sexualized and racialized African bodies, 28–32

women marriages, 30–32

Comfort Otu (pseudonym), 103

coming out, 15, 68

feelings and, 117–119

men and, 77

metropolitan emphasis on, 37–38, 44

community-based organizations, 14, 61

companionate marriage, 121, 139, 237, 271

Confederation of African Football, 178

conflicts, 231–233, see also jealousies, fights (between lovers)

confusion, 117–118

conjugal households, 169, 192, 194, 208

duo-local, 268

conjugal intimacy, 230

connectedness, 267

Connie Ofosu (pseudonym), 233–234

consensual relationships, 188

consumerism, 188, 237, 240

Convention People’s Party (CPP), 51

cooking, 194–195

cornrows, 143

cousins, 46, see also parallel-cousins, cross-cousin marriage

fear of incest and, 222, 265

incest and, 241–242

terminology for, 222

Crenshaw, Kimberlé, 36

Criminal Code (1960), sodomy law, 64–68

cross-cousin marriage, 242, 244, 247

culture, discourse on homosexuality and, 62

customary court cases, 4–5

customary marriage, 138, 237

Cvetkovich, Ann, 153, 166, 171

Dakar, 188

Dankwa, E. Akurang, 82

darling bonds, 89

Dearham, Kaitlin, 76

decolonization, 279

Dede Kpobi (pseudonym), 139, 163

dees, 271

Defiant Desire (Gevisser and Cameron), 25

democratization, 59, 76

denial, 106, 193

desire, 20–23

desire for knowledge, 9, 10

deviance, 10

Dhawan, Nikita, 23

Dina Yiborku (pseudonym), 164, 166, 174, 184, 208–215, 216, 232, 235

discretion. see verbal discretion

disgrace, 117–118

“doing everything together,” 213, 269

erotic intimacies, 220–221

sharing and, 261–264

siblinghood and, 229–241, 265–266

Dokua Hewlett (pseudonym), 92

domestic helpers, 173, 193–195, 202–203

dramas, 18

dreadlocks, 143–144

drinking spots, 5, 186

masculinity and, 124

Ebron, Paulla, 145, 169

economic independence, 156–168, 231, 245, see also autonomy

Economic Recovery Program, 172

economic support, 245

Edna (pseudonym), 18, 267

Efua Aikins (pseudonym), 107–119

egalitarian relationships, 34–35, 176–177, 200, 213, 218, 271

eggs, symbolism of, 239–240

elite women, 4

emotional butchness, 207

emotional intimacy, 160

emotions, 106–120

employment, 193–194, 229–230, 260

enjoyment. see pleasure

erotic

as power, 21–22, 150

in ethnographic research, 8–11

erotic age. see also age

gender and, 155

seniority and, 157–158, 170

erotic capital, 187

erotic hierarchies, 203, see also hierarchies

erotic intimacies, 42

erotic subjectivity, 21

adulthood and, 250

gender and, 147–154

Esther Gyamerah (pseudonym), 164, 259–264

ethical questions, 6

ethnocartographies, 34

ethnographic fieldwork locations, 14–17

ethnopornographic gaze, 29, see also colonizing keyhole gaze

Europe. see also global North

civilizing mission, 28, 87, 121

racialized exclusions, 277

Evans-Pritchard, Edward, 30

Ewe, 53

ex-gay Christians, 67

exploitation, 45, 203

extended family model, 254–258

extra-large beds, 32–33

Faderman, Lillian, 43

family ties

importance of, 138

marriage and, 169

situational, 254–258

Fante, 53, 71, 191

Asafo and, 95

gender and, 132–133

Fante-Asante wars, 95

fathers

authority of, 136

disapproval of same-sex desire, 102, 105, 106

Felicia Clottey (pseudonym), 254–258

female agency, 22–23

female egalitarianism, 34–35

female elderhood, 129, 131, 157–158, 170

female footballers, 16, 260–261, 270

casual relationships and, 210

friendships among, 19, 118–120

masculine gender expression, 132, 134–136, 152, 179

police interventions and, 63–64

senior-junior hierarchies in, 90, 181

sugar mummies and, 4, 16, 45, 174, 179–181

female masculinity, 124–127, 146, 168, see also masculine gender presentation

female traders, 16, 230, 234, 247, see also market women

helpers and, 178

supi, 81

femininity

age and, 177, 218

autonomous, 126

butch-femme theory and, 153, 272

motherhood and, 130, 175

passivity and, 153

Feminist Africa, 24

feminist anthropology, 7, 30–32

feminist fiction writers, 27

femme. see butch-femme discourse

fertility, 40–41, see also motherhood

fictive kinship, 221, 228, see also kinship terminology

fights (between lovers), 231–233, 236, 237

visibility and, 261

fluids

bathwater, 21, 112, 228, 234–235, 263, 265

bodily, 235–236, 243, 249, 269–270

sexual, 235, 243, 249, 265

football, 178–179, see also female footballers

Fortes, Meyer, 101, 112, 175–176, 226, 228

Kinship and the Social Order, 224–225

Foucault, Michel, 110, 150

“ars erotica,” 122

friendship as a way of life, 42

History of Sexuality, 33

repressive hypothesis, 56

repressive thesis, 77

France, 77

free marriage, 138

Freundin (German), 273

friendship, 18–20, see also networks

as a way of life, 42

as ambiguous term, 12, 264, 273

distinction between kinship and, 222, 223

erotic intimacies and, 3, 21

exchange of gifts and, 156–157

in nineteenth-century Britain and North America, 42–43

language of, 34

love and, 103–106, 237–239

love triangles and, 208–216

same-sex desire and, 116–122

subversive potential of, 42–43

use of term, 267

friendship marriage (agonwɔle agyalɛ), 39–41

Fulani, 248, 249

funding, international, 14, 69, 70, 74, 76, 78, 276

funerals, 13, 85–86, 255, 257

Ga ethno-linguistic group, 71, 169, 191–192, 194, 249

matrifocality, 176, 223

patrilineality, 176, 245, 247–248

same-sex desires and, 94, 133

Ga language, 10, 53

Ga-Dangme ethno-linguistic group, 15, 53

Gambia, 27

Gandhi, Leela, Affective Communities, 42

Gaudio, Rudolf, 34–35

Allah Made Us, 22

gay and lesbian (sub)cultures

emergence of, 20

Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana (GALAG), 49, 70–71

gay bars, 187, see also drinking spots

gay kinship, 252–253, see also queer kinship

Gay, Judith, 30, 88

gay, use of term, 76

gay/lesbian anthropology, 33

“gayism,” 48, 50

gender

age and, 129–131, 177–178, 271

as relational category, 45, 154–160, 168–171

colonial violence and, 44

flexibility of, 131–133

incest and, 242

performativity of, 171

power relations and, 37

situational, 127–129

gender expression, 143–147, see also masculine gender presentation

gender roles

binary, 271–272

homosexuality and, 34, 67, 147

transferability of, 40

gender studies, 36–37

gender-neutral pronouns, 40, 128–129, 164

genealogical kinship, 223, 228, 252

Germany, Ghanaian migrants in, 17

Ghallywood (Ghanaian cinema), 27, 94, 120, 183

Ghana

economic growth, 61

educational system, 86–87

postcolonial precariousness in, 21

research on same-sex intimacy in, 26–27

urban same-sex subcultures, 61

Ghana News Agency, 49

Ghana Telecom, 178–179

Ghanaian English, 93, 107, 201

Ghanaian highlife music, 236, 238

Ghanaian languages. see also Ga language, Akan language, Twi language, speech norms

reduplication in, 93

Giddens, Anthony, 217

gift economy, 218

gift exchanges, 39, 260, 267, see also sharing, materiality of love, sugar motherhood

between boarding school girls, 173, 266, 272, see also supi girlfriendships

caring and, 239–241

erotic intimacies and, 44

gift theory, 81, 98, 100, 120, 215

Gifty (pseudonym), 168

Gikuyu women marriages, 31

girlfriend, 273

girlfriend, use of term, 271

girlfriendships

at secondary schools, 80, see also supi girlfriendships

pregnancy and, 104

use of term, 80

givers and receivers, 208–216

Gladys Agyeman (pseudonym), 211–213, 216, 232

global North

female egalitarianism and, 34

queer studies, 38

same-sex marriage rights, 41

go-betweens, 208

gossip, 18–19, 133, see also visibility of same-sex desiring women

among female relatives, 226–228

consequences of, 58

denial and, 193

love triangles and, 215

media attention and, 102–103

police interventions and, 196

social networks and, 174

supi, 251

Grace Tagoe (pseudonym), 238, 245–246

Greece, ancient, 177

Greenberg, David, 32–34

Green-Simms, Lindsey, 94

Grotanelli, Vingi L., 39–40

Gunkel, Henriette, 88

Gyamerah, Akua, 62

Gyekye, Kwame, 117, 132

hairstyles, 57, 143–144, 161, 164

Halberstam, Jack, Female Masculinity, 124–125, 126

half-caste, 9, 17, 50

Halperin, David M., 150

Hamda Ibrahima (pseudonym), 246–252

Hanses, Karen, 42

Hasty, Jennifer, 13

Hausa, 52, 273

heartbreaks. see break-ups and heartbreaks

Helena Asamoah (pseudonym), 243–246

Héritier, Françoise, 242–243, 249, 251–252

Herskovits, Frances, 205

Herskovits, Melville, 30–31, 128, 205, 219

heteronormativity, 36, 58

heterosexual matrix, 126

hierarchies. see also erotic hierarchies, senior-junior hierarchies

gift exchange and, 98

in friendships, 268

in giving and receiving, 174

in sibling relations, 224–226

social, 191

Hirschfeld, Magnus, 29

HIV/AIDS programs, 49

MSM peer educators, 16, 60, 69, 197

queer globalization and, 60–61

sexualization of African bodies and, 29

WSW peer educators, 69

HIV/AIDS risk, 189

homo/heterosexual binarism, 30, 31, 38, 76, 125

“homoconference” debate, 44, 47–51, 58–60, 76, 278

homonormativity, 253, 276

homophobia, 199

Euro-American discourse on, 48

imperialist “rescue narratives” and, 36

in Africa, 47–49, 77, 276–277

internalized, 118

homophobic discourse, 20, 25, 76, 200, 204–205, see also anti-gay discourse

countering, 71

incest and, 243, 251

homophobic exclusions, 103

“homosexualism,” 47, 204

homosexuality. see also same-sex desiring women

age-differentiation and, 176–178

as concept in precolonial Ghana, 53

as modern and Euro-American, 47

concept of, 20–21

in Sub-Saharan Africa, 24–27

non-natural world and, 102–103

revolutionary potential of, 42

situational, 73

taboo on public discourse about, 3

“unafricanness” of, 80

homosocial spaces, 85–86, 270

in precolonial Ghana, 39

in USA, 87

male, 177

puberty rites, 113–115

human rights, 14, 65, 68–69, 277

Hunter, Mark, 195–196, 217

husbands. see also marriage

shared housing and, 254–258

“husband-wife game,” 88

“hustling” women, 162–168, 170, 273, 275, 279, see also “tricksters”; tricksters

hypersexuality, 51

I will not eat stone (Allman and Tashjian), 22

identity, 20, 77, 150, 274, see also sexual identity, self-identity

resistance to labels, 277

identity politics, 39

Igbo

motherhood paradigm, 175

woman marriages, 31, 128–129

Illouz, Eva, 237

immoral practices, 51

imperialist “rescue narratives,” 35, 36, see also colonialism

incest, 46

fears of, 222, 265–266

gender and, 242, 244

incest bans, 241–243

social networks and, 251

India, 73, 228

indirection, 51–54, 270, see also verbal discretion, speech norms

charismatic movement and, 55

culture of, 48

gossip and, 133

identities and, 78

labels and, 73

police interventions and, 64

research methodology and, 6, 8–11, 15

supi and, 122

Indonesia, 136–137, 169, 271

infertility, 134, 183

initiation, 29, 39, 81, 97, 112, 121, 177

Krobo, 231

Ma’Abena, 111

International Monetary Fund (IMF), 55, 172

intersectionality, 36

intimacy, 21, see also same-sex desiring women

as socializing process, 46

conjugal, 230

emotional, 160

Irene Bonsu (pseudonym), 82

Islamic groups, 54

Ivory Coast, 52

Janet Aidoo (pseudonym), 8–9, 14, 123–125, 134–154, 169–171, 207, 274

jealousies, 18, 179, 200, 205–206, 218

abusive dynamics, 203

between siblings, 227, 236

love triangles, 198, 218, 240, see also love triangles

witchcraft accusations, 57, 240

Jezebel (2007), 94

Johnson, Graft, 96

Joy FM (radio station), 49, 60

Junior Secondary School (JSS), 86, 246

Karsch-Haack, Ferdinand, 29

kawa, 273

Kenya, 24

Kilson, Marion, 247–248

king-queen terminology, 161–168

kinship. see also queer kinship, motherhood, siblinghood

gender roles and, 40

Ghanaian principles, 46

in Africa, 41

in global North, 41

normative ideas of, 222

social construction of, 223

kinship terminology, 34, 212, 255, 267–268

kinship theories

on substance, 228–229

“knowing women,” 74, 81, 120–122

“doing everything together,” 220, 230

masculinity and, 127

meaning of term, 274

knowledge production, 279

research methodology and, 8

kodjo besia (feminine man), 6, 71

Korkoi Okudzeto (pseudonym), 220–221, 226, 229–239, 263

Krobo Girls School, 83

Krobo girls’ initiation rites, 231

Kufuor, John, 59

Kulick, Don, 9

kunya (shame or modesty), 52

Kunzel, Regina, 150

Kwaku Ananse (trickster figure), 162

labels. see sexual identity

Langkawi (Malaysia), 228–229

language, 34, see also indirection, verbal discretion, speech norms

gendered, 45, see also gender-neutral pronouns

in female friendship networks, 44

performativity of, 52

Latasha Ray (pseudonym), 75

law

discourse on homosexuality and, 48

on sexual practices, 63–68

“lesbian bed death,” 263

lesbian groups, 3

lesbian invisibility, 72

lesbian visual language, 148

lesbian, use of term, 24, 43, 73–75, 76, 147, 198, 274

lesbian/gay studies, 36

lesbian-feminist historians, 42, 125–126

lesbianism. see also same-sex desiring women

as identity, 14–15, 163

as invisible, 47

laws on, 65

Lesotho, 30, 88, 273

Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 251

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) activist politics, 20, see also sexual rights politics

chosen families and, 253

cultural imperialism of, 68

family arrangements and, 257

gender and sexual categorization, 151, 274

global, 48

HIV/AIDS initiatives and, 27

in Accra, 14

in Africa, 276–277

international, 38, 44, 72, 74

male-dominated, 27

names and naming, 71–76

women’s voices in, 44, 68–71, 76–78

LGBTIQA+, use of term, 37

life history genre, 11–14

lifestyles (“liking life”), 143–147

Lithur, Nana Oye, 66

Lorde, Audre, 21–22, 31, 150

love, 236–240

affective work of, 271

as mode of sociality, 216–219, 267

declarations of, 154, 159–160

siblinghood and, 239–241

working for, 207

Love in the Girl’s Dormitory: ‘Supi’ Palava (2005), 95

love letters, writing of, 87, 89, 121–

love triangles, 174, 186–187, 189–200

banning of, 243

friends and, 208, 215, 267

in same-sex bonding networks, 265

incest and, 249

jealousies in, 198, 218, 240, see also jealousies

shared housing and, 254–258

supi, 272

Love, Heather, 117

Feeling Backward, 117

“loveless Africa,” 47, 196, 267

lover’s marriage, 138

lovership, 233, 236–237, 268

Lydia Sackey (pseudonym), 144, 152, 174, 183, 185–200, 208, 215, 216, 217

Ma’Abena Oppong (pseudonym), 80, 90–91, 106–119, 154, 164, 259–264, 278–279

Maa’Evelyn (pseudonym), 167, 172–173, 176, 203, 218

Macharia, Keguro, 277

Mahmood (pseudonym), 67

Makola Market, 182, 192

Malaysia, 228

male same-sex intimacies. see also Men who have Sex with Men (MSM)

colonizing keyhole gaze and, 28

in Nigeria, 61

masculinity and, 71

patriarchal bonding and, 35

political focus on, 50

research on, 22, 24–25, 27

sugar daddies and, 185, 187

Malinowski, Bronislaw, Diary, 9

“Mama Benz,” 178

Mami Wata, 57, 94, 120, 183, 216

Marcus, George E., 7

market literature, 94–95

market women. see also female traders

as sugar mummies, 4, 45, 174, 181–183

gender and, 131

military attacks on, 54, 182

sexualized rumors of greediness, 181–183, 216

supi and, 122

marriage. see also same-sex marriage

autonomy and, 214

cooking in, 194–195

heteronormative script on, 15

in working-class context, 1

monogamous, 55, 58

motherhood and, 138–143

Martin, Biddy, 43, 153

Marxist scholars, 20

Mary Awoonor (pseudonym), 235

masculine gender presentation, 16, 158, 170, 214, 254, 258, see also female masculinity

masculinity, 45

activity and, 153

in women, 16, 123–127, 133–171, 201–202, 203–204

relational, 169–171

Massad, Joseph, 38

masturbation, 41

matchmakers, 208

material circumstances, 13, 16–17, 257, see also poverty

materiality of love, 45, 172–175, 195, 268–269, see also sharing, gift exchanges

collectivized, 216–219

sugar motherhood and, 184–208

maternal support, 269

matrilineality, 169

Akan, 85, 129–131, 141, 169, 176, 228, 245

authority of relatives, 136

Mauss, Marcel, 98, 100, 215

Mavis Marfo (pseudonym), 100

Mbembe, Achille, 25, 275

McKinley, Catherine, 96

media

discourses on homosexuality, 48, 58–63, 102

liberalization, 55, 59, 76

state-owned, 59

Melanesia, 177

men. see also husbands, “big men”; sugar daddies

cis-gendered, 125, 134

fear of female closeness, 227

Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), 16, 49, see also male same-sex intimacies

HIV/AIDS programs, 60, 69, 197

Menon, Nivedita, 73

Mensah, Ronald, 92

menstrual blood, 235

metaphorical kinship, 223

Meyer, Birgit, 57

Meyerowitz, Eva, 33

mi mati, 273

Middle Passage, 38, see also black Atlantic world

middle-class aspirations, 146, see also upward mobility

Miescher, Stephan, 131

mission churches, 54, 58

mission reports, 4

mixed ethnic background, 191, 245

mixed parentage, 7, 244

mixed-race, 2, 7

mockery, 62

modernity, 47, 121, 275–276

mogya (blood/line), 140

Monica Ankrah (pseudonym), 213–215

monogamy, 213, 215, 219, 222

Moore, Mignon, 119, 144

moral corruption, 188, 204

moral decay, 50, 61

motherhood, 130, 169, see also pregnancy, motherhood paradigm, sugar motherhood

as metaphor for intimate relationships, 45–46

barrenness and, 134

gender and, 147

marital sex and, 207

marriage and, 138–143, 211

mother-daughter relations, 88–91, 175

same-sex relationships and, 200

motherhood paradigm, 173, 175–176, 216

motsoalle, 273

mpena (lover)

mpena awadeɛ (lover’s marriage), 138

mpena twee (lovership), 236–237, 268

Murray, Stephen O., 34, 177, 218, 253

Muslim religious authorities, 77

my girl, 273

Naa (pseudonym), 18, 267

names and naming, 71–76, see also sexual identity

Nana Mansa (pseudonym), 6

National Archives of Ghana, 4

National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, 68

National Democratic Congress (NDC), 50

“natural law of compensation,” 212

nature, 64–68

non-natural world and, 102–103

neoliberalism, 60–61

Nestle, Joan, 126

Netherlands, 85

networks. see also queer family networks, personal kindreds, networks of

collectivized love and, 218–219

friendship marriage and, 40

of female friends, 19–20, 174–175, 216, 267, 271

of same-sex desiring women, 19

New Patriotic Party (NPP), 51

newspapers, 59

Nguyen, Vinh-Kim, The Republic of Therapy, 69

Niger, 61

Nigeria, 22, 27, 35, 52, 273, see also Nollywood (Nigerian cinema)

criminal code, 65

gender in, 128, 168

male same-sex subcultures in, 61

repatriation from, 55

Nkrumah, Kwame, 54, 59

Noll, Andrea, 89

Nollywood (Nigerian cinema), 26, 94, 97, 120, 183

non-normative practices, research on, 6

North America. see also United States (USA)

boarding school crushes, 80

North Atlantic queers, 117

ntɔrɔ (spiritual aspect of paternity), 140–141

nubility rites

bragoro nubility rites, 113–115

nuclear family ideal, 41, 56, 58, 71, 121, 128, 130, 254, 264, 271

Nuer women marriages, 30

nurture argument, 67–68

Nyamnjoh, Francis, 188

Nzema friendship marriage, 39–40

ɔbaa (woman), 131

ɔbaa barima (manly/brave woman), 45, 131–133, 168–171, 271

ɔbaapanyin, 82

ɔbaatan (nursing mother), 96

ɔbarima (man, valiant man), 131

occult forces, 57, 102

occult same-sex bonding practices, 198

occult sexual crimes, 64

occupational work, 134–137, 143, 193–194, 229–230, 260, see also vocational identity

sexuality and, 148

ɔdɔ (love), 237, 239

ɔhemaa (queen-mother), 82, 163

ɔhene (chief), 82, 163

Okaile Allotey (pseudonym), 73–74, 174, 200–208, 217, 223, 246–252

Okech, Awino, 77, 276

ɔkyeame (spokesperson), 53

Onions are my husband (Clark), 22

open narrative interviews, 11–14

opposite-sex desire, 166–167, see also marriage

material exchanges and, 195

oral sex, 235

Orientalist discourse of sexuality, 28, 38

Others, 3, 7–8, 10, 23, 28–32, 33, 276

Otu, Kwame E., 71

outdooring (abadinto) (name giving ceremony), 141–142, 144, 169, 187, 197

Oyéwùmí, Oyèrónké, 154, 170, 175

The Invention of Woman, 127–128

ɔmanhene (king), 163

pamphlet literature, 94–95

parallel-cousins, 242, 244

Paramaribo, 205

participant observation, 6–8

passion, 151, 222, 237, see also pleasure, sexual activity

gifts and, 240

lack of, 234

loss of urgency in, 263–264

paternalism, 277

Patricia Opoku (pseudonym), 1

patrilineality, 169

in Ga ethno-linguistic group, 176, 245, 247–248

motherhood and, 216

patronage, 170

Penal Codes, 64

penis, 139, 179, 211

Pentecostalism, 54, 56

performativity, 159

permanence, 264

personal kindreds, networks of, 228, 245, 252–264, 265, 267, see also networks

personhood, 40, 136, 236

Pierce, Steven, 61

pleasure, 151, 154, 198, 222, 236, 237, see also passion, sexual activity

police interventions, 63–65, 101–102, 196

politeness, 51, 52, see also speech norms

Popoola, Olumide, 3

popular entertainment, 55

popular fiction, 94–95

postcolonial feminists, 23, 35

postcolonial subject, 275

postcolonial theory, 23, 38

postmenopausal women, 173, see also sugar motherhood

post-structuralist theory, 3

poverty, 156, 160, 270, see also material circumstances, precariousness

exploitation and, 203, see also abusive dynamics

family arrangements and, 254, 259

power relations. see also abusive dynamics

decolonization and, 279

gendered, 37, 154–168

queer globalization and, 38

practice, 34

precariousness, 16–17, 270, 275, see also poverty

queer family arrangements and, 254–258

social identities and, 61

pregnancy, 103–106, 116, see also motherhood

fear of, 190

football careers and, 179

premarital sex, 56

Presbyterians, 58

Prince Kweku MacDonald (pseudonym), 49–50, 58–60, 68–75

privacy

access to, 270

in bathhouses, 108

lack of, 18–19, 38–39, 116, 247

loss of, 71

right to, 66

privilege, 279

pro-natalist culture, 40

pronouns, gender-neutral, 40, 128–129, 164

provider love, 156, 170, 217, 269

puberty rites, 113–115, 231

public display of affection, 52

public spaces, 275, see also sexualization of public sphere

queen-mother, 82–83, 113, 114, 115, 131, 146, 163

Queer African Studies, 25

Queer African Youth Networking Centre (QAYN), 27

queer family networks, 219, 252–264, see also networks

queer globalization, 60–63, 275–277

queer kinship, 41–42, 46, see also kinship

queer postcolonial scholars, 42

queer theory, 43, 253

queer, use of term, 24, 37

queer-feminist theory, 31, 36–39, 275

Q-zine, 24

racialized bodies, 28–32, 33, 277

radical participation, 6

radio stations, 65, 93

private, 55, 59–60, 103

Rao, Rahul, 36

Rattray, Robert S., 140, 242, 243

Rawlings, Jerry J., 50, 54–55, 59, 182

reciprocity, 113, 122, 168, 207, 218, 269, 271

conjugal, 206

lack of, 199

siblinghood and, 240

relatedness

forms of, 230, 251, 264–266

gender and, 272–273

queer forms of, 216

relational manhood, 154–160

religion, 54, 181, 184, 247, see also charismatic Christianity

reproductive practices, 40–41, 200, 258, see also motherhood

research methodology, 1–17

resistance, 42

respectability, 143, 200, 245, 250

Rita (pseudonym), 223

rivalries, 18, see also jealousies, love triangles

Robertson, Claire, 176, 192, 202–203

Roman Catholic Girls Schools, 82

romance, 46, 89, 105, 160, 221, 230, 231, 236, 237, 238, 240, 267

romantic courtship, 237

romantic friendships, 43

romantic love, 121, 160, 267

Rose Asuku (pseudonym), 84–85, 249

Rosenthal, Gabriele, 11

Ruby (pseudonym), 186–199, 208, 215

rumors, 183

Sackey, Brigid, 96

sadness, 117–118

Safo, Socrates, 94, 183

sameness, 252

same-sex desiring women. see also sexual identity, lesbianism, homosexuality, erotic subjectivity, siblinghood, “doing everything together”; doing, indirection, gender, sugar motherhood, butch-femme discourse, supi girlfriendships, friendship, sexual activity, “knowing women”; knowing

research on, 1–17, 23–27, 28–32, 267–279

visibility of, 72, 232, 261

same-sex marriage, 236–237, 253, 266, see also marriage

Sandra (pseudonym), 165

Sarpong, Peter, 106, 114, 239

saso (same-sex desiring men), 27, 71

Schneider, David, 228

Scottish Mission Sisters, 83

secondary schools. see Senior Secondary School (SSS), Junior Secondary School (JSS), boarding schools

secrecy, 51, 80, 198, 217

Sedgwick, Eve, Epistemology of the Closet, 38

seduction, 147, 163

self-identity, 20–21, 33, 76 see also identity

semen, 140, 177, 235

Senegal, 77

Senior Secondary School (SSS), 83, 86, 107

seniority, 168–169

erotic age and, 157–158, 170

gender and, 45, 131, 272–273

language and, 128–129

social age and, 112, 157–158, 168, 271

senior-junior hierarchies, 90–91, 97, 107, 111–116, 120–121, 268, see also hierarchies, sugar motherhood

female footballers and, 90, 181

in girls’ boarding schools, 111–116, 120–121, 173

in social networks, 218

sugar motherhood, 186, 213–214, 271

sensationalism, 58–60, 76

Serwa Asiedu (pseudonym), 225–226

sex work, 5, 27, 195, 199

sexual activity. see also pleasure

attitudes toward, 40–41, 67–68

expressions of interest in, 8–10, see also romance

friendship and, 39

oral sex, 235

pleasure and, 197–198

power dynamics in, 206–207, 231

sexual identity and, 37, 274, see also sexual identity

sexual appetite, 67

sexual deviants, 48, see also homophobic discourse

sexual difference, 251, see also gender roles

sexual experience. see also erotic age

seniority and, 151

sexual fluids, 235, 243, 249, 265

sexual health, 197

sexual identity, 8, 14, 19–21, 25, 270, see also identity

as category, 3, 32, 36, 37

as distinct from sexual practice, 33, 47

community and, 253

gender and, 125, 147–154, 201–202

global media and, 61–62

labels and, 71–76

verbal discretion and, 52

visibility and, 110, 117–119

sexual modernity, 275–276

sexual rights politics, 19, 26, 198, see also LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) activist politics

in Ghana, 48, 50, 61

in North Atlantic, 117

sexualization of public sphere, 51, 56, 68, 77

sexualized African bodies. see African bodies, as sexualized and racialized Others

sharing, 266, see also substance, materiality of love, siblinghood, gift exchanges

siblinghood and, 260–264

Sharing the same bowl (Robertson), 22

Shipley, Jesse, 55

Living the Hiplife, 162

siblinghood, 46

“doing everything together” and, 220–222

equality in, 226

hostilities in, 226–228

in Euro-American contexts, 253

love and, 239–241

metaphorical, 252

seniority and, 112, 225, see also seniority

sharing and, 260–264, 269

sharing substance and, 234–236

terminology, 222–223

Signorini, Italo, 39

Sika, Varyanne, 77, 276

silence, 49, 51

similitude, 252

sin, 92

sisterhood, 221–222, see also siblinghood

situational homosexuality, 73

“small girls,” 187, 232

as domestic helpers, 208

“big men” and, 189

masculinity and, 214

schoolteachers and, 202–203

Smith-Rosenberg, Carrol, 87–88

social age. see also age, seniority

seniority and, 112, 157–158, 168, 271

social kinship, 223, see also kinship terminology

social networks. see networks

social status, 162, 261

socio-economic status, 271

sodomy, 77, 205

sotadism, 28

South Africa, 24, 26, 77, 88

boarding school crushes, 80

migrant workers in, 213

Southern Africa, 25–26

romantic love in, 121

sovereignty, 62

speech norms, 49, 51, 270, see also language, allusion, indirection, verbal discretion

spirits, 57–58, 94, 101–103, 118, see also occult forces, Mami Wata

blood friendship and, 198

spiritual, 55, 56, 77, 87, 102–103, 117, 140–141, 198, 275

Spivak, Gayatri, 23, 35, 279

Stack, Carol, All Our Kin, 259

Stella Odamten (pseudonym), 14, 68–78, 200

Stoler, Ann Laura, 33

Stone Addai (pseudonym), 164–165, 181, 212–213

stone butch, 153

Strathern, Marilyn, 100, 120, 271

structural adjustment programs, 55, 172, 182

style, 275

(liking) life or lifestyles, 143–147

gender expression and, 143–147

Suakrom (pseudonym for research location), 14–17

subalternity, 10, 23, 35–36, 279

subjectivity, 34

subjugation, 22, 44, 218, see also abusive dynamics

subordination, 34, 35, 177, 178, 206

substance, 234–236

transfer of, 242, 243, 263, 265

success, 55

sugar daddies, 185, 187, 269

sugar motherhood, 45–46, 167, 269

autonomy and, 189

collectivized love and, 216–219

discretion and, 4

gifts and givers, 208–216

junior-senior dynamics and, 186, 271

materiality of love and, 184–208

overview of, 172–175

power dynamics in, 206–207, see also abusive dynamics

sunsum (spirit), 132

supi. see also same-sex desiring women

supi girlfriendships, 44–45

affective challenges of, 106–120

as initiation into sexuality, 81, 97–106, 109–111

Asafo companies, 95–97

cousins and, 243

exchange of gifts and, 80–81, 82–83, 85, 91, 98–101, 112–113, 120–

girlfriendships, 80, 81–91, 193, 197

gossip, 251

in video-film industries, 94

meanings of, 5, 43, 48, 79–81, 272–274

negative stereotypes, 198

origin of term, 72

pranks on junior girls, 115

public discourse on lesbianism and, 80, 81, 91–95, 149–150, 209, 246

secrecy and, 98, 105, 116–120

senior-junior hierarchies, 111–116

timing and, 110–111

Supi: The Real Woman to Woman (1996), 94

supi-supi, 93–94

Swiss-Ghanaian families, 2–3

Switzerland, 4

symbolic capital, 112

taboos. see also incest bans

on pre-nubile pregnancies, 41

research on, 6

same-sex desire as, 3

Takoradi-Sekondi metropolitan area, 61

Tamale, Sylvia, 22, 24, 29–30, 277

Tashjian, Victoria, 141

teacher-pupil hierarchies, 201–207, 217

“team daughters,” 45, 90, 174

“team mothers,” 45, 90, 174

technologies of the self, 69, 76

Teley Kwao (pseudonym), 254–258

Tetteh, Merci Naa K., 26

Thailand, 271

Thomas, Lynn, 121

timing, 110–111

Tinsley, Omise’eke Natasha, 38, 44, 120, 205, 273

tombois, 136–137, 169, 271

Tommy Boys, Lesbian Men and Ancestral Wives (2005), 31

toms, 271

tradition, 62

transactional sex, 177, 190, 195–196, 217, 269

transatlantic slave trade, legacy of, 44

tribadism, 29

“tricksters,” 162, 167, 273, see also “hustling” women; hustling

Twi language, 10

gender and, 131

gender-neutral pronouns, 129, 164

indirection and, 52

sibling terminology, 221, 222

time and, 111

Twinglish, 111, 145

Uganda, 65, 77

United States (USA). see also global North

charismatic Christianity and, 54

“unnatural carnal knowledge,” 64–68

upward mobility, 143, 237, 245, 251

urban same-sex subcultures, 61

vagina, 1, 105, 139, 200, 214, 242

van der Geest, Sjaak, 224, 226–227

Venda, 88, 113

venereal diseases, 61

verbal discretion, 4, 51–54, 270, see also indirection, speech norms

“big women” and, 199

culture of, 48

gossip and, 133

identities and, 78

in locating respondents, 8, 15

visibility politics and, 118

Vicinus, Martha, 87, 98

Victorian England, boarding school crushes in, 80

Vida, 159–160

video-film industries. see Nollywood (Nigerian cinema), Ghallywood (Ghanaian cinema)

visibility of same-sex desiring women, 72, 110, 232, 261, see also gossip

visibility politics, 118, 253

visual knowledge, 154, 170

vocational identity, 134–137, 143, see also occupational work

Wainaina, Binyavanga, 19

Warren, Dennis, 92

Wekker, Gloria, 211

The Politics of Passion, 22, 205

Wesley Girls High School, 82

Weston, Kath, 258–259

Families We Choose, 252–253

white bourgeois femininity, 29

white feminists, 31

white masculinities and femininities, 28

witchcraft accusations

among siblings, 226–227

jealousy and, 57, 240

woman marriages, 30–32, 128–129

women. see also elite women, working-class women, “big women”; gender

as category, 43

charismatic Christianity and, 55

in public space, 178

intersectional subject positions, 36

marginalization from public discourse, 72, 77

social advancement, 129–131, 143

status of, 175

Women in Love (1996), 94, 183

women who desire women. see also friendship, “knowing women”; knowing, same-sex desiring women

use of term, 43

Women Who Have Sex With Women (WSW) peer workers, 69–70

women’s trading associations, 16

work. see also masculinity, provider love

occupational work, 134–137, 143, 148, 193–194, 229–230, 260

work of love, 148, 149, 218, 271

working-class women, 22–23, see also vocational identity, kinship, economic independence, material circumstances, family ties, employment, sharing, gift exchanges, “tricksters”; tricksters, friendship, precariousness, same-sex desiring women, “hustling” women; hustling

feminist research on, 22

identities of, 77

World Bank, 55

xenophobia, 277

‘yan daudu, 35

Yankah, Kwesi, Speaking for the Chief, 52

Yinka Okafor (pseudonym), 185

Yorùbá, 128

youth

gender and, 130

informal networks, 273, see also female footballers

sugar daddies and, 187–189

sugar mummies and, 187–189, 211, see also sugar motherhood

Zelizer, Viviana A., The Purchase of Intimacy, 195

Znoj, Heinzpeter, 215

Zulu schools, 88

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