Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender: Case Studies of Women in Kenyan Universities

9. Sexuality, Silence and Stigma

9 Sexuality, Silence and Stigma AIDS touches off deeply buried fears of ignorance of sex… AIDS has opened up space and legitimised a feminist discussion on sexuality… O’Sullivan (1996: 168) Introduction Sexuality is intricately linked to practically every aspect of people’s lives; from pleasure, power, politics and recreation, to disease, violence and war, among others (Tamale, 2005). One of the factors that have been found to be driving HIV and AIDS stigma is its sexual nature (Campbell et al., 2006). The present chapter explores how the discourses of sexuality among my respondents could increase our understanding of the responses (discussed in the previous chapter) to HIV and AIDS in the two Universities. In this chapter, I address the research question: How did sexuality-related stigma contribute to the inaction and silence about HIV and AIDS amongst university staff (especially among senior women)? This research question is answered by exploring the underlying explanationsthatlinksexualityinKenyatoshame,silenceandstigma, particularly among highly educated people. I focus my argument on how colonialism and Christianity could have contributed to the current discourses of shame and stigma associated with sex. I then discuss ways in which fear of being identified with a stigmatised disease leads to silence about AIDS in the two universities. My focus is on heterosexuality because none of the respondents in my study mentioned or even implied that they had homosexual or other forms Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender 196 of sexual tendencies. I focus on heterosexuality because it was the only form of sexuality that the women referred to given that it has been treated as more legitimate than any other form of sexuality in many African cultures. Heterosexuality is usually justified from a religio-cultural perspective (Arnfred, 2004; Becker, 2004; Machera, 2004; McFadden, 2003). Background to Sex-Related Shame and Stigma in Kenya To understand the complexity of HIV and AIDS, I found it worthwhile to look at some historical background to current attitudes about sexuality in Africa. This is because my study was carried out against a backdrop of multiple patriarchies and the legacy of colonialism. Hunter (2003) provides a background to the origins of the shame that became associated with sex in Africa long before AIDS was reported noting that during the colonial times, the British set up laws in the colonies that were tougher than those in their own country because they believed that ‘primitive’ practices required harsher enforcement” (p. 168 ). Similarly, Tamale (2005) notes that, “Africans were encouraged to reject their previous beliefs and values to adopt the ‘civilised ways’ of the colonial masters” (p.11). In colonial days, according to Hunter (2003): Victorians thought that tropical climates acted as breeding grounds for disease, inflamed passions and negated reason ... primitive peoples, they believed, were simply more tolerant of filth and STDs because of their unrestrained sexuality, both symptoms of non-western and moral decay (p.169). The colonialist overlords viewed Africans as having wild sexual habits that needed to be controlled (Becker, 2004; Elkins, 2005). To some European colonialists, “African sexuality was especially dark, primitive, uncontrolled and excessive...” (Hunter, 2003: 170). But Hunter argues that there were some colonialists who thought that African sexuality had worsened because of colonial rule. The colonialists, holding the latter view, thought that Christianity had Sexuality, Silence and Stigma 197 destroyed indigenous moral systems, displacing traditionally severe punishments for sexual offences, even though they had not replaced them with other systems of social control. In spite of the two different views on African sexuality, the advocates of both views concurred that “Africans and their sexuality were savage” (Becker, 2004: 37). The colonisers were on a “civilising mission” (Elkins, 2005: 116). This ‘mission’ led to a breakdown of many traditional practices where sexual matters were handled (Ahlberg, 1991; Kenyatta, 1938). In the absence of traditional systems where sexual matters were addressed, many Kenyan cultures still view as taboo talking about sex in public where people of different age groups, gender and ethnicity are mixed. This has brought about confusion as far as sex education is concerned. Parents no longer have places to take their children for education on sexuality and the church is unclear about ways of teaching it, given the shame that has become associated with the subject often originating from the colonial era. A senior lecturer at Weruini University told me: I’ve always said that it is unfortunate that for us, African people. Christianity, colonialism and...