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3 Masculinity and Ritual Violence: A Study of Bullfighting among the Luhyia of Western Kenya Egara Kabaji Gender relations are constructed in terms of the relations of power and dominance that determine the opportunities and circumstances of both men and women. Nevertheless, gender research in Africa has tended to focus only on women. This skewed attention has given rise to the popular but fallacious attitude that gender issues are synonymous with women’s issues. This study demonstrates a shift in focus and discusses the images and symbols of masculinity in bullfighting contests among the Luhyia of Western Kenya. It seeks to present a critical analysis of the game in order to uncover its overt and covert features that point to the hidden masculine desires, values, ideals and aspirations of the Luhyia. This study further directs inquiry into the construction of masculine metaphors that define standards of masculinity and maleness in the Luhyia society. The Luhyia type of bullfighting is different from the kind of bullfighting exhibited in other parts of the world, especially in terms of its structure and form and the personae involved. In Spain, Portugal and Mexico, for example, protagonists in bullfighting are human beings and bulls. The Spanish version pairs off the bull and the matador, with the matador obliged to demonstrate his bravery in risky and daring acts. Luhyia bullfighting is a matter of an animal-toanimal fight. I argue here that the bulls are symbolic male proxies that outdo one another in a violent contest as the owners watch in self-fulfilling gratification. Bullfighting contests are very popular among the Luhyia of Western Kenya. They are performed on Saturdays to the excitement of multitudes of spectators from within and outside the community. As early as five in the morning, spectators 35 Kabaji: Masculinity and Ritual Violence begin to pour into the village arenas and stadiums to participate in this popular game. Many Luhyia men breed prized bulls that they present during these contests. My respondents revealed that lack of a bull is a mark of extreme poverty and unmanliness only expected perhaps from men ‘castrated’ and feminized by the teachings of some Christian sects. In fact, it signals some degree of social and sexual redundancy (Beynon 2002: 79). The bulls are nourished both physically and psychologically in preparation for the contests. Undue excitement and a sense of expectation grip the audience on these occasions. Traffic on the major roads leading to the venues of the contests is temporarily interrupted as the animals are led by their owners and fans dance to the venues. The celebration continues into the evening when a drinking spree ensues in specific homesteads, the famed drink being the locally brewed beer. Bullfighting contests are also staged on burial occasions of warriors to celebrate their lives. This discussion is focused on bullfighting contests that are staged during weekends for pure entertainment. I examine bullfighting in terms of its structural and psychological significance within the Luhyia culture by first offering an empirical ethnographic description of the game and secondly by presenting a psychoanalytic reading of the game as a signifying cultural text I directly inquire into the salient features of the contests and the motives they seek to fulfil among the participants. Central to this study is the folklore generated and performed during bullfights and how this defines masculinity and gender relations in this society. I argue here that there are basic benchmarks within which the masculinities of its male members function. Failure to fall within these defined parameters makes one unmasculine. Through bullfighting, these masculine values are generated and disseminated to members of this society. The folklore produced is largely misogynistic and seems to suggest that being peaceable and uninterested in sexual conquest is a demonstration of unmasculine behaviour. Masculinity does not, however, exist except in contrast to femininity (Connell 2004). I therefore find it necessary also to direct inquiry into images of femininity. The Luhyia, through bullfighting rituals, set standards, a marking scheme of sorts, on which Luhyia men aspire to score highest. At the bottom of this structure is femininity and at the apex is ideal masculinity. In an attempt to reach these standards, men arrive at various degrees of masculinity, and this is what convinces me that even within a neat cultural entity it is safe and in order only to talk about masculinities. Bullfighting is therefore a male contest that tests the degree to which one has achieved the masculine ideal. This is appreciated through examination of symbolic...

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