Contemporary African Cultural Productions

6. Striking the Snake with its own Fangs: Uganda Acoli Song, Performance and Gender Dynamics1

6 Striking the Snake with its own Fangs: Uganda Acoli Song, Performance and Gender Dynamics1 Benge Okot Introduction This chapter, based on a field study among the Acoli of northern Uganda, revisits the idea of gender and genre – arguing that in order to understand Acoli gender one needs to pay attention to the genres through which it is expressed. Song performance is one of the popular cultural forms through which gender is performed in Acoli society. Song performance gives the females, in particular, some kind of informal power to influence minds and put their view across (cf. Hofmeyr 1993:35). It is an artistic forum through which females make their presence felt and feelings known (cf. Kratz 1994:230-240). As presented in the gender performativity theory, gender performance goes on every day and every time in almost every sphere and every aspect of human existence. The contribution I am attempting to make to the gender debate is to re-focus attention on the genre-based performance of gender in the living art forms. Although my study re-affirms some of the well-known gender facts presented in many studies of different societies and cultures over the years, it also reveals interesting peculiarities concerning the gender situation in the Acoli society. In Acoli song performances, the binary dichotomy of gender identity is projected as not necessarily always negative; it can be productively harnessed for the social organization of society. Traditionally, the African worldview took the human society as organic, in which all the members were considered relevant and effective for the survival of the society (Sofala 1998). Social and economic roles in the Acoli society, as revealed from the field research, are assigned along gender Contemporary African Cultural Productions 110 lines, with the accompanying corresponding gender identity constructions for the fulfilment of those specific gender roles. Gender is built into the very structure of the organization of the family unit (and, thereby, the community) with complementarity as the guiding principle. In some of the songs studied, the females do not see their roles as degrading or humiliating, but rather as a significant contribution for the continued existence of the family and the society. In songs, the males are castigated for not fulfilling their culturally assigned duties as ‘men’ or for abusing their authority. The demand for gender equality in identity construction or social roles is glaringly missing in the songs studied, produced and performed by both genders. Acoli gender ideology, like that of most African ethnic communities, delineates different positions and roles for males and females in society. Although it would seem the gender positioning tends to favour the males over the females, Acoli women generally have not attempted to change the performance of their gender to achieve ‘equality’ and ‘democracy’ as we would understand from the point of view of Western political ideology. Instead, it would seem, they have invested in gender as understood from the Acoli cultural perspective to achieve their aspirations within the patriarchal social system. Song performance plays a key role, not only as a catalyst but an integral part of this investment in gender. Acoli women have used the performance of the women-only dance-song sub-genres such as dingidingi and apiti to mobilize themselves into self-help groups or co-operatives through which they promote themselves and bring to the limelight issues affecting them as the gender category ‘women’. Through song performance Acoli women not only call attention to themselves as ‘women’ and celebrate their femininity, but also comment on social issues and critique male excesses in gender power relations. From the vantage point of their gender positioning, the females have used song performance to bring women’s issues to the forefront of the gender social debate. Furthermore, Acoli women have used gender differentiation as a means for positive agency. In my study of song performances, we see gender as an important resource. Using traditional ideas of gender the Acoli females have found a way of entering certain demands into the public arena. My argument, therefore, is that although gender differential notions and practices have often been painted as ‘bad’ and needing subversion in most feminist scholarship, the Acoli females through song performance have invested in gender differential notions to attain their goals and aspirations as ‘women’. Gender as Performative One aspect of performativity theory I found particularly useful and insightful in my study of Acoli song is the casting of gender as performative. Judith Butler argues that: [3.17.6.75] Project...