African Aids

Africa: Peace and Turmoil

Katie Couric, the New York Stock Exchange, Britney Spears, Michael Jordan, and the Power Puff Girls are examples of the focuses of my Americans in today's world. As a group, we are focused on the here and now and only with what is going on in our immediate vicinity or with what will affect us directly. Through all of this however is a drive that will at times override all rationale or common sense, it is our sex drive. The area of human sexuality is one that until relatively recent years has not been of importance. Now, we are beginning to branch out and become more open not only with studying our society but the society of other cultures as well. Africa is such as place where there is a melting pot of various cultures and ideas which either flow together in harmony or are heading towards each other in a head on collision therefore it provides a place for years of study.

As years pass by African societies begin to develop new practices and views while at the same time discarding the past ones. We will be dealing with the standard beliefs and opinions as a whole by focusing on the sexuality of the African majority. Marriage and courtships have certain guidelines that are followed by every culture on the planet. Sometimes there are set "scripts" that a group will follow such as group dating or a specific time of the year when the males and females will intermingle in some way to find mates amongst them. These traditions are beginning to crumble apart and new ideas are taking their places. Within the working class of Africa, many of the citizens are becoming employees of a "migrant labour system" (Metzer). As a part of this system, citizens are apart from their partners for a substantial amount of time, which can often lead to the temptation of finding willing sexual partners away from home. This has indeed become the norm throughout this society of people. Alongside this idea of sex outside of marriage is the old stigma that your first wife should be a virgin but because of this lax treatment of a once strict moral code, it is no longer a practice amongst many younger woman to remain celibate until marriage. Once married however, that girl may actually have to share her husband with other women so in a way her practice of celibacy would be contradictory to the man she is about to marry.

The practice of polygyny is one that abounds throughout various African cultures ( Jennings). Males are allowed act on this concept and practice, however women are confined to one male, at least publicly. As a whole, fathers in Africa revere their children and encourage as many of them as possible. Their reasoning for wanting large numbers of children does have a certain logic to it in that the larger number would increase the seeming prestige of the family and also it help to make sure that the father and mother(s) have old age security. With marriage there is typically a fee paid to the bride's family, comparable to the old American practice of a dowry, but it is specifically pointed at paying the family for the children that their daughter will one day bear. Another twist to the prestige factor is that the more children you have the more chances you have of one of them being successful, or so it is though of Americans; however, in Africa it often instead relates more to the idea of who is the child's father. If the wife of a male is being sought out by a man who is of greater influence or importance, often enough the female will sleep with him in hopes of giving birth to his child. Not only is she trying to increase her status, but as a result, her husband's status would be increased as well. Even though this practice of many children is an important one, a practice that can hurt this goal is female circumcision.

Female circumcision is a practice that is done for various reason. For the most part, it is related to a faith oriented practice of a specific age of the female. They are performed in various ways either alone, groups, or public ceremonies (Van Zyl). Female circumcision also varies in severity of the circumcision or mutilation as it is often referred to. The types of circumcision range from a clitordectomy to cutting and scaring of the vagina and thighs. The most severe form of this being infibulation in which the woman's vagina is actually partially sealed in this procedure, other practices such as cutting or a clitordectomy may or may not be performed (Lowenfels). The repercussions of this are devastating to the woman's physical and psychological health. Once this procedure is performed, the number of health concerns and problems increase exponentially. This ritual can signify many things depending on which area of Africa you are in. It could be to ensure that the woman remains a virgin until marriage, a religious rite, or a form of a rite of passage for the female. Typically, the female circumcision is performed by an older female and often it is using unsanitary tool and being in an unsanitary conditions (Van Zyl). Unsanitary practices seem to abound in Africa particularly when it comes to sex.

Last year in the sub-Saharan area of Africa, 2.2 million people died of the AIDS virus. HIV and AIDS have reached epidemic proportions in Africa and it is something that not only African officials but also other official outside of Africa are trying to help curb the voracious appetite that the virus seems to have (Estimated AIDS Deaths...). One particular issue that has aroused much concern amongst people have been the latest females rape cases. The rape victims are children with any age being attacked by men. There have been cases of female infant rapes as young as five months with the number of rapes increasing as the children get older (Chege). The cause for this is the myth of the virgin cure. It is believed by some groups in Africa that by having sex with a virgin female will cure the male of AIDS. As a result of the increasing promiscuity of many individuals throughout this continent, many of the only virgins remaining are indeed children and are being attacked as a result. Although, children are not the only group in Africa that are being attacked, homosexuals have also become a target of many homophobic individuals throughout Africa.

The plight of homosexuals is comparable to that of the United States at this point. While there are still those that seek to oppress and rid the country of gays and lesbians there are those that seek to liberate them from oppression. Hate crimes are still prevalent within Africa meaning