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When Male Becomes Female and Female Becomes Male in Mande

2002; Indiana University Press; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2979/mnd.2002.a873342

2379-5506

Kassim Koné,

African Studies and Ethnography

When Male Becomes Female and Female Becomes Male in Mande Kassim Ko ne Thoughcultures,eachother'spatrilinealitybothrolesmalesandandandfunctionsmalefemalesdominationinmaycertainassumecontexts.mayorbehaveapparentTheimposeddistinctioninmanyuponbetweenMandethem Though cultures, both males and females may assume or have imposed upon them each other's roles and functions in certain contexts. The distinction between the genders and gender-based cultural behaviors is not an absolute but a relative one. The ideologies of masculinity in the Mande are challenged both in sociocul turai behaviors and in language use. For example, a man may be linguistically referred to as "wife" by his older sister's husband. Language use sometimes indicates gender distinction (e.g. gender based linguistic alternatives such as lexical choices) and gender inequalities but it may also indicate the relative nature of masculinity and femininity. For example, the root of the Bamana word for maternal uncle bènkè is ba (mother) with the suffix kè (male) and the maternal uncle among the Bamana is perceived in many ways as an extension of the mother. This paper will explore some forms of the ideologies of masculinity among the Bamana as well as some contextual sociocultural challenges to such ideologies in cultural and linguistic behaviors. The paper will focus mainly on examples drawn from the Bamana culture, which is my own. Masculinity is broadly defined as cèya, manhood. Cèya is primarily physiologically based since it is determined by the presence of the male genitalia, and it is also one of the euphemistic words referring to the male genitalia. Cèya also refers to the requirements of specific behaviors expected of males, introduced since childhood, reinforced at circumcision and later initiation rituals. To be circumcised and initiated into male secret societies is thought of as joining the ranks of men : ka taa cèw fè' literally, to join the men. Joining the men culminates with wearing a particular type of clothing: ka kulusi ta , to take up pants, ka fini ta , to wear clothes. To be a man for the Bamana goes beyond the physiological requirement. When the Bamana say that "so and so is a man" (karisaye cè ye), it includes qualities such as bravery, leadership and physical endurance. Femininity may be defined in ways parallel to and complementing the male definition. Musoya is also physiologically based and follows the same characteristics of cèya though it semantically extends to include the hymen. Ka taa musow ß means joining the ranks of women through excision and ka fini ta , to wear clothes, means to become an adult. Musoya involves several categories of women: muso kisè (ht. the kernel woman) or muso tafetigi (ht. woman with a loin cloth) is a dynamic woman, a brave one, a hardworking one, or even a femme fatale; muso kulusitigi (woman with pants) is the quintessential manly woman with all the capacities and prerogatives of the traditional adult male: entrepreneurial, fearless, a woman who successfully operates in the spaces culture exclusively assigns to men such as heading a family, farming, and aspects of sorcery which are for men only (< domąya/somaya ). The Mande Studies 4 (2002) pp. 21-29 22 Kassem Konè Mande culture is explicit about wome shown by the following proverb: Muso woman may give birth to a soma, a w The opposite to muso kulusitigi is cè or more negatively with sexual overto overall behaviors resemble that of wo such in the B amana language. Howev occurs when a woman says to him "Exc a request is an indication that the ma recent category in the Bamana langu syllable; the second female) has repl which used to be cètèmusotè (not mal borrowed from the Wolof, gorjig homosexual male or female and the gorjigèn , the Wolof term, may be an as a foreign lifestyle thus displacing it Gender Ideology The public transcript, i.e. the exhibitio that kinship through males is more im ideological standpoint, the relationsh viewed as less binding than that throug from the fadenya and badenya social dominated ideology is encapsulated i sinji ye ," lit. the two ends of the belt words, there is more unity, continuity through the penis) than in the relat further, and in analogy with the sayin the Bamana saying means that "Sperm the same father are said to be of the same essence inherited from their father. The father is from the older generation and is older than the children, the older siblings are older than the younger ones, but ideologically they are the same essence, despite having nursed from different mothers. This ideology further supports the notion that mothers are simply vessels for the birth of children and that with or without the same wives, the same children would be born to their father. The public transcript is intended to reduce the fadenya ideology but in reality does not displace the importance of badenya or sinjiya (ht. breastmilkhood). Sinjiya stands here as the opposite of kulusijala. It is a relationship which involves the children who have replaced each other on the same mothers breasts and their descendants. The tension between fadenya and badenya is very similar to that between kulusijala and sinjiya ideologies. The hidden transcript, the critique of patrilineal authority offstage, is that in private everyone thinks more highly of badenya! sinjiya than of fadenya/kulusijala ideologies. People who are descended through the same wife- and, surprisingly, those who are descended through the same When Male Becomes Female 23 male- who look alike are said to share an "after-breast" (sinkò: h physical resemblance people may have when they have been mother). Here language betrays the underlying patrilineal id female genetic contribution. Another area where language b Bamana concept of brotherly love. When someone wants to e close to a brother or sister other than uterine ones, he will refer as his baden tèri (mother-child friend). The implication here tighter than the paternal kulisijala tie. The ideology of the kulusijala gives the father more righ than the mothers have. The father or his family names the fi sequence; every third child is given to the mother or her famil or her family will only name her third, sixth and ninth childr wife's chilien belong to the husband while 1/3 belongs to authority of the father in practice is in full effect when he is family. As he grows old and increasingly becomes a dependent the power and authority of his wives begin to rise significant There are many problems in the kulusijala ideology that resolve. The strength of the ideology lies in the genetic and es the patrilineal descendants no matter who their mothers or wh At every generational level, and among the descendants of the more than one wife, the relationship between every child and The father is both father (in this case both genitor and pater) Due to this a child maintains a dual relationship with the fath by the relationship between the mother and father. In a po widespread unequal treatment of wives by their common husb of the kulusijala ideology. Another problem that the kulu totally is its equivalent, kònòwolo , (ht. the stomach, the wom through coming from the same womb. As a male can have females, a female can also have children from several males Bamana patrilineal ideology, the kònòwolo ideological alter category. Badenya (motherchildness) and sinjiya (breastmil categories instead. The kulusijala ideology downplays the genetic contributio heard on a few occasions men saying that with or without give begotten the same children with another wife. Such a belie genetic input of the women. This cannot be explained by Ba female genetic contribution in procreation. Men recognize tha or "back liquid" (kójí) that mixes with the blood of the wom Men's emphasis on the kulusijala and thebreastmilk contribute the dominant ideology, at least publicly, at the expense of the When a father curses his child he may do it through his ow contribution to the milk the motherfed the child with. When a do it through her womb and/or through her breastmilk.2 W family use the kulusijala to appeal to children emotionally, the use the womb and the breastmilk to do the same. 24 Kassem Konè Paralinguistic behavior is one area w masculine and feminine behaviors. prescribes patterns of crying which a refer to certain patterns of crying as cè sufferings men utter when in extrem Similarly, there is a particular way of crying) usually understood as wailing an as funerals. Cèninkule is always associ musoninkule is associated with both women and men who are considered weak and cowardly. Many areas in the language give supremacy to the male gender inBamana. One of these is the verb 'to marry, ' ka furu (though there is the possibility of ka furu nyògòn ma, Ut. to marry each other). In Bamana, only a man marries a woman and a woman gets married to the man, putting the woman in the patient and subordinate position. When in anger a man says to his wife "Did you marry me?" (Eye ne furu wa7), he wants to remind her of her subordinate position in the family structure. Others may ask the same question to a woman to remind her that she has overstepped her bounds. The verb furu also has another possible semantic extension similar in meaning to the Bamana expression kaX musoya ta (Ut. to take X"s womanhood, i.e. to deflower X). Physiologically, since males do not have a hymen, the act of deflowering gives them an ideological edge of supremacy over women through the medium of language. When Does a Man Become a Woman? Many previous studies of African societies have remarked that the relationship between the uterine nephew and uncle in patrilineal or patriarchal institutions mimics the child's relationship with his/her mother (Radcliffe-Brown 1924, Hoernle 1925). Thesameis true of the Bamana where the sister' s child, and more importantly her son, takes more liberties with his mother's brother than with any adult male of his parents' generation. The same cultural behavior is found among the Bamana where the bènkè ,3 the male mother/maternal male, is seen as an extension of the mother and is not seen as authoritative a figure as any of the adults on the father's side of the family regardless of their gender. For many, mother's family of orientation is perceived as having been conquered by the father's side. The nephew expects his uncle to give him anything he asks for, including the uncle's daughter, while he does not have such expectations from his father' s brother. The expectation of generosity from the maternal uncle parallels the expectation of generosity from the mother. The neck of every animal the uncle slaughters goes to his nephews and nieces. The Bamana have a saying that "when your uncle refuses to give you his daughter, he is no longer your uncle but your mother' s brotheť' (n 'i bènkè y 7 bank 'a den d'i ma , i bènkè tè tuguni, i ba balimakè de dori). Here, the relationship is perceived again as a dual one: on the one hand, the uncle who agrees with the cultural rule is assimilated with the mother who cannot refuse her son anything; on the other, the uncle violating the rule is reduced to the male sibling of one's mother. When Male Becomes Female 25 Another area where male and female suspend their assigne contextually assume that of the opposite gender occurs in the pe kinship roles. There are two categories of in-laws among the B of in-laws older than one's spouse that one must respect (buran younger than one's spouse that one takes broad liberties with man meets his older sister's husband, he may entertain the br wife's jokes toward her husband. If the brother-in-law (married talking to a young woman he does not know, for example, he ma and say "he is not available, he's my husband." The brother-in-la wife' s younger brother as his wife and entertain the latter with jokes husbands make for their wives. Certain acts are expected of one gender and frowned upon w the other gender. Violence, especially physical violence, or any d is likely to lead to bloodletting is one such act expected more of m Females are taught since early age that they are lifegivers, not l are constantly reminded that they should not kill even small ins mothers to be. Boys on the other hand are scolded for the killin when they do this frequently unless the killing occurs during th birds or the other small animals boys kill for snacks. Bamana ad the chicken and guinea fowls destined for meals. Rather, once th and no adult male is around for the killing, they will go fr necessary to find an adult male to slaughter the bird. Howeve pregnant woman, in many Bamana communities, must refrain he decide to kill, the culture still discourages from killing cert snakes. In this cultural belief, the husband of a pregnant wife is himself. As explained above, some of the definitions of masculinity based. In this respect manhood (cèyá) is also defined as virili becomes impotent is said to have left manhood, ka bò cèya la (l This definition does not mean that a man who becomes impote It does mean that he has moved conceptually from the core periphery. He is an incomplete man, closer to women by the perform sexually anymore like a healthy man. The Bamana also s a man is dead (a kò salen : his back is dead), the back being consi of manhood. Men who are very fat are likened to women due to th performing certain physical tasks categorized as male (farming, Bamana believe that men who grow fat are effeminate and women." In this regard, there is an anecdote according to which Mossi once made fun of Babènba, the king of Kenedugu, for skinny for a king. In return, Babemba replied that real men with including the leadership of other real men cannot put on weig It is only men who engage in the violent act of war, kèlè traditionally war is a male act that is admired for its capacities life; by extension, activities such as hunting are also prestigi 26 Kassim Konè power of the female has the same qua is euphemistically called women's war death of the woman giving birth. Trad die during childbirth are buried the sa of leaves covered with stones. When Does a Woman Become a Man? Though it appears that masculinity is a dominant theme in Bamana language and culture the Bamana acknowledge the essential power of women. As a Bamana proverb says "It is the worthless woman that makes womanhood something to regret. It is the woman that gives birth to the powerful and the wealthy [men]" ( Muso kolon de bè musoya kè mòne ye. N'o tè, muso de bè faama wolo, muso de bè baana wolo). Culture and context, especially ritual context, make conceptual males out of females by assigning males roles, functions and prerogatives to females. The Bamana, even when making these assignments jokingly mostly take them seriously. Bamana culture sometimes assigns females the role and functions of men. A paternal aunt, tènèmuso , the sacred or taboo female, falls into the category of father (fa), for her brothers' children who fear and respect her.4 The husband's younger sister falls into the category of husband, cè, for her brothers' wives and addresses male jokes to them. The female father/ paternal female enjoys much power and authority in her family of orientation, a fact which does not appear prominently in gender studies since many such studies are based on women in their families of procreation. Cultural practices and family events tend to reinforce the high position of the sister. Among some Mande, the Maninka, for example, the paternal aunt always receives the lower back of slaughtered animals. She is perceived as the backbone of the family. 5 For the Bamana, the most feared curses are those of the aunt and of the sister since these are believed to continue to have effect for several generations.6 Because of this the sisters play a veiy robust role in the internal politics of their families of orientation. Women may enjoy male ritual prerogatives by accident when the timing of their birth coincides with a male ritual activity, e.g. the celebration of the Kòmò or of the Do secret societies. When a girl is born during such a celebration, a male initiate brings her to the celebration area, a male space. Her initiation hen is slaughtered and she immediately becomes not an honorary but a full-fledged member of the society with equal prerogatives and protection. Among the Bamana, most females named Kòmòtènè (ht. the Kòmò's totem, i.e. protected by the Kòmò), Kònse (ht. the time of Kòmò celebration has arrived) and Gwanse (the time of the celebration of Gwan, a Do ritual object, has arrived), Gwankura (the new Gwan) are respectively some of the names of females born during the Kòmò and Do celebrations.7 Though the Bamana discourage such females from actively participating in the celebrations of these secret societies, especially in their child bearing years, they enjoy the same rights as the men. These females do not have to change their travel plans due to the celebration of the secret society during which they were born. When needed, the society may give them assignments such as such as running errands between the village and the performance arena which will put them in contact with initiated men only while the When Male Becomes Female 27 non-initiated males and the women are secluded behind closed The fact that the distinctly male gendered space of the Kòm females born during ritual celebration brings into question the through physiology alone. For the Bamana both boys and g throughout bilakoroya (state of being uncircumcised). It is circumcised/excised and initiated that they are fully genderized One area in which female and male tend not to think about they happen to share the same name. Among the Bamana s gendered because such names are given to females and males names are ritual names. For example, the name Bugu (lit. H females and males born during ritual celebration of the Do; F away) is given similarly to children of both gender when th many stillbirths or her previous children died young; and fina twins irregardless of their gender can be named Sajo or Koni male are named the same ritually or otherwise they call each ot one with my name, i.e. my namesake). This relationship m descendants. A child whose mother's name is Bugu, for exam the same name n yba tògòma (lit. the one with my mother's namesake), and vice versa. Though shared names are an equalizer, there are some n between female and male. A woman who marries among th family identity but at the same time adopts that of her family o woman is discouraged from calling her husband by his nam calling their husband by name altogether until their first child to call the husband as X's Father (X being the name of sometimes reciprocate but are not obliged to do so. A m encouraged to call her husband's namesake by n ' tògòma ( husband will only jokingly call his wife's namesake this w husband's namesake is a woman such as in the ritual names d still call her namesake or address her as her husband. Age and physiological changes in the body bring about changes in cultural behavior acquired during the genderization process. When women reach menopause, they are involved in many of the family and village affairs that men traditionally take care of exclusively while the women are in their child-bearing years. A postmenopausal woman ceases to be perceived as a major threat also for many ritual organizations.8 She can prepare foods and medicines and she can go to places which once had been off limits to her. Females born during male ritual celebrations can, if they wish, actively participate in the male activities. After menopause female gender behavior grows closer and closer to that of males, while male behavior, without growing so much closer to that of the females, weakens. One area where such behavior becomes noticeable is that of language. Changes in the linguistic performance take place after females reach menopause with regards to topics to be introduced and discussed and gendered lexical choices. For example, in Bamana some insults are non-gendered while others are either male or female. Male insults directly refer to areas of the male genitalia and the 28 Kassim Konè converse is true for female insults. A language of women. They may use suc simply as curses when there are no e male grandchildren may provoke their the grandchildren find funny. At o grandmothers say them to embarrass t she respects is an earshot from her. Th language of the elderly male. Only an o of alcohol may use female insults. With old age and adult children m anymore but just as mothers and grand on the most important issues of their f In many cases, in their old age, roles t caretakers of their husbands. The old chances that the wife will have more will, however, be exercised in the bac The Relativity of Gender An ideology of masculinity among the the male biological heritage over the position is perceived as more important typical distribution of sex and gender and women remain culturally and co instances when males play culturally to be some degree of subordination of requires an understanding of their r families of orientation. Similarly, an must take into account the complexitie their sisters' children as well as the inc grow older. The patrilineal ideology and its power over the Bamana society must also be seen in the light of both the public and private aspects of such an ideology. The public performance of the patriarchal ideology is challenged by the private matrifocal behavior. The matrilineal challenge is mute but obvious and can even be found in aspects of language when it subverts the dominant patrilineal ideology. Bamana culture allows the conceptual suspension of one gender and the adoption of another in certain circumstances and contexts. The distinction between the genders among the Bamana, I therefore conclude, is not an absolute but a relative one. Notes 1 Scott (1990) developed the concepts of public and hidden transcripts. The public transcript the exhibition of relations in public between dominatore and oppressed in which any expression of resistance is muted. The hidden transcript is the critique of such authority When Male Becomes Female 29 offstage. Thus, behavior in the patriarchal Bamana ideology must be public and private dimensions. 2 When a father curses his child he believes that if he uses his genes in child is going to receive the curse provided that the child is real contribution to the mother's breast milk is a last resort in the case the his own. Such a curse goes like this: "If X is my child then [curse].. . If have provided food to X's mother and that food helped produce milk th [curse]. Women, having no doubts on whether or not their children are anyway they like but usually use the womb and milk in their curses. A formulated like the following: "If I have borne you in my womb for nin you with my breast milk... etc... then [curse]." 3 In present-day language use father's brother is wrongly called bènk educated circles, a possible borrowed kinship concept. Bènògòkè is a father's brother in Maninka and Jula and is from the root ba: daddy, younger brother. 4 Previous research efforts in African kinship in patrilineal societ cultural behavior (Junod 1913, Radcliffe-Brown 1924). 5 When there is not any direct aunt to receive the lower back part of th may be chosen as a surrogate to receive this gift. Fodeba Diaby, persona York, June 7, 2002. 6 One of the reasons for this is that part of the sister's bridewealth was u for her brothers. Thus the sister was essential for the continuity of th 7 Boys born during such celebrations may take Kòmò and Do relat initiated on their birthday. 8 Menstruation and the capacity to menstruate constitute one of the excluded from many African male related societies. The Bamana shar References Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1924. "The Mother's Brother in South Africa." In R. McGee, 2000, pp 172-183. McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms, eds. 2000. Anthropological Theory : A Introductory History . Mountain View: Mayfíeld Publishing Co. Scott, James C (1990). "Domination and the Arts of Resistance." Cited in Con Philip Kottak.1994. Cultural Anthropology. Sixth Edition. New Yo McGraw-Hill, Inc. p. 367. ...