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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Biographical Lessons: Life Stories, Sex, and Culture in Bushbuckridge, South Africa
Author:Niehaus, IsakISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:46
Issue:181
Pages:51-73
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:biography
sexuality
men
biographies (form)
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Urbanization and Migration
Labor and Employment
External link:https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.5800
Abstract:This article shows that life stories contain valuable lessons for understanding masculine sexuality at a more general theoretical level. It discusses the life story of a thirty-eight year old male resident of Bushbuckridge, South Africa, focusing specifically on his experiences of sexual socialization, schooling, initiation, labour migration, marriage, divorce, unemployment and sexual violence. According to the author, this life story offers several analytical advances over theoretical models of African sexual culture. It is more likely to reveal the interplay of different discourses on sexuality; to highlight the impact of institutions such as schools, migrant compounds and drinking houses on sexual behaviour; and distinguish between what people say and what they honestly believe, and between what they aspire to and what they are constrained to do. For these reasons cultural models are not accurate predictors of actual sexual behaviour. Therefore, biographies may accord insights of strategic importance in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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