Sexuality and Fertility in the Pre-Colonial Period
Sexuality and Fertility in the Pre-Colonial Period
This chapter challenges assumptions about the universalist traditions of African sexuality, by examining what is known about the sexual behaviour of Ankole, Buganda, and Buhaya before colonial rule. It demonstrates that while some similarities existed, this small geographical region was characterized in regard to sexuality and reproduction more by the diversity of its attitudes and practices in relation to pre-marital sexuality and pregnancy, wife-sharing, legitimate and illegitimate extra-marital sex, ritualized sex, the duration of breastfeeding, and ideal family size. These ethnic differences were shaped by locally distinct patterns of clanship, inheritance, marriage, and moral politics.
Keywords: Ankole, Buganda, Buhaya, fertility, sexuality, breastfeeding, ethnicity, marriage
British Academy Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
