Ghanaian youth and festive transvestism

Abstract

‘Festive transvestism’ is an increasingly visible cross-dressing practice performed by young people in the Southern parts of contemporary Ghana. Based on participant observation in four cross-dressing events, 15 individual interviews and a focus-group discussion, festive cross-dressing is understood as a contemporary ritual that mainly serves the purpose of reinforcing and reproducing gender binaries as well as heteronormativity in Ghanaian society. Nevertheless cross-dressing events also provide a subjective, creative and exploratory space – although temporary and circumscribed – for the transvestites as well as for the spectators to deconstruct sex, gender and sexuality through the performativity of transvestism. The opening of this exploratory space is made possible by the liminality of the social category of youth in Ghana, which grants young people, especially young men, more liberty and (gender) flexibility. Finally, the paper challenges the widely spread Western perception that feminine men and cross-dressers are necessarily homosexual by resituating the concept of homosexuality within the context of Ghanaian society, where it has recently started to occupy the public space.

El “travestismo festivo” es un tipo de travestismo cada vez más visible que realizan actualmente los jóvenes en zonas del sur de Ghana. Basándonos en la observación de los participantes en cuatro eventos de travestismo, 15 entrevistas individuales y una charla en grupo, el travestismo festivo se entiende como un ritual contemporáneo que tiene por objeto sobre todo reforzar y reproducir los binarios de género así como la heteronormatividad en la sociedad ghanesa. Sin embargo, los eventos de travestismo también ofrecen un espacio subjetivo, creativo y exploratorio – aunque temporal y circunscrito – para los travestis y los espectadores a fin de deconstruir el sexo, el género y la sexualidad a través de la performatividad del travestismo. La apertura de este espacio exploratorio es posible gracias al carácter liminal de la categoría social de los jóvenes en Ghana que garantiza a los jóvenes, especialmente a los hombres jóvenes, más libertad y flexibilidad (de género). Para terminar, en este artículo cuestionamos la percepción occidental ampliamente extendida de que los hombres femeninos y los travestis son necesariamente homosexuales, resituando el concepto de homosexualidad en el contexto de la sociedad ghanesa, donde recientemente ha empezado a ocupar el espacio público.

Le « travestissement festif » est une pratique de plus en plus visible parmi les jeunes des régions du Sud du Ghana contemporain. Une observation participante dans quatre événements où il a été pratiqué, 15 entretiens individuels et un groupe de discussion thématique ont amené à considérer que le travestissement festif est compris comme un rituel contemporain qui répond principalement à la nécessité de renforcer et reproduire la binarité de genre ainsi que l'hétéronormativité de la société ghanéenne. Toutefois, les événements dédiés au travestissement festif constituent aussi un espace subjectif, créatif et exploratoire – bien que temporaire et circonscrit – aussi bien pour les travestis que pour les spectateurs, afin de déconstruire le sexe, le genre et la sexualité à travers la performativité du travestissement. L'ouverture de cet espace exploratoire est rendue possible par la liminalité de la catégorie sociale des jeunes au Ghana qui garantit aux jeunes, en particulier de sexe masculin, plus de liberté et de flexibilité (de genre). Enfin, l'article remet en cause la perception occidentale largement répandue, selon laquelle les hommes féminins et les travestis sont forcément des homosexuels, en resituant le concept de l'homosexualité dans le contexte de la société ghanéenne, où celle-ci a récemment commencé à occuper l'espace public.

Keywords::

• cross-dressing
• youth
• masculinity
• homosexuality
• Ghana

Notes

^1. In Ghana, funerals are not festive events per se but they can be divided into two parts: the wake-keeping, which takes place on the Friday preceding the burial and where friends and family members mourn the deceased, and the next day's celebration, the ‘gbonyo’ (‘corpse’) party or funeral party where people gather to eat, drink and dance to the sound of loudspeakers.

^2. For a better understanding of patriarchy in Ghana, the vulnerability of women in marriage and other institutions and gender disparity in education, see Adomako Ampofo (2001), Britwum and Anokye (2006), Cusack and Manuh (2009) and Dunne et al. (2005).

^3. In this paper, I do not elaborate on the terminology and nuances of same-sex desires and sexualities in Ghana as all respondents drew a clear line between cross-dressing and ‘homosexuality’. Only one respondent self-identified as ‘gay’. I use the terms ‘homosexuality’ and ‘homosexual’ in brackets, like Hoad (2009), to highlight that the concepts were borrowed from the identity discourse of the West and are being demonised as such by the media and religious leaders (Geoffrion forthcoming). The label is now imposed on some subjects regardless of local nuances and the realities of same-sex practices and desires.

^4. The University of Cape Coast is located in Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana. It is a government university and was founded in 1962. It hosts about 36,000 students including distance education and summer programmes (http://ucc.edu.gh/aboutus/).

^5. All respondents' names are pseudonyms. Interviews were conducted between November 2010 and March 2012.

^6. ‘Kodjo-besia’ is a Ghanaian term that literally means ‘man-woman’. It is used to describe some men who either have ‘feminine features’ or ‘feminine interests’ such as cooking or fashion. It is also sometimes used to insult men who are ‘too’ emotional or ‘soft’, which undermines their masculinity.

^7.http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/photo.day.php?ID = 169348

^8.http://discussions.ghanaweb.com/viewtopic.php?t = 109439&postdays = 0&postorder = asc&start = 0&sid = 9e86bfaf7311e1c2562dd02ebd103032

^9. I learnt in an individual interview with Kwesi that he also enjoys cross-dressing at home so he expresses an ‘acceptable’ opinion while in the midst of his peers but does not completely condemn cross-dressing as a sign of homosexuality, hence his use of the adjective ‘weird’.