8. Paradoxes of Female Sexuality in Mali

On the Practices of Magonmaka and Bolokoli-kela

Assitan Diallo

Introduction

According to what is perceived as ‘tradition’ in Mali, open discussions about sex­ual issues are taboo and often perceived as a lack of virtues. Till recently, interests in sexuality and sexual behaviour among Malians have only been found among a handful of foreign writers. With extended campaigns against the practice of ‘fe­male genital mutilation’ (FGM) and actions for the prevention of AIDS, there have been increasing media programs, advocacy initiatives and new writings about male and female sexuality. However, these debates are often tailored ac­cording to specific topics. For example, feminist writers and activists, who made most of the discourses on ‘female genital mutilation’, have emphasized that this practice is an expression of women’s sexuality being oppressed on the behalf of the patriarchal society (Famille et Developpement 1991; Hosken 1994). They were neither interested nor motivated to find out whether the same society would also consider promoting women’s sexual behaviour at some points in their life cy­cle.

The leading idea in the present study is that in Mali there is a paradox in how society deals with female sexuality. There are ingredients in the prevailing norms and practices with regard to both enhancing and hindering women’s sexuality. The magnonmakanw are nuptial advisors whose role is to teach, promote and sus­tain healthy and enjoyable sex among couples and adult members of communi­ties. At the same time, there are bolokoli-kelaw who are traditional or modern prac­titioners entrusted with carrying out female circumcision for many reasons, among which one is to diminish women’s sensuality. This practice refers to vari­ous forms of cutting the female genitalia (Diallo 1978). In Mali, it is most com­monly called ‘excision’. However, knowing with cerainty the harm that these practices do to women’s health and sexuality, I shall use the terminology ‘female genital mutilation’ (FGM) throughout this text, except where I talk about it in the context of local Mali understandings. This fits well with my conceptualisation in terms of hindrance mechanisms, and expresses more accurately in my view the reality of these practices.

This chapter includes a double-focus analysis that shifts between the issues of ‘sexual mutilation’ and ‘sexual pleasure’, in a social setting where sexuality is craft­ed around specific notions of social identity. It aims at highlighting the complex construction of female sexuality. The discussion is meant to be a contribution to the discourses on ‘female genital mutilation’ that allow for new insights for the fight against the practice. It is a theoretical discussion, which is embedded in

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Assitan Diallo

statements gathered through an exploratory study on magnonmakanw and bolokoli- kelaw in Mali. In this regard, I have conducted in-depth interviews with ten (10) magnonmakanw and seven (7) bolokoli-kelaw in Bamako, the capital city of Mali. The paper starts with a description of the two parallel mechanisms of influencing women’s sexuality. The analytical section addresses the following questions re­garding the cultural construction of female sexuality in Mali:

— What motivates a society to value both sexual mutilation and sexual enhance­ment?

— How do these apparently contradictory sexual systems manage to co-exist and make sense among the same social groups?

— What reading can be made of this paradox, from a feminist perspective?