Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju: Gendered Dichotomies in African Youth Language and Language Practices

Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju (ed.)

Gendered Dichotomies in African Youth Language and Language Practices With a Foreword by Mokaya Bosire and a Postscript by Fiona Mc Laughlin

Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju (ed.)

GENDERED DICHOTOMIES IN AFRICAN YOUTH LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE PRACTICES

With a Foreword by Mokaya Bosire and Postscript by Fiona Mc Laughlin

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This book has been published with funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

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Table of Contents FOREWORD Mokaya Bosire…………………………………………………………………..…ix 1. Gendered Dichotomies in Language Use, and Youth Usage in African Settings Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju………………………………………………………........1 2. Gender Binaries in African Youth Language: The Case of Camfranglais Comfort Beyang Oben Ojongnkpot………………………………………….........35 3. Gender, Age and Rural-Urban Dichotomies in S’ncamtho Familiarity and Usage in Zimbabwe Sambulo Ndlovu…………………………………………………………………..61 4. Clever or Smarter? Style and Indexicality in Gendered Constructions of Male and Female Youth Identities in Kenya and South Africa Ellen Hurst-Harosh and Fridah Kanana Erastus………………………………...79 5. From Slanging to Code-mixing …, Pidginization …, Antilanguages …, and Paroemic routines: Gender Dichotomies and Dynamics in the Language of Nigerian Undergraduates on social media Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju and Omotayo Oloruntoba-Oju………………………....97 6. Lugha ya Mitaani, Gender Stereotypes and Sexism. “Catcalling” as a Communicative Practice of Male Youths in Urban Public Spaces in Tanzania Uta Reuster-Jahn ………………………………………………………………129 7. Gendered Stereotypes and Discriminative Language in Luyaaye, Ugandan Youth Language Saudah Namyalo…………………………………………………………………161 8. Hustling Vibaya: Femininities and the Modern Kenya Woman Philip Rudd and Fridah Kanana Erastus………………………………………...189 9. Gender Dynamics in Camfranglais : A Study of Female and Male Cameroonian Musicians v

Elizabeth Bi Maondo Abang…………………………………………………….215 10. Fluid Gender Identity Doing in the African Diaspora in New Zealand Oluwatoyin Olasimbo Kolawole………………………………………………..237 11. ‘Baby, I’m coming’: The Linguistic Construction of Orgasm by Female Youth in Rural and Urban Nigeria Eyo Mensah, Romanus Aboh and Lucy Ushuple………………………………257 12. Intersecting Youth Digital Practices and Homosexuality: Identity Construction, Ideological Framing and Decolonisation in Homosexuality Narratives on Nigerian Twitter Paul Onanuga and Josef Schmied………………………………………………281 13. Li(ea)ving Behind the Mask: The Stylistics of Nigerian Sexual Diversity, and Homophobic Discourse in The Digital Media Rasaq Atanda Ajadi…………………………………………………………….307 Gendered Dichotomies in African Youth Language : A POSTSCRIPT Fiona Mc Laughlin……………………………………………………………..325

Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the support of the many scholars and colleagues who have either contributed chapters to this volume or have provided peer reviews for the chapters. Their contribution has no doubt enhanced the quality of the publication. Special thanks to Professors Mokaya Bosire and Fiona Mc Laughlin, both of whom spared the time needed to read the manuscript and provide the Foreword and Postscript respectively for the volume.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation provided support for this publication in two ways, firstly in the form of a renewed fellowship stay granted to me as a George Forster Fellow in 2021, and which was actualised at the University of Chemnitz in Germany. This provided the needed time, environment and resources to work on the theoretical background to the publication. Secondly, the Foundation also offered publishing support in the form of some subsidy to the publishers. All this is well appreciated. I also appreciate the support of Prof. Josef Schmied who was my academic host during the fellowship period.

The role played by the following editorial assistants is also acknowledged: Chris Lekan Olawale, Sam Akinmusuyi (University of Ilorin), and Oluwaseun Bamisaiye (Federal University Oye-Ekiti).

Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju, PhD Department of English, University of Ilorin George Forster Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Catalyst Fellow, The University of Edinburgh

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Gendered Dichotomies in African Youth Language and Language Practices:

Foreword Mokaya Bosire (University of Oregon, USA) A man who lived on the banks of the Niger should not wash his hands with spittle.

Chinua Achebe

In a continent where upwards of 2000 languages are spoken, one is constantly exposed to incredibly diverse ways and means of expressing oneself at home and at the marketplace, formally and informally, publicly and privately. From a young age, you are a member of a speech community and of discursive practices that construct and perform both contextualized and imagined identities that are both individual and collective. From using distinct languages (codes), to choosing dialects and variants of a particular language down to a particular accent, African peoples who live in these plurilingual realities may choose to use one code or mix and mesh codes in their utterances for effect. In many places on the continent, multi-lingual practices and language-contact outcomes like bilingualism, code-meshing, mixed languages, pidgins and creoles, “trans-languaging” and other extranormative discursive practices are therefore a common phenomenon. These diverse ways of using language find full expression in Youth languages, both rural and urban. Such was my experience growing up in Nairobi that eventually led me to research the expressive, novel and surprising vitality of Sheng, amid all the codes Kenya had to offer.

Because languages track and index cultures and cultural change, the complex intricacies of language that can arise in such a language-rich place as Africa with rapid cultural and technological change are exciting and interesting to investigate. “Hot-button” issues of our time: politics, the economy, climate change and local controversies all jostle for discussion and expression with global issues and trends in food practices, style and fashion, gender and sexuality. In a young continent where the median age is less than 20 years in most places, where most young people are increasingly connected with the world through social media networks and the internet, the international is at once local and subject to interpretation and adaptation.

Given their repertoire of codes, one basic question then becomes: in which

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codes are different African demographics discussing these issues? For example, are all genders using the same codes?

The youth of Africa, both men and women, use language in the new, extra-normative and rich-in-metaphor youth languages. The chapters in this volume cover the gamut of African youth language practices, revealing that, across the continent, young people are constantly morphing their linguistic repertoires in surprisingly comparable ways in disparate areas – Kenya, Cameroun, South Africa and everywhere in-between. The volume not only shows that there are nuances in the issues that young men and women in Africa are speaking to, but also that the discursive ways in which they are utilizing available codes to bolster their positions and perform evolving identities are gender-sensitive. My own research on Sheng shows that language practices align with individual, cultural and global conceptualizations of gender as construed through local power dynamics and contestations. I have found, for example, that, while all genders speak Sheng, men may use particular expressions in Sheng to project street-wise masculinity, while women would use Sheng to project different identities, including transgressing taboo rules for women in every-day life and in genres like music and stand-up comedy routines.

The authors of this volume, many of them accomplished researchers in youth languages and other extra-normative language varieties on the continent, have interrogated not just the different contemporary issues that young people in Africa are speaking to, but also the innovative ways in which language is performed by different genders. The volume is a must read for all African language researchers and youth language enthusiasts everywhere.

Mokaya Bosire University of Oregon

1 Gender(ed) Dichotomies in Language, and Youth Usage in African Settings Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju (University of Ilorin, Nigeria) “Let us forget our differences.” (Nnamdi Azikiwe) “No, let us understand our differences.” (Ahmadu Bello)1

1. Introduction The gender perspective has not received the deserved level of attention in youth language studies, especially in African settings. Indeed, the continent so far lacks a volume that is focused exclusively on gender issues or gendering patterns in “African youth language” and “language practices.”2 The objective of this volume therefore is to attempt to begin to fill this yawning gap, through a book level concentration on the subject. In doing so, contributors to the volume direct their investigative gaze on an obvious yet sometimes contentious phenomenon, the notion of difference or dichotomy between the genders, and between their respective languages or communication patterns.

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Nnamdi Azikiwe, first indigenous Governor General of Nigeria, was a politician from the South eastern part of the country, while Ahmadu Bello, the first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria, was a politician from the North western part of the country (see Paden 1986, 3 for an elaboration of the quoted exchange above).

“Youth language” is generally regarded as language associated with young people, from adolescent years up on till early adulthood. The category “youth” is fairly fluid (Oloruntoba-Oju 2020, 4) – the United Nations has 18–24 years as the range, while the African Youth Charter of the African Union and other African regional groupings put the age range at 15–35 years (see also Adjeran and Atindogbe 2019 on some of the related arguments). However, the term “youth language” as used here has two senses: the generic sense of pertaining to the young or to youths in general, and the local sense as one of those languages that have developed within the context of urbanity and social stratification (Mc Laughlin 2009, 8), and whose names have become well-established over the years. Within the African continent, these youth languages include: Camfranglais in Cameroon, Indoubil in Congo, Lugha ya Mitaani in Tanzania, Luyaaye in Uganda, Nouchi in Ivory Coast, Sheng in Kenya, S’ncamtho in Zimbabwe, and Tsotsitaal in South Africa. On the other hand, the term “language practices” refers to forms of expression such as slang and “antilanguage” that are typical of, or recurrent in, established youth usage.

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There is a sense of conflict in this preoccupation, since, on the one hand, any notion of difference or dichotomy tends to echo that of gender binaries or a strict compartmentalization of genders in terms of sex and sexual categories (e.g., the man/woman-male/female binary, or the idea that “man” equals “male” and “woman” equals “female”), as well as the sexual (heterohomosexual) binary. Such binarization has long been discouraged on the grounds of the multiplicity and complexity of these categories, such as the existence of non-binarized (intersex; transsexual), and of homosexual, bisexual, pansexual or otherwise non-heterosexual individuals. Secondly, the idea of a strict dichotomy between the language of females and males, or other genders, has also been subject to considerable debate. Thirdly, the very idea of comparison tends to promote an exceptional, male-as-norm, femaleas-deviation, view and a possible denigration of the latter.

However, and perhaps ironically, youth language studies have generally been carried out precisely on the basis of a clear difference or dichotomy between female and male language and communication practices. This is partly due to the general finding that the established youth languages, and classic youth language practices (such as slang and antilanguage), are male oriented. In African settings, youth usage samples have been described variously as being “predominantly by male youth” (Kießling 2005), a “predominant feature of male communication” (Hollington and Nassenstein 2018, 10), in use “primarily by male youth, although lingua franca claims are being made for some of the varieties” (Hurst-Harosh and Erastus 2018, 3; emphasis added), “a domain specific, identity forming and context driven male dominated discourse form” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018, 198), or as representing “a male-dominated tendency” (Mensah 2016, 186).

Correspondingly, usages elicited from the male subjects are projected universally as “youth language,” which tends to foreclose or at least mask the nature and extent of female contribution to the phenomenon and heighten the sense of a gender dichotomy within the domain. This research orientation is not necessarily an African phenomenon, as it accords with worldwide practice in the field. In many western contexts, for example, knowledge about male youth had been generalized to all “young people” (Phoenix 1997). Not only have gender-slanted representations of “youth language” persisted in these contexts, but also that negative cultural comments against the use of “male forms” such as slang by female youth have been reported in the settings (Nortier 2019). The notion of difference or dichotomy between the genders and their language therefore persists,

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reinforcing the idea that gender dichotomies truly and continually exist. Do they, or are they simply gendered in our perception and in certain behaviors?

It should be noted straightaway that the authors in this volume acknowledge the diversity of sex and gender, and the right of individuals to adopt and proclaim sex or gender identities that appear suited to their individual psychological orientations. However, notwithstanding such identities, questions as to the existence or otherwise of gender dichotomies or of gender distinctions in the language of the different sexes continue to animate debates in Sociolinguistics, and in Sociology. From the outcome of various studies, it does seem the case that, at the very least, such dichotomies are part of the dynamics of gender and are frequently reinforced through gendered behavior. This brief introductory chapter attempts to link ongoing research on African youth language(s) and language practices to aspects of the debate on language and gender.

2. Gendering in language 2.1 Difference, Dichotomy, Subjectivity, Dynamism On a general level, the sociolinguistics of gender has been concerned with the manner in which gender as a social variable impacts language use in society, and especially the variations in language that occur either as a consequence of, or in relation to, gender. However, the reverse impact of language on gender has also been abundantly theorized (see Edley 2001, quite apart from the axiom that language does cognitively direct or redirect our views and our focuses). It is axiomatic that language not only reflects the state of gender in society but is also a gendering instrument in itself. Its impact on gender occurs through performative iteration, the dissemination of prejudices, reproduction of gender asymmetries and maintenance of the cultural status quo. Linguistic gendering describes the manner in which gender enters, or is manipulated into, social relations through language.

The relationship between language and gender had traditionally been studied, within Sociolinguistics, in terms of linguistic variation and of situationally or stylistically determined differences in language use of, or between, women and men. Mary Bucholtz, in her article, “From ‘Sex Differences’ to Gender Variation in Sociolinguistics” (2002), notes that such an orientation leads to a focus on “linguistic variables.” It has however become axiomatic over time that language is not just an instrument of communication but also a vector of identity, ideology and power. The fields of Critical Sociolinguistics, Conversation Analysis, Correlational

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Sociolinguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis, Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Stylistics and others have opened up lines of enquiry into the dissemination of power in discourse. Thus, the study of linguistic gendering demonstrates specific ways in which communities and individuals “do gender,” in the manner well elaborated by West and Zimmerman (1987), within specific contexts and domains, whether consciously or unconsciously; the sundry motivations for different performances of gender, as well as the various effects on gender relations.

The critical issue for this volume is to examine such differences, if they exist, and such motivations within the specific context of youth language in general, specific youth languages, and sundry youth language practices in Africa (see note 2 above on the relevant definitions).

The trajectory of attempts to codify the nature of gendering in language becomes germane in a discussion of the gender phenomenon in African youth communications. Of particular interest is the unravelling of causal or, at least, contributory links between language and gender within the domain of youth. Issues relating to socialization, ‘habituation,’ contextualization, life affordances, styles, and the self-motivated construction of identities are among regular fares in language and gender enquiry. Related theoretical perspectives have ranged across numerous disciplinary boundaries— feminism, linguistic anthropology, applied linguistics, especially sociolinguistics—and more. Central notions have included, initially, those of patriarchal power and gender imbalance (with the masculine gender domineering in the use of power forms of language, and the feminine gender employing apparently “weaker” or “submissive” forms), and, later, a postbinary focus on the diversity of social, gendered, sexual and crossover experiences (see Arber, Davidson and Ginn 2003; Cameron 1998, 2005; Coates 1993; Jespersen 2013 [1922]; Lakoff 1975; Mills 2012; Tannen 1996; West and Zimmerman 1987 on this trajectory). These perspectives, which I try to disarticulate below, also employ a variety of frameworks for exploring gender differences in language, including, for example, sociolinguistics (e.g., Lakoff 1975; Coates 1993), pragmatics (e.g., Cameron 2005), indexicality (Ochs 1992), intersectionality (e.g., Levon and Mendes 2015).

Explorations such as the above have elaborated language use by women and men either according to some hierarchical configuration or differentiated language and discourse norms between the genders. These approaches have been summarized in terms of what may be referred to as the “four Ds” (“DDDD”): deficit, dominance, difference and dynamic approaches (see Coates 1993). Both “deficit” and “dominance” suggest the evaluation of male speech

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as the linguistic norm in society, and female speech as a somewhat deficient and subordinated category; for example, lacking in syntactic complexity or being less well-formed (Jespersen 1922, 273). While these approaches are typically traced to Jespersen’s (1922) chapter titled “The Woman,” they also represent traditional conceptions in many societies with patriarchal organizational patterns. Within the deficit/dominant approach, aspects of conversation such as interruption and direct forms of expression are seen as signaling male dominance (Zimmerman and West 1975), while the preponderant use of indirect forms, hedges, excessive politeness, emotivity, and “empty adjectives” by women (Lakoff 1975) tend to signal deficit and subservience, according to this view. Difference, on the other hand, disavows any hierarchical relationship between female and male languages; only that, the two derive their languages from different socialization norms leading to different forms of expression. In 1990, Tannen (1993) introduced the dimension of “misunderstanding” in or between female and male talk on account of different talk patterns, such as the female “rapport” forms that apparently exhibit empathy and emotivity, as against male “report” forms that apparently exhibit competition and emotional indifference. These variations are not analyzed or interpreted as deficient or dominant either way, but simply as different. Instructively, however, the same expressions associated with “feminine usage” and regarded as paradigms of subservience above are held up within the difference paradigm as indices of difference in socialization resulting in different strategies of discourse. As Tannen later clarified, “all the strategies that have been taken by analysts as evidence of dominance can in some circumstances be instruments of affiliation” (Tannen 1993, 173). More recently, Bucholtz (2009, 4) observes, with regard to slangs, that “terms ideologically associated with one gender or the other may in fact be shared in practice” by both genders.

The critique of these two main approaches (deficit/dominance vs difference) has involved the theorization of an interface between both. These approaches may be seen as representing “reflexes of inequality” (Cameron 1998) on the one hand, and variation dynamics on the other. Each approach is invested with arguments that ironically expose their own weaknesses. For example, the difference approach ignores the political/ideological nuances involved in gender relations and the associated language(s), while the dominance approach ignores language representational dynamics other than ideology. The approach of dynamism, on the other hand, suggests that contextually relevant dynamics shape the specific conversational approaches of the different genders, and that people simply “do gender” based on

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contextual needs, affordances and related dynamics, rather than on intrinsic or essentialist sex-gender attributes. Eckert's (1989) “gender is not enough,” drew attention to other mediating variables such as age, class, ethnicity3 and sundry environmental factors. This dynamism also follows the established multifunctionality and potential ambiguity of linguistic strategies (Cameron 1998, 439), in which conversations and interpretations are based on the pragmatics of discourse or the assumptions that interlocutors make. A related term is “gendered subjectivity,” which again entails a movement away from the idea of innate and invariable identities (e.g., women/men– male/female) to a notion of sundry social exigencies that confer individual subjectivities on persons and groups (see Holloway 2014; Cott and Pleck 1979). Research in gendered subjectivity focuses on the “lived experiences” of women, rather than on apriori assumptions regarding structural or lingual differences between women and men. The former enables a more relevant probe into the manner in which gender contributes to the treatment of women, and also how women perceive the various meanings associated with womanhood (Cott and Pleck 1979, 9).

The sum of these latter approaches is therefore to avoid a binary appreciation of gender in general and that of language and gender in particular, in favor of the “diversity of gendered and sexual identities and practices” (Cameron 2005, 482). How these notions impact the trajectory of difference or dichotomy in gender studies has also been elaborated. With difference, Cameron continues, “research presupposes the existence of two internally homogenous groups, ‘men’ and ‘women’ and looks for differences between them,” while, with diversity “research assumes an array of possible gender identities or positions, inflecting or inflected by other dimensions of social identity [and] intra-group differences and inter-group similarities are as significant as differences between groups.” The notions of “context dependency” (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 1999; Cameron 1998, 2005), “relationality” (Cameron 1998) and “relativity” (Tannen 1993) can be employed in the service of both difference and diversity. The terms are, albeit in different ways,4 in keeping with the constructionist/postmodernist view that “identities are not fixed and stable attributes of individuals, but are 3

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The ethnicity factor is also important to the extent that there have been scholarly disputations regarding north-south dichotomies in regard to youth languages (see Kerswill 2010) and sexuality (see Arnfred 2004).

Tannen’s “relativity” was meant to speak to the multifunctionality of discourse strategies, since, as indicated in her words quoted above, the same forms, e.g., indirectness, can be employed to achieve either dominance or solidarity. Ultimately, therefore, the term could also be seen as signaling context-dependency.

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constructed in particular contexts through particular practices” (Cameron 2005, 492).

3. Does Dynamism Invalidate Notions of Difference or Dominance?

Linguistic asymmetries in the domain of sex and gender continue to appear in many relevant researches. Examples over time have included differences between male and female in politeness forms (e.g., Lakoff 1975), types and degrees of verbal aggression (Luther, Legg and Robert 2010), response patterns (whether minimal or maximal); listening orientation in terms of level of attentiveness (Tannen 1990); turn taking behavior (DeFrancisco 1991; Goodwin 1990), among others. Within the African setting, Mesthrie, Swann, Deumert and Leap (2009) found continued trends of dominance in the form of interruptions by males, and rapport forms, as well as the so-called submissive forms in the form of compliments, hedges and tag questions, by females. Kimani, Nyarigoti and Gatnigia (2018) also found a significant relationship between gender and language use in different domains, including a hundred percent differential in the use of the youth language, Sheng, by males compared to females within the sampled population.

Boakye (2007) found a greater level of vagueness in the language used by females within the sampled population. Elsewhere, and even within the new approaches to language and gender, Soni-Sinha (2010) found substantial differences in the manner in which women and men constitute their subjectivities within the workplace.

These findings suggest that the new approaches that emphasize diversity would not necessarily cancel out the reality of difference or dichotomy in the domain. The relationship between “difference” and “diversity” itself, from the semantic point of view, is one of mutual entailment and sometimes of synonymy,5 for which reason explanations of “diversity” invariably take a recourse to the notion of “difference,” or to cognate terms such as “varied” or “contrastive.” 6 It does seem a profound irony that discourse ‘against’ difference should be based precisely on the notion of diversity; that is, on a certain recognition of difference(s).

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“The words difference, divergence, and diversity are all nouns that indicate dissimilarity or variation, or a condition, state, or quality of not being alike, the same, or together” (The Britannica Dictionary. https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/differ ence-divergence-diversity).

See, for example, such referencing in Cameron’s (2005, 491) conclusion that: “Masculinities and femininities come in multiple varieties […] gender identities may be constituted less by the contrast with the other [author’s italics] gender and more by contrast with other versions of the same gender.” (Cameron 2005, 491; italics added).

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The main issue, from the postmodern perspective, is not whether certain differences exist between the sexes, since they obviously do, but whether, as Cameron (2005, 486) phrased it, there should be any ontological status attached to these differences or, put differently, in terms advanced by Judith Butler, whether related perceptions have any grounding in “brute facts of biology.” What is in issue therefore is the pre-discursive status of gender, whether gender flows autonomously from biological facts, or is only realized discursively and socially constructed phenomenon relating only to norms of behavior entrenched by patriarchal societies and the associated cultures. Although postmodernism would answer the former in the negative and ascribe all perceptions to societal constructs, attempts to separate language use from “brute facts of biology” tend to flounder when such attempts actually come in contact with “brute facts of biology.”

Sex and gender have long been organizing categories of society, and have inevitably influenced the assignment of roles and construction of values, based on observable differences. This has occurred in ancient societies long before any scientific evaluation or confirmation of biological and psychological (sex-gender) dimorphism. In other words, brute facts of biology led to what over time became a stereotypic assignment of societal tasks and functions in ancient societies; that is, the idea, given a cisgender orientation, that a dense muscularity should determine who chopped woods, went to war, or offered protection to the other,7 an ancient version of noblesse oblige, while fecundity determines who nurtured the young, tempered hostilities, etc.), with all the associated social and cultural values and gender biases. Still, further research continues to underscore a mean attribute between notions of biology and constructs of society. The notion of gender ultimately centers on “the premise that notions of men and women/male and female are sociocultural transformations of biological and social categories and processes” (Ochs 1992, 339).

Without doubt these ancient societies also deconstructed gender by acknowledging diversity within the domain; they did not deny the existence of female masculinities, or of trans- elements such as the androgynous,

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Amazonian/Agojie peculiarities, and sundry female masculinities, occupy a class of their own, and have often been cited in support of the fluidity of gender classifications.

On the other hand, the recognition of such categories has not prevented the parallel recognition of binaries within the different demographies, e.g., that individuals may perceive themselves as female or as male within heterosexual and homosexual groups alike (e.g., butch/femme within lesbian relations; see Oudshoorn 1995 on aspects of gender differentiation within homosexuality).

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masculine woman or feminine man 8 (for whom there are contemporary slang renditions such as tomboy, femboi), as well as non-heterosexual (LGBTQ) categories. In these cases, gender behavior would appear to not be in sync with observable body characteristics, triggering overt or covert resistance towards stereotype gender expectations on the part of the individuals concerned.

The fact remains that a lot of language issues directly from the body, whether in terms of the partonomic principle (body parts and compositionality), the associated partonomic onomasis (naming of the body parts), and related activities, functions, and perceptions. 9 It also triggers complex psychological inferencing and the associated meaning constructs or meaning extensions of the body. Whether particular bodies adhere to gender norms and expectations or not, brute facts regarding the body continue to figure in linguistic appropriations of the body within the society, and especially among the youths of respective societies.

The fact of language being intimately woven with the body has therefore become well established in linguistic theory. Of particular importance here is the work of Johnson and Lakoff, and others, on language and embodiment, especially the notion that “there is no severing, separation from, or bleaching out of the bodily dimensions of meaning. Mind is embodied, meaning is embodied, and thought is embodied in this most profound sense” (Johnson and Lakoff 2002, 249). Associated researches have over time provided evidence for “body-based meaning” (250). Work in neurology in particular has provided neural evidence for the notion of linguistic embodiment. Iconic linguistic items are “related to their meanings through physical resemblance” (Taub 2001, 8), while “embodiment fundamentally underlies human conceptualization” in general (Brenzinger and Kraska-Szlenk 2014, 2). Names relating body to behavioral characteristics were some of the earliest indications of the inseparability of language from the body (e.g., terms like “front,” “back” mimic anatomical characteristics; the “I” in English mimics the erect body, etc.). Cognitive metaphors deriving from the body (e.g., “artery” as a metaphor for critical 8

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In Yoruba, a Nigerian and African diaspora language, for example, the stock phrases obìnrin bi ọkùnrin (“a woman like a man”) and ọkùnrin bi obìnrin (“a man like a woman”).

For example, different vocabularies develop around different perceptions of gender, different sexual activities associated with different sexualities, etc. In another context, in the field of semiotics, the naming of an object or phenomenon is consequent on the phenomenon’s “aptitude to be named” (Barthes (1988[1968], 140) —as one thing or the other in line with its observed feature, characteristic or behavioral orientation.

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supply paths, from oceanic grain routes to battlefront ammunition lines, etc.), fall in the category of body-to-language meaning extensions; interesting expressions such as “look up to her/him” or “look down on her/him/you/them” also implicates body dynamics and spatial orientation in discourse.

Related to sex-gender linguistics, the meeting point between the linguistic axis of chain (syntactic) and axis of choice (lexical, semantic, and pragmatic) is inevitably mediated by brute biological facts regarding distinctive parts. Clearly, a lot of sex-differentiated language derives its vocabulary and usage from the body and associated experiences. For example, certain possessive expressions relating to gendered body parts (e.g., “my/her womb” or “my/his penis,”10 etc.) are sex exclusive and can hardly collocate across the sexes or make meaning outside of the appropriate biological frames of reference. Paralinguistic aspects such as pitch also seem to be biologically regulated—allowing of course for cases of intersex or transsexuality, as well as deliberate irony, symbolism, wordplay, or misrepresentation. In other words, the body itself creates a sex differentiated language ab initio. Bodies matter (Butler 1993), in this case linguistically to the extent that they lead to differentiation in verbal identification, expression of bodily experience and corresponding nuances of language (see, however, the rather difficult to sustain argument amplified by Zimman 2014, 5).11 Such direct, body-to-language, occurrences as highlighted above key consciously or unconsciously into analytical associations between the different genders and their languages. However, whether the language of females and males actually or partially “flows from the body,” beyond obvious anatomical references such as the above; in short, whether the body has anything to do with gender ontology, or is exclusively socially constructed, has also been a matter of debate as noted above. It does seem philosophically plausible that thoughts, ideas and experiences associated with body, with body characteristics, body capabilities, body lacks and desires would coalesce into expressions of femininity or masculinity. To start with, the gestural communication of femininity and masculinity flows inevitably from the body, and relates, more so within heterosexual relations, 10

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There is an obvious long list of related items (clitoris, cervix, pelvis, vagina vs sperm, penis, etc.) that need not be repeated here.

Zimman’s idealism-inspired argument is that female and male body parts, e.g., penis and vagina, are “not different (let alone opposite) body parts [but rather] external and internal versions of the same organ.” There is however no evidence cited for this argument, other than a reference to Greek mythology, and to the understandably late appearance of scientific or “technical” terms for these organs in medical history.

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to respective body characteristics of women and men (cf. the crotch grabbing, chest heaving, vs. butt wriggling of rappers/dancers, which are manifestly gendered communications of the respective sexualities deriving from differentiated body characteristics). It is certainly unimaginable that femininities or masculinities would not reflect in verbal communication at all. However, beyond philosophical or intuitive appraisals, neural studies also reveal stunning evidence that our thoughts about our bodies and about other bodies influence our language—for example: “part of the motor cortex connected to the hands is active not just in hand experience, but also in literal sentences about the hands” (Rohrer 2001, cited by Johnson and Lakoff 2002, 250).

A number of differences in discoursal facility between women and men have certainly been scientifically ascribed to cerebral hard wiring, such as women being better at communication skills (Baron-Cohen 2003), and episodic memory (Herlitz and Rehnman 2008), among others. Scientific findings relating behavioral sex differences to the “structural connectome” or structural formations in the brain have not been disputed (Tunç et al.

2016).

In addition, various “vignettes” or scenarios provided in language and gender studies of different ideological hues tend to wittingly or unwittingly accentuate the notion of language-consequential difference between the sexes. Perhaps the most celebrated case was that of the transgender Agnes, which was popularized in the study by Harold Garfinkel (1967), and is often held up as the locus classicus of the role of socialization in gendering and in the associated languages (e.g., Goffman 1977; West and Zimmerman 1987).

Attempting to transit from being a man to being a woman, Agnes Torres discovered that she needed medical affordances such as the use of estrogen pills, and later surgery, to acquire female body characteristics. She also needed to learn a new language and acquire a whole new range of different discourse behaviors appropriate to femininity. Her success in this regard would therefore appear to be conclusive evidence that gendered linguistic behavior does not flow naturally from the body but is only discursive, and a product of socialization. However, Agnes did need to change her body parameters from man to woman to attune with her perceived feminine (or female) orientation; she eventually underwent a transsexual surgery to “release” her “trapped” femininity from the masculine body.

Correspondingly, Agnes also needed a special effort to unlearn the male language that flowed naturally from the male body (c.f., “my penis” vs “my

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vagina”12), then learn the language of femininity, including pitch levels, and sundry feminine mannerisms that her new, not-so-natural body, did not appear to automatically entitle her to.13 Garfinkel introduced a number of noticeable caveats in his description of Agnes’s language: “Her voice, pitched at an alto level, was soft, and her delivery had the occasional lisp similar to that affected by feminine-appearing male homosexuals. Her manner was appropriately feminine with a slight awkwardness that is typical of middle adolescence” (60; emphasis added). The conclusion seems inevitable that even if being biologically woman does not or cannot tell the entire story of “feminine” language, it certainly has something to do with it.

Another scenario concerns the case of call center operators (Cameron 2000; Hultgren 2008), an industry in which linguistic femininity seems to be a distinctive requirement. Aspects of this include “the ability to project certain kinds of affect using intonation and voice quality, such as enthusiasm for the task in hand, interest in the caller and sympathy for his or her problems […] to suppress or conceal negative feelings like anger and boredom” (Cameron 2005, 500). That the men who opt to work within this industry were expected to “feminize themselves in these respects” would seem to reinforce the constructionist view that so called norms of speech, including gendered speech, are a product of social engineering, with corresponding, context-dependent shifts in linguistic values. Thus, today’s managers are no longer expected to be authority figures but team players, complete with behavioral values traditionally regarded as feminine, such as empathy, facilitation, negotiation and the like. In the case of call center operators in the research reported above, the few male workers in the industry did not necessarily orient themselves to the feminine “emotional labor” required of the industry (smiling, showing empathy, etc.); still, they achieved positive results.

This phenomenon was also investigated by Hultgren (2008), with the finding that, overall, “female agents adhere more to the rules [of femininity] than their male colleagues” (146). The study shows that “women on the average are more attuned than their male counterparts to the interpersonal, or relational, level of talk; they are better at creating rapport, showing empathy, and providing customer care in general” (147-148; her bolding).

12 13

The appropriate term within the context of transsexual/transgender is “neovagina.”

A similar discomfiture has been observed in respect of female to male transgenders who have to rigorously memorize the names of intimate body parts in order to linguistically match their now enstranged bodies from their new sex-gender identities (Zimman 2014).

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Despite this emphatic finding, Hultgren remained somewhat hesitant to locate the differential linguistic binary between the female and male agents categorically as a consequence of either sex or gender. One of the options that she considers is that perhaps the male agents were only consciously avoiding expressions of femininity as “a way of asserting their masculinity.” Again, while not categorically rejecting this option, Hultgren proposes a second possible reason for the differential male behavior: “it is not so much whether the rule in question is perceived by the male agent as being at odds with their linguistic construction of masculinity, but rather a lesser degree of attentiveness by male agents to rules per se” (149; her emphasis). However, neither of these options seems to consider the awkward implication of a similar explanation for the linguistic behavior of the female agents; that is, could the female agents then be said to be consciously adhering to the call center rules only as a way of avoiding masculinity and in order to assert their femininity? Or, the second option: could it be that the female agents are adhering to the rules, due to a higher degree of attentiveness to rules, rather than being more naturally inclined towards feminine linguistic behavior? It does seem needlessly circular to say that the linguistic tendency of males observed in the studies is not because they are male but because they want to avoid being female, or that the males in the studies are reluctant to adhere to rules that entail adherence to femininity, again not because they are male, but because they have a tendency to not adhere to rules. The two options merely beg the question. They also lead to an irony in which striving to avoid one binary (regarding linguistic behavior) simply leads to the creation of another binary regarding adherence to rules.

What the uncertainties expressed by the vignettes above suggest, in my view, is that the “fear” of binaries should not mean the end of related enquiries, nor should a priori assumptions about gender foreclose the possibility of novel encounters or new discoveries. This is not only because scientific enquiry is a continuous process that does not brook foreclosures, but also because, beyond abstract theorizations, difference or dichotomy is a continued reality and part of the lived of experience of real-life females and males. Related enquiries, should therefore, continue and not be foreclosed.

Interestingly, Hultgren (2008, 142), in a thesis incidentally supervised by Deborah Cameron, also keenly observes that “the dichotomous views of gender” continue to flourish, [posing] a challenge to current theories of language and gender […].” She then advises, correctly in my view, that: “Rather than ignoring or denying the existence of circulating gender stereotypes

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from a political standpoint […] researchers need to investigate them (and possibly refute them) empirically” (emphasis added; See also Hultgren 2005).

This is not to suggest that the empiricism of this task would always be cut and dried, or clearcut. Added to the theoretical complexities highlighted above is the problem of “knowability” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2019), or “nonexclusivity” (Ochs 1992), in which case, it is not always possible to “confidently assert” (Soames 2002) information tying specific speakers to specific features of language. The caveat is always to be inserted, therefore, that linguistic features alone cannot account for the concepts of male or female. As again noted by Ochs (1992, 342), the analytical process would often rely on a complex of “probabilistic” and “constitutive” networks, between language, on the one hand, and biological or social fact on the other.

4. African Youth Language at the Intersection of Gender The influence of language in youth and gender is bound up in its role in the construction, or co-construction, of the two identities. So co-construed, language use within the domain is appraised along the lines of its intersection with youth and with gender, that is to say, the manner in language is drawn upon to construct the category youth plus male, or youth plus female. African youth expressions in general serves indexical functions in terms of various parameters of identity, such as the following:  “Youthness”/self/gender/ethnicity/culture)  Ideology /“stances”: o of ‘becoming’ o of engagement in  politics  contestation of social and cultural praxis  internationalism – “glocality”  of rupture and change  of superlative agency (“can do”)  Hierarchicalness (peer & gendered)  Social practice What the above parameters indicate is that youth identity is primarily an identity of self, in terms of youthness, and in terms of the gendered self, as female or male, and the ethnic and cultural self, for example, as African, along with the flaunting of this self, including representations of north-south dichotomy. Along with youthness comes a ritual of coming into oneself, or what van Dijk et al (2011) describes as “becoming,” and a sense of superlative

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agency, the “can do” or can move mountains mentality in relation to life’s challenges. Other forms of identity may relate to ideology, social attitudes, and what Ochs (1992, 342-343) referred to as “stances” in the course of conversations. These would include affective stances (hesitancy, expressions of coarseness or delicacy), evaluative (praise, criticism, recontextualization), or epistemic stances (expression of knowledge attributes). A subversive attitude towards established order may result in a cascade of ruptures in the domain of fashion or language, hence an established pattern of “antilanguages” (Halliday 1978) in relation to language. A “hierarchical swagger” is also prominent in the domain of youth, which comes from a sense of higher ranking in relation to peers and to the other gender, and which manifests in demeanor, carriage and language. Youth identity may also manifest in patterns of engagement, in politics, social and cultural contestations, internationalism (for example, global/local (“glocal”) linguistic representations).

The current volume investigates what would appear to be gender dichotomies in youth language usage, within the African context. The chapters in the volume share a sociological and linguistic interest in discovering to what extent such gendering persists within the examined contexts and “communities of practice,” and if the related practices can be generalized beyond the individual communities. The volume asks: what is the nature of linguistic gendering amongst African youths in various domains of expression, including internet domains, and in sundry media?

What are the variables involved; for example, how much of this gendering may be due to sex or gender or to other variables? Since the emergence of youth languages is often linked to urbanity and social stratification (Mc Laughlin 2009, 8), what roles do urbanity, rurality or other, non-spatial, dynamics play in the gendering process? How does gender continue to factor into the power play between the sexes in the examined domains? What new expressions emerge in the process of gendering within the context of African youth language? Are there strict gender dichotomies or are they simply gendered in our perception and in sundry behaviors?

Gendering being a feature of linguistic usage, the various chapters attempt to demonstrate specific ways in which youths “do gender” through language in specific contexts and domains, and what appear to be the motivations for different performatives of gender within those contexts. It should be noted that most of the enquiry has been carried out within the context of heterosexual relations; however, two chapters also discuss the language problem in homosexuality related discourses.

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In what follows, I introduce the chapters in this volume under the following headings:  Continuities in Difference, Dichotomy, Dominance in African Youth Language and Language Practices  Gendered Harassment: The Weaponization of Difference  Dynamism, Typicality and Complementarity  Gender and Female Sexuality: The gendered body in African Youth Language and Language Practices

4.1 Continuities of Difference, Dichotomy, Dominance The continued dichotomous orientation of African youth language and language practices occupies the attention of many contributors in the volume, with examples drawn from different parts of the continent. Most of the chapters in the volume reveal binaries along gender lines, acknowledging that the various youth languages on the continent, such as Camfranglais in Cameroon, Lugha ya Mitaani in Tanzania, Luyaaye in Uganda, Sheng in Kenya, S’ncamtho in Zimbabwe and Tsotsitaal in South Africa, as well as the numerous established youth language practices such as slanging, antilanguage and sundry linguistic vulgarities, along with the topoi of sex, music, money, etc., are predominantly male youth domains.

Comfort Oben Ojongnkpot’s chapter on Camfranglais from Cameroon reveals binaries along gender lines, “not only with male youths being more numerically involved than the female in the use of Camfranglais, but also in terms of morpho-syntactic differences in their usages.” Titled “Gender Binaries in African Youth Language: The Case of Camfranglais.”

As Kießling (2005) notes, Camfranglais was spoken “predominantly by male youths.” Ojongnkpot’s chapter examines some of the manifestations of gender in the language as a representative African Youth Language.

Amongst these are slangs, various grammatical forms of language (including intensifiers and modal verbs), sundry discourse forms and speech styles.

Ojongnkpot also finds dichotomies in levels of competence, discourse sustainability or ability to sustain discussion in Camfranglais. Other novel findings in the area include: that girls do not, or hardly, speak Camfranglais in exclusive girl-gatherings, and they only use it minimally when in the company of boys. The study concludes that gender plays an important role in the language patterns of Camfranglais users in the urban centers and that the study has implications for language development.

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It is interesting that in another chapter on Camfranglais in this volume, Elizabeth Abang, whose research is within the domain of music, also finds that males do use Camfranglais more, but does not find the difference to be significant; however, Abang’s research involves different dynamics, as I will later elaborate.

Sambulo Ndlovu’s continued research into S’ncamtho in Zimbabwe, in this volume, also makes significant findings relating to gender dichotomies in youth language usage in the country. Also, the chapter delves into urbanrural dichotomies. It engages Rogers’ (2003) innovation-decision process to establish that innovations from urban areas are presumably carried to rural areas where they are first adopted by male youth and that “rural areas are the typical majority and late adopters in the adoption of S’ncamtho innovations.” The global totals indicate that location, age, and sex affect the innovation and spread of youth language innovations. While male youth are the innovators and early adopters, “male adults are the majority adopters, and female adults are generally the late adopters [of] S’ncamtho linguistic innovation” along the innovation-decision process. The reason for late or non-adoption of S’ncamtho by females is laid on societal judgments that frown at females “for the use of coarse language or engagement in topics such as sex, drugs,” among others. Ndlovu’s analysis of the intersection between urbanity-rurality, gender and language is important, as it elaborates on the spatial variable and its role in the potential degendering of youth language practices. Maribe and Brookes (2014, 2002, also cited by Ndlovu) had observed the input of the sexuality variable, noting that “lesbian women sometimes join male street-corner groups and engage with the boys.” In the process, they also deploy some of the Tsotsitaal lexicon to demonstrate a streetwise township identity. Ndlovu however notes that, in the case of Zimbabwe, the environment for women participation in street life is more restrictive, which also affects their level of familiarity with S’ncamtho.

The chapter by T. Oloruntoba-Oju and O. Oloruntoba-Oju examines the performance of gender in language at various levels. Discourse forms that have been closely associated with youth language, are examined at the level of lexis (slang, vulgarization, swear words, abuse, relexicalization); syntax (pidginization, code-mixing, subversive syntax, graphetics, abbreviation, spelling) and rhetoric (paroemic routines—idioms, proverbs, aphorisms; cryptic usage, liturgical forms). Focused on a mixed gender chat room comprising university undergraduates, the chapter concludes, based on this investigation, that African youth language expressions can generally be described in terms of diverse or mixed gender practices, but that the

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preponderance of use of established youth antilanguages lies with the male factor, while a number of sub-categories, including male-gaze-driven “female partonomic onomasis,” remain an almost exclusive male practice.

Following the same trajectory of gender dichotomies, two well established youth languages in South Africa and Kenya, Tsotsitaal and Sheng respectively, provide data that male youths, especially, embrace lifestyle choices and youth lingo that enable them to assume the identity of kleva and smarta, respectively, which in turn enables them to maintain street level authenticity and credibility to navigate risky contexts. As elaborated in the chapter by Ellen Hurst-Harosh and Fridah Kanana Erastus, these epithets represent “the urban dweller who speaks Tsotsitaal and Sheng respectively, and understands the urban environment well enough to be financially viable (often through ‘hustling’), and to not be easily intimidated.” While “women also utilize streetwise metapragmatic stereotypes through linguistic performances” (emphasis added), the iconic kleva and smarta image remains predominantly male.

4.2 Gendered Harassment: The Weaponization of Sex-Gender Differences In this volume, Uta Reuster-Jahn reports the verbal sexual harassment of adolescent girls and young women by groups of male youths in public urban spaces in Lugha ya Mitaani (LyM), a male dominated urban youth language in Tanzania. This is “a locally unnamed practice that reinforces gender stereotypes and objectifies the women.” The participants in the study are fairly evenly divided between those with a rural background (5), township background (5) and city background (3). However, they all lived in the city at the time fo the research and urbanity may have largely neutralised aspects of their backgrouns. Nonetheless, many of the expressions used are obviously dichotomized relative to the expressions by women, to the extent that they are mostly male authored and are weaponized against women.

Indeed, Reuster-Jahn definitely tags the expressions a form of harassment akin to western type catcalling. Mawere & Moyo (2019, 106) had opined that “harassment of women has been and is still a common feature throughout the world” and especially among youths, their data being drawn from undergraduates in Zimbabwe. However, in the specific case of LyM researched by Reuster-Jahn, the expressions are locally tagged “euphemisms,” since the language provides some kind of license for the use of uncouth expressions that are otherwise frowned at in mainstream Swahili.

Male youth fixation on female-male anatomical differences is also prominent

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in the language. In this contribution to research into linguistic gendering in African Youth Languages, Reuster-Jahn brings out a private-public dichotomy in the expressions by male and female youth. Parallel expressions by women within LyM tend to be expressed in private and also tend to be topically differentiated and stereotypically feminized.

From Tanzania to Uganda: Sauda Namyalo traces the trajectory of the weaponization of sex-gender differences and the resultant dichotomy in language use between the sexes from traditional culture and the corresponding community of practice to contemporary usages in the youth language, Luyaaye, in Uganda. The continuity is clearly established in the deployment of descriptive vocabulary that is derogatory of women in Luyaaye. “The absence of words to describe a man with features similar to those of a woman is a clear indication that there is a skewed level of vocabulary usage against the female gender. This vocabulary usage reflects similarly skewed cultural expressions.” The chapter not only establishes the linguistic resources that speakers of Luyaaye use to portray women as inferior and to promote male superiority or dominance of men, but also examines the flipside of this dichotomy of female representations in the language. Here, Namyalo presents an irony, which is the manner in which female speakers of Luyaaye actually amplify male-authored gendered discourses to their own detriment. While this is not a new phenomenon (Githinji 2008; Maribe and Brookes 2014; Rudwick 2013 and others had explored how the appropriation of youth languages have sometimes conformed to traditional gender order and practices), a novel development is how Ugandan women appropriate the negative discourses and reinterprete them in a positive light. This euphemisation style has not been discussed in African Youth Language research prior to now, and it deserves investigation in other AYLs. The issue with sex and gender is not so much with difference per se as with the weaponization of sex-gender difference, and especially against the female gender.14 Many of the ways in which languages literally weaponizes sex-gender differences or in which communities weaponize language over 14The term “especially” is used advisedly here, since boys and men also sometimes fall

victim. Gender role bias tied to body characteristics is often so strong that words that are not marked for gender evoke gender perceptions whether rightly or wrongly. For example, while words like “nurse,” “flight attendant,” “midwife,” and even “prostitute” evoke the perception of female, even though there are male counterparts, words like “soldier,” “spy,” “terrorist,” “robber,” “killer,” “prisoner,” etc. also evoke the perception of male even though there are female counterparts.

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these differences, have been identified in the literature. Perhaps the most visible of these is the generic use of male forms, commonly the use of the male pronouns “he” (in English) as a universal for all genders and for humankind, which creates a dominance configuration and a potential weapon in the denigration of females. Allied to this are those syntactic ordering modalities that tend to privilege maleness (“he or she,” “men and women,” rather than “she or he,” “women and men”), which feminist advocacy for gender free replacements (“they”/“them”/“their” etc.) seeks to remedy. Weaponization of difference also takes the form deployment of male terms as “metaphors of value” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2009, 213) and in sundry connotations of hierarchy in many languages. It is worth noting here that the prominence of generic pronouns in global languages has apparently misled many scholars, including African scholars (cf. Oyewumi 2000; Yusuf 1989, 2002) into the assumption that languages in which gender pronouns are absent are thereby “genderless” or “gender neutral” and are able to avoid the negative consequences of linguistic gendering. Contrary views have however been expressed (Bakare-Yusuf 2004; Oloruntoba-Oju 2009).

Specifically, it has been demonstrated that in some of the cited languages, such as Yoruba, many male terms other than pronouns are used generically, especially as leadership terms (Oloruntoba-Oju 2009, 216, 219-222). In addition to such occurrences, lexical gender (Hellinger and Bußmann 2001) is also employed to weaponize sex-gender difference in a variety of ways.

Examples within the Nigerian context include “gendered lexical specification” such as “lady mechanic,” “female doctor” or “woman police” which are not gender-specified for men. The reverse also occurs when men are in roles that tend to violate stereotypic gender role expectations (e.g., “male baby-sitter,” “male midwife”; “family man”).

The majority of weaponized expressions in youth language are related to the female body. While hundreds of metaphors, if not thousands, derive from the body generally. the female body has proved particularly more susceptible to complex metaphoric appropriations, by virtue of its partonomic conspicuity and functional multiplicity, often much more than the male’s. Kate Millet in Sexual Politics (1970) had keenly observed that the female body could hardly escape a heightened state of social and sexual inscription, much more than the male. This has been a common thread in feminist writings, and more so in feminist postulations on the body and its performance in discourse (Butler 1990, 1993). Common manifestations of heightened and inscriptions of the female body include the discursive yoking of multiple female partonomic functions in gendered metaphors and sundry

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expressions—for example the yoking of the parturitional or lactational and erotic aspects of respective body parts, which would only apply to the female. 15 Performative “citations in which the [lexis] ‘woman’ [and associated lexemes] are placed in unflattering or deprecating socio-linguistic environments” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2009, 228) are an all-too-common form of weaponizing sex-gender differences. Formulaic or frozen language forms, such as proverbs, aphorisms or pithy sayings in various languages are replete with such weaponization.

In this regard, female and male body differences seem to function as youth language affordance—since it plays very much into male youth fantasies and erupts in sometimes uncouth language about the body, especially the buttocks. It also leads to the multiplicity of what may be called “female partonyms” or names for female body network including the intimate regions. Uta Reuster-Jahn, in this volume, points out, citing relevant literature, that “the semantic domain of ‘buttocks’ is lexically more elaborated than any other part of the female body” (see Reuster-Jahn and Kießling 2006). This assessment syncs well with the general assumption, supported by scientific findings, that response to visual stimuli is dichotomized along the lines of gender. Men respond more strongly to visual stimuli, especially sexual stimuli (Rupp and Wallen 2008). As noted earlier, T. Oloruntoba-Oju and O. Oloruntoba-Oju in this volume also observe male youth fascination with specific regions of the female anatomy, as shown in their current data from mixed-gender chatrooms. The language is accordingly dichotomized in terms of male youth assignment of fanciful and sometimes derogatory “partonyms” to the female body. Makoni (2015) had also concentrated on the differentiated labeling of the genitalia in a Southern African context, noting that males metaphorically associate female genitalia with possession, while females draw on Africana womanism values in their own labeling of female genitalia.

4.3 Dynamism, Typicality and Complementarity A pushback against the stereotypic representations of youth language, as being exclusively male, has resulted in focused studies in western settings with an objective to elicit female contribution to youth language (for example 15A “joke” frequently told regarding the unfair “contest” between infants and adult males

for female breast milk, and the apparent powerlessness of the female to firmly decide for one or the other, is an example of such expressions. This is not always a joke, of course (see https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/28/shecant-say-no-the-men-who-take-breast-milk-from-babies).

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Huffaker and Calvert 2005; Goodwin and Kyratzis 2014, among others). Such a pushback is also noticeable in African settings, and this has taken the form of data representations in which women also employ street slangs and other forms of usage that are predominantly associated with young men (e.g., Githinji 2008; Rudwick, Nkomo & Shange, cited in Hurst-Harosh 2019; Mensah 2016, among others). This theme is taken up in varying degrees by some chapters in this volume, in an effort towards a dynamic representation. particularly Rudd and Erastus, Abang, Hurst-Harosh and Erastus). As noted earlier, other chapters had also drawn attention to the occasional participation of women in the employment of youth languages or street argots within specific contexts, thus allowing for a context-dependent or relational view of the relevant data.

The theme of the subversion of conventional gender discourses is specifically taken up in a focused manner by Phillip Rudd and Fridah Kanana Erastus in their chapter titled, “Hustling Vibaya: Femininities and the Modern Kenya Woman.” The chapter discusses the phenomenon of women “hustlers” in Kenya who assume subject positions, thereby overturning the “common sense of a culture” and demonstrating that women “can seize agency to enact, contest, and reformulate hegemonic repertoires.” Paradigms of femininity and gender role stereotypes are employed as gendered repertoires and as analytical parameters, including: “woman as natural child bearer/rearer,” “mother as homemaker,” “woman of difference.” Counter categories by which the modern Kenyan woman seeks to repulse hegemonic categories include the description of the modern women as anayehustle (one who hustles), and anayecall the shots, who are often being driven in “Maybachs.” The manifestations of the various paradigms are encountered as “linguistic traces” in sundry extracts by the female participants. However, the authors acknowledge the point that this analysis is not without limitation. Firstly, the data relates only to heterosexual women and did not obtain data from nonheterosexual women. Secondly, the conversations are purposefully moderated, with the introduction of specific topics. The choice of topics speaks to an awareness of gender dichotomies in discourse, and to the continued role of gender role stereotypes. The sequences are therefore unlike naturally occurring conversations. Still, the participants challenge existing gender hegemonies by drawing on the identity of the woman entrepreneur or “hustling vibaya.” The conversations bear linguistic traces that demonstrate a potential stride towards dynamism in the gender experience in general, and in youth language practices in particular.

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As noted earlier, Ellen Hurst-Harosh and Fridah Kanana Erastus also examine youth language from the perspective of indexicality. With regard to gender, the authors observe that “women also utilize streetwise metapragmatic stereotypes through linguistic performances within typically male contexts” (emphasis added). They also note a couple of caveats to this inclusion of female participation in a typical male domain. For example, the use of typical male identities by women on the streets seems accentuated amongst specific sexuality demographics (e.g., lesbians); secondly, the iconic image within Tsotsitaal is still that of the streetwise young male hustler, and female users are often denigrated as “manly” or “tomboyish.” Nonetheless, Hurst-Harosh and Erastus make the point here that this image is sometimes utilized by women for streetwise authenticity, which again draws attention to the potential dynamism in youth language usage.

The notion of complementarity is employed in the chapter by Elizabeth Abang, even though the author does not use this term. Titled “Gender Dynamics in Camfranglais: A Study of Female and Male Cameroonian Musicians” the chapter notes that the use of Camfranglais in Cameroon in general and in Cameroonian music in particular was originally identified as “a male discourse terrain in which female linguistic representation appears largely muted.” However, female artists eventually “took the baton.” This deliberate vocabulary invokes the image of a relay race, with female and male musician apparently in partnership in the deployment of Camfranglais in music. The article also examines the frequency of Camfranglais insertions in music by female and the male artists and the associated contexts. Results showed no great or significant difference between the Camfranglais used in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that used in the music of Cameroonian male musicians.

Elizabeth Abang’s chapter presents a cross between dichotomy and dynamism. There is “some dichotomy […] though not much,” the author states. The choice of music for the study of Camfraglais in this chapter is informed by the fact that the domain of music is a variety of popular culture, with “abundant samples of youth language expressions” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018, 185). More significantly, music and virtual space—internet and the social media—have provided affordance for the expression of youth identities by females, away from normative strictures that they face directly in real-life settings. “Digital adoption offers women, and girls in particular, opportunities to overcome hurdles they may face in the physical world” (OECD 2018). Furthermore, “digital access can empower women and girls,

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help expand their sense of self in the world, increase civic engagement, and raise awareness of their rights.” The dynamics here suggests the contextdependency of Camfranglais usage especially by the female musicians.

Toyin Olasumbo Kolawole examines the “doing of identity” in the African Diaspora in New Zealand. The chapter reveals a familiar trajectory of engagement with traditional gender stereotypes from home (in this case, Africa). The author observes how prevailing discourses of gendered cultural norms of roles and expectations of behaviors continue to frame the experiences and metapragmatic linguistic practices of Black African women in the diaspora. Also examined is the language of the women as they negotiate shifting roles and the emerging contradictions in their enactment of gendered norms. Their identity doing is fluid and context-dependent to the extent that they employ language that is sometimes acquiescent, conforming to feminine stereotypes, sometimes defiant. The chapter exposes how the field of discourse(s) that a participant inhabits would influence what she can say, do, or intend, in relationships. The chapter also touches on the socialization process through language. “While, from a young age, females are made to perform ‘all’ the house chores, males are dissuaded in a language (i.e.: ‘probably,’ ‘maybe’), which the boys quickly realize as a license for exemption,” Kolawole adds.

4.4 Gender and Female Sexuality: The sensuous body in African Youth Language and Language Practices Perhaps no area is more representative of gender dichotomies in language than in the area of body and the erotic, a subject that feministic writing has theorized extensively. Within French feminism in the 70s the concept of l’ecriture feminine or “women’s writing,” as well as la parler femme (“womanspeak”) was prominent. This writing was theorized as flowing from the body. In Julia Kristeva terms, female language is more rhythmical and less, unlike male language, symbolic. This Francophonic approach echoes the notion of difference highlighted in Anglophone criticism, save for the emphasis here on language and body relations. As I will elaborate later, other French feminists such as Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray extend this language and body discourse to the core area of female sexuality, a prominent topos in youth language discourses.16 16

Youth have developed “a specialized language to talk about sex and sexuality and this language has become part of the daily discourse” (Selikow 2004, 102); “Youth topoi” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018, 187-190), include the “mix of love, sex, romance, money and

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This concept of ecriture feminine and especially the link with body experiences has been critiqued in postfeminist analysis, as encouraging essentialization and the related objectification of the female body that feminism struggles against. However, continued enquiries into sexual talk seem to affirm the assertion by Irigaray (1981) that female sexual language is complex or “more diffusive” because of the apparent multiplicity of potential erogenous zones within the female body complex. Presumably, this multiplicity explodes in a feminized and effusive language of the erotic, a sort of: “Out of the abundance of pleasure the woman speaks.”

4.4.1 Language of the Erotic among Youths Eyo Mensah, Romanus Aboh and Lucy Ushuple, in their chapter in this volume, titled “‘Baby, I’m Coming’ …” report research into the language of orgasm from the female youth perspective. Due to the closeted nature of human coition, the study relied on semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with the help of female assistants. Through this process, the researchers were able to obtain a stupendous amount of information on what is otherwise a taboo subject. The research indicates among other things how bodily experience contributes to the linguistic representation of sexual pleasure. In sync with earlier representations in the foregoing, it indicates how language also flows from the body in this domain. However, some of the orgasm experiences are also culturally denominated; for example, there is the inverse “correlation of orgasm with female genital mutilation/cutting,” which is also a factor in the “locally constitutive language of orgasm.”The cultural trajectory also relates to the rural-urban divide which the authors find to be significant in female realisation and articulation of orgasm. Participants in the urban setting who were not circumcised tended to have a higher sexual satisfaction and orgasmic expression than participants in the rural areas who were circumcised. The rural experience is tied up with the cultural incidence of genital mutilation in the rural areas, which tends to disrupt the flow of sexual sensation and the corresponding lingual expression. This chapter by Mensah, Aboh and Ushuple is one of the more recent attempts to bring orgasm out of the closet, as it were, thereby plugging the gap in knowledge of the phenomenon from the perspective of language. The study did not, however, delve directly into the area of difference or dichotomy between female and male language in sometimes crime, being quintessential youth concerns that contextually generate “youth language.”

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this domain. In earlier research elsewhere, Crawford, Kippax and Waldby (1994) discussed female and male sex talk within the context of intersubjectivity and power, and observed a passive/active dichotomy in women and men’s sex talks. Within the African context, O. Oloruntoba-Oju and T. Oloruntoba-Oju (2013) elicited sexuality trends in Nigerian literature and observed that female sexuality in the African context tends to be represented in terms of an “inverse signification” or mirror image of male sexuality.

4.4.2 Coilect T. Oloruntoba-Oju (2011, 2013) had also discussed the language of pleasure in the domain of sexuality within the African context. The articles respectively drew examples from a “community of texts,” including oral and published Nigerian literature and aspects of language and culture. They brought together related expressions under the term, coilect, used to refer to linguistic and paralinguistic expressions conveying “sexual desire, coition and related acts” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2011, 8). In dividing coilectal expressions into pre-coilect, concurrent and post-coilect phases, Oloruntoba-Oju noted a gendered dichotomy especially in the concurrent phase, where male coilect is typically mute or paralinguistic, while female coilect tends to be lexicalized, hyperparalinguistic, and syntactically effusive. Oloruntoba-Oju also distinguised the languages in terms of specific linguistic elements and speech acts. These include, for example, the occurrence of imperatives or directives, acclamation and declamation, almost exclusively in female concurrent coilect. Terms that reference body orientation and positioning, as well as terms that signal passivity and receptivity, equally belong exclusively to female coilect, especially within heterosexuality. The tag, “Baby I’m coming,” employed by Mensah, Aboh and Ushuple, therefore signals, in Oloruntoba-Oju’s terminology, the lexification of coition. This verbal expression is a form of “coital peak annunciation”; it occurs in the concurrent phase of coition, and is exclusive to female erotic lexicon.

Here again, it would seem axiomatic that body relations and body orientation manifest in the sex and gender differentiated languages of the erotic; that is, the totality of body and being, of lived experiences and associated perceptions, cumulate in the gendered and dichotomized language of coition. The language of the erotic is therefore one of those areas that not only manifest a gender dichotomy in language use, but also illustrate the difficulty of separating body dynamics from gender orientation or expression.

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4.4.3 Same-Sex Representations Data on the language of same-sex sexuality is relatively scanty within the African context. However, the dynamics of gender explored in the volume also includes representations from queer, non-mainstream, sexualities.

Paul Onanuga and Josef Schmied, in their chapter titled “Intersecting Youth Digital Practices and Homosexuality: Identity Construction, Ideological Framing and Decolonisation in Homosexuality Narratives on Nigerian Twitter,” report their findings on alternative sexuality expressions on contemporary digital technologies and social media platforms. These outlets have ruptured conservative attitudes towards the topic of sex and sexuality, and also afforded Africans much broader and open discourses on language and identity issues. Same sex topics are rather taboo topics in the Nigerian environment, more so because of legislation that criminalises samesex acts or advocacies. However digital media has proved to be a technological affordance for channeling same-sex desires and discourses, as Ferreira et al. (2021) and Ortiz et al. (2019) had also noted. Onanuga and Schmied discuss their findings within the context of what they call “performative gender fluidity which is practiced in many African societies,” which also reflects in the language. Employing approaches within Corpus Linguistics and Sociolinguistics, the authors examine the manner in which language contributes to identity and ideological formations within the context of homosexuality. Although the tweeters do not identify their genders, the use orientation identified by the authors suggests that they are mostly male.

Rasaq Ajadi’s stylistics study reveals how queer sexualities are masked as having no representation in the Nigerian indigenous languages, at least in the sampled Tweets. Homosexuality is othered as a Western imposition on traditionally inclined African sexualities. Although this chapter refers to a same-sex phenomenon, still it presents a masculinized ethos in the form of cyber-bullying of homosexuals on the part of Twitters. The discourse is weaponized in this regard. It is also dichotomized. The anonymity of many Tweets means that recourse is made to stereotypic ideas of masculine discourses to come to a proper evaluation of a possible dichotomy amongst Twitter respondents to the phenomenon. However, among the sex-gender identified homophobes, female homophobes tend to post a language of lamentation and regret, while male homophobes tend to be frontally condemning in their language.

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5. Conclusion In the foregoing, I have tried to relate aspects of gender in African youth language and language practices to the general debate on language, gender, and related ontologies. Various paradigms identified in language and gender scholarship, especially difference/dichotomy, and dynamism, continue to reflect in African youth usage. However, whether gendered differences in language occur as a natural consequence of different sex and body dynamics, or as a consequence of socialization and social construction, or yet as a consequence of socially engineered unequal power relations between the sexes, will continue to be debated. Evidence from the youth language practices exhibited in this volume indicate that none of these factors could be whimsically discounted. The individual chapters in the volume have followed the scientific impulse in objectively examining the features of youth language in different African settings and from the perspective of gender. In the process, they have also observed the intersection of sex and gender with associated variables such as culture, ethnicity, class, urbanity, and rurality.

This intersectionality will predictably continue to power African youth language practices far into the foreseeable future.

Notwithstanding various attempts at a dynamic representation of youth language and language practices, gender exclusive perspectives have persisted in youth language researches, due to continued male dominance of the domain. Clear gender binaries have been reported in established youth languages such as Camfranglais, Tsotsitaal, Lugha ya Mitaani, Luyaaye and S’ncamtho in Cameroon, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe respectively, while mixed gender practices have been reported with regard to youth practices in Nigeria. Even in the latter setting, however, the male factor remains more conspicuous in youth language expressions.

This continued male dominance may be due to the weaponization of sex-gender differences in expressions targeted at women, as reported in the cases of Luyaaye in Uganda and Lugha ya Mitaani in Tanzania. Such weaponization has elicited a wide range of reactions, from female recoil from environments in which such expressions are deployed, to an accommodationist approach in which women euphemistically re-analyze such expressions in a positive light, as in the case of Luyaaye in Uganda. The continued relative absence of women in youth language scenarios may also be due to societal pressure. For example, negative comments have persisted in some western settings against the use of slang forms by female youth (Nortier 2019). A similar backlash within the African setting has been

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reported in many chapters in this volume. In some cases, young women have simply shown no inclination to participate in the rough and tumble associated with the deployment of some of the established youth language expressions, while in some others, women utilize such expressions to assume a streetwise identity, as is the case with Tsotsitaal (South Africa) and Sheng (Kenya). In the process, a new range of “sub-identities and a new subculture” (Gbogi 2016) is being created. Such examples also signal a certain degree of context dependency in women’s participation in youth language discourses.

One indication that has emerged from the experience of youth languages therefore is that language is an integral part of the lived experiences of women and men, and neither can be successfully extricated from the other. People’s intimate experience of their sex and gender, their masculinities and or femininities, and their corresponding concern with related societal values, would of necessity reflect in their linguistic expressions. In youth culture, the need to project gender identities is a reallife imperative, and it often provides impetus for the creation or reproduction of corresponding youth language expressions—for gendering in language.

The gender binary is an integral part and indeed the starting point of this equation, since people are generally socialized in tandem with the sex that they happen to be in the first place, or are perceived to be. Correspondingly, people project gender identities in tandem with the sex that they happen to be, even if they sometimes vary these projections within specific context dependencies. In other words, their use of language is constantly gendered, embodying their sex-gender dynamics. These would also include the occasional, situational and transitory “linguistic gender crossing,” during which the lingo of the other gender(s) is circumstantially adopted. Since both sex and gender are therefore part of the reality of life, and language is a key instrument in the representation of that life, it seems that difference or dichotomy will always be a factor in the analysis of language and gender.

Rather than ignore or attempt to “forget” sex and gender differences, research should strive to better understand them.

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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511509629 Tunç, Birkan, Berkan Solmaz, Drew Parker, Theodore D. Satterthwaite, Mark A. Elliott, Monica E. Calkins, Kosha Ruparel, Raquel E. Gur, Ruben C. Gur, and Ragini Verma.

2016. “Establishing a Link between Sex-related Differences in the Structural Connectome and Behaviour.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0111.\ Van Dijk, Rijk, Mirjam de Bruijn, Carlos Cardoso, and Inge Butter. 2011. “Introduction: Ideologies of Youth.” Africa Development 36(3): 1-17.

West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender and Society 1(2): 125-151.

Yusuf, Kehinde. 1989. “English Imposed Sexism in Yoruba Language: The Case of ‘Baby’ and ‘Aya.’” Women and Language 12 (2): 27-30.

Yusuf, Kehinde. 2002. “Sexism, English and Yoruba.” Linguistic Online 11 (2): 7-23. https://doi.org/10.13092/lo.11.913 Zimman, Lal. 2014. “The Discursive Construction of Sex: Remaking and Reclaiming the Gendered Body in Talk about Genitals among Trans Men.” In Queer Excursions: Retheorizing Binaries in Language, Gender, and Sexuality, edited by Lal Zimman, Jenny Davis and Joshua Raclaw, 13-34. New York: Oxford University Press.

Zimmerman, Don H., and Candace West. 1975. “Sex Roles, Interruptions and Silences in Conversation.” In Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance, edited by Barrie Thorne and Nancy Henley, 105-129. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.

2 Gender Binaries in African Youth Language: The Case of Camfranglais Comfort Ojongnkpot (University of Buea, Cameroon) There is a dearth of research on how language produces and consolidates sexism and gender bias, how gender is constructed and operationalized, and how gender affects dichotomies in language use to be able to create and support the malefemale division. However, there is scarcity of literature in the domain of language binaries in relation to youth language, relative to the volume of investigations on other aspects of urban youth languages such as creativity, identity, and in–group phenomena. This study focuses on the discursive practices of Camfranglais among 50 Cameroonian youths between 20–25 years in two cities (Douala and Yaounde).

The study reveals binaries along gender lines, not only with male youths being more numerically involved than the female in the use of Camfranglais, but also in terms of morpho–syntactic differences in their usages. The study adopted a Qualitative Research Design, against the background of the Existentialism Theory, while employing participant observation and in–depth interviews. Content Analytical techniques employed in the study also unraveled gender binaries in language practices among Camfranglais users. The study concludes that gender plays an important role in the language patterns of Camfranglais users in the urban centers and that it has implications for language development.

Keywords: Camfranglais, linguistic practices, urban youth language, gender binary, sexism, gendered identity

1. Introduction Language is not only a tool for communication, but also a medium through which identity and culture are indexed. It is for this reason that Winkler (2020, 25) holds that “all dialects of languages warrant the same respect as all languages do, for the exact same reasons.” Urban youth have been noted for innovations in language use, which attempt to carve for themselves an identity (Kießling and Mous 2004; De Feral 2012; Stein-Kanjora 2016; Ojongnkpot 2017; Sambulo 2018). A specific case is that with the Cameroonian urban youth, wherein a new language (Camfranglais) came into being as a way of keeping out the elders. It first began in the 1970s and 35

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became fashionable in the 1990s as related by a number of authors Kouega (2003), Lobe-Ewane (2008), Tiayong-Lekoubou (1985). Indeed, a large number of researches have been carried out in the domain of Camfranglais, with specific focus on language as a novel slang (Kouega 2003); language of the city (Chia1990); in-group language (Stein-Kanjora 2016); and hybrid language (Baghana et al. 2018). However, it is yet to be established if there is gender binary in the use of Camfranglais. It is in this vein that this study undertakes an investigation of the language practices of Camfranglais in order to find out gender identities in this novel youth urban slang at the background of gender binaries. This study therefore hypothesizes that there are both numerical and discursive differences between male and female Camfranglais users in the cities of Cameroon. It investigates binaries in youth urban language use (Camfranglais) between male and female speakers from the perspective of their linguistic practices and numerical differences as it seeks answers to the following questions: 1.

What are the gender differences in language use among Camfranglais speakers?

2.

What are the aspects that make for gender binaries among Camfranglais speakers?

Davis et al (2014) postulate that post–structuralism has been integrated into studies of language, gender, and sexuality at the background of dichotomies like female and male with an elaborate involvement in theoretical notions of inter-sexuality, performativity, and globalization (Barret 1995; Manalansan 1995; Livia and Hall 1997; Leap and Boellstorff 2004). Davis et al. consider binary systems for categorizing gender and sexuality as natural, universal, and indispensable. However, Mills (2003) maintains that gender be taken beyond binary thinking in order to produce more flexible and versatile statements about the use of language, despite the fact that the Postmodernist approach had been rife with theorizing gender and its relation to language.

Actually, research in the domain of discursive practices on gender and sexuality has been focused on the binaries of women and men. That notwithstanding, literature in the domain of gender binary in language use is sparse in the domain of urban youth language in general, and Camfranglais in particular. Hence, there is a dire need for research in this area.

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2. Literature Review This section of the study focuses on reviewing literature under the subheadings; language and gender, language use and gender, youth language and slang, and slang implication on gender.

2.1 Language and Gender Labov (1972) is one of the early researchers to observe the correlation between language and gender, as he established the link between postvocalic[r] and social class amongst sales assistants. It is a clear demonstration that women and men speak differently because of differences in their gender groups. In some other studies on correlation between language and gender, style is seen as attention paid to speech; in this situation “casual” versus formal styles were examined (Eckert 2012). The conclusion here is that these studies indicate that vernacular or non-standard forms were used for the most part by males than did female sand more in casual than in formal style (Labov 1966; Labov 1972; Trudgil 1974).

One of the biggest roles of language is its propensity to construct social identity, which in turn evinces people’s attitudes about their surroundings.

It is through the foregoing that we are able to make meaning of features of language that result from certain attitudes. It should be noted that the resultant linguistic features stay on longer than attitudes. The Deficient framework of (Lakoff 1973) drew attention to the public perception of women as language was linked to the social domination of women by men (Bergvall 1999; Gal 1991). Gal then argued that discourses between male and female in the world indicated male dominance over their female counterparts. In fact, Lakoff’s (1975) Deficit Model was a pathfinder into making a difference between male and female linguistic practices in relation to gender. Her work therefore resulted in the compartmentalization of young girls into what she refers to as “ladylike” language based on the idea that women have from time immemorial, been thrust upon with a subordinate position in a patriarchal society, which makes it that they are expected to use language that aligns with their position. Among the characteristics of women language that Lakoff (1975; 2004) identified are the use of Tag Questions, intensifiers, which to Lakoff, as cited by Jones (2016), made the woman to be culturally deficient as she is presented in speech as someone who hesitates and is uncertain about issues as opposed to her male counterpart; hence, the birth of the Difference and Dominance Approaches to the study of language and gender. Consequently, Gal (1991) considers gender as a “system of

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culturally constructed relation of power, produced and reproduced in interaction between and among men and women” (176). The question here is whether there is gendered use of language among Camfranglais users, and if Camfranglais is a gendered language. It is true that owing to certain evolutions surrounding gender, assumptions about binary classifications have been continuously challenged, especially the denial of “a universal dichotomy in relation to gender, which has made the understanding of gender to have changed” (Calvente 2018).

De Beauvoir (1952) believes that gendered activities put men and women into two different worlds; while men are associated to transcendence, women are in a state of immanence. According to de Beauvoir, transcendence has to do with a mode of existence in which a person is able to surpass the basic demands of the present moment and free themselves from their biological fate into an active existence of creativity, intellectualism, and constructive work. Immanence, on the other hand, has to do with a state of being that revolves around uncreative chores necessary to sustain life, which subjects a person to their own biological fate and chains them to the realm of the body, instead of the realm of the mind.

Thus, Gender has been defined differently: West and Zimmermann (1987) consider it as “an achieved status; that which is constructed through psychological, cultural, and social means” based on a person’s sex, which is purely psychological (as cited in Karen 2011, 3). Gender includes a range of characteristics used to distinguish males and females, and this is relevant to Camfranglais speakers in the cities of Cameroon. Gender involves men and women, and the masculine and/or feminine attributes assigned to them.

Indeed, gender has to do with a plethora of issues that concern identities and practices. There is no doubt that language is a tool for constructing and revealing identities. Our study aims at investigating the varieties of speech practices among Camfranglais speakers in the cities of Cameroon. Gender also has to do with social roles thrust upon members of each sex in society, which are quite often based on cultural and historical conceptualizations of gender. “Gender” is the term used to describe socially constructed categories based on sex. Most societies operate in terms of two genders, masculine and feminine, and it is tempting to treat the category of gender as a simple binary opposition, but the reader should be aware that, like class and age, gender may be better described in terms of a continuum or continua (Coates 1986, 3–4). Feminist researchers of the 1970s considered gender from the essentialist perspective that holds that gender is a binary opposition between male and female; this impacted their orientation towards the examination of

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differences in the use of language by the genders. However, language use and gender has been over time been approached from different perspectives.

The Difference Framework is associated with Tannen (1990), and it stresses that, though the speech of men and women may differ in some ways, they are both valid forms of communication. According to Tannen, those differences in their speech are the effect of socialization. Thus, it is argued that socialization affects language use and not the other way round. Tannen referred to variation between the speech of men and women as “genderlects.” Thus, gender is a common point of reference between men and women’s speech.

Butler (1990) has often been cited (Jones 2016) in relation to the famous “performativity” perspective, that gender is produced through various forms of self-representations, including language, and they are often manifested unconsciously. Butler thus postulates that “gender is itself a kind of becoming or an activity, and that gender ought not to be considered as a noun, but as an incessant and repeated action of some sort” (Butler 1990, as cited in Calvente 2018, 6). Gender is therefore a process wherein people perform certain roles, which present certain identities. Butler proceeds to define performativity not as a “singular act, but [as] repetition and a ritual, which achieves its effects through its naturalization in the context of a body, understood, in part, as a culturally sustained temporal duration” (as cited in Calvente 2018, 6). It is in this light that the present study uses the dichotomous aspects of discourse among Camfranglais speakers to demonstrate the role of language in reinforcing and projecting gender identities in society.

On the other hand, Postmodernists define gender as social construction, rather than biological circumstances (Cameron 2005). This focuses the aspect of diversity in gender. Litosseliti and Sunderland (2002) strongly argue that language shapes gender, as it can highly represent gender, given that language has a function of portraying and constructing gender. The term “sex” has always moved along with gender, but there has been some confusion between them; while sex is biological, gender is a social construction. As for Zimman (2014), sex and gender are opposite concepts, wherein sex plays the part of the “body’s pre-cultural state, which is a part of gender; hence, it is possible to have a gender binary.” Wong (2017) goes further to explain that sex is biological and permanent, while gender is social and more fluid. This chapter supports the views of Zimman in proposing to investigate gender binaries in the language practices of Camfranglais

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speakers in the cities of Cameroon. The chapter holds that gender can be performed along linguistic lines as demonstrated by earlier researchers.

2.2 Language use and gender Language and gender studies of early researchers continue to attract scholarship. For example, Labov, in his 1966 study of language variation among middle class female, found out that women used overt prestigious forms more than men. In addition, hypercorrection was observed to be common in the speech practices of the female middle class. Trudgil (1972) studied the relationship between sex and covert prestige in language use and discovered that certain sociolinguistic variables are associated with nonstandard speech, which cause gender differences (women used more prestigious forms than men). He continues that while men over report their non-standard forms, women on the other hand under report theirs. Lakoff (1975), on his part, took up the “Dominance” approach, which was based on the power imbalance between men and women, rooted in the patriarchal society. As she suggested, women’s language is not necessarily female language, or men’s that of the powerful, which makes it difficult to account for “women’s talk.” As noted earlier, Deborah Tannen (1986) propounded the “Difference approach,” which explains that the discursive differences between the sexes are akin to cross-cultural language differences and related to differences in upbringing.

Rahmanti (1983) carried out a study to investigate gender roles in Iranian films making use of a Feminist Approach and Content Analysis, through the use of questionnaires. Findings reveal that the number of males with major roles in the films was more than that of women. It was further revealed that women in the films met their demands through polite requests, while men did so by ordering and making sure the orders were enforced.

Thanasoulas (1999) carried out a study, which revealed that women used standard language more, and their speech was more respectful than that of men. In trying to prove aspects of dichotomy in the use of language by the sexes, Lakoff (1973, 2004); Dixon and Foster (1997) found out that women used hedges in speech more than men. Zakeri (2017) analyzed 10 novels written by men and women, making use of Discourse Analysis Approach. He revealed that female writers used more non-core words than male, and that female writers made more use of passive sentences than male.

Though both female and male used direct speech, the percentage of use of indirect speech among female writers was higher than among male writers.

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From another perspective, Zimman (2014) argues that transgender men talk about their body parts through words like “dick” and “cunt” in order to think of new identities as male, which are deduced from the way speakers assume gender identities irrespective of the fact that their physiology aligns with male bodies. Zimman demonstrates that the line between male and female could be linguistically contingent, even though a wealth of research on language and gender has focused on encouraging a gender-inclusive world (Zimman 2014; Calvante 2018; Ojongnkpot 2020). From the foregoing, gender could be “a complex and irregular category” whereby, language could be seen as constructing it. This stance aligns with Cameron (1998) who reinforces the “performativity” view point in relation to “gendered speech” as she sees speech as an instrument whose use is continuous to be able to construct identity. Thus, these studies relate to the present one as the focus is on the linguistic choices of people to perform gender.

Studies have shown that there exist gender differences in language use.

For example, Winkler (2012), in talking about computer-mediated language and gender, posits that in a study carried out on American college students, women’s texts were observed to be one third longer than those of men and in addition, women took more turns than their male counterparts. Winkler further adds that texts written by men contained contractions and made use of fewer writing conventions such as formal greetings, use of punctuations, with relatively less grammatically complex sentence structures. It is in the same light that Ojongnkpot (2020) demonstrates how identities are indexed by lexical choices of men and women in the written discourses of ESL academics at the level of doctoral dissertations. She further determines the influence of such discourse practices on gender groupings and concludes that “there is symmetry in the written discourse of male and female doctoral writers in aspects such as pronoun use, footing shifts, consensus and corroboration, details versus indirectness, minimizations, agent/subject, etc.” (135–136).

The idea of indexicality in the study of language and gender has found a lot of popularity in the post-modern era. “Indexicality,” as explained by Jones (2016), citing Irvine and Gal (2000), has to do with “the semiotic process that exists within interaction, whereby speakers connect particular linguistic forms with representations of the social groups that are stereotyped as using them” (86). Jones presents the etymology of the term “indexicality” as follows:

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The term comes from the word “index,” meaning “to point to”; indexicality, then is the process by which, particular ways of using language point towards, or indicate culturally recognizable identities. This means that a speaker may use language which carries particular ideological meaning associated with their gender, in turn, gendering their identity performance. (213–214)

This means that we consider “indexicality” as a concept that cuts across the Modern and Postmodern studies that relate to language and gender in general, and gender binaries in language use, in particular. In the context of this study, indexicality helps us examine how males and females are represented in the cause of interaction in Camfranglais. Thus, the study aimed at investigating binary gendered selves of Camfranglais urban speakers in specific discourse situations which were represented in spectacular ways.

2.3 Youth language and slang Young people in every generation have the propensity to develop a slang language that carves their identity and makes them unique. Since the hallmark of such creation is to keep out the “others,” non users of the language find it challenging to figure out meaning. Things have been made worse with the advent of cell phones and social media language. More often than not, slangish language is perceived as offensive to the outer-group (Ojongnkpot 2017).

Grossman and Tucker (1997) dwelt on gender differences and sexism in the use of slang among Caucasians and middle-class undergraduates. The terms were categorized as “sexual” and “non-sexual.” Males listed more terms than females, but no gender differences were found in the listing of sexual slang or the use of slang. More sexual slangs were listed to describe women than men, and participants reported using fewer of the terms describing women. Results suggest that though there was a narrow gap as far as differences in gender on slang are concerned, more derogatory slangs were used to describe women. Salma (2013) investigated slang words used in Junior High School by male and female in a bid to ascertain if there is any gender influence on their slang use. She thus categorized slang words into cockney rhyming, back, centre, clipping or shortening, blending, compounding, acronym/abbreviation, loan or borrowing, onomatopoeia, and nonsense reduplication. Findings revealed that gender has an influence on the use of slang words among the teenage Junior High School learners in their daily conversations at school. On their part, Kasmawati and Azisah (2017) carried

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out a study to analyze the effect of gender on students’ slang usage in their daily conversation. They found out that there were differences in slang language usages between male and female students. In addition, the differences lay in the types of slang as well as frequency in slang usages in their daily conversation.

2.4 Slang implication on gender Earlier research on urban youth language (slang) concentrated on its place in society (Kießling and Mous 2004), characteristics (Tiayong–Lekoubou 1885; Kouega 2003; Ojongnkpot 2017; Sambulo 2018), grammar (Ojongnkpot 2019), and until lately, the urban–rural divide (Oloruntoba2019) vis-à-vis youth languages. Given the importance of examining female/male dichotomy, rather than treating urban youth language globally, which does not adequately compartmentalize the way speech is organized in their world, this study undertook an investigation of gender binary in language use among Camfranglais speakers in the cities of Cameroon. According to Davis et al., citing Bucholtz and Hall (1995) binary distinctions to speakers’ organizations of the world around them should not be underestimated: as long as binaries have a role in the talk and other practices of those we study, they must remain a component of our explanations” (2).

Cameron (1997) and Kießling (2002) demonstrate how gender subjectivity is co-constructed in interactions rather than it being a preexisting social fact. Bing and Bergvall (1999) make it clear that female and male are natural opposites; they are bound to have distinctions in the way they use language. Thus, they recommend linguistic research on linguistic gender binary. In this perspective, Davies et al. maintain that “contextually grounded engagement with binary is very instrumental” (3). Irrespective of the fact that binaries are a crucial component of social life in a given community, research on binaries among urban youth language is rare.

There has been some research on distinctive features in men and women mainstream language. Putra and Prayadha (2019), state that Lakoff (2004), in researching on women’s speech, found out that women made use of lexical hedges, tag questions, rising intonations on declaratives, empty adjectives, precise color terms, intensifiers, hypercorrect grammar, super-polite forms, avoidance of strong swear words, and emphatic stress. On the other hand, men were more assertive, mature and direct in their speech.

On her part, Coates (2004) distinguished men and female language practices as follows: men used minimal responses, (backchannel) such as “mhm,” “yeah,” and “right,” and terms that assert dominance, swear words

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and taboo words, command, directives, explicitness, compliments, and current affairs expressions, especially when in company of same-sex. Putra and Prayadha (2019) carried out an analysis of men and women language features on a movie referred to as, “America Got Talents 2018.” These researchers found out that amongst the ten language features used by women in Lakoff’s (2004) study, the female judges in the film made use of 06 (six) lexical hedges, rising intonation on declarative, empty adjective, intensifiers, super-polite forms, and emphatic stress. On the other hand, only 03 (three) language features were used by male judges in America Got Talent 2018 show. These are: direct forms, interruption, and swear words. Direct forms were the most prevalent language features found in each performance of the show. From the foregoing, there is a direct relation between slang use and gender.

3. Theoretical framework This study aligns with Essentialism Theory, which is associated to Michael John Demiashkevich (1938), which first began in the United States of America in 1938 as a movement (The Essentialist Committee for the Advancement of Education). The term “Essentialism” dates back to ancient Greek philosophers who classified things based on their inherent permanent qualities or “essences,” which were looked upon as fundamental and indispensable attributes of persons, which therefore comprised their most basic identity (Karen 2011, 10). The essential properties in question are universal and bound to be present in all instances where the individual expresses them. Karen further explains that in the case of women, these essential properties are the ability to “nurture, relate, and experience emotions more fully than men…” (10). It should be noted that these are directly related to stereotypes, which have the effect of inhibiting talents, limiting aspirations and even impacting negatively on professional opportunities. Hence, the essences or universals denote what a man on the one hand, or woman on the other, inherently is. It is the reason why Karen explains as follows: The essences that are pre-designed…are meant to be discovered within themselves and are not produced by cultural training, learned conventions or social expectations. Essentialism as far as sexuality is concerned has to do with the belief that there is a fundamental biological and psychological difference between men and women and that this difference is the backbone of society and the family. (10)

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However, the term was first used by Demiashkevich (1938), where he compared some specific educators, as essentialists who stressed the moral responsibility of man for his actions. The term was later on popularized by feminists in the early 1980s through to the late 1990s (Harding 1986: Keller and Tuana 1993, 1995) who argue that in the present world, scientific endeavors are “inherently patriarchal and incompatible with women’s nature.” Hence, Fuss (1989) states that the essential qualities of male and female provide the raw material and determinative starting point for the practices and laws of society. The essentialists therefore maintain that the natural is repressed. It is in this connection that in explaining the politics of Essentialism, Grosz (2002, 16) says it “entails the belief that those characteristics defined as women’s essence are shared in common by all women at all times.” This implies that there is no way one can act differently contrary to his/her essence. The essential attributes demonstrate the particular variations that mark a difference between women and others.

Essentialism, therefore, has to do with the inherent fixed characteristics, endowed attributes, and functions void of history or tradition that deter change, which result in social reorganization. Hence, Gender Essentialism aims at studying certain fixed attributes in men and women, which are intrinsic and innate as it is believed that people tend to conform to genderrelated differences owing to their experience of the social world. Hence, Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2013) refer to the compartmentalization of roles according to gender lines as “the heterosexual market”; a point at which people’s social lives begin to split according to the gender order, such that they guard their specific attributes.

The contention of the present study is that though people are constructed by a variety of historical and social conditions, there are certain fundamental unchangeable universal essences in people that are capable of manifesting in certain instances such as linguistic practices. This aligns with Goffman (1976) who maintains that when human beings interact in their environment, it is assumed that each possesses an “essential” nature, which could be understood through the natural signs that come up during such manifestations. Goffman refers to such interactions as “gender display” because human beings constantly perform gendered expressions “in order to let others know the fundamental elements of being male and female in society.”

Butler (1990), just like Sedgwick (1990), maintains that gender is constructed through performance, as it has to do with norms, roles and relationships amongst individuals or groups of women and men. On the

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other hand, sex refers to biological and physiological attributes of males and females such as reproductive organs, chromosomes and hormones. In this way, Gray (1995) believes that Essentialism is usually prevalent among members of a particular group. However, Butler’s (1990) and Sedgwick’s (1990) Performativity Theory contradicts the Essentialist perspective to an extent, as they believe that identities do not pre-exist, as they are socially constructed and continuously performed by means of repeated actions.

Hence, Calvente (2018) argues that performative choices are merely individually oriented, thus cannot be generalized on a collective cultural group. The Essentialism Theory therefore suggests that every person has either a male or female “essence” that is determined by biology, chromosomes, and the sex assigned at birth. This study does not consider other aspects of gender such as transgender, non-binary and gendered-nonconforming individuals (who have a gender identity or presentation that was not accorded at birth). We are however cognizant that our theory fails to acknowledge the scientifically recognized fact that sex and gender are different and that both exist at a spectrum. Thus, this study’s focus is on the linguistic practices among Camfranglais females and males in a bid to establish specific gender identities, in order to situate them within normative groups.

4. Research methodology Adopting a qualitative design, this study makes use of the following paradigms:

4.1 Participants The participants comprised 50 (Fifty): 25 (Twenty-five) females and 25 (Twenty-five) males Cameroonian Camfranglais speakers in two cities (Douala and Yaounde), which were purposively selected through Snowball Sampling Techniques. These two cities were chosen because they constitute the locations in which the youth readily use Camfranglais. The participants were between 20–25 years at university level with French as their second language, and varied indigenous language backgrounds. The age range has been observed as that during which Camfranglaisis used the most. Most of them were not very fluent in English, thus one of them who was a nearperfect English-French bilingual, was used as a participant-translator.

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4.2 Research instruments Participants were subjected to in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions. They were also observed during in-group interactions.

4.3 Data analysis Data were analyzed based on the Essentialism Framework by Demiashkev (1938), as improved upon by Feminists in the 1980s and 1990s, as mentioned earlier, bearing in mind perceived differences in discursive practices between males and females and the aspects of differences between the two groups of users of Camfranglais. Their discursive practices were recorded, transcribed and analyzed, making use of Thematic Analytical techniques. Data were grouped under traits according to gender perceived, binaries, and identities constructed.

5. Findings and Discussion This section is done at the background of the two research questions of the study: 1. What are the gender differences in language use among Camfranglais speakers?

2. What are the aspects that make for gender binaries among Camfranglais speakers?

5.1 Camfranglais gender representations in spoken texts The Camfranglais expressions from the data are accompanied by English language translations.

5.1.1 Use of intensifier adjectives Based on data (recorded and transcribed texts) in Appendix 1, we observed that male speakers made use of intensifier adjectives a lot more in their interactions than their female counterparts. Consider examples 1 and 2 below: 1.

Gui mois juste mbindi (“Please, give me just a bit”) (17male /03female)

2.

Un djungo comme toi tu want mes talk au fort? (“A little boy of your kind wants to shout at me?”) (18 male/05 female)

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From the above examples, we notice that such expressions were common in the speech of male, as a majority of them used these structures.

5.1.2 Use of modal verbs 3.

4.

5.

Tu vas sauf que me gui le way la (“You must give me that thing”). (18 male/09 female) Je vais seulement go la ba, per. (“I must go there, my friend”). (18 male/ 12 female) Better tu cha le dos la que de lifam (“You should rather take that money”).

(16 male/14 female)

Male participants made use of modal verbs more than female during interactions as demonstrated in Examples 3–5 above. However, it was observed that a considerable number of females matched up with males in the use of modal verbs (Examples 3–5).

5.1.3 Use of approximative adjectives 6.

7.

le fridge la reagitun genre la (“The fridge is somewhat disturbing”) (12 male/19 female) J’aitchopun way comme 2000 kolo (“I have spent about 2000frs”) (13 male/21female)

The use of approximative adjectives was noticed more among the female folk as exemplified in Examples 6 and 7 below. This could be explained by the fact when it comes to the use of language, the female group is less direct, and prone to use hedges (Lakoff1973; Dixon and Foster 1997). Thus, their use of approximative adjectives could be related to that.

5.1.4 Use of exclamatory sentences 8.

En vrai! Tu es go laba? (“What!Have you gone there?”) (14male/07 female) 9. Hein! Donc c’etaitmemevrai? (“What! So it was true?”) (20 male/04 female) 10. Yess ohhhh! (“What a surprise!”) (16 male/06 female) 11. Je respecte! (“What a surprise!”) (17 male/08 female) We observed that the boys made more use of exclamatory sentences than girls. Most of the time, there was an undertone of excitement and

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camaraderie, when they engaged in discursive exchanges as demonstrated in Examples 8, 9, 10, and 11.

5.1.5 Use of greetings/pleasantries It was observed that the aspects of greeting and exchanging pleasantries were markedly noticed more among male Camfranglais speakers as opposed to the female folk. Boys presented with a more out-going attitude than girls as seen in Examples 12 and 13 below.

12. Ca dit quoi per! (“How are you my friend!”) (19 male/ 08 female) 13.

Salut, per!(“I greet you, my friend!”) (22 male/10 female)

From the foregoing, greetings and pleasantries were observed to be used more by the male folk, which were done with extreme emotions and sense of group affinity within the sex.

5.1.6 Use of forms of address 14. Per, je vais eat quelque chose (“My friend, I am hungry”) (23 male/06 female) 15. Gar, il y a rien (“Is there something?”) (23 male/09 female) We observed that the forms of address in 13 and 14 above were used more by the male. In most cases those alternative forms were used with a lot of affinity and closeness.

5.1.7 Use of emotions 16. Gar, Je beg da soh ne do pas ca! (“My friend, please, don’t do that!”) (19 male/00 female) The boys spoke amongst themselves with a lot of emotions, especially as they, most of the time, refer to one another affectionately as per, gar, forms of address, which connote a lot of affection and affinity to the group. When they engaged in talk, they showed a lot of seriousness and cautiousness towards fellow peers (Ex. 15 above). It should be noted that there was zero use of this structure by the female.

5.1.8 Use of speech style It is true that Camfranglais generally uses the informal style (Ojongnkpot 2017), but among the Camfrainglais speakers, the boys were seen to have

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used more consultative and intimate style among themselves than when with girls. It was observed that as far as the use of Camfranglais is concerned, the male speakers could be described as very advanced in the use of “standard” Camfranglais. In fact, their speech styles were closer to the more “standard” and “prestigious” style. It was noted that the boys did not use words of appreciation as much as the girls. When asked why they did that, their response was that they showed appreciation more in kind. In terms of articulation, it was observed that it all depended on the language background of a speaker. Phonetically, the boys exerted a lot of force than girls, who as has been seen earlier, used Camfranglais minimally.

We also noticed that boys sustained conversations longer among themselves than with girls. The vocabulary bank (capacity) of males was larger too. Even when they were in the company of girls, those who initiated talk were boys. Girls preferred to stay quiet most of the time, confirming the “heterosexual market place” of views of Eckert and McConnell (2013), and Post (1999), who postulate that women are prohibited in using slang and street talk. Spears (2007), on his part, reiterates Post as he states that men use slang and street talk because their language is not polite and standard to use.

In all, as far as Camfranglais linguistic practices are concerned, there were remarkable differences, first, numerically, and in the nature of linguistic aspects. In terms of numbers, the male folk used Camfranglais expressions more than their female counterparts. Talking about the nature of talk, male speakers were seen to be defter in the use of Camfranglais. They were observed to use it everywhere and at any time. Some of them prided themselves on their ability to use the modernized form of Camfranglais.

Some even went ahead to say: “Camfranglais is modernized. We do not speak the old type of Camfranglais anymore. We try to reduce many words, such that as we turn French words around, we try to reduce odd words as much as possible.”

The aforementioned binaries established in the language of males and females Camfranglais users demonstrate that men and women Camfranglais users are different, not only in their linguistic expressions, but also in their attitude towards the language, which goes in line with Lakoff (1973, 46) who believes; “The way we feel about the things in the real world governs the way we express ourselves about these things.” (The findings of this study also confirm a number of earlier studies on language use and gender binary: Labov, (1966) and Trudgil (1972) Variation approaches in language use: Lakoff (1973, 1975, 2004) Dominance Approach, which holds that male language use exhibits dominance vis-à-vis male, owing to power imbalances

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between male and female, which have their roots from the patriarchal nature of society. In the same line, Tannen’s (1990) Difference Framework is based on the socialization of roles, which emanate from differences in upbringing.

This study also aligns with Butler (1990), who considers language as a performative act. Above all, it is worthy to note that the Essentialism Theoretical Framework on which this study hinges holds sway as we have been able to determine a binary in the linguistic practices of Camfranglais users in two cities in Cameroon, based on their inherent permanent qualities (“Essences”), which of course, are fundamental and indispensable attributes of persons, as Karen (2011) believes, constitute the most basic identities in society.

6. Conclusion This study has been able to demonstrate that there is actually a gender binary in the use of Camfranglais among urban youth in Cameroon cities. This enables us to see the relationship between language and identity. Even though urban youth live together as male and female, there is disparity and compartmentalization in the way they use this youth urban language.

Numerically, more males used Camfranglais, and were more involved in it than females. The males were seen to sustain conversation longer than their female counterparts. Males were observed to have a higher vocabulary store, with a higher proficiency level in use than female. Most of the time, when in company of boys, girls used Camfranglais minimally, with very few utterances (APP.3). In fact, talk in Camfranglais was seen to be initiated by boys. An important revelation is that girls did not speak Camfranglais in exclusive girl-gatherings. Linguistic practices that have been espoused in this study indicate an amazing manner of examining gender binaries among urban youth language use in Cameroonian cities in particular, and African and global city life in general. The numerical strength of males and their upper hand in the use of various Camfranglais linguistic features in this study make manifest the fact that there is indeed, gender binary in relation to urban youth language use in the city.

One important revelation of this study is that there is a new trend in the use of Camfranglais, whereby the users spoke a type of Camfranglais with a relatively reduced number of odd words. It was noticed that their expressions were predominantly French words used in a roundabout manner. Of course, this phenomenon is in conformity with one of the main characteristics of language, which is dynamicity. This therefore encourages us to carry out further research not only on the evolution of Camfranglais,

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but also find out if this phenomenon is common amongst rural speakers of Camfranglais. This study indeed, has a sociolinguistic implication.

Acknowledgements I owe a debt of gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education, Cameroon, for providing the necessary financial assistance, in the form of Modernization Grants. My gratitude also goes to Vanold Cingue and Franky Boulouma, students at the Faculty of Arts, University of Buea, for being so instrumental, not only in directing us to the participants of the study, but also for collecting and transcribing data. I am also thankful to all the Camfranglais users/participants in Douala and Yaounde who provided data for this study.

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Appendix 1 Table 1:Sample of linguistic expressions perceived by Camfranglais speakers Categories and examples Camfranglais equivalent of linguistic expressions Intensifier adjectives (Much, a lot, many, more) Approximative adjectives A little (“mbindi”) (Almost, a little, somewhat, a bit, about, to Somewhat (“un genre la”) some extent) Comparative adjectives (Bigger, smaller, best) Modal words Should (“better”) (May, should, must) Must (“sauf que”/ “seulement”) Exclamatory sentences (What!, how! well! What a surprise!)

Tag questions– Used when on wants to verify a fact (Isn’t it? do you?)

Speech style (Which speech is closer to the standard?

Which one is more popular?)

Emotional load (Emotional and cautious, seriousness and domineering) Phonetic differences (Differences articulations) flamboyant voice quality

What! (“envrai!”/“hein!”)

What a surprise! (“yess ohhh!”)

Don’t you (“noh”)

How are you? (“cadit what?”)

My friend (“per”/ “gar”) Two girls cannot speak Camfranglais

in Boys articulate better than girls The girls drag words

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Appendix 2 Transcription of voice in Camfranglais It is important to note that meanings of words vary depending onthe context the are employed

Transcription 1: Males speaking 1 Speaker 1 : La grande mère nous djoss souvent les commentaires là que ce n’était pas les 2 ways qu’il y avait certaines relations que tu vois que c’est le mari même seulement que 3 4 5 ... son mari est go jouer au jambo . Tu vas voir un mari qui a peut–être même trois nga , 6 7 il go jouer au jambo il met une femme en gage.

Speaker 2 : oui on le foire même.

8 Speaker 1 : donc elle est à la maison. Les trois sont à la piol comme ça il rentre seulement le soir il dit toi fait tes bagages.

9 10 Speaker 2: tugo . Speaker 1: tupartes. Il a déjà donné l’adresse. Le boy labà lui 11 12 il wait déjà que tu vas came entrer et tu ne peux pas bourder. Speaker 2 : est ce que 13 c’est ... est ce que c’est les ways de... merde ?

1 Verbe dire en français 2 Histoires 3 Verbe partir en français 4 Jeux de hazard 5 Épouses, femme 6 Verbe partir en français 7 Jeux de hazard 8 Maison 9 Verbe partir en français 10 Mari, homme, époux 11 Verbe attendre en français 12 Verbe venir n français

13 Choses ______

14 Speaker 1 : il te dit ha hoha qu’il est go jouer on l’a foiré. Là c’est comme ca que 15 16 ca devient aussi ton boy labà et c’est comme ça que tu cales. Ekieee! Elle nous 17 djossait ça non que les ... c’était comme ça avant ou c’était le genre que vous grandissez 18 que si celle–là est que c’est son boy ici, jusqu’ahhh... elle connait déjà que c’est lui. Ce 19 20 n’est plus les ways de maintenant là que après deux jours tu vas voir que ohhh... c’est le pauvre là ? il avait quoi ? il me donnait quoi ? Même au village c’est déjà mort. Il n’y a 21 plus les naïves. Il n’y a plus les naïves au letch .

Speaker 3 : labà c’est même la vitesse plus qu’ici. Labà c’est même la vitesse plus qu’ici mon frère.

22 Speaker 1 : Même au letch il n’y a plus les naïves. Ce qu’on dit que tu pars prendre 23 ta femme au village là, il n’y a plus. Elles sont plus au village peeeer... les... arrivent déjà aussi.

24 Speaker 2 : tu dis bonjour elle t’ouvre les yeux, elle t’ouvre les yeux que ehhh tu fais ça a qui ?

Speaker 1 : c’est qui ça ?

25 26 Speaker 2 : elle t’ouvre les yeux tu veux même came avec tes mpeps là que oh ohoh tu es trop beau. Tu es trop beau que qui ?

Speaker 1 : Je sais ?

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14 De manière courageuse, froide 15 Époux, mari16 Exclamation17 Verbe dire en français 18 Petit ami19 affaires20 filler21 Village, campagne 22 Village, campagne 23 filler 24 filler25 Verbe venir n français 26 Belle silhouette D

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Speaker 2: tu es Brad Pit? Speaker 3 : est ce que Maallox a mal fait de chanter que c’est combien ?

27 Speaker 1 : tu es qui ? elle te demande hoha que est ce que... tu n’es pas mon niveau. Une villageoise hein, une villageoise.

28 Speaker 2 : non moi j’aime Jaime... certaines go qui sont directes. Il y a certaines 29 go qui sont directes. Comme la petite fille qui était à un funérailles a Deido. Jai dragué la go. Elle m’a tapé sec que ici, elle m’a tapé sec : pas de relation. Elle vend son piment.

Speaker 3 : c’est combien ?

Speaker 2 : elle dit que tu as combien ? on gère. Même si c’est maintenant ci on gère.

J’ai dit que non mama. Elle m’a dit que voilà voilà.

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27 Avec hardiesse 28 Filles

29 Filles

Transcription 2 : Females speaking 30 Speaker 1 : gar , l’électro Forest là non, c’est la dimension des nerfs quand vous êtes deux. Quand c’est que vous êtes en train de faire ça deux et quand peut–être on te dit que 31 genre l’examen ne vont pas back le premier jour. Hum... la tension sort mon frère.

Maintenant ci c’est plus facile parce que tu es seul [...] ça ne va pas trooop... tu n’auras pas trop la pression toi parce que tu es seul. Parce que moi quand je faisais ma part mon frère ehhhh ! on a dit que. Je crois qu’on a fait ça un mercredi. On nous a demande de revenir lundi. Mince mon frère. Avant d’attendre jusqu’au jour là non, il fallait voir seulement les nerfs de la vibration seulement parce ce qu’il y a le stress non. Il y a le stress. Tu stress gar.

Tu te dis que mince peut être que ça va finir aujourd’hui. Peut–être on peut voir comme ça la que no oh gar! ça finit aujourd’hui. Mais ça ne dérange pas. Comme tu es seul là ça va aller. Pas trop de stress si tu es AA ça va en fait. Maintenant si tu es AS maintenant tu dois commencer à réfléchir gar.

Speaker 2 : j’ai cru que jetais seulement posséder quand je suis arrivé vendredi passe hein.

32 Okooo! garje dis que non, quand je suis arrivé vendredi passé là, on dit que oh ohoh Armel tu pars où ? j’ai dit que garnon il faut la rééducation pour que je recommence encore l’école là. Ça ne va pas mon frère, ça ne va pas. C’est maintenant que je pense même.

Comme Dangui reste à la maison là que je dis que garje le comprends hein. C’est trop un genre. Je dis que non ma co, je n’ai même plus envie d’aller à l’école comme tu me vois ci là. C’est à dire que... en effet dans la mesure où. Je ne suis pas dans orrr. Dans, orrr. C’est à dire que je suis décontenancé. Donc imagine. Imagine un peu la situation dans laquelle je me trouve. Imagine un peu. C’est un genre mon frère. Je n’aime pas ; je n’ai plus moi envie d’aller à l’école. En plus, on dit encore le féminisme. Donc moi ça m’énerve même moi je ne veux plus fréquenter. C’est fini comme ça. Je dis que non, quand 30 exclamation31 Etre publie 32 exclamation D

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on va ... si je pouvais même partir. C’est à dire que gar[...] si je pouvais même partir à 33 Douala maintenant ça allait trop me mo même. Ça allait trop me mo. C’est un genre là.

En plus, c’est un jour mon frère. Peut–être vendredi prochain je vais encore venir chez toi

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34 parce que je ne sens pas ça. Il faut la rééducationgar easy .

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33 plaire34 doucement Conversation 1a (male with male) Vanold: la matte nous m’a tell que un djoungo comme toi tu veux djoss quoi?

My mother has asked me why a small boy like you want to talk to me Moise : En vrai!Gar, ily a rien The above conversation took place in the home of Vanold, who is older than Moise.

Vanold’s mother questions why Vanold keeps the company of such a younger person.

Apparently, the mother is asking Vanold to desist from befriending Moise.Now Vanold tells Moise about it.

3 Gender, Age and Rural-Urban Dichotomies in S’ncamtho Familiarity and Usage in Zimbabwe Sambulo Ndlovu (Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe) S’ncamtho is an Ndebele based youth variety predominantly spoken in Bulawayo the second largest city in Zimbabwe. Participation of women in youth language practices has been identified to be lower than that of men, due to social structures and expectations. However, very few studies have endeavoured to measure gender differences in youth language practice. Realising that youth language utilize metaphor more than any other type of lexis, this study uses metaphor to measure familiarity and usage of S’ncamtho in urban and rural settings. The aim is to compare female and male familiarity and usage of S’ncamtho metaphors in urban and rural Zimbabwe. The comparisons also factor in social class, urban-rural dichotomy, and age. Social class is accounted for by a rural site, and the sites of high density, and low-density suburbs within the city, and youth and adults form the age dichotomy. The rural site also serves as comparison to Bulawayo sites.

Popular S’ncamtho metaphors are tested for familiarity and usage to generate both qualitative and quantitative data. The data is then analysed according to sex, age and location. The objectives are to identify some metaphors familiar to and used by males and females of various age cohorts in different social classes, and locations. For the low-income social class, Pumula North high-density suburb is the chosen site, Hillside high-income low-density suburb represents the middleclass site, and Donsa rural area represents rural S’ncamtho practices.

Keywords: S’ncamtho, youth language, gender, age, rural-urban dichotomy, social diffusion theory

1. Introduction Youth are linguistic movers and shakers; this places them in the category of innovators of new linguistic forms within a language and culture. Youth language and practices are innovations that are either adopted or rejected by other age cohorts within a social system. The spread of youth linguistic innovations follows Rogers’ (2003) innovation-decision process. He instantiates that the social diffusion of an innovation is dependent on three aspects: the innovation-decision process, the attributes of an innovation, and the categories of adopters. This chapter applies the innovation-decision 61

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process and the categories of adopters to establish the spread of S’ncamtho metaphor innovations within the Ndebele social system. This is done along the dimensions of age, sex, class, and the rural-urban dichotomy.

The chapter focuses on the Ndebele based youth variety in Zimbabwe called S’ncamtho. Hollington and Makwabarara (2015) state that of the many languages in Zimbabwe, English, Ndebele and Shona are the common matrix languages on which youth language practices in Zimbabwe are built.

S’ncamtho is popular with high density male youth in the city of Bulawayo.

The increased connectivity between urban centres and rural environs around them facilitates easy and quicker transmission of popular culture from urban conglomeratesto rural and peri-urban areas. The chapter uses the paradigm of metaphor to approximate the adoption and spread of S’ncamtho in Ndebele societies. The choice of metaphor is based on the fact that metaphor is a key lexicalising strategy in youth varieties. Halliday (1976, 578) observes that “It is this metaphorical character that defines the anti-language. An antilanguage is a metaphor for an everyday language; and this metaphorical quality appears all the way up and down the system.” Youth language metaphors are usually derived as relexis whereby new meanings are given to words in the base language or those borrowed from other languages.

Dozie and Madu (2012) identify metaphors created by Nigerian university students from English borrowings; Nassenstein (2015) establishes the same trend in the lexicalisation of Imvugo y’Umuhanda, Rwanda’s urban youth variety. Some of these urban youth innovations of meaning defy the ephemerality of youth lexis and are perpetuated as part of common lingua franca (Mojela 2002). The metaphors that stay longer in youth varieties are exposed to population dynamics and may spread to other age cohorts and environs outside the hubs of youth language innovation.

Class distinction affects the spread of African youth varieties.Youth from low-income urban areas tend to use African languages as bases for their varieties while those from affluent suburbs tend to use the former colonial languages. Androutsopoulos (2005) links youth language to class, he further notes that class differentiates adolescent language practices. Urban youth in Zimbabwe are also divided between African language-based youth varieties and English based ones.Youth from the affluent suburban areas in urban Zimbabwe usually adopt English based varieties such as African American Englishes. The class-based distinction in urban youth variety preferences affects the spread of S’ncamtho across urban economic and social classes in Bulawayo.While Fasold (1990) argues that it is quite often the case that an innovation spreads from a city or large town to another substantial-sized

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town in the same region, but has no effect at all on speakers in the country side between them, there is evidence that youth language innovations are present in rural Africa. Recent research is beginning to identify youth languages in rural areas either through spread from towns or rural innovations (Schmied and Oloruntoba-Oju 2019; Hurst 2017; Kioko 2015).

The youth varieties spread from these urban areas to rural locations, the rural-urban is not ideally a fixed dichotomy but it is a continuum whereby rural areas have varying urban consciousness (Drescher and Iaquinta 1999).

Improved communication networks also facilitate easy transfer of linguistic innovations from urban centres to rural ones.

Gender is a factor in the creation and usage of registers, there are masculine and feminine sociolects in human aggregates (Cheshire and Trudgill 1998; Coates 2004; Cameron 2020). Gender based language differentiation is characterized by slang and impoliteness in male speech while feminine codes are more polite (Flexner 1975). Jespersen (2013) makes the claim that men use more slang than women, and this is confirmed by Gomaa (2015) in his study of the frequency of use of Saudi Youth Slang (SYS), he establishes that men frequently use the variety more than women. The gendered nature of linguistic innovation affects female adopters of youth language innovations and it is assumed that males are exposed to more slang and youthful language innovation than females. These gendered social distinctions create certain expectations in women which discourage slang and linguistic styling and this diminishes their usage of youth linguistic innovation even for those tokens that they are aware of.

Stylistic urban varieties have been identified with youth, especially male youth, and adults are portrayed as opposed to youth language usage.

Age, just like gender, is a factor in the spread of youth varieties, as knowledge and usage of youth language lexis and practices are expected to decline with age (Roels and Enghels 2020). Gomaa (2015, 101) established that in Saudi Youth Slang: A strong negative correlation existed between age and familiarity of SYS (r=0.659, p<.001). Accordingly, the younger the participant, the higher the levels of his/her understanding of SYS. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that when he/she moves out of the realm of adolescence, his/her familiarity with SYS will be more or less lost.

In the categorisation of youth language innovation adopters, older people, just like females are presumed to be outside the categories of innovators and in most cases outside the cohort of early adopters. A combination of

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adulthood, rural and femininity is presumed to push adopters further to the category of late majority adopters who consider a lot of social constraints and expectations before making a decision to adopt a youthful linguistic innovation. This chapter uses data from my PhD research and engages Social Diffusion Theory to establish categories of S’ncamtho innovation adopters using quantitative analysis of S’ncamtho metaphor familiarity and usage.

The diffusion is measured in urban low-, and high-density areas, and a rural area; the analysis factors in location, class, age and gender to answer questions on the S’ncamtho innovation-decision process and the characteristics of S’ncamtho adopters.

2. Theoretical framework This chapter engages Social Diffusion theory Rogers (1962) to evaluate the spread of S’ncamtho lexis within the Ndebele social system. The theory, also known as Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI) explains how, overtime, an innovation gains momentum and spreads through a population, resulting in people adopting the new idea or behavior. However, some people choose not to adopt an innovation due to various reasons, which include attitudes, social norms and peer pressure. People are conditioned by social and individual norms to accept innovations at different intervals. These are called adopter categories within DOI theory and they start with innovators through to those who take too long to adopt an innovation who are called the (laggards) hereafter referred to as late adopters.

According to Rogers (2003), social change diffusion of innovations has five stages which make up the innovation-decision process, and these are (1) knowledge, (2) persuasion, (3) decision, (4) implementation and (5) confirmation. He further notes that the knowledge stage is composed of three types of knowledge, the what, the how and the why based knowledge types.

There is awareness knowledge, how-to-knowledge and the principles knowledge. The basic and foundational knowledge is the awareness knowledge which is knowledge of the existence of an innovation. Awareness of the existence of an S’ncamtho metaphor for example, motivates the wouldbe adopter into the other types of innovation knowledge. The how-toknowledge is information on how to use an innovation correctly. Spotts (1999) observes that, it is possible for people to be aware of an innovation and still not use it due to lack of know-how. The principles knowledge is the integration of an innovation and understanding why it is a good innovation.

Seemann (2003) argues that trying to integrate and know why an innovation is necessary can trigger discontinuance. However, the knowledges do not

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guarantee adoption; individual attitudes can still influence a knowledgeable person to reject an innovation (Sahin 2006). The knowledge stage is cognitive, and here, metaphor theory is applied by adopters to map the new metaphor between its source and target domains.

The next stage in the innovation-decision process after knowledge is the persuasion stage. Rogers (2003) avers that while the knowledge stage is cognitive, the persuasion stage is affective; here, people consider the uncertainties about the function of an innovation and its endorsement by peers. Sherry (1997) opines that subjective opinions from friends and peers on an innovation are most convincing. From persuasion, the process then moves on to the decision stage, where an individual chooses to adopt or reject an innovation. Rogers (2003) avers that there are two types of rejection, which are, active and passive rejection. In active rejection, there is adoption, then discontinuance, while in passive rejection there is no adoption at all. Rogers further cautions that in collectivistic cultures, decision comes before persuasion, whereby an individual’s decision is changed to comply with a collective or cultural decision. Stereotypes on females and adults regarding language innovations can change individual decisions on the adoption of S’ncamtho metaphors. After an individual has decided to adopt an innovation, they put it into practice at the implementation stage. Here, the innovation is put into practice; it also involves reinvention where the users change or modify it. The last stage of the innovation—decisionprocess—is the confirmation stage where the adopter looks for support for their decision.

They tend to select supportive messages from peers that confirm their decision.

The innovation is diffused to different people who may adopt it at different time intervals; these are adopter categories which Rogers (2003, 22) says are “the classifications of members of a social system on the basis of innovativeness.” Braak (2001, 144) posits that innovativeness is “a relativelystable, socially-constructed, innovation-dependant characteristic that indicates an individual’s willingness to change his or her familiar practices.”

Social diffusion starts with the innovators and moves along the time axis to the late adoptersat the end of the innovativeness continuum. According to Rogers (2003), adopter categorisation proceeds in an adoption curve as follows; innovators—early adopters—early majority—late majority—late adopters. Only adopters make this curve. Innovators are willing to experiment and they are the gate keepers, bringing in new things into the social system. They do not hesitate to adopt an innovation, and this characterizes male youth when it comes to language innovations. Sahin

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(2006) points out that innovators may not be respected by other members of the society because of their venturesomeness—male youth venture outside the confines of languages and culture to innovate lexis and practice. Early adopters are limited by cultural limits but they are key indicators of diffusion beyond innovators. Their subjective evaluation usually endorses an innovation (Light 1998). Early adopters benchmark the adoption of an innovation by the majority of people in the social system. Once adopted by early adopters, an innovation can now be confidently adopted by the early majority who take time to adopt an innovation. The late majority depends on numbers to adopt, especially peer group numbers, as they consider uncertainties and culture more than the early majority. The last to adopt are the late adopters, these have a traditional view and are more sceptical about innovation and change agents than the late majority. They also have weak interpersonal networks usually consisting of similar traditionalist personalities. They wait for the majority of people to adopt before they decide and this makes their innovation-decision period longer. Adoption of slang and youth innovations has been established to start with urban youth and the categories diffuse into females and adults (Ndlovu 2018).

3. Research methodology The research is primarily a quantitative analysis of the spread of S’ncamtho metaphor familiarity and usage so as to establish the innovation-decision process in the adoption of S’ncamtho by various groups within Ndebele society. A total of 30 S’ncamtho metaphors were used in questionnaire tests to establish familiarity and usage. Respondents were asked to fill in the meaning of the S’ncamtho metaphors they knew in Ndebele or English and also to indicate the ones they used. Respondents were purposively sampled to be non-professionals who did not go beyond ordinary level education(fourth year of secondary schooling). Only taxi drivers, security guards, vendors and touts were allowed in the population of key informants since these are low income and nonprofessional jobs and some are selfemployed; this was done to make sure that education is not a factor in the variations. The researcher has insider knowledge and experience in all S’ncamtho, slang, urban vernacular Ndebele, and standard Ndebele and this intuition was useful in categorising the responses as accurate or not. An equal number of males and females was chosen for each age cohort and location.

The Bulawayo suburbs of Pumula North and Hillside were sampled as high-density low income and low-density high-income sites respectively to cater for the class distinction in S’ncamtho spread, and Donsa rural area was

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sampled to represent rural areas to measure the urban to rural spread. The rural area is a Ndebele community about 220km from Bulawayo on a bad road, has no domestic electricity and other urban amenities, and the television, radio and phone networks are not very strong. The definition of youth includes creation of age cohorts that are biologically, socially and psychologically fit to be defined as youth. The study uses the United Nations (UN) categorisation of youth which is the age cohort of 15-24 years (Uduakosu 2014). The adult age cohort is 37-65 years; the adult age limit is 65 years because the oldest respondents were 65 years. Five respondents were chosen for each age-sex cohort per site as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Respondents per age-sex cohort in the 3 sites Site Youth Adults Male Female Male Female Pumula North 5 5 5 5 Hillside 5 5 5 5 Donsa 5 5 5 5 Total per group 15 15 15 15

Total per site 20 20 20 60

Each of the 60 respondents filled a familiarity and usage test questionnaire with 30 S’ncamtho metaphors. Note that the meanings were not included in the questionnaires. The 30 metaphors and their expected answers are given in Table 2.

Table 2: 30 S’ncamtho metaphors and their meanings used in the familiarity and usage tests S’ncamtho metaphor English gloss No Meaning Ukutshayainyawo 1 sexual to hit the legs intercourse (male) i-ake 2 big female butt an arch Imanyuwa 3 anal sex manure 4 hiring a Ukukhetsha to catch prostitute Ukuhotsha 5 prostituting to suck 6 male condom isidi (CD) compact disc Irobothielibomvu 7 Menstruation red robot Ukulahla 8 loose girl to throw Amajusikhadi 9 ARVs juice cards Ukunokha 10 too drunk to knock Ihata 11 police officer a hater Ukuklara 12 dying to finish i-eyitini 13 toilet an eighteen

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14 15

16

17

18

19

20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

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girl friend Thank you. From Ndebele metaphor which has witches instead of family planning Fortune favors those who cannot utilize it.

From a Ndebele metaphor which says melons grow well in the fields of people without pots Warning of a physical fight

Umzukulu ukwandakwaliwayifamily planning

Niece family planning stops people from multiplying

amapatapataawelaabangelamazwane

slippers fall on those without toes

icolgatekasiyoyodwaegcinaamazinyo

Melting candle wax is mapped on to tears To be worn out by a job is mapped on to reduction of soap with usage Bad character is mapped on to the roughness of a plank bed to be proud to be foolish Schooling to be in trouble good times

Ukusebenzaukhalanjengekhandlela

tooth paste is not the only thing that preserve teeth crying while you work like a candle

my friend to cheat to propose love to spoil or a tricky situation to trick

ukungagcinwangumsebenzinjengesepa worn away by a job like soap

ukubarafunjengombhedawamaplanka

to be rough like a wooden bed

Ukuzifonela Ukudlisepa Ukugeleza ukungen’amanzi Ziyakhipha

phoning self eating soap flowing to be flooded they are removing my dog to beat-beat to put a line to be off tune in music to beat ten to zero

Injayami Ukutshayatshaya Ukufakailayini Ukuyilahla Ukutshayatheninothi

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The questionnaires elicited 30 responses on familiarity and a further 30 on usage per respondent for the 60 respondents.

4. Findings This section presents findings from the questionnaire tests on familiarity and usage of S’ncamtho metaphors per site. The data gives the figures of respondent data according to age and sex, giving the total familiarity and usage by the combined 5 respondents per group. Each group has a possible score of 150 given that each of the 5 respondents has a total of 30 responses for both familiarity and usage and the 30 individual responses times 5 respondents gives the grand possible totals for both familiarity and usage of 150. The overall totals per site are out of 600 for both familiarity and usage.

4.1 Pumula North: Urban high-density low-income findings Test results in Pumula North indicate that youth are familiar with, and use more S’ncamtho metaphors compared to adults. Males have higher scores than females per age group and overall males score higher than females.

Table 3 gives the familiarity and usage scores and percentages for Pumula North high-density low-income suburb in Bulawayo.

Table 3: Pumula North familiarity and usage scores Age and sex Familiarity /150 Male youth 147-98% Female youth 128-85% Adult male 108-72% Adult female 89-59.3% Total 472-78.6% Possible total 600

Usage /150 136-90% 88-58.6% 88-58.6% 35-23.3% 347-57.8% 600

Urban high density male youth believed to be the innovators of S’ncamtho lexis have higher combined familiarity and usage scores, followed by female youth. However, female youth usage is the same as male adult usage, although the female youth have superior familiarity. The lowest in both familiarity and usage are female adults. All familiarity scores are higher than usage ones per group and the gap between familiarity and usage is wider in females.

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4.2 Hillside: Urban low-density high-income findings Scores for both variables show a different trend in Hillside compared to Pumula North, here the highest scores are in the male adult cohort followed by male youth. The differences in familiarity scores are not very different in this site as tabulated in Table 4.

Table 4: Hillside familiarity and usage scores Familiarity /150 Age and sex Male youth 92-61.3% Female youth 77-51.3% Adult male 103-68.6% Adult female 77-51.3% Total 349-58.1% Possible total 600

Usage /150 58-38.6% 51-34% 67-44.6% 49-32.6% 225-37.5% 600

Although Hillside is an urban site within Bulawayo, it demonstrates marked differences in scores compared to Pumula North. All scores per group are lower than Pumula North scores and adults here know more S’ncamtho than the youth, although the youth use more. Men are familiar with and use more S’ncamtho metaphors compared to their female counterparts. The overall scores of 58.1% familiarity and 37.5% usage are lower compared to Pumula North’s 78.6 and 57.8 respectively.4.3 Donsa: Rural findings The trend in Donsa rural area is similar to Pumula North, although the figures are much lower. Male youth have superior scores for both variables followed by female youth, and the least are female adults. Female usage scores are very low compared to their male counterparts. The scores are represented in Table 5.

Table 5: Donsa familiarity and usage scores Familiarity /150 Age and sex Male youth 101-67.3% Female youth 80-53.3% Adult male 65-43.3% Adult female 52-34.6% Total 298-49.6% Possible total 600

Usage /150 95-63.3% 47-31.3% 46-30.6% 8-5.3% 196-32.6% 600

The scores are reduced by almost 50% from the Pumula North scores in all cohorts; however, the trend of high scores in youth and males is the same.

The only narrow gap between familiarity and usage is recorded among male youth while the rest appear to be reluctant to adopt usage. The overall rural

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familiarity and usage scores of 49.6 and 32.6 respectively are lower than both Pumula North and Hillside.

5. Discussion The results confirm that urban areas are familiar with, and use more youth language innovations compared to rural areas. The adoption of the innovations by the population is not uniform, as youth and males are usually early adopters compared to adults and females. There is a difference in familiarity and usage indicating that people are exposed to these innovations and they take varying times to decide on whether to use them or not; here, the final adoption is indicated by usage. Adopters fall into different stages of the innovation decision process due to individual and social constraints and expectations. Some people consider a lot of uncertainties and etiquette related to social expectations before using S’ncamtho metaphors which are usually seen as fleeting youthfulness. The results confirm conclusions in literature that slang usage diminishes with age and that males use more slang compared to females of the same age cohort. Gendered and age specific social expectations interfere with S’ncamtho familiarity and usage. Youth language practices associate street corner peer groups and gang culture, and few women and adults participate in these (Hokororo, Malande and Tibategeza 2021; Makukule and Brookes 2021). Rural areas do not have robust street life and gang culture and this diminishes the robustness of youth language practices in rural areas. It has been also established that sex diminishes slang usage (De Klerk 1990; Grossman and Tucker 1997) Comparing adopters by site, it is clear that urban high-density areas are the innovators and early adopters; they presumably spread these innovations around the urban areas first then to rural areas. Urban lowdensity areas have early and late adopters, as they show adoption scores higher than the rural site which typically falls on the late majority and late adopters. Hurst (2017, 209) observes that these linguistic styles have been noted in rural areas, apparently spreading outwards from urban centres.

Rural centres borrow from urban centres, but also invent their own styles.

Usage of S’ncamtho metaphors indicate a flow from high density areas to low density areas and finally to rural areas as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Category of adopters by site Site Combined familiarity Pumula North/600 472-42.2% Hillside/600 349-31.2% Donsa/600 298-26.6%

Combined usage 347-45.2% 225-29.3% 196-25.5%

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Total Possible total

1119 1800

768 1800

The difference between high-and low-density areas is wide, which is an indication of the influence of class in the adoption of youth language innovations. Youth in Bulawayo’s affluent areas also use the English based youth language and they despise S’ncamtho as a poor youth variety.This affects the adoption of S’ncamtho as it competes with another youth variety.

Nassenstein (2015) makes a similar observation on university students in Rwanda who despise Imvugo y’ Umuhanda as an inferior code, because they consider it as belonging to the lower classes of uneducated people in the townships of Rwanda. Kioko (2015) also establishes an upper-class youth variety in Kenya called Engsh, which is spoken in the Westlands area of Nairobi by middle class and rich speakers as opposed to Sheng spoken by the high-density youth. This class distinction and youth variety competition makes low density urban areas non-innovators of African languages-based youth varieties and they adopt them after high density adopters.

The global totals, combining scores from all sites, indicate that youth familiarity and usage scores are higher than those of adults. It is only in Hillside where adult males have higher scores than male youth because of the competing English based innovations popular with the youth not adults.

Most of the adults in Hillside grew up in the high-density areas before acquiring low density houses after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, hence they adopted S’ncamtho from the high-density areas; yet, their children never lived in the high-density areas. Table 7 indicates that youths are the innovators and early adopters while adults range from majority adopters to late adopters. Adults are majority adopters because they only wait for an innovation to be used by the majority before they can adopt it.

Table 7: Category of S’ncamtho adopters by age Site Combined familiarity 1119 Combined usage 768 Youth Adults Youth Adults Pumula North Hillside Donsa Grand total

275-24.6% 169-15% 181-16.1% 625-55.9%

197-17.6% 180-16% 117-10.4% 494-44.1%

224-29.1% 109-14.2% 142-18.5% 475-61.8%

123-16% 116-15.1% 54-7% 293-38.2%

The gap between familiarity and usage is very wide in adults because they are compelled by social expectations to avoid use of certain innovations; they

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only use those innovations that have been confirmed by other adults as usable. Nassenstein (2016, 242) avows that: Youth language practices in urban Africa reveal a high degree of globalized fluidity, which means that speakers’ mindsets are oriented toward other practices that are negotiated on a much broader level, such as through social media (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Viber), in music (Reggae, Hip Hop) and movies (Hollywood, Nollywood, Bollywood), and often bound to patterns of high mobility. This explains why speakers’ repertoires are organized differently from those of older speakers who do not have access to the same resources and practices.

The category of adopters also follows the urban rural progression in age.

Both youth and adult groups in Pumula North have higher scores than Hillside and the Hillside scores are higher than the Donsa scores except male youth. The age dichotomy is linked to sex as female adults have the lowest scores fitting the category of late adopters.

It would appear that urbanity creates better adopters of youth language innovations, and this includes females. Rudwick (2005) opines that in Umlazi, South Africa, female youth adapt to the urban variety just as well as their male counterparts. In South Africa, female youth take part in urban street life and acquire youth language practices. Maribe and Brookes (2014, 202) aver that: Although women are not part of these male street-corner groups, a small number of young women hang out together on the township streets, particularly near the taxi rank. These are both heterosexual and lesbian women’s groups. Lesbian women sometimes join male street-corner groups for short periods of time. During these exchanges they engage with the boys using some of the tsotsitaal lexicon to demonstrate a streetwise township identity and camaraderie with the boys.

While high density women in Zimbabwe may participate in street life, the environment is much restrictive compared to South Africa because sexuality freedoms are curtailed in Zimbabwe, for example, lesbianism is outlawed.

However, despite the gendered nature of youth language practices, Pumula North female youth familiarity scores are higher than Hillside and Donsamale youth scores and their usage score is even higher than the Hillside male youth usage score. Rural male youth have higher usage scores than high density female youth presumably because of the social expectations on female speech and the coarse topics popular with youth language innovations. Hurst and Buthelezi (2014) identify the popular topics

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in the Durban youth variety as, girls and sex; drinking; smoking; other people; religion; famous people; music; race; crime and police; money; fighting and violence. These topics preclude expected female registers and make females subjects of the innovations more than they can be equal actors.

Etiquette becomes a factor in the decision to adopt S’ncamtho innovations by females and this puts them behind men in the category of S’ncamtho innovation adopters as shown in the totals in Table 8.

Table 8: Categories of S’ncamtho adopters by sex Site Combined familiarity/1119 Male Female

Combined usage/768 Male Female

Pumula North

255-22.8%

217-19.4%

224-29.2%

123-16%

Hillside Donsa Grand total

195-17.4% 166-14.8% 616-55%

154-13.8% 132-11.8% 503-45%

125-16.3% 141-18.4% 490-63.8%

100-13% 55-7.1% 278-36.2%

Social expectations on female talk affect females in their decision not to adopt S’ncamtho innovations even in cases where they are familiar with them. The transition from knowledge to usage is slower in females than it is in males because societal judgements are biased towards judging females for the use of coarse language or engagement in topics such as sex, drugs and popular culture which are common topics in youth varieties.

6. Conclusion The innovation decision process as applied on S’ncamtho metaphor familiarity and usage indicates divisions inthe category of adopters by location, age, class, and sex. High density areas in urban centres are the innovation sites for youth linguistic innovations and they also have the early adopters. The adoption of S’ncamtho by urban low-density areas is hampered by the competing English based youth variety whereby the youth, especially, choose to innovate and adopt the English based variety, effectively affecting S’ncamtho adoption. However, their parents who have links with high density areas adopted and still adopt more S’ncamtho than the low-density youth. The innovations from urban areas are presumably carried to rural areas where they are first adopted by male youth; rural areas are the typical majority and late adopters in the adoption of S’ncamtho innovations. The global totals indicate that youth are the innovators and early adopters, while male adults are the majority adopters and female adults

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are generally the late adoptersin the S’ncamtho linguistic innovation decision process. Adults and females consider a lot of individual and societal uncertainties before they can adopt an innovation, and this makes their decision process longer than that of youth and men. Adoption indices are the usage scores in the data. High density urban male youth are the innovators and the adoption process moves to male youth in other areas and female youth in high density areas who make up the category of early adopters. The category of early majority comprises low-and high-density adult males, and female youth; it also includes rural female youth. Late majority adopters are low-and high-density female adults and male rural adults, and the late adoptersare the rural female adults.

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4 Clever or Smarter? Style and Indexicality in Gendered Constructions of Male and Female Youth Identities in Kenya and South Africa Ellen Hurst-Harosh (University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Fridah Kanana Erastus (Kenyatta University, Kenya) This chapter considers indexicality in youth languages (Sheng from Kenya and Tsotsitaal from South Africa) in gendered constructions of male and female youth identities within the urban context. The iconic figure of a streetwise young man is a recurring theme in literature on African urban spaces and African youth language practices. In South Africa, this identity is embodied by the cleva (alt. Kleva or clever) and in Kenya to an extent by the smarter (and associated terms), meaning an urban dweller who speaks fluent Tsotsitaal and Sheng respectively, and understands the urban environment well enough to be financially viable (often through ‘hustling’), and is not to be intimidated. This figure represents success in the city, knowledge of urban systems and risks, as well as urban fashions, music and style, including global influences particularly from the USA, and is indexed in the language used by streetwise people. In this chapter, we discuss how the identity of the clever or smarter is drawn on in language and other performances by young people in African cities, to leverage streetwise authenticity or credibility and enable them to cultivate status and operate within risky contexts. Importantly, however, we do not classify speakers as clevers or smarters, instead emphasizing that speakers utilize the indexical nature of language to reference these identities.

The data is drawn from a combined corpus of naturalistic conversations and digital communications, as well as considering representations in popular media. Based on a well-theorized understanding of identity and discursive constructions of gender, we note that women also utilize streetwise metapragmatic stereotypes through linguistic performances within typically male contexts such as street corners and shebeens.

Keywords: indexicality, Sheng, Tsotsitaal, youth languages, youth identities, cleva and smarter

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1. Introduction: African youth language practices Hurst-Harosh and Kanana (2018, 2) define African youth language as “a phrase that has come to refer to the linguistic practices of young Africans across the continent which step away from ‘standard’ or ‘traditional’ language and often incorporate mixing, borrowings, slang and neologisms.”

The term “African Youth Languages” (AYLs) in sociolinguistics literature tends to refer to named language phenomena such as Sheng in Kenya; Tsotsitaal in South Africa; Nouchi in Ivory Coast; Camfranglais in Cameroon; Luyaaye in Uganda; among others (Hurst-Harosh 2020, 10). These language practices, styles or “stylects”1 are employed and innovated predominantly by young people, and, in this way, they can be distinguished from the large urban vernaculars present in African urban centres (Hurst 2017). These stylects emerged in particular spaces—African postcolonial cities—as a consequence of (inter alia) language contact and conflict, conflicting modernities, social and political histories, socio-economic effects, and conflicting social constructs such as rural/urban, traditional/modern and masculinity/femininity.

Hurst-Harosh and Kanana (2018, 3) also outline some salient features of African Urban Youth Language practices which include: Multilingual practices drawing from African languages, colonial languages and popular culture, lexical innovation, used primarily by male youths, and an associated extralinguistic style involving wider communicative strategies (extra- and paralinguistic strategies such as gesture, expressions, body language, tone, stress, pitch, and speed of talking) (Hurst-Harosh and Kanana 2018, 3; Mesthrie, Hurst-Harosh and Brookes 2021). Brookes (2021, 70) states of Johannesburg youth language practices that: …this performative practice involves lexical, syntactic, and discursive manipulation that may, but not always, include a combination of linguistic features, such as slang, neologisms, metaphor, certain types of discourse markers, and gesture. Young men engage in these performances to express a masculine streetwise urban township African identity in order to

1

Stylect is a termoriginally proposed in Hurst (2008) and subsequently developed in Mesthrie, Hurst-Harosh & Brookes (2021) and is based on the concept of style in sociolinguistics, as the range of variation in the speech of an individual. A stylect is a discursive practice which involves the styling of resources including lexical and syntactic features, gesture, discourse, poetics, and so on to achieve (indexical) social meaning. The use of resources linked to the stylect indexes a particular identity (metapragmatic stereotype).

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negotiate status and position within skeems “friendship groups,” which make up local male social structures on the township streets.

Thus, these language practices have often been linked in research as well as in popular culture to the idea of being “streetwise” primarily in urban or peri-urban contexts.

This chapter explores this aspect of AYLs, particularly in relation to constructions of gender and masculinity. The chapter considers indexicality in youth languages and evidences how both males and females draw on AYLs to index a streetwise identity within the urban context. Furthermore, the chapter considers identity from a pragmatics theoretical perspective to understand identity as a pragmatic process.

The data comes predominantly from Kenya (“Sheng”) and South Africa (“Tsotsitaal”). A joint database of AYLs including Tsotsitaal and Sheng was compiled from 2013-2018, primarily featuring audio and video recordings and data from social media and public domains such as advertising. The analysis below focuses on unpacking visual and linguistic representations, including gendered representations, of youth and street language speakers.

By comparing and sharing South African and Kenyan contexts and practices, we attempt to say something about the identities being constructed within these spaces and their relevance and utility in contemporary African urban centers.

2. Identity Much has been said regarding the ways that young speakers use African youth language practices, such as those that fall broadly under the terms Sheng and Tsotsitaal, to align with or “perform” identity. For example, authors such as Kiessling and Mous (2004), Hurst (2009) and Newell (2009) align AYLs with global modernity. Karanja (2010, 1) suggests that Sheng allows youth to re-negotiate their identities and cultures, “moving them beyond unitary, fixed identities and binaries of traditional versus urban, and local versus global.” Other authors speak of AYLs as synonymous with an urban or street identity (Nassenstein and Hollington 2015), an antiestablishment identity (Mensah 2012) and an identity associated with masculinity and criminality (Githiora 2002, 174; Githinji 2006; Schröder 2007, 293; Calteax 1994). Some of these normative assumptions such as modernity, urbanity, masculinity and criminality are critiqued by Hurst-Harosh (2020).

Meanwhile, the concept of identity itself has rarely been interrogated.

Sheng is mainly constituted of urban Swahili, local African languages, and English, while Tsotsitaal, depending on the region of South Africa, is

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based on an urban form of a regional African language such as isiZulu and/or SeSotho, combined with English and Afrikaans. Both Sheng and Tsotsitaal are often linked to urbanity, modernity and being “streetwise”: “Tsotsitaal in South Africa has many characteristics in common with other African ‘urban youth languages’; for example, it incorporates lexical innovation, metaphor and neologisms, its origins are in criminal argot, and it is used primarily by male youth in urban centers, possibly as a marker of being modern and ‘streetwise’” (Hurst 2015, 169). Furthermore, these practices have been linked primarily to male youth identities and seen in the previous quote and speakers “define themselves in the sense of a particular masculinity, which involves being ‘streetwise’ or ‘clever’” (Hurst 2009, 250).

Both practices are mostly tied to low-socioeconomic contexts— Johannesburg townships and Nairobi slums (although some variants have been described such as Engsh which is a variant of Sheng based primarily on English and linked to university students, and therefore seen as more middle-class).The identity of users relating to their location and socioeconomic status is linked to authenticity—“deep”Tsotsitaal or Sheng is seen to arise from contexts where financial and leisure activities take place primarily on the street and informally, such as in the case of Sheng, taxi touts (Kanana and Ny’onga 2019), and in the case of Tsotsitaal, street-corner peer groups (Brookes 2014). The notion of an authentic speaker relates to how authentic the linguistic practices are seen to be—that “real” speakers of the deep varieties look and behave in a certain way, such as the category of “pantsula” in Brookes’ (2014, 2021) work.

However, identity is not fixed but constructed. In discussions of identity, theorists have distinguished between social identity and individual identity at a theoretical level. Individual identity refers to a person’s trajectory, sense of self, self-narrative etc. On the other hand, social identity may relate to groups or communities that an individual may identify with or be identified with. Self-identity may not always accord with the identities assigned or perceived by society.

African youths utilize AYLs to express identity related to youth cultural practices such as music, dress, hair styles, fashion, dating, etc., notably through the development of peer-group specific vocabulary (“slang”), relating to matters of interest to a particular peer group/generation (HurstHarosh and Kanana 2020). This phenomenon reaffirms that young people construct a social formation with norms, mores, behaviors and values that differ from previous generations of a society/previous iterations of youth social formation.

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As individuals play different roles in society, their identities keep changing according to context in time and space. This identity shift, according to Tanveer (2016), is mainly managed by language. Coupland (2007) describes it as styling; Mous and Barasa (2021) refer to the “Shengshift”; while Mesthrie, Hurst-Harosh and Brookes (2021) employ the term stylect to try to capture the ways that youth shift between styles and draw on a range of resources in performances of identity. Because they are not fixed but are responsive to particular contexts, identities can be considered pragmatic phenomena—they involve the ways that people produce and comprehend meanings through language in social contexts.

Chen (2018) theorizes Pragmatic Identity by focusing on the identity presented in naturally occurring verbal communication and how this identity is closely connected with the construction and interpretation of the discourse (Chen 2018, 2). Chen argues for the need for a systematic and pragmatic approach to identity. According to Ning (2020), Chen outlines how “interactants select their identities from a socially constituted repertoire,” and acts of identity are achieved through the use of language.

Thus, in particular contexts, interactants discursively enact their selected identities for specific communicative purposes. Accordingly, selecting a pragmatic identity is both a discursive identity practice and a pragmatic process, and therefore has a significant impact on the outcome of the interaction. (Chen 2018 in Ning 2020, 280)

Indexicality is similarly a pragmatic concept and refers to the phenomenon of a sign pointing to (or indexing) some object in the context in which it occurs.

A sign can be referential or non-referential. Signs may derive nonreferential meaning from indexicality, for example when features of a speaker’s register indexically signal their social class. Ochs (1992) proposes that the indexical relationship between language and social meaning should be seen as involving two levels. At the level of direct indexicality, linguistic forms most immediately index interactional stances—that is, subjective orientations to ongoing talk, including affective, evaluative, and epistemic stances (cf. Du Bois 2007). At the level of indirect indexicality, these same linguistic forms become associated with particular social types believed to take such stances.

African youth language researchers have productively applied the concept of indexicality to youth language expressions in both in-person and virtual communications (see for instance Oloruntoba-Oju 2020).

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Indexicality takes many forms. For example, Agha (1998, 151) says that language/style can index what he referred to as “Metapragmatic stereotypes”: Our idea that the people we meet have typifiable social identities, that they are members of certain “social kinds,” is a very leaky notion. Everyone potentially has many identities, and most people seem able to move readily among them. Our ideas about the identities of others tend to emerge when particular phenomena are objects of reflection, e.g., what people wear, what they do, and what they do with speech. Phenomena such as these—namely, characteristics of actors and their actions—are quintessentially pragmatic phenomena. Since our ideas about the identities of others are ideas about pragmatic phenomena, they are in principle metapragmatic constructs. In particular, such ideas are metapragmatic stereotypes about pragmatic phenomena.

We therefore refer to these metapragmatic stereotypes when talking about the identities that speakers indexing through the use of AYLS.

3. Analysis 3.1 Being streetwise Metapragmatic stereotypes are embodied in “township lyf” icons and styles in South Africa which include the figure of the Tsotsi, the cleva/kleva (clever), the pantsula, and stars of local hip hop genres such as kwaito and spaza rap.

In Kenya, such iconic figures include the smarta (smarter), and stars of local music genre Genge Tone.

The Tsotsi figure was encoded in the 1940s as an urban youth who wore the stylish clothes of the day such as “zoot suits” and narrow-bottomed trousers, alongside shoes and hats imported from the USA; but later also became associated with youths involved in criminal gangs. This character can be seen in photographs from the 1940s/1950s in the Johannesburg freehold township of Sophiatown (https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/ gangsterism-sophiatown). The figure persists in more modern representations such as the modern-day film reworking of Athol Fugards’s novel Tsotsi (https://www.imdb.com/title/ tt0468565/). The film features a young man who lives in a township and interfaces with his group of friends, the city and its seedy side, systems and risks, via criminal activity, until an encounter with a baby changes his perspective. The film is scripted partly in Tsotsitaal with subtitles. Thus, Tsotsi-taal (literally, Tsotsi language) becomes one of the African urban vernaculars that Childs (1997)

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characterizes as indexing “the high life of the city—the urban, the cool, the hip and the sophisticated...,” as well as criminality, poverty and peer groups.

On the other hand, Tsotsitaal is also represented as the language of streetwise clevas (Hurst-Harosh 2009, 8). The iconic figure of a streetwise young man is a recurring theme in literature on African urban spaces and African youth language practices. In contrast to the more criminal Tsotsis, in South Africa this identity is embodied by the cleva2 (alt. clever or kleva) and in Kenya to an extent by the smarta (alt. smarter), meaning an urban dweller who speaks fluent Tsotsitaal and Sheng respectively, and understands the urban environment well enough to be financially viable (often through “hustling”), and to not be easily intimidated.

According to the website “Mzanzitaal” (South African language), cleva is a term used to refer to someone who is streetwise. They give the following example: Example 1 “Kabelo gore kecleva, but little does he know.” (“Kabelo thinks he’s a cleva, but little does he know.”) (https://www.mzansitaal.co.za/terms/cleva/)

Similarly, in reference to the iconic figure of a smarta/smarter in Sheng, the website of the Sheng Dictionary by Go Sheng states: Example 2 Smarter—1. Genius2. Pick pocket 3. Thief4. Rich person 5. Clean guy (Noun) (http://www.sheng.co.ke/)

While smarta is not as strongly correlated to a streetwise identity as the figure of the cleva, the smarta and the cleva have some strong correlations at the level of metapragmatic stereotype. The concept of smarta in Sheng is embodied in words and phrases like huyomorioameomoka meaning (“that guy/man has taken off)” (accumulated wealth through either hard work or earning chances in first world countries or business deals). Other Sheng words for successful, hardworking young men in urban settings include mzito— Swahili for (“heavy”), or mambwenya meaning (“monied/rich or wellconnected person”). Heavy is applied here to bring out the meaning of being

2

Brookes (2001, 167) describes an associated gesture “commonly glossed as clever meaning ‘streetwise’ and ‘city slick.’”

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loaded with money coupled with endowment of financial muscle, driving flashy cars and leading a high-end lifestyle.

A Sheng term more linked to urban knowledge and being streetwise is embodied in the following example: Example 3 Yeyendio the real OG (“He is the real Original Gangster”) (Sheng database)

OG is taken from hip hop culture and is used in urban areas to refer to someone who is knowledgeable, tough and knows his way around the tough city life enabling him/her to achieve financially. Other lexical items such as mauru, otero, champee, or mameni (“cunning,” “star,” “champion,” and “men” respectively) in Sheng can all mean a tough guy living in a big city like Nairobi, while maboyz means a crew of (“boys”) or (“young men”) in Sheng, and is a derivative of the English word “boys.”

Example 4 Ile hao pale ni yamameni (“That hao (house) over there is for tough guys (men).”) (http://www.sheng.co.ke/kamusi/index.php?word_id=641)

There are clearly a range of male youth identities within both South African and Kenyan urban contexts that are reflected in the respective youth language practices, and a range of terms for identities associated with the urban context. In South Africa, alongside cleva, there are terms/endearments such as Authi/Outie(“guy”), magents/majitas/majimbos/magenge (“guys”), mfethu (“brother”), mpintschi (“friend”), skhokho (“hero/friend”), lova/guluva (“guy”), pantsula (“ruffian/disrespectable guy”), all of which are commonly translated as (“guy” or “friend”), but have subtly different positive and negativeconnotations.

Example 5 Mandidlalenanikemajita. (“Then let me play with you guys”) (Tsotsitaal database)

The identity of the clever or smarter is drawn on in language and other performances by young people in African cities, to leverage streetwise authenticity or credibility and enable them to cultivate status and operate

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within risky contexts. This indexicality is established by the use of street language practices and performances such as those linked to Tsotsitaal and Sheng, including the use of gesture, body language, expressions, tone as so forth. The indexicality reflects in the words and phrases in youth language which become relexicalized, indicating central concerns of the speakers. In Sheng, this can be illustrated by use of certain words or phrases used to refer to police and robbers such as manjege, masanse, and karau, used for purposes of alerting other people of their presence. Other phrases and items that could bring out the concept of hustling in an urban setting include: wale maboyzniwajanzezmeaning (“those guys are smart thinkers”), suggesting they have used their wits in order to succeed in their businesses or hustles.

Wajanzeez is derived from the Swahili wajanja meaning (“cunning”) or (“sly”).

In Tsotsitaal similarly, there are relexicalized words for hustling (hlanganisa) and police (obaba, omaphuza). In “Arm yourself, learn tsotsi taal and how to dance pantsula,” Kenyan journalist, Argwings Odera (2015) provides the following narrative about when he arrived in South Africa: “If you want to survive this city,” the taxi driver advises, “you must learn tsotsi taal and how to dance pantsula.” […]My first three words in tsotsi are “ola” and “heita” as greetings and “seven” for a pistol, so-named because of its shape and the James Bond movies with the indestructible agent 007. I don’t even know why I’m bothering to learn the name of a weapon. For what purpose? “If you want to be respected as a foreigner,” the taxi driver tells me, “you must always walk with your ‘seven.’” Everybody, even the police, have respect for seven. Seven is the only thing that makes one equal in this country, especially for you foreigners.

3.2 Influence on urban music, radio, social media The metapragmatic stereotypes linked to both Sheng and Tsotsitaal linguistic practices have permeated music, film and television, and other media forms.

There has, for example in Kenya, been a rise in radio stations broadcasting in Sheng and the infiltration of the language across social media platforms which target youth in both urban and rural areas. Ghetto Radio is a radio station that exclusively broadcasts in Sheng language (https://ghettoradio.co.ke). The station boasts of being the number one Sheng broadcaster in Nairobi as implied in the statement: Kanairo radio nijamo (“Nairobi the radio (station) is one”) (which means Nairobi’s number 1 one radio). Kanairo is a morphologically corrupted form of Nairobi while jamo has

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been derived by metathesis of the syllables in the word moja (“one”) in Swahili.

Popular Kenyan urban music genre, Genge Tone, has taken center stage in both secular and gospel music with artists composing their lyrics using Sheng words. Top musicians, like Sauti Sol, Mejja, Kaligraph Jones, Ethik, Matata, and Comedians such as Eric Omondi, Butita, Krazy Kennar and Cartoon Comedian to name a few, publish their content in Sheng as a reflection of real-life situations affecting youth in Nairobi and its surroundings. This points to the presence of the metapragmatic stereotypes of the cleva/smarta in music, fashion and film which youth in both urban areas and rural areas identify with. For example, an internet image search for the popular group Mbogi Genje, who rap using Sheng lyrics, calls up photographs of the group in urban settings, wearing popular labels, gold chains and sunglasses, standing in front of “matatu” city taxis, graffiti, or shacks.

Similarly in South Africa, the group Backyard crew who make Spaza rap, a popular local genre, and use “vernac”—vernacular language, including lexical resources that are considered Tsotsitaal—have photo shoots set in urban contexts, particularly townships, including the eponymous “spaza” shops, alongside minibus taxis in the background of their promo shots and album covers. Wearing shades and baseball caps along with beat up Nike trainers and South African bead bracelets, the local/global is encompassed in the imagery alongside links to US rap. But importantly, the urban context/identity is primary in these images.

The identity of the streetwise cleva/smarta and the associated language and identity has also been commodified in various ways, to tap into the attractiveness of the metapragmatic stereotype. With large youth populations and access to the internet and mobile networks in Kenya and South Africa, Sheng and Tsotsitaal are commodified in a variety of contexts including music, fashion, advertising, social media and even politics. Some of the linguistic practices have transcended socioeconomic class boundaries and are used by, or at least known and familiar to, many youths and adults irrespective of social class or gender. The practices have also spread to rural areas by way of radio and young people who travel between urban and rural areas. As a result, commodified resources are used in advertising, often to attract the youth demographic. For example, in South Africa in 2010, the telecommunications company Telkom launched the “8ta” campaign, a play on heita, a word meaning (“hello”), originally from Tsotsitaal but which is now commonly known by everyone and used in urban vernaculars, as well

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as in text messaging in the abbreviated form 8ta. Later in 2013, the 8ta brand migrated to Telkom Mobile. When a popular term is used and commodified in this way, it may be replaced in street contexts, no longer being considered streetwise or up to date enough, or alternatively the brand itself may become unpopular.

There is similarly a strong presence in Kenya of Sheng in urban linguistic landscapes, such as in billboard advertising and on the side of taxis (matatus) in Nairobi. Because of its indexical relation to urban lyf/living, Sheng has been used quite extensively in advertising, particularly products aimed at the youth market (Kariuki, Kanana and Kebeya 2015).

3.3 Gender, male and female youth identities The predominant emphasis in AYL research has been on “male, in-group, street-aligned, youth language practice” (Mesthrie, Hurst-Harosh and Brookes 2021). This focus on male speaking practices stems from several assumptions. Firstly, it has been argued that males are the primary speakers of AYLs. Authenticity of youth language practices, as described above, is seen to rest with finding authentic speakers, those considered central to street practices. However, due to differing risk-taking and safety considerations, social behaviors and social structures, women tend to be less present in street corner networks, and less involved in street “hustling” and risky financial and social activities on street corners. Githinji argues that: …the hierarchical ranking of Sheng varieties into street level and basic Sheng mutes the female voices by labeling their versions deviant, which in a way contests their legitimacy. As a result, female varieties of Sheng attract little interest among researchers because they are not deemed authentic. (Githinji 2008, 19)

Githinji argues that women do use Sheng, but that it differs from male street level Sheng, in, for example, the way that women are labelled, as women reject derogatory words for women typical of street Sheng. According to Githinji (2008, 26), “this rejection of derogatory words shows that women are agents in Sheng’s innovative project who negotiate for their positive identity and are not mere passive recipients of male lexical labels.” Nevertheless currently, much data on AYLs reflects hyper-masculinity and is based in identities such as those of streetwise/street smart clevas/smartas described above. Some examples of gendered Sheng lexical items gathered from these kinds of contexts follow.

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Like any other language practice Sheng is constituted of words which can be construed as constructions of femininity or masculinity. Examples of how, for example, young girls are referred to include ekeki (“cake”) in English.

Example 6 Huyo dame nikeki (“That girl is a cake”) (Sheng database)

This example metaphorically suggests the girl can be eaten owing to her sweetness. This has a sexual connotation. Additionally, in describing the physical appearance of women, expressions such as kubeba, haga, and hagainatokoka would be used. Kubeba is a Kiswahili word which means (“to carry”), but in this context, it means (“a big bum or buttocks”); haga has the same connotation but hagainatokoka is used to describe a shaking bum (kutokota means (“to boil strongly/heavily” in Kiswahili) (Kanana and Hurst 2019, 45).

Githinji (2008) underscores the implications of sexism in how males and females are lexically termed in Sheng. He illustrates, for example, how girls are portrayed as sexual objects in Chekiuyomanyake or chekihizomachungwa.

Manyake means (“meat”) in formal Swahili (derived from nyama) while machungwa means “oranges.” This is an example of symbolism in that a woman who is fat and thus supposedly unattractiveis referred to as meat compared tooranges. In other instances, women are exhibited as property in terms such as mama wangu (“my mama”) or wifey wakwangu (“my wifey”).

These terms suggest aspects of gender roles which encompass household chores and child bearing. On the contrary, Githinji posits that the narrowing down of masculinity in Sheng terminologies seem to have more positive attributes in Sheng words like mzee or buda or mzito for example as used in urban areas by young men to acknowledge each other’s masculinity regardless of their financial status. He argues that “Apart from eliciting fewer variants, words for ‘boy’ are very positive compared to those for ‘girl’” (Githinji 2008, 24), as we saw earlier in the discussion relating to positive words in both Sheng and Tsotsitaal for streetwise men.

So, when women use Sheng or Tsotsitaal, can they index the same streetwise identities as male speakers? In an article on swearing in Russian, Čekuolytė (2014) writes that swearing was associated with the construction of a masculine streetwise identity in an attitudinal survey. They point out however that in an interactional analysis of swearing in Russian, swearwords

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can be employed in the construction of a female streetwise and a masculine non-streetwise identity. This suggests therefore that perceptions and practices may be different in these kinds of taboo language behaviors.

In some data gathered from Twitter in 2013, gender attitudes towards women using Tsotsitaal were identified, such as those in the examples below.

Example 7 ICherryethethaitsotsitalyiTurn Off? #ezibuzelanje# (“A girl who speaks Tsotsitaal is a turn off? Just a question”) (Twitter 2013) Example 8 If she starts talking tsotsitaal with you #wajelwa (“If she starts talking tsotsitaal with you, someone else is sleeping with your girlfriend”) (Twitter 2013)

Example 9 A Chick Hu Uses Kasi/Tsotsi Slang -_-. ▲TrustitIDontTrust (“A girl who speaks township slang/Tsotsitaal—I don’t trust it”) (Twitter 2013)

In these comments, a girl using Tsotsitaal is seen as untrustworthy, likely to cheat on their partner, and a turn off. The perceptions are therefore negative of females speaking Tsotsitaal. There are also reports that women who use Tsotsitaal are seen as tomboys, or lesbians (Rudwick, Nkomo and Shange 2006). Rudwick writes of women using isiTsotsi (Zulu-based Tsotsitaal in KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa) that: For most Zulu women who speak isiTsotsi, its use is informal and personal.

While initiating a conversation with a stranger in isiTsotsi would be common among young township men, Zulu women are not likely to do this. Speaking isiTsotsi as a Zulu woman demonstrates a distinct assertiveness and “streetwisdom” which is conventionally only associated with males. Hence, when Zulu women “cross” to isiTsotsi in a conversation with males this is frequently accompanied by explicit commentary and evaluation by the interlocutors and the reaction of men can range from indignation to fear to amusement. Some men reportedly label such women as “manly” or “tomboyish.” (Rudwick 2013, 246)

She argues however that Zulu women use Tsotsitaal to “re-negotiate their social roles and relationships with men” and argues that women’s use of

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Tsotsitaal is a form of crossing. She suggests that the use of Tsotsitaal by women is a contestation of the gendered “social boundary” which marks a “street-wise, urban and modern identity” (Rudwick 2013, 246).

4. Discussion Clearly, in particular circumstances, social contexts and social relationships such as highlighted above, women do use such resources of negotiation associated with youth language practices such as Sheng and Tsotsitaal.

Indeed, Rudwick, Nkomo and Shange (2006) argue that Tsotsitaal is used by women as a semiotic resource to enact a township streetwise identity, while Maribe and Brookes (2014) show how it is used by lesbians to negotiate status in relationships and in street-corner networks. The latter authors examine the way women draw on “different elements associated with male talk including ritual exchanges, the slang lexicon, gestures and paralinguistic features such as pitch and delivery” (Maribe and Brookes 2014, 203). Speakers use these resources for several purposes “in interactions with both lesbian and heterosexual friends” (Maribe and Brookes 2014, 203), including to emphasize streetwise, township and sexual identities (Maribe and Brookes 2014, 204). This also suggests that the Tsotsitaal used by females is not significantly linguistically different from that used by males, as female Tsotsitaal speakers draw from male linguistic practices and repertoire; however, there may also be female Tsotsitaal innovation.

Madubela (2016) similarly shows how “Shebeen Queens”—women who own and operate informal and/or illegal township drinking establishments—use Tsotsitaal resources to negotiate status in their work contexts. He describes how one of his respondents, who he calls “Queen B,” explained that it is important for a female shebeen operator to assume the identity of a cleva, as it is street wisdom that would equip her to be able to dodge the system as well as to successfully dominate and control a shebeen environment.

If abantubekubonaukuthiungu’cleva, haayiibharri, ngekebakubuyizele, so uzibonisakanjaniukuthinaweungucleva? ….. ithiNgikunike i411, mina ishebeen yam kuno Alfred Khuzwayo, futhiiRebo ne Ringas yam inswempu, wonkeumuntu la eGugulethuuyazi (“If people see that you are a cleva, not a fool, they will not trouble you, so how doyou show that you are also a cleva? Let me give you the lowdown, in my shebeen there is an Alfred Khuzwayo, also how I look, and speak is cool, everyone hereat Gugulethu knows”) (Madubela2016)

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In the above excerpt, 411 means (“giving someone the latest news”); an Alfred Khuzwayo is an AK47 (assault rifle); buyiza means (“confused/stumble”); bharri or bari is a (“fool/idiot”); and nswempu means (“amazing/awesome”).

Of particular interest here is the suggestion that the identity of the cleva is not exclusively reserved for men, despite the gendered metapragmatic stereotype.

Another group of women that require streetwise status to operate in risky contexts are sex workers. Githinji describes the use of Sheng by “petty prostitutes” who said there was “no kind of Sheng that they could not understand,” and that knowledge of many different language varieties including varieties of Sheng was what enabled them to interact with different clients (Githinji 2006, 458). They furthermore develop their own linguistic innovations (notably syllabic inversion) in order to pass coded message amongst their community. Syllabic inversion and other linguistic features of ludlings have been associated with other youth language practices (HurstHarosh forthcoming). Furthermore, Githinji describes relexicalization particularly of terms for money (Githinji 2006, 459). Thus, the speech of this group of women could be conceptualized as Sheng innovations, despite the fact that the speakers were female. Again, this points to the need for the speech of women to receive more attention in youth language research; the emphasis on male youth speech due to their visibility has further contributed to the invisibility of young women’s practices.

5. Conclusions This chapter has considered the gendered, masculine constructions of the identities of cleva and smarta, the metapragmatic stereotypes being indexed by the use of the youth language practices, Tsotsitaal and Sheng. We have highlighted however that things are not so clear cut, and that in fact, women may utilize the masculine identity of the cleva or smarta in particular contexts for particular purposes, by drawing on youth language lexicon, as well as other resources such as body language, tone and so on.

The streetwise identities or metapragmatic stereotypes associated with, or indexed by, Tsotsitaal and Sheng allow people to operate within complex, contested, conflicted and often risky spaces such as street corners and low socioeconomic spaces in and around African cities. Thus, the identity of the clever or smarter is drawn on in language and other performances by young people, male and female, in African cities, to leverage streetwise authenticity or credibility and enable speakers to cultivate social status. As such, identity can be considered a pragmatic choice—the production of identities involves

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the selection and utilization of linguistic (and other) resources—in the above descriptions, stylect practices—to produce and comprehend meanings in social contexts.

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Hurst-Harosh, Ellen. “Youth Language and Registers.” In The Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages, edited by Lutz Marten, Nancy Kula, Jochen Zeller and Ellen HurstHarosh. Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

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5 From Slanging to Code-mixing …, Pidginization …, Antilanguages and Paroemic routines: Gender Dichotomies and Dynamics in the Language of Nigerian Undergraduates on Social Media Apps Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju (University of Ilorin, Nigeria)

Omotayo Oloruntoba-Oju (Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria) Using Nigeria as an example, this chapter examines if language usage is gendered among female and male undergraduates, and the extent of any such gendering.

Discourse forms that have been closely associated with African youth language practices are employed as analytical paradigms. These include universal antilanguage elements such as slangs, profanity and deviant syntax, as well as elements peculiar to African settings, such as excessive code-mixing, pidginization and sundry paroemia routines. The chapter concludes, based on the investigation, that youth language expressions can generally be described in terms of diverse or mixed gender practices; however, many features within the analyzed data samples do also manifest gender differences and continued male dominance within the specific domain of youth language as practiced by university undergraduates on social media apps in Nigeria.

Keywords. language and gender, differences, dichotomies, dynamics; Nigeria; social media; antilanguages, emojis

1. Introduction Part of the problem of the analysis of youth language in respect of gender is that youth language had almost always been analyzed as a monolithic phenomenon, and largely as male. McRobbie and Garber (1976) had noted, albeit non-controversially, that women used to be omitted altogether from youth studies, presumably robbing the research world of any inkling of the nature of gender agendas and the diverse forms of expression between female and male youths. About the same time as McRobbie and Garber, some other researchers came up with examples of girls’ male-mimicking activities in gangster pursuits (Brown 1977; Bjerregard and Smith 1993), sometimes 97

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with a follow up with discourse on the language of girl gangsters.

Specifically, Campbell’s (1984a) generalized discussion on female gang members was followed up with another on girls’ “aggressive” talk (1984b).

Here again, however, and in most cases thereafter, male behavior would serve as a model of youth language.

Apart from this apparent blurring of distinctions between female and male youth behavioral patterns or silencing of female representations, the notion of “youth language” itself had its own foundational problem, which is the problem of classification. One problem here is that of chronological determinacy, for example, in a situation such as the music industry, especially hip-hop, where some of the “youth” leaders (Olamide, Kanye West, Jay-Z) are into their forties and fifties, showing that not all who engage in what is generally called “youth” language practices are chronologically youth (Oloruntoba-Oju, 2020). French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1984), cited in Adjeran and Atindogbe (2019, 90) observed that the category “young” is often not a fact but a construction, and ultimately that “the language practices of youths, makes sense in the context of the relational spaces within which they evolve in contact with adults” (see T. OloruntobaOju, in this volume for a further elaboration of this complexity). There is also the progressive transformation of youth language into language of the community that sometimes blurs the youth/adult language distinction.

Examples include languages such as Sheng and Nouchi, which, “as their original speakers grow older and retain the language” (Mc Laughlin 2009, 9), equally grow from being a youth language to an urban language. A discussion of gendering in youth language therefore confronts the twin problematic of chronological indeterminacy, “age-grading,” and the “gender matching” of language features (cf., for example, Androutsopoulos 2005 vs.

Stenström et al.’s, 2002 debate regarding gender-matching). In this chapter we focus on the latter problematic, by examining data elicited from a social media platform comprising female and male undergraduates, for possible differences and the possible implications. We argue that gendered differences continue to occur in the language used by women and men, and that understanding them is a key to the continued understanding of the phenomenon of gender as a whole.

2. Briefly on African Youth Language and Language Practices The term, “youth language,” generally refers to language phenomena associated mostly with urban centers (Mc Laughlin 2009), and with

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adolescent-to-youth usage. African youth language and language practices in particular have been defined as a “domain specific, identity forming and context driven male dominated discourse form. […] It is decidedly hybridized and reflects both local and global (transnational and transcultural) coding” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018, 198). Philosophically and sociologically, youth languages are regarded as forms of anti-language and subversive usage (Halliday 1978), and youthful braggadocio. Youth language is also an instrument for youthful banter or play.

From the sociolinguistics perspective, youth languages and youth language practices are sociolects or speech styles associated with the younger age groups (Eckert, 1997). They are marked by features such as relexification, slang, in-group argots, syntactic and semantic deviations and pragmatic infelicities. Within African contexts, they often have a colonial language base (however, cf. Oloruntoba-Oju 2019 on indigenous language based urban and youth languages), and are marked by code mixing and hybridity (Bosire 2006), excessive code-mixing (Kerswill 2009) that is often marked with “continuous [indigenous] code strings” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018, 195-197), and linguistic fractals (Rudd 2018). Useful summaries of the features of African youth languages and youth language practices were independently provided, within the same volume, by Hurst-Harosh and Erastus (2018), as shown in the table below.

Table 1: Features of African Youth Languages and Language Practices Hurst-Harosh and Kanana Oloruntoba-Oju (2018, 189-191; 198) Erastus (2018, 3) • Extreme multilingualism, • Domain specific, identity forming and featuring numerous African context driven male dominated discourse languages as well as colonial form. (198) languages and influences from popular culture such as hip• Hybridity – a relentless mixture of hop music. languages. The hybridity range manifests in •Innovation in lexicon, forms of bilingualism, multilingualism, including neologisms and “mixilingualism.” borrowing accompanied by transformation.

• “Glocality” (fusion of enunciation codes • Link to/origins in criminal (linguistic), and base codes (experiential, argots. ideational, ethnic) —here we also refer to the • Use primarily by male use of colonial languages to convey youth, although lingua franca indigenous thought forms such as proverbs claims are being made for and aphorisms. some of the varieties.

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• An urban versus rural dimension, where these varieties are markers of modernity and urbanity.

• Deviant syntax, including syntactic (subjectpredicate) hybrids, quaint gerunds, e.g., adjectival gerunds, and syntactic unit violations.

• An associated extralinguistic style involving wider communicative strategies such as clothing styles, gestures, body language, ways of walking, etc., which serve to communicate modern, streetwise identities.

• Slangs, street language, also signaling a language and class perspective.

• A subversive relation to colonial languages, wherein they borrow from colonial languages but utilize semantic transformation, or they are based on colonial languages but manipulate syntax and morphology.

• “Youth topoi” - socio-cultural “youth” topics (love, sex, romance), being quintessential “youth concerns” that contextually generate “youth language.”

• High occurrence of sex-gender expressions replete with sexual innuendoes.

• Technology-driven/internet language (computer, internet and sundry technological terms deployed as topical vocabulary.

• Neologisms; • Pivot of language change • Americanisms; • Transnationality (appropriation/ adaptation of international symbols).

• Continental AUYL vocabulary; • Africanity (Pan-Africanism; Africanisms African Pidgins, loan words, proverbs, etc).

• Local and glocal rhythmicity (especially in music, with rhyming indigenous and foreign lexes). (189-191)

While the highlighted segments in the two columns of the table above indicate some reference to sex-gender concerns, such as: “use primarily by male youth” (Hurst-Harosh and Kanana), and “male dominated discourse form,” “Youth topoi” - socio-cultural “youth” topics (love, sex, romance)”, and “high occurrence of sex-gender references” (Oloruntoba-Oju), there has been no sustained focus on the issue of sex and gender per se in African youth language scholarship. This absence of focus on female youth language may well be due to the concentration of “youth language” research on male oriented settings such as the streets, motor parks, prisons, among others. It also suggests the interplay of other variables such as power and or powerlessness. Nonetheless, summative lists such as the above are helpful in drawing attention to the various elements that have emerged as conspicuous features of youth language and youth language practices. The elements would usefully constitute analytical paradigms in a survey of gendered

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patterns in female and male usage in specific domains such as we conduct in this chapter.

3. Theoretical Framework and Methodology 3.1. Briefly on the Language and Gender Trajectory Anthropologists and sociolinguists have long identified that speech and speech patterns are analyzable as distinctive variables, in relation to the culture, age, social class and sex of speakers, among others. The most distinctive biologically based difference in male and female speech is found in voice pitch, by which the sex of a speaker is typically recognized even without seeing them. Variations at other levels of language and discourse have been observed, which are generally ascribed to the socialization process, and the apparent conditioning of girls and boys to use language in line with segregated norms of social acceptability. Ethnomethodological experiments and linguistic studies have demonstrated how the categories sex and gender differ, and how both biological sex and the socialization of children into stereotypic gender roles impact language and communication (Garfinkel 1967; Goffman 1977). Research has also demonstrated how stereotypic forms are perpetuated through a pattern of performativity, iteration or replication in language (Butler 1993). However, socialization does not seem to have been able to account for all manifestations of gender.

It seems overall that biological facts relating to sex, and sociopsychological orientations relating to gender are both mutually reinforcing and neither can be discountenanced (see also T. Oloruntoba-Oju’s introductory chapter in this volume). Many theories acknowledge this combination and differ only in the relative stress they play on either side of nature/nurture equation (Bussey and Bandura 1999, in Leaper and Friedman 2007). While it appears more politically correct to claim an exclusive sociality for gender, the claim would not be borne out by scientific findings. For example, experiments with children subjects often show clear sex-based gender preferences, even when attempts are made to present a genderneutral environment, with corresponding accoutrements—such as, allowing children to choose, without any prompting, between female-typed and maletyped toys (Todd et al. 2017). Similar sex-based variations and preferences have been established over time in respect of the use of language (Barnes 1971; Coates 1993; Spender 1985; Goodwin 1990; Lakoff 2004; Tannen 1975, 1990). Scholars, including the current authors, have also written on the dynamics of sex and gender in relation to language and literature

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(Oloruntoba-Oju and Oloruntoba-Oju 2013a, 2013b). On the other hand, some scholars aver that there are no gender differences in language and that “what is different is the way they are judged” (Mills 2012, 15-16). It is therefore important not to foreclose any line of enquiry, in order to fully understand the nature of the relationship between language, sex and gender, and other variables with which they intersect.

3.2 Youth Language and Intersectionality The intersection of youthness with other social variables, such as gender and class, complicates a linear or direct correlation between language, youth and gender. This necessitates a supplementary framework that is capable of accounting for such intersections, and the manner in which they produce gender specific phenomena. The framework of intersectionality (MCall 2005; Yuval-Davis 2011), as applied to Sociolinguistics, provides a perspective for examining gendered language in terms of levels of interaction or intersection.

Originally coined by Crenshaw (1989) within the context of feminism, the term, intersectionality, indicates that there are many variables that combine (intersect) to produce gender dynamics. These variables may either be emancipatory or disabling in relation to particular genders (Cooper 2016).

Elements of intersectionality include relationality, contextuality and deconstruction. In contrast to isolationism in research, intersectionality expects that the interaction of variables that produce a gendered phenomenon should be duly observed (Runyan 2016). It also calls for interdisciplinarity, such as combining feminist, constructivist and sociolinguistic perspectives. Intersectional sociolinguistics, therefore, aims at investigating how “multiple systems of categorization […] intersect in dynamic and mutually constitutive ways” (Levon 2015, 295).

What then are the variables that intersect to constitute gendered language among Nigerian undergraduates on social media platforms? The more visible variables here are: age, education, class, ethnicity, urbanityrurality, and technology. Age is important, since most undergraduates fall within the youth bracket. Although not all undergraduates are young, the older members are relatively few. Education is also an important variable and it sometimes correlates with class status. For example, access to or extensive use of social media platforms is not guaranteed for all classes, but it can almost always be guaranteed for the educated class. The dynamics of education as an index of class affordance has been well theorized in sociology and philosophy (e.g., Bourdieu 1991 on language and education as a form of capital), and in sociolinguistics studies (e.g., Bernstein 1971 on correlation

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between the acquisition of “elaborated codes” and attainment of elevated status).

The relationship between class and education can therefore be described in terms of “reciprocal causation” or of the bi-directionality of cause and effect. Emergence from a high social class offers access to relatively high education, while education, however accessed, typically offers a route to a high class, via higher-paying jobs and positions of authority, including governmental positions. In “Education and the Dynamics of Middleclass Status,” Hardy and Marcotte (2020) found that “college education positively predicts middle class status.” Education and status also entail associated affordances and pastimes, such as access to, and prolonged engagements on, social media apps, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, and others.

WhatsApp appears to be the social media app of choice among university undergraduates, due to its communicative and collaborative affordances (Rambe and Chipunza 2013; Devi and Tevera 2014; Meishar-Tal et al. 2012; Malecela 2016), and innumerable other purposes (Hamade 2013).

The latter would include social gossip and other forms of leisure. Other variables such as ethnicity/race, urbanity-rurality may impact dimensions of social media use, depending on the degree of immersion of particular users in the variable. These variables intersect with gender, and with language. As noted earlier, elements of language associated with youth practices in Africa are deployed in this chapter as analytical categories to examine the intersection between language, gender and youth practices within social media and the domains such as social media.

3.3 Analytical Categories The elements of youth language summarized above between Hurst-Harosh and Erastus (2018), and Oloruntoba-Oju (2018) can be divided into two categories—those that are named according to core or summative youth language practices, such as antilanguages, innovation and youth topoi, and those named according to related linguistic and sociolinguistic elements of language, such as relexification, neologism, and slangs, among others.

3.3.1 Intersecting Elements of Youth Language Practice We highlight below aspects of the intersection between youth language practices and levels of linguistic analysis.

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Table 2: Intersection between youth language practices and levels of language analysis Youth Cognate Levels of Linguistic Analysis Language Practices Syntactic Rhetorical Graphitic Lexical/ S/ Semantic/ N pragmatic 1.

Antilanguages - forms of Idioms - deviant deviant abuse proverbs spelling syntax Pidginization aphorisms - deviant - vulgarity quaint/ metaphors abbrevia- swear extreme code- cryptic tion words mixing usage -exclama- slangs tion 2.

Innovation

-relexification Inversion -neologisms parallelism Slangs sundry styles

sundry rhetoric

3.

Youth Topoi

Syntactic order

Sundry rhetoric

4.

Sex-gender expressions

Body matters Sex Music “Yahoo yahoo” Money Crime Domain specific topoi (e.g., “sex for marks,” “sexual harassment,“ “runs girls,” “hustle guys” “Lecturers” “Students” - Generics (he/she) - Lexical gender (boy, girl, male/female, uncle/aunt)

Gender ordering (he or she; women and men) Gender Voice (passive/acti ve)

Tone Irony Sarcasm Metaphor

- emoji - exclamations - abbreviations Sundry graphitic

Sundry graphic portrayals of the sexes

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 105

- Body part terms - intra and inter-gender relations

3.3.2 Antilanguages Many of the features highlighted above may, at certain levels, be regarded as “antilanguages” in the sense that they do not conform to mainstream discourse patterns. They violate these patterns either in lexical, morphological or syntactic form, or in relation to established norms of discourse. Antilanguage has been a major feature of youth braggadocio, and it reflects prominently in youth lingo. The term “antilanguage” itself, as coined by Halliday (1976), is philosophically related to “anti-society” and it depicts resistance to established norms, “which may take the form either of passive symbiosis or of active hostility and even destruction” (570). Antilanguages also depict a form of language that “tends to arise among subcultures and groups that occupy a marginal or precarious position in society” (Montgomery 2013[1986], 113). This concept has been usefully applied to many African youth languages and youth language practices (Kießling 2004; Hurst 2016).

Although the features of antilanguage are not uniformly codified, they include some of the elements indicated in the first row above. Examples recently cited by Nordquist (2020) include “jargon of rape, plunder, and murder veiled in unfamiliarity,” “odd bits of old rhyming slang . . . a bit of gipsy talk …” One feature that Halliday (1978) privileges above others is “relexification,” the use of new terms in place of established ones through a variety of linguistic processes, including metaphorical compounding, metatheses, and rhyming alternations. Examples relayed by Halliday include quaint metaphorical turns such as “double decker” for “plump woman” (578) and morpho-semantic sleights such as “West of Ministers library” for “Westminster Library” (580). The latter can also be regarded as a rhetorical form, for example, as malapropism.

While the “anti-” in Halliday’s summary stands in opposition to standard usage or “standard dialect” (Halliday 1976, 580), antilanguages can also be summarized as elements that do not conform to rules of decency or rules of face maintenance (politeness and empathy). This places them stereotypically within the domain of male youth discourse, in which there is scant regard for such rules. It remains to be investigated whether this

106 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

stereotype will hold up in or be borne out by specific populations in specific settings.

Interactive and messaging social media apps such as Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp have functioned exceedingly as youth affordance.

As noted above, they enable youngsters, especially, to give free expression to their public and private identities. They also facilitate youth braggadocio, the “bad guy” image, free engagement with “youth topoi” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018), and the deployment of antilanguages, among other elements of youth language. These elements are expected to emerge in any study of youth language practices on social media, as they do in this chapter. However, the specific engagement in this chapter is to discover whether the antilanguage elements are gendered in a specific domain, that of social media, and among a specific population, that of university undergraduates.

3.4 Methodology The research is both qualitative and quantitative. It employs tenets of sociolinguistic ethnography (dating back to Hymes 1962, but continually adopted or adapted)1 in the management of data, participants, contents and contexts; this is combined with the tenets and methodology of intersectional sociolinguistics. A key principle here is to establish a system of identifications (Cameron and Kulick 2003) in determining “how the distribution of linguistic features […] participates in the construction and perception of social meaning” (Levon and Mendes 2015 p. 2). The research takes speech forms both as representations of sociolects and idiolects, and as manifestations of speakers’ ideological and temperamental stances (Ochs 1992). Some of these stances may conform with or deviate from established gender stereotypes and may assist in the identification of genderlects.

The research employs a mixed gender WhatsApp platform by university undergraduate course mates, created for the purpose of interaction relevant to their courses. In all, there are a hundred and twentyseven (127) participants, comprising members of the class. We examine how this variable intersects with some of the linguistic elements that have been connected to youth language and language practices in Africa. Their participation ratios are presented in tabular form with a simple statistical comparison, followed by an interpretive analysis. The various youth language features are analyzed in terms of the following parameters:

1 See for example the recent adaptation by Coates and Catling (2021).

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 107

a. Total (Σ:) number of features analyzed. b. Feature input distribution, indicating the number of an analyzed feature used by females and males. c. Feature user inter-gender distribution, indicating the number of female and male participants who actually used a particular feature, and the relative inter-gender ratio. d. Feature user intra-gender distribution, indicating user ratio relative to their own gender. e. Highest feature input, indicating the number of a feature by an individual user, and the gender concerned.

3.5 Limitation The multiple possibilities highlighted in the foregoing regarding intersectionality simultaneously draw attention to the “flip side” of the framework—that is, the potential for distractions while trying to account for all possible variables. In this research, therefore, we have focused only on the predominant sex variable within heterosexuality (men-women), and the predominant, cisgender, alignment (male-female), as the sex-gender framework for our analysis. That is to say, we have not been able to account for intersex or transgender individuals, or for homosexuality, since these sexgender variations are not indicated or revealed by the participants in the study. Furthermore, in the course of examining the main intersections in the data, it is understood that not all possible contexts or interconnections can be attended to within the scope of this chapter. We therefore focus mostly on frequency ratios rather than on internal contextual elements.

4. Data Presentation and Discussion 4.1 Gender Distribution Across the Data Table 3: Participants and Levels of Participation Participants Σ Female 71 Male 56 TOTAL 127

Ratio % 55.9 44.1 100

Tokens Σ 478 1501 1979

Ratio % 24.2 75.8 100

The table above shows that there are many more females on the platform (71 (55.9%)), than males (56 (44.1%)); however, the actual input of expression tokens is much lower for females (24.2%) than for their male counterparts

108 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

(75.8%). This is statistically significant, as it already indicates a dichotomy in female and male participation in the production of potential youth antilanguages. This dichotomy is part of the general dynamics of the gender phenomenon.

It needs to be pointed out that women have been shown in multiple researches to be more inclined towards silence in mixed gender settings, especially where they are outnumbered (Karpowitz and Mendelberg 2014).

In political terms, this silence impacts negatively on decision making processes, thereby robbing the groups of potentially valuable contributions, mediation, and empathic inputs. Within the African setting, Jagero and Odongo (2011, 8) proposed that social psychological factors affect the language of both men and women in mixed-gender settings. In a further elaboration of this concept, Karpowitz, Mendelberg and Mattioli (2015) note that “speech itself is an act wrought with difference across genders.” While women tend to have “superior vocabularies” (Verba et al. 1995), they seem less inclined to deploy them or make their voices heard in public settings (Behnke and Sawyer 2000), especially where they do not constitute a critical mass. However, number is not a consistent variable here; that is, as also glaring in this research, it is not only when women are outnumbered that this apparent reluctance to participate in discourse processes in mixed-gender settings occurs. Many researches show that there is “a puzzling disconnect between the rising presence of women and women’s influence (Carroll 2001 [and others]),” so much so that the number variable “appears quite secondary to a set of other variables” (Karpowitz, Mendelberg, and Mattioli 2015, 151). The number factor is moderated by other factors such as rules or norms of engagement. Within the current context, the nature of the dominant discourses on the platform, especially the antilanguages, may well be the dominant factor, since there are more women on the platform.

In the following sections, the main elements of youth discourse identified in the foregoing are related to the participant’s output on the platform differentiated along the lines of sex and gender.

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 109

4.2 Aspects of Antilanguages on the Undergraduate WhatsApp Platform Table 4: Aspects of Antilanguages on an Undergraduate WhatsApp Platform Youth Feature Input Feature User Feature User Highest Language Distribution Inter-Gender Intra-Gender Feature Features (Male/ Distribution Distribution Input by Individual and Total Female: M-F) Analyzed M/F ANTILANGUAGES

1

Profanity

M

F

M

F

M

F

M/F

Slang

39

7

20

7

20

7

5 (M)

Σ: 46 2

Abuse

Σ: 128 3

Swear/ Curse Words

(84.9%) (15.2%) (74.1%) (25.9%) (69.4%)

111

17

14

5

(86.7%) (13.3%) (73.7%) (26.3%)

(9.9%)

14

5

(25%)

(7.04%)

27

3

12

3

12

3

(90%)

(10%)

(80%)

(20%)

(21.4%)

(4.2%)

94

3

23

3

23

3

(96.9%)

(3.1%)

33 (M)

6 (M)

Σ: 30 4

Vulgar Expression

Σ: 97

(88.5%) (11.5%) (41.1%)

10 (M)

(4.2%)

DEVIANT SYNTAX/INNOVATION 5

Pidginization

Σ: 257 6

Codemixing

Σ: 31 7

Abbreviation

Σ: 24 8

Deviant Spelling

Σ: 127 9

Exclamation

Σ: 114 10 Emoji Σ: 197

175

82

36

29

36

(68.1%) (31.9%) (55.4%) (44.6%) (64.3%)

24

7

(77.4%) (22.6%)

14

10

50

3

12

3

(80%)

(20%)

(21.4%)

(4.2%)

9

8

9

8

23

21

23

(65.9%) (34.1%) (52.3%) (47.7%) (41.1%)

82

32

24

13

24

(71.9%) (28.1%) (64.9%) (35.1%) (42.9%)

96

101

42

53

(48.7%) (51.3%) (44.2%) (55.8%)

16 (M)

(40.9%)

12

(58.3%) (41.7%) (52.9%) (47.1%) (16.1%)

97

29

6 (M)

3 (F)

(11.3%)

21

23 (M)

(29.6%)

13

20 (M)

(18.3%)

42

53

(75%)

(74.7%)

8 (F)

110 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

11 Idioms/

3

0

3

0

3

0

Σ: 3

(100%)

(0%)

(100%)

(0%)

(5.4%)

(0%)

12 Cryptic

20

8

8

4

8

4

Proverbs

usage

Σ: 28

(71.4%) (28.6%) (66.7%) (33.3%) (14.3%)

1 (M)

5 (M)

(5.6%)

Antilanguages are disarticulated into two groups in the table—profanity (slang, abuse, swear and curse words, and sundry vulgar expressions, and deviant syntax/innovative usage (pidginization, excessive code-mixing, abbreviations, deviant spelling, among others). The table reveals a preponderance of male usage of all the elements that are considered as antilanguages within the context of youth language expressions. While these elements are not exclusive to youth practice, their preponderance in youth register is hardly in doubt.2 Examples from five of the features are displayed and analyzed below. These are slang, abuse, Pidgin, code-mixing, and emoji.

4.2.1 Slangs Slang is a peer group verbal phenomenon that occurs predominantly among youths, with elevated usage in youth subcultures. Slangs often reflect ingroup characteristics, to the extent that they are often unintelligible outside of youth in-group domains. Flexner (1975, Preface) regards them as “unrefined” and commonly “vulgar or derogatory,” but this is not always the case. However, as the table below shows, slang usage does often reveal a gender dichotomy in terms of preponderance of use.

Table 5a: Slang samples in the data S/N SLANGS 1.

So, e no go shock you 2.

No vex, landlord, i don forget say na 1-0-0.

SAPA na Bastard

User Meaning (M/F) You won’t be Male surprised Poverty Male (SAPA is actually an acronym for: Serious Absence of Purchasing Ability

2 The occurrence of curse words in certain African registers within the domain of elders

has been noted in the literature. For example, Storch and Nassenstein (2014) observe the existence of curse registers in many African languages, some with links to elderly hierarchical talk and cultic practices.

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 111

3.

4.

5.

Nene beat the shit outta you, No cap Ment!!

Even for exam hall. D Nigga go lock up

6.

7.

No loud am abeg Make I send aza?

8.

Awon omo zzzeehhh

9.

My own no pass violence? I for show you that violence, but it’s a beautiful weather tonight I’m not cruising this moment nigga

10.

Frankly; honestly Crazy; insane Unyielding; unfriendly Disclose; divulge Bank account details Fun guys; jolly people Trouble

Female Female Female

Female

Enjoying

Male

Male Male Male

As shown above, there are 46 instances of the use of slang analyzed. Males contributed 39 (84.9%) of these instances, while females contributed 7 (15.2%). A total of 20 males were found to use slang, representing 69.4% of the total male, while only 7 females were found to use slang, representing 9.9%. The number of males and females who used slang is 27, of which 20 (74.1%) are males, while (25.9%) are females. The highest number of slangs used by a single person is 5, and this is by a male.

Table 5b: Gendered Ratio on Use of Slangs Youth Feature Input Feature User Language Distribution Inter-Gender Feature Distribution and Total Analyzed Σ: 46 Σ: 27 M F M F 1 Slang 39 7 20 7 Σ: 46 (84.8%) (15.2%) (74.1%) 25.9%)

Feature User Intra-Gender Distribution Σ: 56 Σ: 71 M F 20 7 (35.7%) (9.9%)

Highest Feature Input by Individual M/F 5 (M)

Existing findings in the literature indicate that males use slang more in their daily conversations, and especially in peer groups (Amir and Azisah, 2017; Flexner 1975; Ning, Dai and Zhang 2010, Salma 2013). In this study too, the quantitative analysis shows that females used far fewer slang expressions than males. The peculiarity in the study concerns the types of slangs and the variation between the genders. Majority of the slang expressions by the students in the study are local; that is, they are peculiar to the Nigerian context, although a few, such as “fuck,” or “shit” can be described as global vulgar slang. The data shows that women can also use slangs dexterously,

112 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

but that is when they do use them, which is not nearly as many times as do men.

4.2.2 Profanity Abuse, swear words and vulgar expressions are all subsets of profanity.

Jointly, they account for the most antilanguage usage in the entire corpus.

However, the straight abuses, which are not necessarily swear or vulgar words, are used here to represent these categories. A brief sample of these three forms from the data is indicated below: - Abuse, e.g., “you are rude and senseless” (no 3, and others, above) - Swear and curse words, e.g., “May I die tonight if I argue with you again”; “I’ll curse you.”

- Vulgar expressions, e.g., “Fuck that siit[sh*t]”; “Put your head between yansh dey smell shit.”

Table 6a: Sample Data on Use of Abusive language ABUSE S/N 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

User (M/F) Female Male Female Female

But adultery and fornication is your middle name Gold digger You are actually rude and senseless See this foolish Uncompleted building boy Anyways na fool go dey drag words with you (“This foolish, inadequate boy. Only a fool will bandy words with you”) You go fail werey omo (“You will fail, you mad fellow”) Male You no go graduate omo ale jatijati (“You will never Male graduate in your studies, you bastard”) Comrade still copied! Useless comrade Male You’re worthless pig … dirty one at that oo … werey (“Mad Male fellow”) Tani babe werey (“Who you’re calling ‘babe’—[you] mad Female person”)?

Shoyawere (“Have you gone mad”)?

Male

There are 128 instances of the use of abusive words analyzed in the data.

Males are responsible for 111 (86.7%) of these, while females are responsible for 17 (13.3%). The number of males who used abuse words is 14, which represents 25% of the male population. Similarly, the number of females who used abuse words is 5, which represents 7.04% of the female population. The highest number of occurrences of abuse words by a single person is 33, and this is by a male, as shown in the column on the far right of the table.

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 113

Table 6b: Gendered Ratio on Use of Abuse Youth Feature Input Language Distribution Feature and Total Σ: 128 Analyzed M F 2 Abuse 111 17 Σ: 128 (86.7%) (13.3%)

Feature User Inter-Gender Distribution Σ: 19 M F 14 5 (73.7%) (26.3%)

Feature User Intra-Gender Ratio Σ: 19 M F 14 5 (25%) (7.4%)

Highest Feature Input by Individual M/F 33 (M)

The data therefore shows a significant, gender-based (male dominated), difference in terms of number of participants and volume of output. Apart from this difference in volume, there is difference in the nature and function of the practice. Firstly, male youth use abuse words both playfully and even endearingly as social in-group terms (to foster camaraderie among their peers), and as an aggressive response, to express their anger towards a person or situation. However, most female youth in the sample only use abuse words only in the latter context. Another difference in the usage pattern is that the men on the platform often prefer to use their mother tongue, Pidgin, or a mix of Yoruba and English codes when using abuse words. Women, on the other hand, mostly use the standard form of English when using abusive expressions. Thirdly, females tend to use coordinated or lexical series to express abuse (e.g., “You are actually rude and senseless”; “See this foolish, uncompleted building, boy”). The frequent use of abusive lexical series by females may be suggestive of, among other things, a high level of command of vocabularies identified with women in general, as noted earlier. This facility can then be deployed in different discourse directions.

Ultimately, the feature keys into the language and gender difference/dichotomy paradigm.

On the whole, antilanguages as a prominent feature of youth language have always been placed predominantly in the “male expression column” in the literature. Lakoff (1975), cited in Knirnschild (2019, 29), noted that men generally use stronger profanities, while women use milder ones. This may be due to women being more subject to societal disapproval over such usage, or that they are often less inclined to deploy profanity in speech. Be that as it may, gendered difference has been reported in the use of abuse (Knirnschild 2019), swearing (Bailey and Timm 1976), expletives (De Klerk 1991), and vulgarity (Klerk 1992). The findings in this study provide further empirical evidence of the gendered status of African youth language and language practices in the domain of profanities.

114 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

4.2.3 Pidgin Table 7: Sample Data on Pidgin PIDGIN ENGLISH NO

M/F

1.

Female

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Se dey know at home bayi? (“Do they know what’s going on at home?”)

Wetin you dey try prove? (“What are you trying to prove?”)

Ina dey tag am sapa (“You call it poverty.”)

Na me pay your school fees. (“I was the one that paid your school fees.”)

Na timetable I wan ask for boss (“It’s the timetable I wanted to ask for, boss.”)

I dey wait for ham (“I am waiting for the person”) I Dey carry am for head ni (“I carry it on my head.”)

You don chop her chicken (“Have you tasted her chicken?”

[Also vulgar—sexual innuendo]) I don tell you the real meaning (“I have told you the real meaning”) We don dey pick number (“We have started picking numbers”)

Male Male Male Male Female Male Male Male Male

A total of 257 hundred instances of the use of Pidgin were found in the data.

Males’ use of Pidgin accounted for 175 (68.1%) instances, while females’ use of Pidgin accounted for 82 (31.9%) instances. A total of 36 males were found to have used Pidgin which represents 64.3% of the total male population of the study. Similarly, 29 females were found to have used Pidgin, which represents 40.9% of the total female population. The number of males and females who used Pidgin is 65, of which 36 (55.4%) are males, while 29 (44.6%) are females. The number of males and females who used Pidgin (i.e., 65) is 51.2% of the total population under study. The highest number of Pidgin expressions by a single person is 16, and these were by a male. Again, there is a distinctive gender differential in terms of volume of use.

However, while the data shows that Nigerian Pidgin English is used more by males than females, the number of females who use Pidgin, which constitutes 40.9% of the female population, can be regarded as relatively high considering that Pidgin is stereotypically regarded as a male and unrefined and non-standard code. In addition, it is worth noting that females use Nigerian Pidgin English as dexterously as their male counterpart (e.g., “Wetin off me pass na the chart”), when they do use them. This example by a female student is interesting because, apart from being in Nigerian Pidgin English, it also contains a slang word “off” (amaze) which is a common lingo

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 115

among Nigerian male youths. It has been held that females hardly use Pidgin amongst themselves; their relatively high use within this mixed group is therefore interesting. This may be a strategic use to bond and socialize with their male peers. This aligns with the findings by Frimpong (2008) and Dako (2013). This statistic is also interesting when juxtaposed with the participation scenario in code-switching, which is presented below.

4.2.4 Code-mixing Code-mixing is a major signifier in the determination of distinguishing features of African urban and youth languages compared with northern varieties (see Kerswill 2009; Oloruntoba-Oju 2018). Not only are some of the languages, such as Sheng and Wolof, characterised as consisting of significant code-mixing and code switching (see Bosire 2006 and Mc Laughlin 2009 respectively), but also that African youth language in general is suffused with a relentless mixture of codes from a variety of linguistic sources—hence the term, “mixilingualism,” referred to above. The mix includes colonial and indigenous African languages, Pidgin, as well as continental and international idioms. Code-mixing is, therefore, one of those important and indeed inevitable features in setting up elements for tracking gendered dichotomies in African youth languages. In the table below, the “code strings” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2018) are emphasized in bold and italics.

Table 8a: Sample Data on Code-mixing CODE-MIXING S/N

M/F

1.

Female

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Peele, the girl that can post (Beg your pardon, the girl that can post [is adept at posting messages]”) We dindin understand anything kankan... E kan mess pelu wa ni i (“We didn’t understand anything at all … You [fellows] just messed up with us that is it”) How was the journey iya bbay [baby]? “(How did the journey go mother of [new born] baby”) Halima oremi na surprise (“Halima my friend is a surprise”) Ewa wa ni English department (“And you are in [an] English department”) Ewa n type eebo tih ko correct (“And you keep typing English that is not correct”) Ewa n sope, shebi it's WhatsApp (“And then you say, but it’s [only] WhatsApp”) No ooo....awon omo yen ti so cheating di bi oxygen ni

Male

Female Female Male

116 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

7.

8.

9.

10.

(“No .. those kids have turned cheating into something like oxygen, that is it”) O run trouble di e (“It smells trouble a little) Daddy Proff … make up sef no make up some people grade or GP red o lo kan fun wom (“The daddy Prof … gave no make up [test]; as for some people’s grades of GP, he just gave them ‘o’ [zero].”]

Edakun o (“Please …”)

In case ona go say I shenk you (“In case you would say I betrayed/misled you”) Na written I dey do first (“It’s written [paper] I am taking first”) T for tenks (“T for thanks”) E daakun, what time is Sociology of Religion tomorrow??? (“Please, what time is Sociology of Religion tomorrow???”)

Male

Male

Female

There are 31 instances of the code-mixing feature analyzed. Males contributed 24 (77.4%) of these instances, while females contributed 7 (22.6%). The number of males and females who used code-mixing is 15, of which 12 (80%) are males, while 3 (20%) are females.

Table 8b: Gendered Ratio on Use of Code-mixing Youth Feature Input Feature User Inter-Gender 6 Language Distribution Feature Distribution and Total Σ: 31 Σ: 15 Analyzed M F M F Code24 7 12 3 mixing Σ: 31 (77.4%) (22.6%) (80%) (20%)

Feature User Intra-Gender Distribution Σ: 56 Σ: 71 M F 12 3 (21.4%)

Highest Feature Input by

Individual

(M/F) 6 (M)

(4.2%)

From the data in this study, code-mixing usage by males significantly outweighs that of females, both in terms of volume and in nature or complexity. The data shows that 77.4% of the total occurrence of code-mixes was by males, which is a statistically staggering volume. Furthermore, there are gendered differences in the mix matrix, in terms of the base language employed, number of languages involved and other mix modalities. Female code-mixing tends to have an English base, that is, where English is the “matrix language” (Myers-Scotton 1993) interspersed with the occasional lexical item from Yoruba as the “embedded language,” as shown in 1, 3, 4 and 10 in the table above. Only in one unusual case in the entire data is there a deviation from this pattern (where Pidgin is the embedded language). The

FROM SLANGING TO CODE-MIXING … 117

male participants exhibit a greater mix variety and complexity. As shown in the samples in the table above, the variety of codes mixed by males include English, Yoruba, Pidgin and Arabic. The mix also suffuses the sequences, such that the difference between the embedded and matrix languages becomes fluid. Again, code-mixing is one of those elements that exhibit a gendered dichotomy in African youth language practices.

It should be noted that extant research is not consistent on the frequency of code-mixing and code switching by male and female; however, more researchers have found greater male frequencies than the reverse. While Buriro and Buriro (2018), and Sari and Lestari (2018), found that gender does not have any effect on code-mixing, other researchers such as Ahamd (2015), Fuller (2010), Huang et al (2020), and Jagero and Odongo (2011) found significant gendered differences in the code-mixing patterns investigated.

One established sociolinguistic clue that is usually related to the latter position is the female tendency to adhere more to standard grammatical or prestige forms (Labov 1990, and others) apparently due to structured powerlessness. As noted by Tossel et al. (2012), this finding is only challenged in instances where non-adherence to stereotype norms would amount to social capital for specific women. An example of the latter is seen in street level scenarios in which women deliberately male antilanguages as a means of peer identification and survival within a male dominated domain.

4.2.5 Emojis Emojis are pictograms embedded within syntactic frames, as part of electronic messages on one social media application or the other. Emojis are important within the context of gender because of their apparent connection with emotivity, a domain in which women are supposed to predominate in sundry forms of expression including verbal communication. Furthermore, it appears to be the most popular practice on social apps. For example, it is the most used feature by participants in this study i.e., by 96 participants, representing 75% of the total population.

In terms of gender patterns, women are generally seen to use more emojis than men (Baron 2004; Burger et al. 2011; Witmer and Katzman 1997; Wolf 2000). The same finding is true for this study.

Table 9a: Sample Data of Emojis SAMPLE EMOJIS S/N 1.

Hey guys, foil cake will be available today 2.

At this our old age... No respect or fear at all

M/F Female Male

118 TAIWO OLORUNTOBA-OJU AND OMOTAYO OLORUNTOBA-OJU

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Male Male Female Female Male Male Male Female

As per Governor’s wive wey u be honestly Amen Anxiety won’t let me go alone

join us and be blessed

There are 197 instances of emojis analyzed in the data. Males are responsible for 96 (49.2%), while females are responsible for 101 (51.2%) of these. The highest number of emojis used by a single person is 8 and is also by a female.

However, as we elaborate below, the gendered difference is not so much with the general frequency of usage, as with the use of particular emoji types.

Table 9b: Gender Ratio on General Use of Emojis Youth Feature Input Feature User Language Distribution Inter-Gender Feature Distribution and Total Analyzed Σ: 197 Σ: 95 M F M F 10 Emoji 96 101 42 53 Σ: 197 (49.2%) (51.2%) (44.2%) (55.8%)

Feature User Intra-Gender Distribution Σ: 56 M 42 (75%)

Highest Feature Input

by M or F

Σ: 71 F 53 8 (F) (74.6%)

While the above shows that the number of females who used emojis is only slightly more than the males’ overall, more significant differences are noticeable in the kinds of emojis used. For example, males are found to use more of emojis depicting extreme forms of laughter and smiles than females.

For example, males use the "rolling on the floor laughter emoji" ( ) 14 times as opposed to females' 9 times; the "smiling face emoji" ( ) 18 times as opposed to females' 12 times; the "grinning cat" ( ) 16 times as opposed to females' 5 times, and the "tears of joy emoji" ( ) 53 times as opposed to females' 38 times. In addition, there are exclusive or near exclusive patterns.

For example, the “spooky” or skull emoji is used exclusively by males, while the "party dancer" emoji ( ) is used exclusively by females. Indeed, females used the "party dancer emoji" 19 times, while males did not use it at all. Emojis relating to facial expressions that connote mocking are used more by females than males. For example, "smirking face emoji" ( ) and "rolling eyes emoji" ( ) are used by females 7 and 6 times respectively as opposed

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to males who use each of the two emojis only once. Furthermore, emojis that connotes celebration, are either used exclusively by females, such as the party dancer emoji referred to above, or predominantly, such as the "party blower" emoji ( ). Also, for yet unclear reasons, females used the "fire" emoji ( ) predominantly—14 times, as opposed to males who used it only 3 times. A further breakdown of the dichotomy in use of emoji types by the two genders is given in the table below.

From the table, the emoji types that exhibit the most significant differences (1-7 for males and 8-17 for females) tend to support existing gender stereotypes. Examples include the exclusive or predominant use of icons of femininity, such as the (female) "party dancer" emoji ( ) and “kissing face with heart icon” ( ) emoji by female participants in the data, and the exclusive or predominant use by males of the “frowning face” (☹), and the loudly expressive "rolling on floor laughter" ( ), as well as the loudly expressive "tears of joy" laughter ( ) emojis.3 It should be noted that findings have differed in the literature on the specific emoji preferences exhibited by the genders. For example, Chen et al (2018) found that male users account for 18.9% of the “face with tears of joy” emoji ( ) noted above, while female users account 22.1%. This was considered a significant difference, more so in view of the huge number of participants involved in the study. On the other hand, however, Wirza et al (2019), while being aware and supportive of Chen’s study, found that there are differences but the differences may not be significant. They do acknowledge, however, that this may be due to the very small number of their own input (only 20 participants). It should also be a cultural dimension, or intersection in the appreciation of the gendered orientation of specific emojis—for example, whether the "kissing face with heart icon" ( ) would be considered an expression of femininity, of masculinity, or of neutrality.

What is indisputable overall, however, is that a gendered difference does

3 Masculine expression of mirth is stereotypically represented as loud and expressive

(Speechvoice 2018), extension of male aggression (Shuster 2012), and sometimes associated with nuances of class or dominance, in which “high-status laughers were more disinhibited” (Oveis 2017), and vocal cues as general index of hierarchy (Dunbar and Burgoon 2005). Oveis (2017, 114) noted, with ample citations, that “females laugh more than males […] but men may use laughter differently than women to negotiate dominance and status.”

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exist in the use of emojis (Chen et al 20184; Tossell et al. 2012; Wirza et al 2019), and in laughter manners (Moea-Ripoll and Ubal-López 2010).

Table 9c: Gendered Ratio on Specific Use of Emojis Emoji type Total Gendered Ratio occurrences Male % Female (Σ: 56) (Σ: 71) 61 1. "rolling on floor 23 14 9 laughter" ( ) 60 2.

30 18 12 "smiling face" ( ) 76 3 21 16 5 "grinning cat" ( ) 52 4. "tears of joy" laughter 101 53 38 ( ) 100 5.

5 5 00 "frowning face" (☹) 64 6.

14 09 05 "relieved face" ( ) 100 7.

23 23 00 “skull” 22 8.

9 02 07 "smirking face" ( ) 25 9.

8 02 06 "rolling eyes" ( ) 00 10. "party dancer" ( ) 00 00 19 25 11. "party blower" ( ) 4 01 03 18 12. "fire" ( ) 17 03 14 25 13. "facepalm" ( ) 4 01 03 00 14. "runner" ( ) 4 00 04 53 15. "loudly crying face" ( ) 10 03 07 00 16. "bowing" ( ) 3 00 03 00 17. "kissing face with 3 00 03 smiling face" ( )

% 39 40 24 38 00 36 00 78 75 100 75 82 75 100 70 100 100

Most other youth language features examined in the study, such as youth topoi, paroemic routines, and others follow a similar pattern of gendered difference or dichotomy. We will discuss just one more of the items below, paroemic routines.

4.2.6 Paroemia Paroemia refers to the code of wisdoms, typically expressed rhetorically, through proverbs, pithy sayings, aphorisms, and the like. The use of proverbs is often associated with masculinity and with the elderly on the 4 The study by Chen et.al (2018) was quite large, covering over a hundred thousand

participants from a hundred and eighty-three countries. It found both differences and overlaps in gendered preferences.

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continent (see Ukaegbu’s recent (2020) findings among the Mbaise people of South Eastern Nigeria, for example). Again, this finding is replicated in our data, as indicated below.

Table 10a: Sample Data of Paroemic Routines (Idioms/Proverbs) PAROEMIA SAMPLES NO 1.

We don chook leg inside same trouser like that! (“We have locked our legs in the same trousers” [“We are entangled in conflict”] 2.

Gbogbo nkan toju ba ri ko lenu nso (“It’s not everything that the eyes see that the mouth speaks”) 3.

The man who plants corn by the roadside and the one who marries a beautiful wife has the same problem.

M/F Male

Male Male

Although at least one of the proverbs above, (3), is gendered, we are more concerned here, as noted earlier, with statistics as to the frequency of use the various elements identified with youth language practices, rather than with their inherent nature or context of use. As shown below, only three instances of proverbs are found in the data, and all three are made by males (100%).

Table 10b: Gendered Ratio on Use of Paroemic Routines such as Idioms and Proverbs Feature User Feature User Highest Youth Feature Input Intra-Gender Feature Language Distribution Inter-Gender Input Distribution Distribution Feature and Total

by M Analyzed Σ: 3 Σ: 3 Σ: 56 Σ: 71 or F M F M F M F 11 Idioms/ 3 0 3 0 3 0 1 (M) Proverbs (100%) (0%) 100%) (0%) (5.4%) (0%) Σ: 3

The paucity of occurrences of paroemic routines in our data may be due to the general use orientation, or use modalities, of proverbs in Africa. Three variables actually intersect, in our view, to produce this paucity: the age factor—youths are typically not sufficiently knowledgeable or experienced to use proverbs and idioms as appropriate. Another factor is the colonial factor. This has imposed foreign languages as the lingua franca or dominant language in many African countries; the younger generations are therefore robbed of the required familiarity with their indigenous languages and cultural milieus. There is also the rural-urban factor—with proverbs being more associated with rurality than with urbanity. On the other hand, the

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gendered dichotomy in the use of proverbs may be partly due to the cultural view associating proverbs with masculinity, as noted above.

A three-way dichotomy is ultimately indicated in the use of paroemia, and again the Mbaise example cited above is indicative. These are: the age dichotomy (the elderly use proverbs more), the rural-urban dichotomy (the use of proverbs is more prevalent and more profound in rural areas), and the gender dichotomy (men use proverbs more than women).

5. Summary and Conclusion We have attempted, in the foregoing, to examine the presence or otherwise of gender differences in youth language and youth language practices on social media in Nigeria, with data drawn from chats posted by a group of university undergraduates on a WhatsApp platform. The study aimed to contribute to urban and youth language studies, and the associated gender scholarship, in Africa and the world. The worldwide debate on the relationship between language and gender served as a background, and as a further impetus for this intervention. In the process, we derived analytical elements from African youth language practice features that have been established in the research literature, and we have tried to relate them to aspects of this debate. “Antilanguage” elements such as slangs, profanity, deviant syntax, and sundry non-conforming or non-conventional youth language practices were statistically connected to the gender variable by examining the use frequency and apparent preferences of women and men on the platform. Mediating factors such as age, class, coloniality, culture, urbanity and rurality were also noted, in some instances, as may be applicable.

The study found interesting manifestations of gendered difference in the use of the various language practices isolated for analysis. The identified use patterns were found to generally echo established stereotype associations between linguistic expression and gender, particularly in terms of the frequency of the various forms. In other words, youth language practices that have been associated with antilanguage are unambiguously predominated by male participants in the study. In those instances where the difference in frequency appears to be marginal between the sexes, for example, in the use of emojis, the study found significant differences in the types employed by the different sexes/genders. Thus, emojis that are stereotypically associated with femininity, such as the female dancer emoji ( ), were used exclusively by females, while those associated with masculinity, such as the skull emoji ( ), were used exclusively by males. In other examples, female code-mixing

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in the chats tends to have English as the “matrix language,” interspersed with the occasional lexical item from Yoruba as the “embedded language,” while male code-mixing exhibits a greater mix variety, and complexity.

The reasons for these differences, whether they can be regarded as a manifestation of “nature,” “nurture,” “socialization,” “construction” or “perception,” will continue to be a source of scholarly dispute. These questions are pivotal to the language and gender debate. Cognate with them are questions relating to specific contexts of speech, for example the number and composition of participants (whether sole or mixed-gender, homogenous or heterogenous), the nature of the topic, the setting, and even variables such as age, class and culture. Questions relating to analytical subjectivities have also been thrown into the mix. It is therefore predictable that debates as to whether differences or dichotomies exist at all in the language of the different genders, and the nature or significance of these differences, will continue into the foreseeable future.

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6 Lugha ya Mitaani, Gender Stereotypes and Sexism.

“Catcalling” as a Communicative Practice of Male Youths in Urban Public Spaces in Tanzania Uta Reuster-Jahn (University of Hamburg, Germany) Verbal sexual harassment of adolescent girls and young women by groups of male youths in public urban spaces in Tanzania is a locally unnamed practice that reinforces gender stereotypes and objectifies the women. This exclusively male practiceshares characteristics with catcalling in Western urban contexts and draws attention to gendered dichotomies in youth languageusage. As direct references to women’s sexuality and bodies in public spaces is widely considered shameful, the male youths employ expressions from the urban youth lexicon Lugha ya Mitaani as “euphemisms” (tafsida or tasfida in Swahili) for catcalling. Lugha ya Mitaani is therefore crucial to this practice, as it enables young male Swahili speakers in the city to make their violation of the rules of respect (heshima) and ethics (maadili) somewhat acceptable. Based on semi-structured interviews with young women, this study examines the concepts expressed by the lexical items involved, the typical interactions in which they are used, and the subjective experience of affected women.The study shows that young women, unlike their male counterparts, tend to talk about and evaluate their female and male peers more in private. In this regard, female study participants report using only a few expressions from the Lugha ya Mitaani lexicon which are considered less offensive, while they use English loans when talking about men. Findings further show that women create expressions in the semantic domain of “hair and hairstyles,” an area that is entirely absent when male youthsevaluate and publicly comment on the female body. Such usages tend to strengthen the notion of dichotomy in male and female youth language practices.

Keywords: Lugha ya Mitaani, catcalling, urban youth, tanzania, gender, sexism, objectification of women

129

130 UTA REUSTER-JAHN

1. Background and Objectives of the Study This study explores verbal sexual harassment of young women by groups of male youthsin public urban places in Tanzania, such as street corners, bus stands, food stalls and boda-boda stations.The lexicon most widely used in this practice is part of the Tanzanian urban youth language Lugha ya Mitaani (henceforth LyM). 1 In this paper, I approach the LyM lexemes and expressions used by male youths in this practice through the lens of its addressees—young women. I am particularly interestedin the concepts expressed by the LyM items involved, the typical interactions in which they are used, and the subjective experience of affected women. When I first asked young Tanzanian women how they had become aware and learnt LyM words used by male youths to refer towomen and their bodies, they told me: “we are being called!” (tunaitwa!). This locally unnamed practice of “calling” shares common characteristics with catcalling in Western urban contexts and is therefore tentatively referred to here as “catcalling.”As my research shows, it is a repetitive and ritualized interactional performance of male dominance in the public space and a pervasive, everyday practice of sexually evaluating and objectifying women. As direct reference to women’s sexualities and bodies in the public space is seen as shameful, for “catcalling” male youths use “cover terms” and expressions provided by LyM outside the official Swahili lexicon. Drawing from primary research, this study examines those terms and expressions on the linguistic, especially semantic and pragmatic level and aims to contextualize their use in “catcalling.”

The term “catcalling” originates from colloquial English. It denotesthe harassment of women by men in public spaces through unsolicited, sexually connoted shouting, talking, whistling or other sounds. 2 Being unsolicited, this asymmetric commentary can be interpreted in the frame of politeness theory (Brown and Levinson 1978) as threatening the women’s negative as

1

The first study of Lugha ya Mitaani was published by Uta Reuster-Jahn and Roland Kießling (2006). Lugha ya Mitaani, meaning “language of the streets, or town quarters” is a cover term for a range of Swahili based speech styles of urban youths, ranging from “light” forms widely used a register to “deep” forms used rather as a sociolect by groups of marginalized youths. The country’s metropolis Dar es Salaam is the creative center and hub of LyM, but it is also used in other urban settlements and has reached rural areas as well.

2

See entry “cat calling” in Urban Dictionary. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cat%20Calling) (last access 1509-2021), and entry “catcalling” in Merriam Webster https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/catcalling (last access 15-09-2021)

LUGHA YA MITAANI, GENDER AND SEXISM 131

well as positive face.3 Catcalling is defined as aform of “everyday stranger harassment” (Fairchild and Rudman 2008), or “street harassment” that is highly prevalent and a common experience of women (Fileborn 2013, 1).4 It is often trivialized as a “minor” form of sexual violence, although “it significantly harms victims both physically and mentally and perpetuates a culture that degrades, dehumanizes, and devalues women” (Walton and Pedersen 2021, 1). Moreover,it is widely accepted that “all forms of sexual violence are interconnected, and are underpinned by the same social and cultural attitudes” (Fileborn 2013,1).Women’s experience of it depends on contextual and personal factorsas well as previously experienced forms of sexual violence, which is expressed in the continuum model of sexual violence put forward by Liz Kelly (1987). This is relevant for contextualizing “catcalling” in Tanzania, where physical and sexual violence against women is highly prevalent (WHO 2005). According to the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2015–16, 40 percent of women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence by men, and 17 percent have experienced sexual violence (United Republic of Tanzania 2016, 367). Despite men’s public harassment of women being globally widespread (Kissling 1991,4512), it remains understudied (Fairchild and Rudman 2008, 339; Lord 2009, 4; Vera-Gray and Fileborn 2018, 78; Walton and Pedersen 2021,1), although it especially affects women in the vulnerable phase of adolescence (Vera-Gray and Fileborn 2018, 78). The fact that street harassment lacks a name or is inadequately named in most societies can be understood as a strategy of silencing and an expression of male dominance (Kissling 1991, 456-7; Tuerkheimer 1997, 172-6). A recent study on conceptualizations of sexual harassment in Tanzania found that most participants understood sexual harassment as acts that involved forced sexual intercourse and beating, but not verbal harassment, insults or touching (Wamoyi et al. 2021, 9-10).

Street harassment, including catcalling, serves multiple functions of exerting male domination and control over public spaces (Kissling 1991,4543

4

Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory (1978) assumes that “face” is the public selfimage that every competent member of a society wants to claim for himself. This face consists in two related aspects: the negative face defined as freedom of action and freedom from imposition, and the positive face defined as the self-image claimed by interactants crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of (Brown and Levinson 1978, 61). Brown and Levinson “treat the aspects of face as basic wants, which every member knows every other member desires.” (62) The first study of the phenomenon used the more neutral term “street remarks” (Gardner 1980), which however “obscures the verbal and visual elements of these communicative events” (Kissling 1991, 457).

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6; Lenton et al. 1999, 2). In addition, Cheryl Benard and Edit Schlaffer (1996) have proposed the male-bonding theory, reporting that some men refer to harassment as fun that gives them a feeling of in-group camaraderie. It has also been found that sexual harassment depends on both personal factors such as conservative gender role beliefs as well as situational factors such as group norms (Pryor et al. 1993). This is relevant in the context of this study given that “catcalling” in Tanzania is predominately a group phenomenon.

LyM has been described as male oriented since its main creators and users are male youths, and the LyM lexicon reflects their concerns and preoccupations (Reuster-Jahn and Kießling 2006). In their study of LyM, Uta Reuster-Jahn and Roland Kießling (2006) point to gender asymmetries in knowledge and usage as well as to misogynist tendencies in LyM. They have argued thatthe multitude of evaluative terms denoting women reflects this gendered nature of LyM. This can be seen, inter alia, by the high number of lexemes in LyM denoting parts of the female body. Rajmund Ohly (1987, 89) listed “more than thirty denotations signifying ‘a pretty girl, lovely woman’ in his Swahili slang dictionary. He also identified the negative concept ‘ugly girl/young woman’ and the neutral ‘girl, young woman.’”

Reuster-Jahn and Kießling found additional moral evaluation of women’s behavior centring on terms expressing sifa (praise, reputation) and kashfa (slander), with only few terms expressive of heshima (respect). Only the LyM address terms for young women anti (from English “aunt”) and sista (from English “sister”), which are taken from the source domain of kinshiprelations, are respectful. Reuster-Jahn and Kießling (2006, 21-2) concluded: It is clear that the discourse context is important for all the terms denoting women. Judging from the sentences we got from our informants, boasting (à la “this is my girlfriend”) and slandering (à la “that one is bad”) are frequent contexts. We don’t know whether some terms are also used as insults in direct confrontation, since we have no data on that. In fact, the whole field of communication between the sexes on matters concerning their relationship, as well as discourses on the respective opposite sexes among sex-mates is not sufficiently explored as yet. There is especially little data on the evaluation of men by women. In respect with discourse, we have also to differentiate between terms that are used for addressing women and those that are used for making reference to them. Only few lexemes can be used for both purposes.

The present study aims at filling some of these gaps. A look at research on the Kenyan urban youth language Sheng provides some starting points.

Nathan Ogechi (2005) has shown that university students’ code for talking

LUGHA YA MITAANI, GENDER AND SEXISM 133

about Sex and HIV/AIDS in Kenya is Sheng. The encryption of sexism in word connotations and structure of Sheng lexemes denoting men, women and their body parts was explored by Githinji (2008), who related it to unequal lexical representation of men and women in Sheng. Moreover, the patriarchal societal norms generally lead to men gaining prestige through the public use of Sheng, while the opposite is true for women (Samper 2002).

David Samper reasons that this is because “Sheng for men is a source of interpersonal power, and women’s avoidance of it reflects women’s lack of power in Kenyan society”(2002, 154). Imani Swilla (2000) examined female gender stereotypes and derogatory, sexually connotated language used in fictional stories in Tanzania’s Swahili press. She found that the predominantly male authors often depict women as using their sexuality to exploit men, while heroines pursuing professional careers are largely absent.

Swilla interprets this as a form of “doing gender,” reinforced by the choice of language such as “derogatory names, metaphors, diminutive forms, compliments, self-incrimination and assignment of talk turns to heroines” (Swilla 2000, 164).Two studies have examined the language of sex as used among members of all-male gangs in Calabar Metropolis, Nigeria. Eyo Mensah and Linda Nkamigbo (2016), using Lakoff and Turner’s (1989) conceptual metaphor theory, found that they use sexual metaphors from the domains of sports and food, while women’s body parts and sexual organs are largely reconceptualized as objects through metaphorical mappings based on similarity. Mensah and Idom Inyabri (2016) maintain that the gang members use such sexual metaphors to express dominance and control over girls and young women. Their attitudes reproduce traditional sexual ideologies and “reiterate gender stereotypes and inequality through the portrayal and representation of women as consumable objects of malecentred pleasure” (Mensah and Inyabri 2016, 23). None of the studies, however, has focused on verbal interaction between male and female participants. They have also so far focused exclusively on the male perspective on women, while the way young women talk about men has not been studied at all. The present study will examine “catcalling” as a form of gendered interaction and performance of male dominance, in which LyM plays a crucial role. Furthermore, it will compare young women’s talk about men and women with male forms of discourse about women.

2. Study Methodology Semi-structured interviews with thirteen young women between the ages of 21 and 39 were conducted via internet telephony between July and

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September 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions, it was not possible to conduct in-person interviews. On the other hand, this method allowed reaching participants in geographically diverse urban areas from the Tanzanian metropolis Dar es Salaam to rural towns. In contrast, it was not possible to reach participants in villages because very few people own smartphones. Ten participants were previously known to me from other contexts and additional participants were identified via the snowballing method. This way, a sample of interview participants across different educational levels, region, faith, age and rural versus urban living environment were reached. All participants were informed about the purpose of the study and consented to the use of the obtained data in anonymized form. Notes were taken during the interviews. The interviews in Swahili lasted between one hour and one hour and half. Participants were generally open for the topic. Some provided elaborated answers and explanations, while others chose to respond rather briefly.

I started the interviews with a vignette describing the scenario in which a young woman walks past a group of male youths. In such a situation, the young men usually try to get the attention of the female passers-by, whom they consider as potential sex partners, by whistling at them or/and addressing them. I gave the currently trending LyM expression pisi kali (“sharp/hot piece”) as an example of address and asked participants to mention other words used by male youths in such a situation. The vignette served to elicit the women’s knowledge of LyM terms denoting sexually attractive women used by males. In the course of the interview, I further asked participants how in such a situation male youths refer to women’s bodies, especially the sexually connoted parts.

Table 1: Participants with age and background Partic Age ipant A 24

Education BA student

B

39

PhD

Living in Dar es Salam (DSM) DSM

C

24

Form II

DSM

D

24

Form IV

DSM

E

25

BA student

DSM

Grew up in (region) Town (Morogoro)

Occupation Univ.

Student

Faith Chr.

Marital status single

Town (Morogoro) Village (Kilimanjaro) Town (Tanga) Town (Kilimanjaro)

Employed

Chr.

married

Domestic worker Domestic worker Univ.

Student

Musl.

single

Musl.

single

Chr.

single

LUGHA YA MITAANI, GENDER AND SEXISM 135

F

23

Diploma

DSM

DSM

G

30

Certificate

Moshi

H.

24

Moshi

J

21

K L

28 21

Form IV, training MA student A-level Form IV

DSM DSM

Village (Lindi) Village (Lindi) Town (Kilimanjaro) DSM DSM

M

24

Diploma

DSM

N

31

Form IV, training

DSM

Moshi

Village (Mbeya) Village (Mbeya)

Univ.

Student Shop assistant Shop assistant Univ.

Student Employed Small shop owner Univ.

Student Nurse

Chr.

single

Musl.

single

Musl.

married

Chr.

single

Chr. Chr.

single single

Musl.

single

Musl.

single

The second part of the interview focused on how and in which contexts women talk about other young women and their bodies. This aimed at exploring gender differences on the interactional and linguistic level, particularly regarding the use of LyM. To make the picture round, I finally asked the participants how and in which contexts they talk about young men and their bodies.

I also wanted to find out if the participants were familiar with more LyM terms than they had mentioned during the interview. Therefore, following the interview, I presented them with a comprehensive list of LyM words and phrases for “female buttocks” taken from Reuster-Jahn and Kießling (2006) and asked them if they knew the terms. I chose the semantic domain of “buttocks” because it is lexically more elaborated than any other part of the female body (Reuster-Jahn and Kießling 2006, 25-6). This can be related to the fact that buttocks “represent the perception of a woman’s beauty by some Africans—a woman with big buttocks is deemed beautiful” (Ogechi 2005, 130). 5 Countless Swahili cartoons and comics, songs and videos attest to this through the way they present female buttocks in sexual innuendo, in which what Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju (2007, 10) has called “the kinesis of traditional African female body curvatures” plays a prominent role. Participants were asked to indicate whether they knew the expressions, whether they had been “catcalled” using these terms, and how they rated these expressions. In addition to exploring women’s knowledge of and

5

In face of this widespread perception, Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju has pointed out that “the traditional African image of beauty is not as monolithic as is often claimed” and that “the slim beauty also has her place in African culture” (2007, 14)

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experience with these items, this method allows insight into the life span of the LyM expressions in question.

In addition, the method allows to recognize if the concepts underlying the terms and phrases have changed over time. The LyM terms for “female buttocks” in Reuster-Jahn and Kießling (2006) can be assigned to four conceptual areas: a) image metaphors which map the size, roundness, and protrusion of the source items onto the target; b) phrases based on the image of a load carried on the back; c) metonymies sourced from popular dance styles that emphasize gyrating, sexually stimulating movements of the buttocks; 6 d) dysphemistic metonymic extensions of terms for organs of excretion or of excrements. a) baluni < LyM baluni (“type of car with rounded boot”)< transfer and metaphorical extension of English (“balloon”); nundu < metaphorical extension of Swahili nundu (“hump”) b) fungasha nyuma (“fasten sth. on the back”); fungashia mzigo (“fasten a load behind”); jazia sehemu za nyuma (“filled at the back parts”); jazia haja kubwa (“filled with feces”) c) bambataa, kibinda (nkoy), ndómbolo, taarab, tinginya, tukunyema, wowowo d) hajakubwa< Swahili euphemistic expression (“big need”) for (“feces, stool”); mavi < Swahili (“feces”); mkundu <Swahili (“anus”); shuzi < Augmentative (NC5) form of Swahili ushuzi (“bowel wind, fart”)

3. Terms and Expressions Experienced by Young Women in “Catcalling” Generally, the women’s responses were of remarkable uniformity suggesting that “catcalling” is a broadly consistent phenomenon across geographically different spaces. On the lexical level, there was little variation in the mentions of the participants. Although not all participants mentioned all words, an overall limited set of words was found. Since participants later confirmed knowledge of most items from the list from Reuster-Jahn and Kießling 2006) it can be assumed that those that were elicited are currently “in.”

3.1 Address Terms in “Catcalling” All participants confirmed to know pisi kali (given in the vignette), an expression coined approximately in 2020. Pisi is a transfer from English 6

Most of these terms have been in use since the dance styles were created in the last century, and participants reported that some of them now are rarely heard. The term tukunyema is used alternately for big buttocks and for obese persons—male as well as female.

LUGHA YA MITAANI, GENDER AND SEXISM 137

(“piece”) assigned to Noun Class (henceforth NC) 9, while kali is the Standard Swahili adjective stem kali (“sharp, fierce”) in agreement with NC9.

The expression is widely used in popular culture and disseminated through social media. Beside pisi kali in (1) below, participants mentioned LyM address terms in NC1 (2), transfers of English nouns (3), onomastic synecdoches (4), and diminutives in NC7 (5). With the possible exception of demu (from English “dame”), which is also attested for Sheng, these terms are, to a lesser or higher degree, transgressive or derogatory when used in public. Mchizi, for example, is commonly used as an LyM address term among male youths in their peer groups. Therefore, using it to address afemale stranger means publicly imposing an undue familiarity or even intimacy on her. This applies even more to the LyM address mchuchu (“darling”) which is only appropriate in intimate relationships. The only Standard Swahili term is mrembo (“beautiful girl/woman”) (2). It is not directly associated with sexuality or reproduction, but with beauty7 and is therefore permissible to be used in public.

Allusion to the addressees’ sexuality is further expressed through calling women by the names of female protagonists or even stars of popular songs and videos presented or self-presented as objects of male sexual desire (4). In this regard, music videos play a highly important role as they combine verbal with visual representation. Texts as well as images have become more and more explicit in recent years.8 In “catcalling” this context is evoked in the imagination.

(1)

pisi kali, NC9 (17) > LyM, transfer from English (“piece”) We pisi kali, vipi? (“You, pisi kali (“sharp piece”), how are things?”)

(2)

mrembo, NC1 (4) Standard Swahili We, mrembo! (“You, beauty!”) mchizi, NC1 (1) < LyM mchizi (“crazy person, cool person, friend”) We, mchizi wangu! (“You, my friend!”) mchuchu, NC1 (1) < LyM mchuchu (“darling”) (used for males and females alike) Wewe, mchuchu! (“You, darling!”)

(3)

7

8

demu, NC5 with agreement to NC1 (8) < transfer from English dame, old LyM term, now incorporated into the official Swahili lexicon

The noun mrembo is derived from the verb remba (“to beautify, decorate”) (TUKI 2014, 412).

The increase in sexual innuendo in popular song and music videos in Tanzania in recent years is the topic of a separate paper (in preparation).

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We, demu, vipi wewe? (You, “dame, how are things with you?”) denti, NC5 with agreement to NC1 (2) < LyM, transfer and truncation of English (“student”) We, denti, vipi? (“You, school student, how are things?”)

(4)

Zuchu (1) > onomastic synecdoche based on Zuchu, a young female popular singer, perceived as particularly attractive: We Zuchu! (“You, Zuchu!”)

Mamiloo(1) < onomastic synecdoche based on Mamiloo, a woman with big buttocks featuring in Bongo Flava song Mamiloo by DJ Seven (2020): Ah, Mamiloo!

Chibonge NC7 (1) <onomastic synecdoche based on Bongo Flava song Chibonge by Abbah ft. Marioo (2019) celebrating very big women as sex objects <Swahili noun bonge NC5 (“roundish lump, ball, something huge”)

(5)

kidenti NC7 (2), with agreement to NC1 (2) < diminutive of LyM denti (“student”)

Objectification of women is expressed through reducing addressees to their sexually connoted body parts by metonymic extension, predominantly buttocks and breasts (6), or other physical features (7).9 This practice has also been reported for Sheng by Githinji (2008, 25-6).

(6)

Wewe, wowowo! (3) (“You, big buttocks!”)

Chuchu saa sita mbona hugeuki! (1) (“You, ‘pointytits,’ why don’t you turn around?”)

(7)

cheupe, NC7 (1) < Standard Swahili adjective stem eupe (“white”) (sometimes used towards a woman with light complexion) We cheupe! (“You, white thing!”)

As can be seen from their use in context, the expressions are usually preceded by personal pronoun wewe (“you”), or its short colloquial form we, which function to raise attention. It should also be noted that prosodic features play an important role in the practice: The calls are made in a loud and assertive voice, and the intonation makes clear that they demand a response.

Participants also mentioned that in addition to, or instead of verbal calls male youths may also whistle at them (pigamluzi).

3.2 LyM Reference Terms for Indirect “Catcalls” There is an additional set of LyM words and phrases used by male youths when talking about young women in in-group chatting that often takes place 9

Individual terms denoting body parts will be explained in 3.3.

LUGHA YA MITAANI, GENDER AND SEXISM 139

at their informal meeting places (kijiwe, plural vijiwe). This chatting is commonly perceived as pigastori (“tell stories”), a communicative practice characterized by the rhetoric of exaggeration, boasting and jocular verbal duelling functioning as entertainment as well as negotiation and performance of masculinity and hierarchical order. Moreover, in pigastori, group members competitively display their knowledge and use of LyM. In situations where a young woman is walking by, male youths may also talk among themselves in a raised voice with the intention of being heard by the woman and bystanders, making such remarks indirect “catcalling.”

The words used mostly denote objects and are accordingly assigned to NC7. 10 They are metaphorical semantic extensions of Standard Swahili nouns denoting things that are being used or employed for certain purposes.

The objectification of women is emphasized by the agreement of adjectives and pronouns to the same class of non-animate objects, as can be seen from the list below. Interestingly, in the case of NC7 chombo (9), agreements alternate between NC7 (9a) and NC9 (9b), for which no explanation could be found. The term, manzi (12), is a transfer from Kenyan Sheng (Mbaabu and Nzuga 2003, 18), which probably has its origin in the Sheng verb manga (“eat”), a widely occurring metaphor for penetrative sex (Ogechi 2004, 349).

Manzi has been transferred to LyM long ago, as attested by Ohly (1987, 52).

In the case of manzi, agreement alternates between NC1 and NC9.

(8)

kifaa, NC7 (6) < Standard Swahili kifaa (“implement, instrument, device, tool, utensil”) Umeona kifaa kile? (“Have you seen that ‘useful thing’”?)

Kifaa kimeenda shule! (“The ‘useful thing’ is of high quality!”) (lit. “has gone to school”) Yule ni kifaa kikali! (“That one is a sharp ‘useful thing’!”)

(9)

a)chombo, NC7 (3) < Standard Swahili chombo (“tool, instrument, kitchen utensil, vessel, container”)11 Umekiona chombo kile? (“Have you seen that ‘utensil/vessel’?”)

Oya wanangu nimepata chombo kipya! (“Hey, dudes, I’ve got a new ‘utensil/vessel’!”)

Chombo kikali kinakuja huko! (“That sharp ‘utensil/vessel’ is approaching!”) b)Yule ni chombo ya fundi! (“That one is the ‘utensil/vessel’ of the craftsman”) (here meaning a man of high rank or money)!

Yule ni chombo kali! (“That one is a sharp ‘utensil/vessel’!”)

10 11

Noun class 7 comprises objects, implements, utensils and small things in the singular.

It could not be clarified if the meaning is more that of “vessel” or of “utensil.”

Presumably the LyM term combines both meanings.

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Ah, chombo ya kwenda! (“Ah, she is a ‘utensil/vessel’ to go with!”)

(10) chuma, (2) < Standard Swahili chuma (“iron”) Chumakile! (“That one is an ‘iron’!”)

(11) kisu, NC7 (3) < Standard Swahili kisu (“knife”) Yule msichana ni kisu kweli! (“That girl is really a ‘knife’”) Umekiona kisu kile kimepita? (“Have you seen that‘knife’ which has passed?”)

Kisu kinakuja! (“A ‘knife’ is approaching!”)

Ah, nimekutana na kisu kikali! (“Ah, I’ve met with a sharp ‘knife’”).

(12) manzi, NC9 (3) < transfer from Sheng manzi (girl, girlfriend, young woman) Umemwona yule manzi? (“Have you seen that young woman?”)

Manzi mzuri! (“A nice young woman!”)

Manzi yako. (“Your girlfriend”)

3.3 Lym Terms for Sexually Connoted Parts of the Body in “Catcalling” According to the participants, young urban men refer to women’s sexually connoted body parts in four types of communication: (1) talking evaluatively with peers in the practice of pigastori, (2) sometimes with the intention to be heard by a woman passing (and bystanders) in indirect “catcalls”; (3) “catcalling” women by addressing them by their body parts (see 3.1 (5)); (4) insulting women with disparaging and spiteful remarks when feeling rejected. Generally, the public use of Swahili terms denoting body parts associated with sexuality is not compatible with the concepts of heshima (“honor, dignity”), maadili (“moral conduct”) and adabu (“good manners”).

Creating and using LyM terms synonymous to the tabooed lexemes allows young urban male Swahili speakers to simultaneously observe and break this rule. This is possible because LyM terms allow for indirect reference to topics related to sexuality, at least among young peers. As a female participant (L) put it, those LyM words “yanasaidiakupunguzaukaliwamaneno” (“help to reduce the fierceness of the words”). Her opinion was supported by a 31years-old woman (N),who referred to the concept oftafsida (“euphemism”):12 Hawawezi kuaddress makalio moja kwa moja. Wanatumia maneno ya mitaani kuweka tafsida, yaani kutotaja kile kiungo cha mwanamke straight.

12

tafsida is a variant (through metathesis) of tasfida, which in the monolingual Swahili dictionary Kamusi Teule ya Kiswahili is explained as “the use of clean words, which hide insulting or dirty words” (Ndalu et al. 2013, 692). The noun is a loan from Arabic or Persian.

LUGHA YA MITAANI, GENDER AND SEXISM 141

(“They can’t directly address the buttocks. They use street words to achieve tafsida, that means not to mention that part of the female body directly”). (my translation) These statements challenge the notion of LyM as “anti-language,” as they point to its ability to make an offensive act more acceptable. A similar function of youth language has been observed by Mensah and Nkamigbo in Nigeria (2016, 190), where the “adoption of these metaphors is euphemistic […] given the face threatening and distancing effects of the literal equivalent forms.” However, in the case of Tanzania, the cover that LyM words provide is thin, as most urban people, except young children, know their meaning.

The indirectness of LyM seems to work to a certain degree through pretence.

In any case, it helps to contain morally problematic types of talk within the age group of adolescents and young adults, because as all participants stated, LyM terms are only acceptable if used among peers and are seen as inappropriate and a breach of heshima and maadili if used with older people, parents, religious leaders, or with children. Still, “these words don’t give the women joy, but it depends on time and place. If you are called ‘pisi kali,’you will feel good” as one participant said (N). Another one added the notion of “catcalling” as a form of “joking” when she said that “it is a kind of joking, nonetheless those words hurt” (H).

The LyM lexemes for body parts are created by metonymic semantic extension of Swahili lexemes, metaphor, and terms sourced from popular songs, music videos and comedy, often presenting exaggerated visualization of female bodies and gyrating body movements. Transfers from non-Bantu languages such as English or French play a minor role. Parts of the female body such as breasts, buttocks, and legs are over-lexicalized semantic fields in LyM. In communication, LyM terms for female body parts are often used with the verb “have,” such as in “she has a nice shape,” or with “be,” such as in “her legs are stakes.” When “catcalls” are rejected and the callers switch to insults (see further below), phrases change to negative: “you don’t have x” and “you aren’t y.” Being mostly created through metonymy and metaphor, LyM terms for body parts can themselves serve as metonyms to objectify women, such as in “you, big buttocks.” This is a particularly denigrating way of referring to women that has been reported for Sheng as well (Githinji 2008, 25-6). However, the women who participated in the survey were of divided opinion regarding being called by those terms. Some reject being called at all, while others differentiate between terms which they perceive as sifa

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(“praise”) and kashfa (“defamation, affront, slander”). Negative comments on women’s bodies as in (14) as well as overly dysphemistic terms are widely perceived as kashfa.

3.3.1 Body Shape In metaphors for certain body shapes, the forms of Arabic numbers are mapped on the female body. Nambanane (“number eight”) is commonly perceived as the ideal shape of the female body, with well-rounded hips/buttocks and chest separated by a slim waist. Nambasita (“number six”), with a rounded bottom and small breast is also perceived as attractive, while nambatisa (“number nine”) with big chest and slim bottom is considered unattractive. Being called nambatisa is clearly kashfa. Generally, the number metaphors allow talking about the female body in neutral terms without “risking” a sexual connotation perceived inappropriate in Tanzanian public culture. The phrases in (13) and (14) show that besides the Standard Swahili noun umbo (“shape, form” in a general sense), the English loans figa (“figure”) and shepu (“shape”), can also be used. A body shape with full chest and small buttocks is further expressed through two metaphors: umbo la simba (“shape of a lion”) which evokes the image of the male lion with big front due to the mane, and slim buttocks, and shepu la kihindi (“Indian shape”) which can be read as a negative comment on physical features of Tanzanians of Indian descent. Other ethnically based metonymies are Mchaga and Mmasai (“member of the ethnic group of the Chaga/Masai”), who are perceived as having thin legs. These stereotypes speak to some latent tensions between ethnic groups in Tanzania, which find an outlet in such kinds of “jokes.” As one female participant put it: “wanataniakabila” (“they make jokes about ethnic groups”). Finally, metaphors using the source domain of vehicles, such as “tractor” and “scrap car” are used for negative remarks concerning the female body. Since cars and driving are a predominantly male domain in Tanzania, these metaphors allude to women being used by men.

(13) Metaphors with positive meaning: umbo la namba nane, figa ya namba nane, shepu ya namba nane, kiuno cha nyigu (“wasp waist”) (14) Metaphors with negative meaning: shepu la namba tisa; umbo la simba, shepu ya kihindi; mchaga (“Chaga”); mdoli wa mishelini (“obese person”) <(“michelin man”); trekta (“tractor”), gari bovu (“scrap car”)

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3.3.2 Buttocks As mentioned above, in Tanzania, big buttocks are widely seen as central to the attractiveness of women. In my survey, each participant named between two and five terms for “buttocks” that she hears from male youths. Mentions varied between participants (below, number of mentions is given in brackets).

(15) Matairi NC6 (1) (“tyres”); kichuguu NC7 (2) (“ant hill”); madumu NC6 (1) (“canisters”); kishundu NC7 (“small brush used for shining shoes whose handle has a ‘number eight’ shape with a bigger lower part”) (4) (16) Mzigo NC3(3) (“load”) (17) mavi (1) (18) msambwanda NC3 (8), iny eNC9 (5), wésele NC9 (5), wowowo NC9 (8), ngongingo NC9 (3)

Despite the degree of variation, all mentioned items can be assigned to the categories established above for the items in Reuster-Jahn and Kießling (2006), which were collected fifteen years ago (see methodology section), namely,metaphors of “size, protrusion, roundness” (15); load-metaphors (16); metonymy referring to excretion(17); and representations of popular culture (18). The category of “excretion” is only represented through the noun mavi (“excrements”), possibly because mention in the interview situation could have been embarrassing for speaker and hearer and was therefore avoided.

Terms derived from popular culture evoke images of buttocks in sexually emphasized movements, and this category contains the highest number of multiple mentions. While it includes only one dance style, terms and phrases sourced from popular songs, music videos and comedy were frequently mentioned. The rather recent term msambwanda, whose origin could not be traced, together with the old wowowo obviously are most popular. The term ngongingo has recently been popularized by a song of the same title by Tanzanian artist Baba Levo featuring Rayvanny (2019), in which the buttocks of several female East African celebrities are judged. In that song, ngongingo refers to imperfect female buttocks, which are contrasted with wowowo, the perfect ones. While participants agreed that the terms in (18) came from comedy videos and pop songs, they were only able to cite specific videos or songs as the source in a few cases. Generally, the women considered the artists to be the creators of such terms, while some men, whom I asked about the origin of the terms in (18), rejected this idea.

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According to them, terms like ngongingo, msambwanda and wésele have been in use by male youths since more than ten years but have recently been boosted through popular song and video. This issue of origin could not be addressed in depth in the present study, but it would be worth further research. In the case of ngongingo, artist Baba Levo apparently has reinterpreted its meaning as “imperfect buttocks,” while previously it meant “big buttocks.” This explains why some of the women said ngongingo means “big buttocks,” while others said it refers to “small buttocks.” One participant pointed to the capacity of popular songs to change the meaning of words. As an example, she referred to the song Sukari (“Sugar”) by female artist Zuchu (2021), where sukari is a metaphor for female sexuality and devotion. After this song had become popular, the noun sukari started to be used with this meaning across Tanzania, making it possible to talk in a veiled form about a tabooed issue.

During the interviews, the participants only mentioned one word, wowowo, which was listed by Reuster-Jahn and Kießling (2006). However, when I shared Reuster-Jahn and Kießling’s list of terms for “buttocks,” the participants confirmed most of them. The term baluni was confirmed by only one participant. It seems that this term has either become obsolete since 2006 or has never been much in use. All the other items were confirmed by most interviewees. Participants with higher educational status denied knowledge of the terms related to the excretory organs. This could be because they have not experienced them in their social environment, or because they wanted to distance themselves from them in the interview situation to avoid embarrassment. Except some of the highly educated and religious women, participants agreed in the perception that most terms denoting “big buttocks” can be meant and understood as praise. In contrast, the terms and expressions metonymically related to the semantic field of “excretion” were rejected by all as kashfa or even matusi (sexual insults). Some participants stated that in poor urban neighborhoods referred to as “Uswahilini,” people might find it unproblematic to use such expressions. According to popular perception, in “Uswahilini” LyM has become the normal speech style for many of the inhabitants, who often are living in precarious conditions.

3.3.3 Breasts and legs The survey participants were also asked to mention terms for other parts of the female body that male youths refer to in their “catcalling” or in talking about young women. The responses show that besides “buttocks” two other parts of the female body are emphasized in “catcalling,” namely “breasts”

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and “legs.” Mentions regarding these two semantic fields were less and more varied than those regarding “buttocks.” Moreover, many of the mentions correspond to items listed showing that there is less innovation in these semantic fields.

According to the responses, female breasts perceived most attractive by male youths are those being firm and small, that is, those characteristic for young adolescent girls. Linguistically, the terms for attractive breasts most commonly mentioned by the participants are mainly metaphors and metonymies (19). The metaphor chuchu saa sita is based on the image of a clock with the hands pointing to 12 o’clock which is mapped on a firm breast with upright nipple. There is also metonymy involved insofar as chuchu (“nipple, teat”) stands for the breast. This is also the case with chuchu konzi, a metaphor based on the form of a fist (konzi). Embe dodo (“mango variety”) is a metaphor that maps a special kind of small and sweet mango on the female breast. The last expression, vititi vyake vimesimama (“her little breasts stand upright”), involves the diminutive (NC8) of matiti NC6 (“breasts, nipples”).

(19)

Chuchu saa sita; chuchu konzi; embe dodo; vititi vyake vimesimama

LyM terms referring to the biological function of the female breast for milk production and breast feeding (20) are metonymic extensions having ambiguous meaning and can thus be used positively as well as negatively by male youths, depending on context. The metonymies based on milk production usually carry the notion of big size.

(20) Mtindi NC3 (“sourmilk”): chek imtindi wake!(“Look at her breast!”); nidoNC9 (“trademark of milk powder”), cowbell NC9 (“trademark of milk powder”), nyonyo NC5 (“teat, nipple,” Standard Swahili noun derived from the verb nyonya“suck, feed at breast”)

Regarding legs, the most popular metaphors map the forms of bottles onto female legs (21). Thus, in the metaphor mguu wa bia (“beer-leg”) and its derivatives the form of a classical beer-bottle is taken as a model for the shape of the ideal, rounded, and well-proportioned female leg, while mguu wa soda (“soda-leg”) denotes the less attractive thin leg, which is, however, still wellshaped. Since in recent years champagne is consumed in festive contexts, guu shampeni (“fabulous champagne-leg”) has become a modern variant of mguu wa bia alluding to elevated lifestyle. A mguu wa tembo (“elephant’s leg”) is a very big leg which is, however, still not unattractive.

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(21) M guu NC3 wa bia, guu NC5 (augmentative) la bia, guushampeni NC5 (augmentative), mguu wa soda NC3, mguu wa tembo NC3

When the male youths switch to insults, they use metaphors for legs based on thin, long, and rather technical objects from everyday use. These will be considered in the next section.

4. Women’s reactions to catcalling and ensuing communication scenarios 4.1 Women’s views on “catcalling” All participants agreed that they encounter “catcalling” as an everyday and pervasive practice affecting their movements in the public urban space.

Women’s opinion on the terms discussed in the previous section and the associated communicative and social practice is differing mainly due to educational, social, and religious background, and age. This confirms findings from other parts of the world showing that women’s experience of unwanted sexual attention by strangers depends on how they perceive it (Fairchild 2010, 193). Critical views increase with educational levels above secondary school. University students or graduates said, for example, “it is as if they are undressing me, that’s not respectful” (A, original English in italics); “at the vijiwe it is harassment, those words refer to the women as if they were objects for the pleasure of the young men” (E); “I accept a greeting, but I do not respond to the names” (F). The critical views of the most educated women correspond with the finding of the Demographic and Health Survey that women’s experience of physical violence declines sharply with increasing wealth and education (United Republic of Tanzania 2016, 369). Many women said that they feel shame when being “catcalled.”

Some participants explained that the practice is somehow acceptable among members of the same age group. One (F) said: “I will not feel offended when the young men are of my age.” Acceptability is also connected to part of the body referred to in the “catcall”: “if you pass at a place and they shout “ana msambwanda” (“she has big buttocks”) you don’t feel comfortable, you’ll feel shame. If they say “ana guu la bia” (“she has a well-rounded leg”), you take it as normal comment (M). “Catcalling” older women is seen as lack of heshima (H), but participants said that older women are better able to cope with the situation. According to participants, the worst form of “catcalling” is that directed towards young girls. As one woman (K) put it: “they often do it with very young girls, that’s not good.” Participants around thirty years of

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age tended to perceive catcalling as appreciative, as a form of admiration and sign of interest. “If he says you look good, you will feel okay, you feel pride” (G); “if they call you pisi kali you will enjoy it” (N). Some participants referred to being called by LyM terms for body parts as a particularly demeaning practice. One woman (L) said that very few people would ever like to be called by names that refer to parts of their body.

Younger women and those of lower social status seem to be the group most negatively affected by “catcalling.” Some participants recalled that they felt particularly embarrassed when they started being “catcalled.” One said: “After Form III I started being called by those words. First I felt ashamed, but then I got used to it” (M). Two young domestic workers included in the survey said that they often feel uncomfortable when being “catcalled,” especially when their sexuality is being referred to. One of them (C) said “it makes me feel bad, sometimes it is demeaning (udhalilishaji), they degrade your dignity, you may feel ashamed,” and the other stated that “sometimes it is difficult to pass at vijiwe, you must prepare yourself,” but at many places “it is something normal” (D). The same participant said that “I don’t like it, but you become accustomed to it.” Pious Muslim women also rejected the terms as maneno ya kihuni (“words by hooligans”). One participant (C) said: wanakushushia heshima (“they don’t pay you due respect”). Another (H) said that since she is wearing long gowns she is not affected by“catcalling,” which she views as bad. She claimed that even if “catcalling”could be seen as a form of teasing, it would still hurt.

As it was impossible to interview young women in the village, I asked participants, who grew up in villages in how far the situation regarding “catcalling” there is different. According to them, “catcalling” also happens in villages, and male youths there use LyM for the same purposes as in urban areas. However, they said, since people know each other, social control is higher than in town, which limits the use of the stronger expressions. The place where male youths talk about young women and where “catcalling” happens is at the vijiwe, young men’s informal meeting places at football fields or outside small shops where they play draughts or bao. In the villages, I was told, young men also whistle after girls and mix some ethnic expressions in “catcalling.”

Asked about their reactions some participants reported that if they know the young men, they will react with a colloquial greeting such as mambo? (“how are things?”), or a short ah, napita! (“ah, I’m just passing”).

One participant said “it depends on who is calling you. If they are friends, I say asante (‘thank you’), but if it is just somebody from the street, I ignore

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him” (J). Others also said that they usually ignore (puuzia) the calls, but that this can annoy the callers and provoke insults. One participant said: “if you ignore them, some will leave you alone, but others can feel offended. They can tell you that you are arrogant” (L). Another one put it this way (in English): “if you don’t answer they will call you things like dada poa (harlot), and you will not feel good. So, you don’t argue with them” (F).The women believed that it is better not to argue with the callers so as to avoid insults or an escalation. Some even try to avoid being called by lowering their head or hurrying up to pass. Only one participant mentioned the possibility of paying back with the same coin: “You can give bad answers, such as mwenyewe mchafu (‘you yourself are dirty’), or unanuka kikwapa (‘you stink from under your arms’), but this will most probably result in being insulted”(L). What emerges from the women’s responses is that “catcalling” is an effective way to express and sustain male dominance in the public space through transgressive, male behavior. In terms of politeness theory (Brown and Levinson 1987) this violates women’s negative as well as positive face.

The possibilities of women to defend themselves effectively and to put the male youths in their place are very limited. Rejection of the calls is likely to escalate the situation, provoke insults and cause a stir, something that is not compatible with the ideal of female behavior in Tanzanian society. The need to protect their face and respect (heshima) thus contributes to making the women compliant with “catcalling,” because heshima demands self-control.

4.2 Insults in response to rejection of “catcalling” Openly ignoring or rejecting the calls can provoke insults consisting of denigrating and demeaning remarks regarding the women’s behavior or body. These are a form of punishment for those who refuse to play the acceptive and submissive role assigned to them by male youths in the ritual of gender performance that “catcalling” is. The possibility of being publicly insulted indeed conditions a strong motivation for females to comply with the “rules of the game” set by males. On the linguistic level, the expressions used as insults consist mostly of Standard Swahili lexemes. As such, they function within the Swahili cultural values and therefore constitute unconcealed attacks on the negative and positive face of the women. They will be rejected as a person and told to go away (22) and/or will be accused of arrogance (23), and immoral conduct (24). The latter category highlights the double standard that allows men to have active sexuality but denies it to women. Regarding appearance and body parts, participants mentioned numerous rude remarks regarding their bodies they are hearing from male

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youths once they have switched to insults. These consist mostly of dysphemistic metonymic extensions of Swahili lexemes or metaphors taken from the everyday environment. Allegedly flat buttocks are presented as resulting from flattening actions such as ironing or hitting (25). Flabby breasts are compared to very ordinary flat or flabby objects (26), while big breasts, which are also perceived as unattractive, are referred to as mzigo (“load”). Therefore, mzigo applied to breasts represents a negative evaluation, while applied to buttocks is a compliment or “praise.” Thin legs are expressed through metaphors based on thin and long objects without any rounding (27). Negative remarks on the women’s faces also occur (28).

(22) Nenda, mwenyewe hupendezi! (“Go away, you yourself are not attractive!”)

Mwenyewe shoo mbaya! (“You yourself are a ‘bad show’”)< transfer of English “show” We gumegume! (“You worthless person!”)

(23) Unajifanya wa kishua! (“You pretend to be wealthy”) (i.e. not to need a man)! <LyM phrase wakishua“secure, safe, rich” derivedfrom transfer of English sure Unajishaua! (“You think you are better than others!”)< LyM verb jishaua Unaringa! (“You are arrogant!”)< Standard Swahili verb ringa.

Una nyodo! (“You are contemptuous!”)< Standard Swahili noun nyodo“contempt” Una mapozi! (“You are posing!”)< LyM, transfer of English pose (24) Dada poa! (“Prostitute, harlot”)< LyM adjective poa (“cool”), metaphoric extension of Standard Swahili verb poa “cool, cool down” We Malaya! (“You are a harlot!”)< Standard Swahili noun malaya “prostitute, harlot” Mdangaji! (“Woman who has sexual relations with men in order get money out of them”) recent LyM coinage < semantic extension from Standard Swahili verb danga (“scoop up something, look for something, scarce”) Mwenye wembovu! (“You are yourself a prostitute!”)< LyM derived from Standard Swahili adjective bovu (“rotten, worthless, bad”) through synecdochical extension Kiwembe (“promiscuous person”)< LyM derived from Standard Swahili noun wembe “razor blade” Kijuso<onomastic synecdoche of an arrogant female character in the song Kijuso by Rayvanny (2017), who once was very poor: Kijuso, we Kijuso “Kijuso, you,Kijuso!”

(25) Kapigwa pasi! (“She has been ironed!”)

Kateleza bafuni! (“She has slipped in the bathroom!”)

Umeanguka bafuni! (“You have fallen in the bathroom!”)

Umepigwakofi! (“You have been slapped!”)

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Umeangukiwa na kabati! (“A cupboard has fallen on you!”)

Ah, mtu mwenyewesimu ya Motorola bapa! (“Ah, she is just a flat Motorola mobile phone!”)

(26) Una malapa/ndala! (“You have sandals/flip-flops (dangling on your chest)”) Chuchu kama tambala la deki! (“A breast like a cleaning rag!”)

Ana mzigo huyo! (“That one has a load (big breast)”)!

Ana kifua! (“She has a breast!”)

(27) Jiti za fagio (“broom sticks”) spoku za baiskeli (“bicycle spokes”) fito (“poles”) miguu ya chelewa (“legs like thin splits of palm leaves”)< Swahili chelewa (“thin splits of dried palm leaves; broom made from such splits of palm leaves”) miguu ya mbu (“moscito’s legs”) (28) Mwenyewe sura mbaya (you have yourself an ugly face) Mwenyewe sura ya baba (you have yourself a face like a man)

These insults and their public performance represent the other side of the “compliments” in “catcalling,” with which together they form a whole. They are clearly a form of verbal violence, and an expression of male domination.13At the same time, they reveal the exercise of crude humour, which has been shown to be central to the construction of masculine identities and hierarchies (Phoenix 1997, 8). Through “catcalling” and its related practices, male youths claim the public space and control women’s movements in it. As the data shows, there is no room for female agency in this type of interaction. Since “catcalling” is un-named, it is also difficult to start a public debate about it. Therefore, this practice is not expected to change in the near future.

5. Women’s Talk about Women and Men In contrast to male youths, how do young women talk about the appearance of their female and male peers, and which role does LyM play in this talk? I first asked participants what kind of words they use when talking about other women in an appreciative manner. The women made the following general comments: “I talk about such things when I’m chatting with my sister 13Mensah and Inyabri (2016) noted a similar pattern among gang members from Calabar,

Nigeria. They found that girls and women who do not consent to sexual advances are usually called sexually degrading names, which are a means of controlling them.

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at home” (L); “the words are the same [as the males are using]” (A); “some LyM words are unavoidable, others are unacceptable” (D); “we [women] cannot use those words in public” (F); “I do not like to mention body parts” (H). According to these statements, women talk about other women in private, not in public. Moreover, they reject some LyM words used by male youths as inappropriate—which refers to the rules of heshima and maadili. The words in (29) are those that used by both, young men and women (number of mentions in brackets). The term chombo, which depicts women as something to be used, was explicitly rejected by some of the participants. The items in (30) are polite expressions, which were lacking among the words participants assigned to male youths.

(29) demu (1) LyM, mrembo (4), pisi kali (3) LyM, chombo (1) LyM (30) dada (3) (“sister”): yule dada ni mzuri! (“That sister is beautiful!”), mzuri (3) (“nice, beautiful person”), kisura (1) (“beautiful girl”)

Remarks on women’s body parts often begin with a high-pitched “ah,” followed by an appreciating “she has x” (31) or “her x, xfit well” (32): (31) Ah, yule ana tako/matako/makalio (4) (“ah, she has buttocks”), ana shepu nzuri (1) (“she has a nice shape”); ana mguu wa bia (3) (“she has a beershaped leg”); ana umbo la namba nane (2) (“she has a ‘number eight’ shape”); ana kiuno kama nyigu (1) (“she has a wasp waist”); ana hips (1) (“she has hips”); ana sura nzuri (1) (“she has a nice face”) (32) Ah, body yake imekaa vizuri (1) (“her body is well-shaped”); chuchu zake zimekaa vizuri (1) (“her breasts fit well”)

Some participants mentioned positive remarks about the character of other women: (33) Ana heshima (1) (“she has respect/dignity”); ni mpole (1) (“she is polite”); yule ni mstaarabu (1) (“she is a civilized person.”)

Participants stated using many of the above listed expressions also in complimenting other women in direct communication. In this case, the third person subject marker is replaced by second person (34). Unlike the men, women make compliments regarding hairstyles (35). As these are often the result of sophisticated and expensive procedures in the saloon, it is no wonder that women have an eye for them. As a compliment for a woman there is also the LyM expression umedamshi (“you look great”). Coined a few years ago by a comedian and popularized by Kenyan R&B singer Otile

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Brown through his song Umedamshi (2020), this phrase is only used by women. Some men find it even emasculating to use this word.14 Originally set in the present perfect to denote an accomplishment, damshi is now used as a proper LyM verb stem in different tenses.

(34) Ah, una shepu nzuri! (“Ah, you have a nice figure”); ah, una msa mbwanda! (“ah, you have (nice) big buttocks!”)

(35) Una uhair NC11/14 (3) (“you have great hair”)<transfer of English “hair” with NC11/14 prefix u- 15 ; una ufagio (1) (“you have a broom” meaning “you have done your hair in the afro style”); umesuka penseli (1) (“you have braided your hair in the pencil-style”)

Participants’ responses to the question how they talk negatively about other women concentrated on alleged boastfulness (36), gossiping behavior (37), and immoral conduct. (38). Regarding appearance,participants mentioned general remarks on shape and face (39). Markedly derogatory expressions referring to sexually connoted parts of the body were not mentioned. It seems that women observe the taboo regarding mention of those body parts, even in the veil of LyM. (36) Anauza sana sura (“she is very much selling her face”); ana mashauzi LyM (“she is boastful”); anaringa (“she is boasting”) (37) msumbufu (“molester”); mkorofi (“a person that causes quarrel”); ana fujo (“she is chaotic”); mnoko (“gossip”); ana mdomo sana (“she is loudmouthed/a gossip”) (38) mdangaji LyM (“woman who has sexual relations with men in order get money out of them”); anajiachia sana (“she is a pleasure-seeker”); kiwembe LyM (“promiscuous person”) (39) yule ni flat (“that one is flat”); sura mbovu (“an ugly face”); mguu kama fito (a leg like a pole); ni mrembo, lakini tabia zake si nzuri (“she is beautiful, but her conduct is not good”); si mrembo (“she is not beautiful”); amekaa kama puto (“she is shaped like a balloon”); ana shepu mbaya (“she has a bad shape”)

Summing up, it can be noted that young women’s talk about other women usually takes place in the private sphere. In this setting there is no need to 14

15

See the discussion on Jamii Forums from September 2018 (https://www.jamiiforums.com/threads/hili-neno-kudamshi-lina-maanagani.1485790/ (last access 15-09-2021) Although the interview participants did not know of any additional semantic motivation, it could be possible that the term has its origin in onomastic synecdoche of Chinese Uhair company specialized in wigs and hair bundles.

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use LyM, hence the women mentioned predominantly Standard Swahili and colloquial expressions, but only few LyM items. The elicited phrases are predominantly polite. Women’s negative remarks about each other seem to concentrate more on social and moral behavior (boasting, gossip and slander, promiscuity) than physical features. If women talk negatively about the bodies of other women, they do so in a more generalway than men without focusing on the sexually connoted parts. They also use comparisons such as “her legs are like poles” instead of assertions such as “her legs are stakes” which the men tend to use. As these findings are based on a relatively small sample, they should be read as tendencies to be further explored in future research. Moreover, research on the language used in quarrel between women may reveal the use of more derogatory words and expressions by women.

Finally, participants were asked how and in which contexts they talk about the physical appearance of young men. Their statements reveal their awareness of gendered language use: - There are more words for women than for men (L) - We use the normal words, no slang (E) - There are no street words here, often you will just use the normal Swahili words (J) - We women do not have many words, or maybe I do not know them (K) - We women do not have many kijiweni16 words, we comment on a man’s appearance and his shape, that’s all (G) - We do not have as many words to hide meanings like the male youths, because they say those words in public (O) - There aren’t many traits (sifa) of male youths; we use English (M) - We use English very much (A, N) According to these remarks, women usually do not talk publicly about men and hence have not developed a LyM repertoire in this field. Moreover, as the elicited expressions show, they do not evaluate men’s bodies as much as men do regarding women, and there are few tabooed words involved.

Therefore, they generally use Standard Swahili. When referring to masculine physical features they switch to English, although most of these English lexemes have direct Swahili equivalents (items in 40). Obviously, this serves to avoid mention of direct Swahili words that refer to sexually connoted parts of the body. Avoidance of direct mention is also served by LyM metaphors 16

Kijiweni is a locative of kijiwe.

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for penis, which in some cases are taken from the domain of vegetables (41).

Mshedede is a LyM term in use since at least ten years whose origin remains unclear. These LyM terms are used by male and female youths alike albeit in different contexts. The absence of lexical items taken from the domain of popular culture speaks to the fact that in songs and videos men are not presented as objects of female sexual desire. In contrast, when women talk about male youths, they refer to their ability to invite or pay for them (42).

(40) handsome/handsome boy (7), Swahili equivalent mtanashati; ana muscles (2) (“he has muscles”), Swahili equivalent misuli; ana sixpack (3) (“he has a sixpack”), no Swahili equivalent; color yake ni amazing (1) (“his color is amazing”) Swahili equivalent rangi; penis (2), Swahili equivalent mboo; big dick < English slang (“big penis”) (41) kirungu NC7 (Diminutive) LyM (“small knob-kerry”) (1); muhogo mkubwa NC3 LyM (“big cassava root”) (1); mshedede (1) established LyM noun; origin unclear (42) yule ni sponsa (“that one is a sponsor”) (3); sponsa wako yuko wapi? (“where is your sponsor?”) (1) kaka anajua kutoa (“that brother knows how to spend money”) (1); amejaa (lit. he is filled, or full,” in LyM meaning “he has a lot of money”) (2)

Regarding negative talk about male youths, words and expressions were rarely mentioned by more than one participant suggesting that there is no fixed or popular repertoire.They refer predominantly to young men’s alleged promiscuity and unreliability (43), rurality or backwardness (44), bad appearance (45), intrusiveness (46), poverty (47), and homosexuality (48). In contrast to the positive expressions, English plays a minor role, “player” being the only word mentioned. Few LyM words such as chokambaya (“poor wretch”) were mentioned, which however are not sexually connoted.

(43) player; hajatulia (“he is not settled yet”); mbovu (“promiscuous person”); anajipendekeza (“he is flattering”); mhuni (“hooligan”); wa ovyo (“chaotic/not settled”); sharobaro NC6 LyM (“man with nice appearance, but bad behavior”) (44) tabia ya kisukuma (“behaving like a Sukuma”): Members of the Tanzanian ethnic group of Sukuma are stereotypically perceived as backward; mshamba (“rural man, country bumpkin”) (45) mweusi (“black person”), sura nzito (“heavy face”); mchafumchafu (“a rather dirty man”), si mtanashati (“he is not handsome”); kibamia NC5 (Diminutive) LyM (“small penis”)< metaphorical extension of Standard Swahili bamia (“okra”) (46) king“ang”anizi NC7 LyM (“intruder”); msumbufu (“intruder, harasser”)

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(47) chokambaya NC6 LyM (“poor wretch”); alitoka uchwara (“he comes out of poverty”) (48) yule shoga tu (“that one is just a gay guy”); anatembea kama mwanamke (“he has the gait of a woman”); ana mambo ya kike (“he behaves like a woman, he is effeminate”)

Women’s talk about their female and male peers has clearly exposed attitudes towards LyM that are different from their male peers. In their talk about other women, they adopt only those LyM items that are least offensive.

Moreover, it seems that they avoid talking about the sexual parts of other women’s bodies. In negative evaluation they rather aim at character and morality, and they express their judgements predominantly in Standard Swahili. Only in the area of hair and hairstyles have women created words and expressions of their own, of which most men are not aware. In addition, women’s use of English words when talking about men’s appearance has led to the creation of a female lexical repertoire regarding this semantic domain.

6. Conclusion This study has demonstrated the gendered usage of Lugha ya Mitaani in Tanzania in male “catcalling” in the public space on the one hand and in female evaluative talk about their peers of both sexes in the private space on the other. Importantly, “catcalling” has been revealed as a practice of male youths which serves to maintain male dominance over public urban spaces and to control women’s movement in these spaces. Women’s experiences of this practice have been shown as remarkably consistent across geographically diverse urban areas from city to rural towns. Participants agreed that it is a normal part of their everyday life, which affects them negatively, although some view milder forms of “catcalling” as permissible compliments. Even so, in “catcalling” women have no agency, because if they reject it or fight back, they will be even more exposed, and their face threatened. “Catcalling” certainly is a way to silence women and to inscribe them into traditional femininity.

As this article has shown, the creation and use of LyM by male youths is inextricably linked to “catcalling” as an enabling factor, since it provides lexical alternatives to tabooed lexemes. The perception of LyM words and phrases as “euphemisms” (tasfida/tafsida) allows young urban male Swahili speakers to simultaneously observe and break the rules of respect (heshima) and ethics (maadili). They avoid mention of tabooed lexemes by using synonymous LyM words and expressions. Even though adults usually know

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the meaning of those lexical items, LyM provides a thin veil accepted through a common yet unspoken agreement. Being an expression of unequal powerrelations in a patriarchal society, LyM is thus instrumental in reinforcing structural male dominance and female subordination in the public space in Tanzania.These results confirm previous findings about LyM being malecentred. Moreover, male youths’ use of LyM lexemes as euphemisms in the context of conservative patriarchal behavior challenges the notion of LyM— and by implication also other African Urban Youth Languages—as “antilanguage.”

When young women talk about their female and male peers, they do so in the private sphere, and in a more discreet way than male youths. Usage of LyM by both sexes seems to beprimarily differentiated according to private versus public space. Even in the private sphere where women use LyM, they report applying less offensive LyM expressions. However, this does not mean that women are not linguistically creative themselves. As could be shown, their strategy to deal with tabooed words regarding the human body is to borrow from English. Moreover, they have created LyM expressions in the semantic domain of “hair and hairstyles,” an area their male colleagues completely neglect in their evaluation of female bodies.

My survey has made a start in addressing “catcalling” as social, cultural and linguistic phenomenon and has contributed to filling the research gap in linguistic gendering of African Urban Youth Languages. “Catcalling”in Africa is a socially unrecognized phenomenon that has remained understudied in the relevant scholarship. The study has shown that LyM is instrumental in enforcing female subordination in Tanzania through its use in “catcalling.” It has also revealed that female youths indeed lack agency regarding the use of LyM in public, because this collides with normative gender roles and damages their reputation. Tanzanian gender norms allow men to be loud, audacious, and transgressive in public, while women have to perform self-control. Nevertheless, women are linguistically creative in the private sphere. This study may provide a point of departure for further research as there are many open questions. How do boys and girls learn the interactional pattern of “catcalling” and the roles assigned to them? How do girls come to terms with it? How do male youths view “catcalling,” in terms of performing masculinity and constructing hierarchies among their peers but also in view of societal moral values? Are there signs that women are beginning to take a stand against “catcalling” and that awareness of it will grow in Tanzanian society? These are relevant questions not only for

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linguistics, but also for health sciences, developmental psychology and sociology.

Acknowledgements I am most grateful to all the young women who provided their time and insights during our interviews, and hence made this study possible. I also thank KimataKimatta and Dr.Caroline Mtaita for background information on “catcalling” practices in Tanzania. KimataKimatta also provided valuable support in designing the interview questions.

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Fairchild, Kimberly and Laurie Rudman. 2008. “Everyday Stranger Harassment and Women’s Objectification.”

Social Justice Research 21:338–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-008-0073-0 Fileborn, Bianca. 2013. Conceptual Understandings and Prevalence of Sexual Harassment and Street Harassment. Resource Sheet, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault.

Last access 15-09-2021. https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publicationdocuments/rs6.pdf Gardner, Carol.1980. “‘Passing by’: Street Remarks, Address Rights, and the Urban Female.”Sociological Inquiry 50: 328–356.

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Mensah, Eyo and Linda Nkamigbo. 2016. “All I Want is Your Waist: Sexual Metaphors as Youth Slanguage in Nigeria.” Sociolinguistic Studies (Special Issue The Dynamics of Youth Language in Africa, edited by Eyo Mensah) 10 (1–2): 177–198.

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Ohly, Rajmund. 1987. Swahili-English Slang Pocket-Dictionary. Vienna: Afro-Pub. Oloruntoba–Oju, Taiwo. 2007. “Body Images, Beauty Culture and Language in theNigeria African Context. ” Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre. Last access 10-012022. http:// www.arsrc.org/downloads/uhsss/oloruntoba-oju.pdf Phoenix, Ann. 1997.“Youth and Gender: New Issues, Multiple Positioning.”Young 5(3): 2– 19. https://doi.org/10.1177/110330889700500301 Pryor, John, Christine LaVite and Lynette Stoller. 1993. “A Social Psychological Analysis of Sexual Harassment: The Person/Situation Interaction .”Journal of Vocational Behavior 42(1): 68–83. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1993.1005 Reuster–Jahn, Uta and Roland Kießling. 2006. “Lugha ya Mitaani in Tanzania. The Poetics and Sociology of a Young Urban Style of Speaking. With a Dictionary Comprising 1100 Words and Phrases.” Swahili Forum 13 (Special issue), 1–200.

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Vera–Gray, Fiona and Bianca Fileborn. 2018. “Recognition and the Harms of ‘Cheer Up.’” The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence 2(1): 77–96. https://doi.org/10.22618/TP.PJCV.20182.1.171005 Walton, Kari and Cory Pedersen.2021.“Motivations Behind Catcalling: Exploring Men’s Engagement in Street Harassment Behaviour.” Psychology and Sexuality: 1– 15.doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2021.1909648 Wamoyi, Joyce, Meghna Ranganathan, Samuel Mugunga, and Heidi Stöckl. 2021. “Male and Female Conceptualizations of Sexual Harassment in Tanzania: The Role of Consent, Male Power, and Social Norms.”Journal of Interpersonal Violence: 1–29. https://doi.org/08862605211028309.

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7 Gender Stereotypes and Discriminatory Language in Luyaaye, Ugandan Youth Language Saudah Namyalo (Makerere University, Uganda) This chapter describes how Luyaaye, an African youth language spoken in Uganda, portrays gendered stereotypes and discriminatory language that purports gender inequality. In detail, this chapter analyses a spoken corpus of Luyaaye to highlight gendered stereotypes and discrimination as encoded in this language.

The goal is to provide a repository of various instances of subtle linguistic stereotypes and biases that have continued to promote gender inequalities in modern times. The objectives pursued in this chapter are to establish the linguistic resources in Luyaaye that are invoked by members of its community of practice to portray women as inferior, on the one hand, while on the other hand, sustaining male superiority and dominance. In addition, it discusses how female speakers of Luyaaye amplify male-authored gendered discourses to their detriment.

Specifically, the chapter provides answers to the following questions: (1) Do gendered stereotypes that purport gender inequalities exist in Luyaaye? (2) Does Luyaaye, as a language for the youth, promote masculinities? (3) How do female speakers of Luyaaye perceive male-authored discourses in Luyaaye? (4) Does Luyaaye promote gender equality, and if so in what ways? Data for this chapter was collected using three methods: corpus analysis, interviews and, focus group discussion.

Keywords: Luyaaye, Urban Youth Languages, power relations, male sexuality, female sexuality, discriminatory language

1. Introduction It is universally known that gender stereotypes perpetuate inequalities between men and women. Gender stereotypes are preconceived ideas where women and men are assigned characteristics that they possess and roles that they are expected to perform in their communities. Stereotypes about gender may take two forms: one form is where it is assumed that all members of a category, for instance, a profession, share a gender, e.g., in Uganda, like elsewhere in Africa, girls in the past were presumed to study secretarial studies and nursing courses in institutions of higher learning. The other form is where it is presumed that all members of a gender share a characteristic, 161

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e.g., men don’t cry. These belief systems frequently place expectations on the female and male genders. It is thus commonplace that, over time, gender stereotypes dictate the roles and practices of women and men in society.

These stereotypes are often a product of cultural belief systems that impact the mental processes of individuals (see Kashima et al. 2010; Semin 2008).

Such cultural belief systems or cultural stereotypes manifest through the language that we use.

Language and gender studies have demonstrated a critical correlation between language and gender stereotypes (see Sunderland 2004 and Cameron 2005). Quite often, language and gender stereotypes enjoy seamless connectivity, to the extent that, in many societies, gender stereotypes are encoded in various discourses and transmitted through the language of a particular community. Thus, languages have been known to possess the power to legitimize certain sociocultural standards and ideologies as acceptable and desirable in the eyes of people, which thus emancipate into the status of the practice and behavior of the entire society (see Levorato 2003). A typical phrase like “you men are well known for lying” implicates all men as captives of the activities associated with them through the language used to describe what they are allegedly well known to be or to do.

Language can be seen as a systematic means by which human beings communicate thoughts, ideas, values, norms, and feelings. It is also how socialization takes place and how norms and values are transferred across generations through various media, such as adages and folklore. Arguably, gender-related perceptions and stereotypes are also learned through this process. Language and gender discrimination have been known to fuel the segregation of women based on the way speakers relate to women in general.

Researchers like Koskei (2018), Rasmussen et al. (2016), Wanjiru (2015), and Oksana (2017), have shown that language, through music, song, play, poetry, folklore, and other forms of literary creation, places much emphasis on the differences between “men” and “women,” their different roles in society, the way they relate to issues, and their speech patterns.

One question that arises from the ongoing discussion is whether discourses in youth languages manifest gendered stereotypes. Have youth languages such as Luyaaye imbibed or borrowed their perceptions on the question of gender directly from their source languages and transferred the same to these new youth languages? In this respect, this chapter attempts to examine how speakers of Luyaaye depict gendered stereotypes by looking at gender-discriminatory vocabulary, phrases, and expressions utilized by both male and female speakers of Luyaaye.

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The significance of language bias and its ability to perpetuate male dominance has received ample attention from various studies. For example, early feminist language research firmly established that patterns of language and communication reflect gender differences concerning social power and the different cultural values associated with women and men (see Weatherhall 2002). Women, for example, were once advised to avoid public speaking, to be considerate of men in their conversations, and to learn to listen rather than speak (see Cameron 1992, 1995a; Eble 1976; Kramarae 1981). This shows that language in any community is a critical vehicle for reflecting gendered stereotypes and power relations (see Sunderland, 2004; Cameron, 2005).

Feminists such as Hooks (2000), Richards et al (2000), Lombardi and Surgal (2002), Kishwar (2002), Beverly and Cole (2003), Barrett (2016), Beard (2017), Kapoor (2021), among others, highlight that language has been a vehicle which has for decades carried negative attitudes towards women and conferred on them a secondary social status. This is in addition to the language mirroring the male gender as a symbol of power and authority.

This chapter delineates the existence of psycho-social discriminatory vocabulary and expressions coined by urban youths. Drawing on the assumption that Luyaaye is predominantly spoken by urban slum dwellers where the struggle for the fittest is the norm for both males and females, this would appear to lead to a belief that the existence of gender imbalances is minimized or almost non-existent, or that girls and boys would be on an equal footing amongst themselves as far as access to social amenities is concerned among. But is this the case? In attempting to answer this question, the chapter is premised on the belief that language and gender are fundamentally embedded in social practice, deriving their meaning from the human activities in which they figure.

The predominant interest of gender and language research today is to identify, demystify, and resist how language is used to reflect, create, and sustain gender inequalities in specific contexts (see Cameron 2005; Sunderland 2004; Talbot 2010; Wambura 2016). It would not always be clear whether speakers of youth languages, such as Luyaaye in this instance, consciously or unconsciously embed gendered stereotypes in their terminologies. The causal relationship, if any, exists, perhaps in line with the argument that these languages are formed by males. And, indeed, men have always been viewed as the leaders and women as their subordinates (see Cameron 1995a; Eble 1976; Kramarae 1981). Feminist language researchers have also established that men’s power is manifested in the language in

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several complex ways. For example, Spender (1980, 144) argues that “in the past, men had control over language (as philosophers, orators, politicians, grammarians, linguists, lexicographers, and so on); they, therefore, encoded sexism into the language to consolidate their claims of male supremacy.”

Cultural practices reveal some dichotomy in attitudes toward different genders. For example, among the Bantu, Nilotic, and Nilo-Hamite tribes, the birth of boys receives far more vibrant jubilation than that of girls. There are special terms used to describe baby boys and those that describe baby girls and though these may at first seem to empower women, on the contrary, they are reflective of the stereotypic roles that women are supposed to play in society. All these are carefully stored in language as cultural “treasure boxes.” Wanjiru (2015) notes that five ululations or prayers are rendered to God at the birth of a boy among the Gikuyu, representing the five things that God is requested to give the boy. They pray that the boy should be brave, rich, a king, a medicine man, a seer, or a prophet. The girl on the other hand is represented by four things that she should be given by God, which include all the above requests for males apart from bravery. A brave woman was therefore seen as a source of apprehension in the Gikuyu community. As children grow up, they are assigned different gender roles. Young boys are taught tasks such as house building and cattle herding; they are strongly discouraged from doing domestic chores or associating much with women, while girls are taught domestic chores like cooking, fetching firewood and water, weeding, and an additional etiquette of being pleasant to visitors.

Gender disparities are equally well pronounced among the Baganda of Uganda. The birth of a baby boy in Buganda is perceived differently from that of a girl, just as we earlier saw among the Kikuyu of Kenya (see Aitken 1987). Furthermore, little is ever mentioned about the importance of women in society, compared with the hefty contributions ascribed to men who are constantly praised on matters of nation-building. In the mythical story of Kintu, the presumed builder of the current Buganda kingdom, neither Kintu’s mother nor his wife is given a mention. According to Aitken (1987), the woman has been portrayed throughout history and literature as a creature whose value is primarily ornamental or whose work consists of menial or non-essential tasks. He adds that women have been effectively cut off from power and decision-making. Baganda myths also dramatize how the primordial mother, Nnambi, the prime mover in the origins of the Baganda, is remembered only as “one that brought death into the world.”

This is consistent with the spirit behind the male belief among the Baganda that men share an essential part of procreation because it is believed that

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from the man comes the child’s physical features. On the same note, the Baganda conclude that from the woman comes the responsibility of bearing the child (see Mudimbe 1991).

Baganda’s cultural gender stereotyping filtrates through the language used in assigning gender roles. For instance, at birth, the girl child is either termed gannemeredde (I have given up on the homestead) or ssukaali (sugar), whose inner meaning does not suggest that she is as sweet as sugar, but that, at her marriage time, her suitor will gift the family with sugar, among other gifts. Therefore, if a family is blessed with a girl, it means at one point they will be given sugar. In the same vein, when she grows up to womanhood, she inherits the name of omukazi (one who dries the compound) or “Najja omu kazzi!,” which is a reminder that owing to her gender, she came alone to her husband’s clan, so she should not expect anyone to help her in any way.

Another descriptive name for a woman is Omukyala, or (“a visitor”). These names or labels given to the girl-child have in them connotations of gender stereotyping. The title of omukazi for example implies a failure on the part of women to add to the expansion of the clans or family social systems, and when they get married, their initial role is to clear the bushes and establish a compound for their new family, implying a less important status. She will either be sold for gifts including sugar or in exchange for gifts. However, men will be named differently. Titles used to describe men may include heroic ones like ennume (a strong bull), omusajja (the one who can single-handedly survive), and its additional connotations have implications of masculinity in sex-related matters, like omusajjalaasi (one who can seduce as many women as he can or rather one with the authority to indulge in promiscuity freely).

Many related examples are later discussed in section 3 of this chapter.

Ssetuba (2002), in his unpublished paper, “The Hold of Patriarchy: An Appraisal of the Ganda Proverbs in the Light of Modern Gender Relations,” supports the above. He writes that, in traditional values and the proverbial topical issues, African societies, and elsewhere, are undoubtedly gendered.

Academicians, social researchers, and decision-makers have had to contend with sensitivity to gender issues as an essential aspect of all their actions.

Ssetuba’s study was on patriarchy as an impediment to gender parity through an examination of the proverb, perceived as a linguistic phenomenon and enhancer of culture. At the dawn of the new millennium, gender research would not pay lip service to aspects of traditional African culture that pose a challenge to the streamlining of gender relations. And patriarchy is indeed one of those elements of culture that constitute a real hindrance to gender parity, he concludes. Based on the discussion in the

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preceding paragraphs, one may conclude that the epistemology of gendered stereotypes comprises not only the world views about structural differences between the male and the female per se but also transcends the boundaries of how we speak about women and men in our linguistic forms. Languages form a big part of the formation of our perceptions about many things around us. I am therefore interested, in this chapter, in trying to find out if there are gendered stereotypes and some linguistic linkages that permeate the branches of old traditional customs and beliefs and language forms and become embedded in new and contemporary forms of youth-urban languages in contemporary Uganda. Against this backdrop, I analyze a spoken corpus of Luyaaye, a youth language spoken in Uganda, to highlight gender stereotypes and discrimination as encoded in this language. The goal is to provide a repository of various instances of subtle linguistic stereotypes and biases which have continued to promote gender inequalities in modern times. The objectives pursued are to establish the linguistic resources in Luyaaye that are invoked by members of its community of practice to portray women as inferior while sustaining male superiority and dominance. In addition, I will discuss how female speakers of “Luyaaye” amplify maleauthored gendered discourses to their detriment. Specifically, I attempt to answer the following earlier posed questions:  Do gendered stereotypes that purport to gender inequalities exist in Luyaaye?  Does Luyaaye, as a language for the youth, promote masculinities?  How do female speakers of Luyaaye perceive male-authored discourses in Luyaaye?  Does Luyaaye promote gender equality, and if so, in what ways?

The data presented in this chapter are of two kinds. Firstly, a spoken corpus of 10,000 words was collected from both male and female speakers of Luyaaye. Conversations in terms of monologues, dialogues, and trialogues were recorded. Once recorded, the data were transcribed and subjected to analysis. The focus was on identifying and analyzing vocabularies and expressions which convey gender stereotypes and gender discriminatory language. These included six males and six females. All were above 18 years of age and all of them were literate. Apart from two of these who spoke only Luyaaye and Luganda, the rest were speakers of both Luyaaye, Luganda, and English. They came from different ethnic backgrounds. Five of them were Baganda (Ganda), four Banyankore (Nkore), one Mutooro (Tooro), and

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two Acholis. In addition, interviews were held with individuals. Interviews helped to understand for example why male speakers of Luyaaye use words or expressions which carried negative stereotypes, especially against women. Similarly, the interviews helped to understand why female speakers continue to use a kind of language which amplifies male-authored discourses and which portrays men as a superior gender and women as an inferior gender.

The rest of this chapter is divided as follows: Section 2 is concerned with a review of literature on urban youth languages in Africa in general, and Uganda in particular. It summarizes what sociolinguists have written about the field and their analyses of the urban youth languages. Section 3 presents the findings on the research questions asked above and, lastly, a conclusion is presented in section 4.

2. Literature review 2.1 African Urban Youth Linguistic Practice The linguistic varieties spoken by the youth in urbanizing cities in Africa and elsewhere in the world have attracted increasing academic interest in the recent past. Among those youth languages that have been described include varieties like Luyaaye (Uganda), Sheng and Engsh (Kenya), Tsotsitaal (South Africa), Nouchi (Ivory Coast), Imvugo y’Umuhanda (Rwanda), Nouchi (Abidjan), Ligali, Indoubil (DRC), Camfranglais (Cameroon), among others.

Youth languages have been described differently. To some, they are referred to as “Antilanguages” (Kießling and Mous 2004), “urban youth languages” (Kießling and Mous 2004), “urban vernaculars” (Makoni et al. 2007), “emerging vernaculars” (Mc Laughlin 2009), “styles or registers” (Hurst and Mesthrie 2013), “new languages” (Kioko 2015), “decolonial languages” (Hurst-Harosh 2019), “youth languages” (Nassenstein 2011), “urban-rural languages” (Oloruntoba-Oju and Schmied 2019), among other labels.

Although the associated language varieties have been given different labels, they share similar characteristics. For example, youth languages in Africa are commonly anchored on the areas’ main languages, from which they draw their syntactical frame (see Myers-Scotton 1993b; Namyalo 2015; and Spitulnik 1999 for a detailed discussion of this phenomenon).

Typical of youth languages is the use of linguistic strategies which make the language varieties unintelligible to those who are not part of their community of practice. To achieve this, they employ wide-ranging linguistic strategies, which include: deviant vocabulary, code-switching (and code-

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mixing), borrowing, and other trans-idiomatic practices. In addition, young people create their peculiar languages by assigning special meanings to the lexical items either from a lexifier language or from their sociolects by translanguaging or polylanguaging. Semantic manipulations are done by the use of metaphors, metonymies, euphemisms, and dysphemisms, among others. Other linguistic strategies employed include phonological or phonotactic manipulations e.g., metathesis, truncation, acronyms, and “Africanization” (e.g., “Bantuization”) of loanwords, hybridization, and dummy affixation. These strategies characterize most youth languages across the continent (see Garcia and Wei 2014; Jørgensen 2008; Kießling and Mous 2004; Mugaddam 2009; Wyman 2012). In a bid to exclude the uninitiated, the speakers of youth languages consciously keep creating new words in a quick process of a complete overhaul. The constant change of words leads to an unstable lexicon with numerous synonyms (see Namyalo 2015 and Namyalo 2019).

The primary function of these urban youth languages is to create a powerful icon of identity. The identity in question is established through the reversal of norms and develops from an underdog type of identity to one aimed at reforming society (Kießling and Mous 2004, 1). In addition, several urban youth languages have the function of bridging ethnic differences, especially in the big cities. Other functions include serving as a secret code, especially to those who use them as criminal languages; plus, because of their intriguing nature, they are frequently used in advertising and entertainment, especially in comedies and stage dramas.

2.2 A brief Overview of Luyaaye and the Community of Practice Luyaaye is a youth language variety spoken predominantly around Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. The youths and children who were originally dwellers in slum areas and street verandas of Kampala are said to be the originators of the “Luyaaye language variety.” However, this language and its community of practice have transformed over time, bringing on board youths and young adults who are from the educated middle-class population. Luyaaye is believed to have emerged in the early 1970s during the much-politicized regime of Idi Amin-Dada (Namyalo 2015).

In addition to the political, social, and economic hardships that characterized Amin’s regime (1971–1979), the multilingual and multicultural situation in Uganda in general and Kampala, in particular, is also claimed to have been one of the factors that led to the emergence of Luyaaye. Kampala, Uganda’s capital, is a multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual city. Youths from

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different parts of Uganda have over the years migrated from the countryside in search of employment, better education, and a better lifestyle, among other things. Because of this, Kampala like many other African cities became “a melting pot of interethnic encounter, and a get-together of cultures, which led to the emergence of the language variety known as ‘Luyaaye.’” Indeed, Luyaaye is characterized by the use of a specialized lexicon which is consciously manipulated through morphological hybridization, semantic change, lexicalization, and over-lexicalization to make the language unintelligible to the dominant language community” (Namyalo 2015, 1). The creation of the lexicon benefits from individual creativity and the lived experiences of youth and young adults who form their community of practice. Structurally, Luyaaye draws from Luganda, an indigenous language spoken by the majority of the population in and around Kampala city.

The primary function of Luyaaye is to create a powerful icon of identity (Kießling and Mous 2004, in their description of African youth languages).

In addition to this, Namyalo (2015) observes that it serves as a speech variety that distinguishes those who use it as trendy, city folks, modern men and women of style, who refer to themselves as “Abajuwaje,” translated as (“street-smarts”) (see also Kießling and Mous 2004; Nassenstein2011, in their description of youth urban languages in Africa). The identity in question is established through the reversal of traditional societal norms, traditions, beliefs, and values. The reverse of traditions has, as observed by Nassenstein (2011), led to new lifestyles and new systems of interconnected interactions and coming into contact with others in the same community (see Nassenstein 2011). About this, Namyalo (2015, 325) highlights that: … identity among Luyaaye speakers is not shaped by language alone; other social variables, namely: age, social-economic status, gender, beliefs in a shared heritage, cultural and personal experiences, individual’s history, and previous interaction—all play an important role in identity formation and marking.

When youths come to cities and other urbanizing towns, they bring along with them their individual history, previous interactions, and ideological expectations. This means that these individuals have a past they build on, including both the indigenous identities they come with and those that they inherit from their peers at the point of destination. Inherited identities play an important role in identity construction and serve as identity markers among Luyaaye speakers (see also Williams 2008). In fostering group

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solidarity as well as neutralizing the effect of language, cultural, and ethnic multiplicity, the Luyaaye speakers’ community of practice uses re-naming as a strategy to affirm and assert their acquired identity. The new names, beliefs, and reversal of norms acquired serve as an interethnic bridge in a heterogeneous community. While this is true, Namyalo (2015) and (2017) note that one’s ethnic background and practices are not completely dispensed with; rather, those individuals retain the freedom of choice to set aside some of their ethnic identities for the benefit of embracing values which are core in their new community of practice and vice versa. Namyalo (2015), in her description of social classes in the Luyaaye-speaking community, observes that: Social class within the Luyaaye-speaking community consists of two different social divisions mainly determined by social-economic factors. The first assemblage is that which is determined principally by poverty and deprivation of fundamental human needs, such as access to education, caring parents, and the right to food, shelter, and clothing. It is generally associated with violence, criminality, and drug abuse. Among the “poor” or socially underprivileged the major determinants of class are “toughness, masculinity, callousness, and being “trendsetters.” (see also Nassenstein 2011, 25)

Luyaaye speakers’ community is a society where toughness and creativity are a prerequisite for survival, irrespective of the gender or sex of the member. Male or female, young and old, fighting for personal survival is the order of the day. With such a scenario in mind, one might think that gendered stereotypes and discriminatory language, especially those that segregate between the female and male sexes, would not exist. On the contrary, however, Luyaaye tends to uphold discriminatory gender stereotypes, as depicted in various discourses and practices among Luyaaye speakers that work to the detriment of women, as further discussed in Section 3 of this chapter. In the section that follows, I describe how Luyaaye portrays gendered stereotypes and discriminatory discourses that purport gender inequality among members of its community of practice. In the same vein, I highlight how speakers of Luyaaye amplify male-authored discourses about female sexuality vis-à-vis gendered stereotypes, and how female speakers of Luyaaye perceive the different terminologies used by their male counterparts to describe them.

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3. Luyaaye Speakers’ Gendered Stereotypes that Perpetuate Gender Inequalities The female gender in the Luyaaye-speaking community is often portrayed as a weaker sex, an item for trade similar to an ornament, or an additional problem to the other life-threatening challenges that Luyaaye-speaking youths face in their day-to-day lives. The epistemology of gender discrimination among the speakers of Luyaaye, like in many other parts of the world, begins at the early stages of a woman’s existence. As noted earlier, among the Baganda, an indigenous community in central Uganda, the first question asked by the receiver of the news of a baby’s birth is, “What child is it?” and when the answer is “girl,” a series of discourses ensue.

Among the Luyaaye speakers, for example, the birth of a baby girl is described as ayiyeewo capito (meaning that she, the mother, has given us capital). In some other contexts, like if the father of the child was hoping to have a boy child and, unfortunately, the wife brings forth a girl, this is described as ayiyeewo doogoloss, meaning that the mother has given birth to a (“worthless child”)—in this sense, doogo means a dog and loosi is loss.

However, it was not clearly explained why a little child is called doogo, as coined from the English word “dog.” Note that ayiyeewo is derived from a Luganda verb which means to “pour out” but is figuratively used in Luyaaye to mean to give birth to, while doogoloss is a compound from an English noun, “dog,” accompanied by an adverb indicating “loss.” The use of the terms, ayiyeewo capito, and ayiyeewo doogoloss to describe the birth of a baby girl in Luyaaye are perhaps not surprising. In Luganda, the language that provides the syntactic frame for Luyaaye, for example, a baby girl is described as ssukaali (“sugar”).

On the surface, one may interpret this as a baby girl being “sweet.”

However, within the culture of the Baganda, the baby girl is referred to as “sukaali” because when it is time for her to be married off, she can be commodified and given away in exchange for sugar, which is considered an essential item among the tribes’ men. Similarly, in a situation where a husband is hoping to get a boy instead of a girl, then the baby girl would be referred to as “gannemeredde”—implying that, for the mother, the homestead has failed because she has given birth to a girl, not a boy. On the contrary, however, “omusika” (heir), is the descriptive term for a baby boy, and in some cultures, jubilation to that effect would follow. About this, Omuyaaye Ganja (nickname), a 45-year-old speaker of Luyaaye, explains that “... my daughters carry the following names: Ttinku (“difficulty”), Ttembere (“trouble”),

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Changale (“disturbance”), and Tingisha (“dancer”)’ (field interview: February 2, 2022). Asked why he chose to give such names to his girls which marginalize and stereotype them, he responds by saying that a baby girl is a loss because, as soon as she grows up, she will be married off to another family, and quite often she benefits the [other] man’s family. However, among those who pay a high bride price, they look at a baby girl as capital. In contrast, the descriptive terms for a baby boy in Luyaaye include kabaaya (someone industrious or intelligent); kakole (bouncer); and popiya (military police officer), among others. This exemplification shows how the female gender in the Luyaaye-speaking community is stereotyped, marginalized, and humiliated in various ways. This means that being male or female in this society shapes or determines the opportunities one is offered in life.

Similarly, a married woman in Luyaaye is referred to as “mukuumawaka,” which means housekeeper, a loan from Luganda, while a working woman is referred to as “Nnabyewanga,” a term borrowed from the Luganda proverb Nnabyewanga ngakaliga akaliira mu nte (a mediocre, similar to a sheep feeding amidst cows). Referring to a working woman as Nnabyewangwa shows that changes in how females are expected to be in society are often highly contested. This type of reference to women’s status also implies that gender roles—particularly women’s roles as enshrined in words like mukuumawaka—(“housewife”), for example—can be powerful representations of gender stereotypes within the Luyaaye community of practice.

3.1 Female derogatory descriptive vocabulary/terminology in Luyaaye The analysis of the spoken Luyaaye corpus further reveals that Luyaaye makes use of several derogatory or pejorative terms and phrasal expressions as metaphors to describe girls and women. Many such terms and expressions present a low opinion of women and girls, showing a lack of respect for them.

These are summarized in Table 1 below: Table 1: Female derogatory descriptive vocabulary/terminology in Luyaaye Terms and expressions Translation in Literally interpreted as in Luyaaye English Namaswabba: this term, (“An ugly woman”) People are impatient with an according to Luyaaye ugly woman, not only because speakers, is similar to the of her appearance per se but also term onswabbagazizza because she is often represented meaning (“you have done as being below par amongst her something ugly to me”). peers.

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They would also say okukola ebyekiswabba (“to do ugly stuff”).

Kidambya (etymology (“Ugly woman”) not known) Kibeere, which means the (“A woman with breasts of a lactating cow. big breasts”)

Mukomba: this is a short (“Housemaid”) form for mukombabbookisi literally translated as “a person who licks a cooking pan” Munaazo which might have been derived from okunaaza a verb that means “to bathe someone” in Luganda.

Dulayiva/Ddereeva is a loan word from English that means “a driver.”

(“a woman who has bleached herself”)

Ugly women are perceived to have low status and minimal chances of getting married.

Calling a woman kibeere is not only in itself degrading to a woman but it also kills her selfesteem.

A phrase that is used to abusively refer to housemaids.

Interestingly, a male house helper is referred to as muyiiya which means an industrious person.

Calling a bleached woman “munaazo” means that darkskinned women are dirty, apart from those who have bleached or in other words “bathed.”

This term sometimes cuts across and is used to abusively refer to all girls to refer to all of them as “sex merchants.”

(“A female local food hawker”). In this regard “food” is cooked food or cuisine.”

Magulukkumi its source (“An extremely fat To most people, fat women are is a localized term that is or obese woman or unattractive and seemingly too used to describe a heavy girl”) heavy if a man were to take her truck with ten to his bed. By contrast, fat or tires/wheels or double obese men are called tumbuto or axelin Luganda. mafutamingi which means someone with a big belly or one who is rich. Note, however, that the same word is used to describe someone rich regardless of sex.

Mulyasooka: This term (“A woman who It is an abomination for a grown was initially used by a loves having woman who is regarded as a famous country music relationships with mother to engage in sexual maestro in a song that boys who are much relations with young men who criticized some cultures younger than she are regarded as her children. where firstborn children is”) used to be eaten by the family as a cultural norm.

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Musege is borrowed from Luganda and it means a mongrel. The diminutive form for a small-sized girl is “akasege” or “kamusege” Mugongogwa mbwa: this literally means the back of a rabid dog and loaned from Luganda.

Zoppa: this term seems to have been derived from a strong sleeping pill, zopper, that is commonly used by drug abusers to off the unwanted effects of the drugs.

Friesian “is an exotic breed of a cow”

(“A naughty and It is demeaning to equate a outgoing girlfriend to a mongrel (dog). girlfriend”) The derivative concept would be to paint girls in towns who are often regarded as untrustworthy which is not the case. (“A woman with a A dog in some parts of Africa is small bum”) not socially regarded as a good symbol e.g., bad luck is associated with meeting a dog on your way on a journey. So, it is regarded as annoying that a girl without a big bum is compared to the back of a rabid dog. (“A widow or a Like in many of Uganda’s woman who lost cultures, Luyaaye speakers, take a widow as an unlucky person her husband/spouse”) who might even have caused the death of her spouse out of sheer bad luck; she is shunned by men because she represents a bad omen. (“A woman with Friesian cows often have very big breasts”) big udders.

The use of words like kidambya, namaswabba, musege, and many others, as exemplified in Table 1 above, conveys negative perceptions about the female gender. Such stereotypes promote gender inequality. This situation is sometimes amplified in statements uttered by some respectable men in the community. For example, Lubega Jack (not his real name) in an interview commented that “... a man cannot be a widower; after all, it is common among the youths these days to have several concubines.” The absence of words to describe a man with features similar to those of a woman is a clear indication that there is a skewed level of vocabulary usage against the female gender. This terminology usage reflects similarly skewed cultural situations. For example, for a woman to be respected to some degree within the family and the clan or community at large, she has to be sure to give birth to some boys. Such societal prerequisites for a successful marriage have resulted in another trend in which women have sought assistance from deities to gain leverage or an equal footing for survival in a male-dominated society. Ironically, respect is not accorded to the woman who, in reality, is the one that gives birth to the “superhero” for whom she is so much respected and cherished; instead, she

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is referred to as a thing that somehow gets blessed to produce the muchdesired result.

The words and terminologies which express a low perception level for women and girls as discussed in the paragraph above are not exclusive to Luyaaye, many of them are adopted from Luyaaye parent language(s).

Often, they are transposed from existing languages using different linguistic strategies, as illustrated below: 





 

Mukomba is a noun derived from “okukomba” (to lick). In some families, housemaids are not allowed to eat with their masters; thus, they always eat leftovers, and at times, if nothing is left, they lick the masters’ plates, hence the word “mukomba.” In other words, housemaids have been known by the domestic children to have the habit of licking saucepans that would otherwise have been licked by the children themselves. Therefore, out of jealousy on the part of the children, they decide to call these girls or women lickers. In other instances, women also perpetuate such derogative terms against fellow women to create a low status for the girls so that they can discourage their husbands from having relationships with the house helps.

Munaazo is derived from the Luganda word “kunaaza,” which means to wash or to bathe. The derived noun is figuratively used to mean a bleached person, mainly a woman.Dulayiva/Ddereeva is a loanword from Banturized English. The word is figuratively used to refer to girls who hawk food. In so doing, they resemble someone who transports people from one place to another.Magulu-kkumi is a Luganda word used to mean a heavy truck with ten tires or wheels or double axle. It is semantically broadened to refer to obese women.Mulyasooka is borrowed from Luganda and is figuratively used to refer to a woman who dates men younger than her age.

Musege is a Luganda word used to mean a mongrel. Like it is among the Baganda, the mongrel dog is a symbol of dishonesty, and untrustworthiness, and is often used to describe any person who seems to be a misfit in society.

Mugongo gwa mbwa is a word in Luganda that means the back of a dog.

Zoppa: This is a loanword from the English word “zopper.”

Namaswabba and Kidambya: The etymology of these two words is not yet known. Even Luyaaye speakers are unaware of the origin, even though the word is frequently used in their conversations.

Apart from the vocabulary or expressions discussed above, the use of gender-discriminatory language is also manifested in Luyaaye’s sayings. A number of these sayings or proverbs are borrowed from Luganda but are

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twisted or consciously manipulated and used in Luyaaye to paint a negative image of women. As shown in Table 2 below, many of these sayings present women as an inferior gender compared to their male counterparts.

The table also shows that the sayings or proverbs used in Luyaaye are adopted from Luganda. They are consciously manipulated semantically to suit their playful nature with words. Note, however, that the same undertones carried in these proverbs in the parent language (Luganda) are maintained in Luyaaye. This means many of these gendered stereotypes are part of the lived experiences that the Luyaaye speakers come along with and conveniently use to stereotype the female gender.

Table 2: Sayings/proverbs in Luyaaye which depict a negative image of women Saying/proverb Equivalent in English Equivalent Interpretation (literal translation) in Luyaaye Luganda Nnalumyanso Omukazi mbuzi, (“A woman is like a A woman is always as nnakabege gy’omutangira goat; she goes stupid as a goat, always gy’omugaana gy’adda. where she is doing the contrary. In okulumbisa reality, a goat is the most deterred to go.”) gy’amantaalira. stupid animal which is dragged to eat and also dragged back to its stable.

Lumba ne Embwa leeta, (“Bring the dog A dog is perceived to be wambwa ka omukazi leka eyo along, and leave the more useful than a ddeemu kalye ewa. woman behind.”) woman, especially among the hunting clans.

Bw’onsimbula ka Bw’ompa (“If you give me that A woman is zzale ako nga akawala ako nga girl, you will have commodified and can be nkujjako llo. ebbanja liwedde settled the debt.”) used to settle a debt as in the times of barter trade, women would be exchanged for salt, cows, and other necessities.

Ddeemu azalawa Omukazi (“A woman who Women always depend ccaliwe yala anyooma bba does not respect her on their husbands to zimuggunda. obujjo bumubula husband lacks provide for them. money.”)

Ddeemu bulenge Omukazi (“A woman is as It is commonly believed bwa hawuzingi birenge bya hard as an animal’s that unless a woman is oteekako kibuli ddiba hide; you have to severely beaten, she will okubuzza mu bw’otabikunya use force to soften never do the right thing. tayimingi. tebigonda them.”)

Ddeemu nga Mukazimujja (“A co-wife is like Co-wives always cause kkiiya kawero kabugo kakadde, an old dirty rag that trouble to one another,

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kafuumuuse tabulamu ttinku.

tekaggwamu nkukunyi.

to their never drains of especially fleas; she is always newlywed competitors jealous and due to jealousy. troublesome.”)

3.2 Men as perceived in Luyaaye Contrary to what we have seen in the above analysis, the following vocabulary items indicate a skewed representation of male Luyaaye speakers compared with female speakers. On the part of men, it was observed that most of the terminologies in the corpus are a source of praise for the male Luyaaye speakers. More often, Luyaaye speakers are truly male chauvinists even in the way they carry themselves around. The boys always engage in fierce fights over very trivial issues only to show the opponent that they are upholding a total deterrence policy and to assert and keep their personal space. The Luyaaye speakers show that the male gender should be portrayed as being creative, all-knowing, highly knowledgeable, highly intelligible, fierce, strong, and focused. This is exemplified as follows: Omujuwaje coined from the Kiswahili verb okujuwa (to know), refers to a male Luyaaye speaker who is a street-smart or sharp chap. The equivalent term to describe a female sharp chap is Nnaluwali a word borrowed from Luganda and used to mean an outspoken, quarrelsome, and aggressive woman.

Kalemeera (A man who sticks to seducing a girl for a longer period): This is derived from a Luganda verb to kulemerako (being persistent). The female equivalent is “supaggulu” (or super glue in English). The connotations herein differ greatly. For a persistent man, this term does not indicate undesirability like that of the female which indicates disparagingly noncomfortability as per the effects of super glue once it comes into contact with one’s skin. So, a persistent woman has undesirable effects.

Heve weyiti (“heavyweight”): A fat man in Luyaaye is termed as “heve weyiti” (heavyweight), or “swazinigga” derived from the name of a famous American film star Arnold Schwarzenegger. But as we saw above, when it comes to describing a fat woman, the abusive term magulukkumi is used.

“Mwana chali waffe Kabaaya yeyevulunga ki magulukkumi kyawali wammanga” translated as “Our friend Kaaya is involved with the other huge woman that stays down there” (Sentence example given by Gganja during the interview). The placidity of the word heavyweight for fat men is an indication of respect for a man. It is not clear if it results from the anticipated reaction from the fat man which would be devastating to whoever calls him an abusive word or if it was promoted by the fat men

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themselves to praise their nature.Kiddawalime: This is a compound word adopted from Luganda which means that “a crop grows in a well-tendered garden or ground.” A man who engages in multiple sexual partnerships with younger girls is termed a kiddawalime. This seems not to be an insult of any sort. It is commonplace for an older man to have a young girl as a sex partner unlike for older women. So, according to this type of classification of the two sins, it seems okay for a man to fall in love with younger girls, unlike a woman who falls in love with younger boys. This kind of woman is called mulyaasooka as we saw earlier, which means (“devourer of firstborns”). Such practices are not peculiar to Luyaaye. In Luganda which is the parent language of Luyaaye, it is not uncommon to hear praises like “omusajja alina okusajjalaata” (a man has the freedom to sleep with any woman of his choice), Omusajja tabalibwa nzaalo (a man has no limit to several children he can beget), and Omusajja kiti kya muwogo (“a man is a cassava stem, it propagates on whichever ground it falls”). These and many other expressions are used as praises for men but taboo for women.

Kawenja: A man who trades sex is kawenja, similar to the meaning for a person who searches for something, e.g., money “awenja.” For women sex workers, however, it is called eyeeryamu, which would mean a person who feeds out of themselves or converts themselves to a commodity. Among the Luyaaye speakers, the male self-praising nature is synonymous with the gladiators of Rome who were forced into deadly fights to appease their captives, and gain special recognition. For any male’s head to remain above the waters through the show of masculinity, any Luyaaye speaker makes sure that he promotes vocabulary that showers them with praises.

It was also found that the susceptibility of women towards male dominance among speakers of Luyaaye was far more rampant among female speakers of Luyaaye than had been previously thought. In describing men among themselves, for instance, female speakers of Luyaaye use terms like Kabode, Kanyama, Guy, six-Packs, Bebu, Sexy, Mr. handsome, Tumbuto, etc. which are all praising the men, an indication that women feel secure when they address men this way. A close analysis of these words reveals that there are some women, if not most, who use words that keep men in a superior position consciously and unconsciously.

3.3 Women’s perceptions of the gender stereotypes and discriminatory language used in Luyaaye Another objective of this research was to establish how female speakers of Luyaaye perceived the gendered stereotypes and discriminatory language

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among the speakers of Luyaaye. Based on the interviews that I held with the female Luyaaye speakers, there was a clear indication of divergent views regarding the use of various seemingly discriminatory terminology and the stereotypes that show gender disparities among the Luyaaye speakers.

3.3.1 Female speakers’ perceptions of gender stereotypes and discriminatory language in Luyaaye Among the respondents in the focus group discussions (FGDs) held with groups of urban youths, several females concurred with their male counterparts on the issue of the words used to describe the females in the Luyaaye community of practice. Among this group, it was observed that some female speakers of the same language “Luyaaye” portray male sexuality in ways that amplify the male-authored discourses about female sexuality, and continue to uphold male-controlled discourses and practices that work to the detriment of women. According to Nyakecho Barabara (not her real name), a female Luyaaye speaker respondent argued that the words, as those in Table 1 used to describe a woman, reflect a true image of what a woman should be and should be viewed as in the community. Others also believe that these words and expressions are befitting to a greater extent and that they would not mind anyone referring to them as such. Table 3, summarizes how some female speakers of Luyaaye feel about the language used to describe the women in this community of practice.

Table 3: Female descriptive nouns perceived positively by female respondents Female Translation in English How female speakers of Luyaaye descriptive terms feel about the discriminatory in Luyaaye language used in Luyaaye Namaswabba There are women among us that are (“An ugly woman”) seriously ugly even to us their fellow women. So, there is nothing out of place for an ugly woman to be called Namaswabba.

Kibeere (“A woman with big Some women never mind about breasts”) their appearance. Those with big breasts should think of surgery if they do not have money, let them exercise or buy appropriate bras.

Mukomba (“Housemaid”) The maid must clean the dishes, so there is no problem referring to such a woman by that name.

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Munaazo

(“A woman who has They would not have a problem if their boyfriend referred to them as bleached”) my munaazo. After all, munaazo means someone who has been washed or bathed.

Dulayiva/Ddereeva (“A female local food Women noted that if it’s the job of hawker”) the woman in question then it fits, we are called by our trades.

Magulukkumi (“An extremely fat or Maggulukkumi means the strength obese woman or girl”) and powerfulness of the woman in question. They noted that men use the term to show respect for that woman.

Mulyasooka (“A woman who It is an abomination for a grown engages in woman to engage in sexual relations relationships with with boys regarded as her children.

So, it is okay to relate to her as a younger boys”) devourer of her firstborn.

Musege even (“A naughty and Many girls behave like misege, “Musegula” outgoing girlfriend”) therefore if I am not behaving like one, then I will not be termed as one.

This term is not used generally for all women.

Mugongo gwa (“A woman with a The women in the group concurred mbwa that “it is fine to be called mugongo small bum”) gwambwa if I am figureless. I would be proud of my figure; it’s what God gave me.” [cynical laughter]

The above interpretations as shown in Table 3 above tells a story about the nature of many women in African societies and female speakers of Luyaaye in particular. It is a common thing for women, for example among the Baganda to hold back their true feelings, especially before men or even before fellow women. This is embedded in their upbringing and cultural norms to always respect the male gender even when they feel oppressed in one way or the other. Whereas men are known to be dominant, wellcultured women are submissive irrespective of their age and/or status in the community. In many obscure ways, as I have mentioned above, women do not feel that submission to men’s dominance and subjugation makes them any more inferior to men. They feel a sense of inner satisfaction and happiness to obey the dictates of men as their husbands, brothers, boyfriends, and acquaintances to bring about tranquility in the community.

This is not uncommon among the female users of Luyaaye.

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Contrary to what some of the female speakers’ of Luyaaye hold as applicable to them, some women respondents were ambivalent towards the discriminatory terms, while others were neutral. The neutrality among the group of respondents was rather disparaging and cynical at the same time.

It was interesting to note that proponents of this neutrality did not show a liking or dislike for this kind of “name calling” as it turns out to mean to them, and they stood their ground that they do not know if it is dangerous or not. One of them aka “Kalissimaati” (translated as: “always a smart lady”), in response, answered, “yye mwana lwaki kiba kindya oli nga ampise namaswabba? Ssi mwefasa naye tannefasa kuba tansuza era tandiisa. Kati nno awo nze tebindya, ebyo byabaddoogo” (translated as “why should I bother myself with what people call me? I am not their friend neither are they my friends moreover they don’t feed me”). So, my friend is not bothered at all, that’s childish to me. Others, however, considered the terms as childish namecalling and added that they are used jokingly and, in any case, the male speakers of Luyaaye do not mean any harm to their female counterparts. To some of the respondents the selected words and phrases connote different female-empowering perceptions as illustrated in the alternative meanings below:     

Nnaluwali (means an assertive person) Supaggulu (or super glue in English). Indicates a daring and persistent woman Magulukkumi (interpreted as a hardworking person) Mulyaasooka (a woman who knows what she wants) Eyeeryamu (self-sustaining or determined woman)

Such responses and interpretations are given to these kinds of words, which were earlier described as gender discriminatory, reveal that demystifying and resisting the ways in which language is used to reflect, create and sustain gender inequalities in specific contexts should be seen from the perspective of those who belong to that community and not those who come from the outside. Thus, the denotative and connotative meanings of these words, which vary within the bounds of the different cultures, should be respected.

The last group of women respondents however held a seriously daunting perception and they held hostile reactions towards the perpetrators of such senseless utterances. To them, such language is an insult to women and the true nature of what women are as mothers and wives, sisters and caretakers, or custodians of sanity in the world. These names are only aimed at degrading the true identity of a woman and the creators of these names

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were either senseless, careless, or on a serious note, male chauvinists among the slum buddies.

They hold the view that gender-discriminatory language is the opposite of gender-sensitive language. Discriminatory words, phrases, and/or other linguistic features foster stereotypes, or demean and ignore human beings in general but women in particular and fails to treat the female and male genders as equal in value, dignity, integrity, and respect.

Chance Nalule, a self-styled slum musician, noted in her interview response that: “Bachali abo mwana beebereremu, batuzalawa era nebatuggunda n’emigoba nte.” (Interpreted as “Men should come to their proper senses, they underlook us and beat us like cows.”). She adds that: My mother worked hard and saw me through school, and I cannot stand such discriminatory language that promotes gender inequality. Gender inequalities limit the ability of us women and girls to fully participate in and benefit from many good things in our country. As a Muganda, I have seen that, cultural institutions, such as patriarchy, religion, family, marriage, and the language we use now, like our Luyaaye, are practices that perpetuate gender inequalities. (Field interview January 2022.)

Chance Nalule presumes that proponents of the school of thought that perpetuate inequality between genders who decide to use gender-biased language either implicitly or explicitly because of pride and prejudice are only aiming at keeping women in a lower status. This language represents a lack of respect whatsoever, and in other cases, they use this kind of language to control the women by exercising emotional and verbal abuse. To the women respondents, the victims of this abuse may find themselves becoming highly dependent on their abuser.

3.4 Gender equality in Luyaaye Despite the above negative attitudes and perceptions about the female gender, there are terms, phrases as well as proverbs that carry positive messages for both males and females. In some instances, these terms or sayings are used to destruct a listener by pointing them in the wrong direction, but in other situations, they use them in their right form while rebuking other speakers of Luyaaye to behave well towards the female gender. Table 4 below provides examples of sayings that promote gender equality. It should be pointed out, however, that despite the presence of such proverbs, it is a limited vocabulary compared with the long list of words and expressions that stereotypes the female gender.

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Table 4. Examples of phrases that promote gender equality Luyaaye English Interpretation Bbeesi za ddala nga ccali (“A home is best when a A man and a woman are both alina nalumyansowe. man has a wife.”) equally important in a home or family.

Ba ccali webakasiba ne ba (“The male’s abode is Perhaps this relates to the nnalumyanso. the female’s too.”) common saying where there is a successful man, there is a woman behind.

Tokiggalira ku ttabbiri za (“Never make a Both women and men should ddeemu nga ccali judgment in favor of the be given an equal opportunity tannakuliiramu. girl before listening to to be heard should there be a the boy’s side of the dispute. Women have been story. An alternative referred to as the weaker sex version of the proverb, and so have to be safeguarded in use, is the reverse.”) in dispute resolution.

Such proverbs are not exclusive to Luyaaye. They are manipulated translations of the same proverbs in Luganda which is a parent language for Luyaaye. As earlier mentioned, this further emphasizes that youth language speakers do not completely relegate their past. Rather, they keep drawing from their past experiences to either maintain or distance themselves from existing norms of usage as they please from time to time.

4. Conclusion The main thrust of this study is on how Luyaaye speakers encode gendered stereotypes and discriminatory language which promote gender inequality.

From the analysis in the foregoing, we can deduce that Luyaaye speakers utilize different vocabularies and expressions to describe women in a melancholic manner, which to some women seemed commonplace as they relate it to their nature and upbringing in society, while others had their differing interpretations that seemed geared towards finding a level ground of sanity, acceptance, and equilibrium between the women Luyaaye speakers and their male counterparts. However, to some others still, the language used by Luyaaye speakers has been seen as a completely negative way of relating to other humans irrespective of their gender.

In general parlance, therefore, the foregoing analysis has given an overview of gender stereotypes and discriminatory language in Luyaaye.

Having been influenced by Luganda, its parent language, Luyaaye carries with it cultural perceptions and gender stereotypes that continue to label a

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woman not as she is but as this society perceives her to be. The increased use of discriminatory and derogatory language to describe women shows that Luyaaye speakers draw from their personal experiences, individual history, and previous interactions to shape the gender stereotypes in Luyaaye. The gender stereotypes in Luyaaye show that humanity continues to preserve male power and authority even in youth languages as in many other languages spoken in the world.

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8 Hustling Vibaya : Femininities and the Modern Kenya Woman Philip Rudd (Pitts State University, USA)

Fridah Kanana Erastus (Kenyatta University, Kenya) As part of an ethnographic set of interviews on what it means to be a citizen of modern Kenya, a focus group of six college-aged women were invited to contemplate their careers and domestic lives as modern women. Their responses were analyzed using the approach and methods of discursive psychology in order to examine both the gendered repertoires of “woman as natural child bearer” and “mother as homemaker” as used within their accounts and to look at how they as career-oriented, young women attempt to manage the “motherhood mandate” as framed by dominant repertoires. Based on Baxter’s (2012) reinterpretation of Kanter’s (1993 [1977]) gendered role traps as agentive, this investigation also analyzed how the participants reconstruct gendered identities and proactively deploy the discursive resources of Iron Maiden, Mother, and Seductress. The analysis examines the codes of linguistic traces which suggest how interpretive repertoires transform stereotyped subject positions into powerful resources to reconstruct gendered identities and position the modern Kenyan woman as careeroriented, exceptional, and motherly. Finally, the article discusses the broader implication that though interpretative repertoires reflect the conventional wisdom and common sense of a culture, modern women, as the participants demonstrate, can seize agency to enact, contest, and reformulate hegemonic repertoires.

Keywords: gendered identities, interpretative repertoires, discursive psychology, subject position, postcolonial, slay queens

1. Introduction As the Republic of Kenya makes a fast-paced march toward a diamond jubilee of independent nationhood, its citizenry has become increasingly aware of issues concerning women. Women, acknowledged and celebrated as pioneers for such disparate reasons as being the first female marine pilot or the first female Member of Parliament, serve as role models but also as 189

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illuminators of continuing challenges (Chege 2018). Statistics indicate that the number of girls enrolling in secondary school and university is rising more quickly than that of boys (Nation 2015). In fact, at the time this research was being conducted, girls had outperformed boys on national exams for the second year in a row (Kairu 2017). Little doubt is there that Kenya has made strides to provide better opportunities for women (Imana 2020). However, women remain underrepresented in government as they do in most public and private sectors. It is in the education sector that is found the biggest proportion of women, approximately 27 percent and constituting many primary school teachers, yet few hold positions of leadership and occupy but one fifth of the positions of primary school principals (Otieno 2018).

Furthermore, underrepresentation of women in leadership in Kenya can be attributed to the consequence of organizational androcentric resistance, socio-cultural expectations that women be mothers and caregivers, and individual choice (Amondi 2011, 61).

As a result, the literature on women in Kenya “doing gender” (Shields and Dicicco 2011) reflects and enriches that of the Global North, though the details and theories of the latter research lie outside the scope of this paper.

Suffice it to say that asocial constructionist approach finds gender as a negotiated statement of identity in social interactions. In alignment with Baxter (2012, 84) and Holmes (2006, 12), people’s identities are socially and discursively constructed through the routine usage of language. Identity “emerges” (Bucholtz and Hall 2005, 587) out of the “constellation” (Eckert 2008, 454) of cultural and social variables. Moreover, gender identity is unstable and fluid, and therefore a matter of “performativity” (Butler 1990).

That performativity is continuous conveys a need for research that extends beyond the gendered identities of the privileged Occident. For instance, Charlebois (2010) investigates how Japanese women discursively reformulate hegemonic repertoires to seize agency and reconstruct gendered identities. Considering gendered identities, the literature is almost silent on interpretative repertoires and the women of Kenya in the Global South.

Consequently, the portrait of gendered-identity construction in the world is incomplete.

Against this backdrop, we explored the discursive resources deployed by university-aged, career-oriented women in Nairobi in order to answer the research questions of how they construct gendered identities, which gendered repertoires they resist, and how they contest or reconfigure gendered resources. To investigate these questions, we harnessed “discursive psychology” because its emphasis is on the psychological stance

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of the participant as she considers, constructs, orients, and displays her gendered identity (Potter 2005, 740).

Discursive psychology (DP) views language as performative in that it is rhetorically constructed and draws on “interpretative repertoires” (Potter 2005, 744) which are a reservoir of ready-to-go, culturally extant “conversational routines” (Charlebois 2010, 700). We further embraced Baxter’s (2012, 88) reconceptualization of “role traps” (Kanter 1993 [1977]) or subject positions as more agentive and thus as gendered resources. To draw on an interpretative repertoire is to take up a subject position. Common subject positions and gendered routines are deployed whenever individuals argue, discuss, and make evaluations. This dynamic perspective of language is crucial to the DP analysis of our participants’ positioning the self and others.

This investigation focuses on the way in which a focus group of six, college-aged, Kenyan women deploy interpretive repertoires as linguistic and discursive resources to contest, enact, negotiate, and overturn gendered identities. We start with a survey of historically and culturally dominant views of femininity and current notions of gender equality. Next, we describe the conceptual development of the framework of discursive psychology undergirding the analysis of interpretative repertoires and gendered identities. Lastly, we provide extracts from the focus-group discussion with these Kenyan women in order to make evident the manner in which they reconceptualize repertoires to build their modern feminine identities.

2. Gendered Background in Kenya To better grasp the development of gender roles in modern Kenya, we must first review the history of the colony and the social expectations of women that became established in the colonial era and evolved after Independence.

Indigenous Kenyan women were but a colonial afterthought.

2.1 A History of Gender Differentiation In 1895, the British government established the East Africa protectorate, which would become the colony of Kenya in 1920 and the Republic of Kenya in 1963. Nairobi at first was a non-African city constructed to cater to the needs of the European, not the African1 (Werlin 1974, 47). In fact, in the years 1

The colonial philosophy was to keep the African agricultural because urbanization was unfamiliar to East Africans and would lead to their becoming degenerate (Werlin 1974, 48).

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before World War II, the colonial government had made little provision for single-men African housing and no provision for single-women or even family African housing (White 1986, 256). The policy was to keep Africans— seemingly especially African women—out of the city, and “Pass Laws” were legislated to allow only migrant male workers access; all others were forbidden on pain of prosecution (Muwonge 1980, 598). Therefore, the eastern subdivisions and lower-economic side of Nairobi today are the remnants of the informal settlements of the original African—both men and women residents.

Long ago, all of the earliest African settlements were razed to the ground. However, the oldest surviving estate Pumwani is where, though the formal sector was forbidden, an informal sector2 began and flourished. Bujra (1975, 215) provides a case study of early entrepreneurial women who outside the formal sector were able to take advantage of gendered resources to leverage lives “…as aspiring members of the embryonic petty bourgeoisie” (Fanon1963). Discontent with parents, marriage, childlessness, and widowhood drove many of these women to migrate to Nairobi during the first 20 years of the twentieth century. That the city was beyond “the orbit of customary law” empowered women to live free and independent lives and organize businesses of their own (Bujra 1975, 220). From the start, Nairobi became an outlet for women to escape from the local ideologies and gendered roles that generally disempowered them. The modern Kenyan woman found her start here.

2.2 Conceptual Development In this section, we continue to explore the gender trail in colonial and postcolonial history for relevant background for a conceptual framework on gendered social roles in Kenya.

As an administrative hub, the colonial bureaucracy in Nairobi increasingly developed lower-level positions requiring literate African men, who at first were only being educated by the Christian missions. From this group of male bureaucrats would emerge the future political elites. 3 2

3

For a socio-cultural perspective on the thriving informal economy in postcolonial Nairobi (see Rudd 2018).

Harry Thuku, a Kikuyu educated by a Christian mission in Kiambu district who later became a telephone switchboard operator in Nairobi, emerged as Kenya’s first nationalist leader (Hake 1977, 33). He protested the enforcement of a set of pass controls, including the kipande or identity-and-employment document all Kenyan males were forced to carry by the colonial administration (Anderson 2000, 464).

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However, the education of women and girls had been given little thought until five years subsequent to Kenya’s becoming an official colony. Even then the colonial government “failed to interpret the value of girls’ education in terms of their personal development and well-being” (Amondi 2011, 58). A gendered division of education then appears to have originated here.

Critical components for the education of boys in colonial Kenya constituted the Three Rs—Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic—an idiomatic expression which originated in the 19th century dictating that education be based on an acronym of the graphemes of the initial consonants in these three words when pronounced alliteratively as “reading,” “riting,” and “rithmatic” (Farlex 2015; Papert 1993). In contrast, the curriculum for girls was restricted to domesticity as the Three Bs—Baby, Bath, and Broom (Tignor 1976, 206). This division engendered a colonial gender role trap, a “new tradition … for transmitting values of humility, low ambition and systematic underestimation of girls’ and women’s ability incognitive achievement, social attainment, and capacity to work in the public sphere” (Chege and Siguna 2006, 27).

Ultimately, these colonial policies categorized and positioned the Kenyan woman as motherly and subservient and the Kenyan man as intellectual and professional. They constitute interpretative repertoires that do not merely present neutral depictions of social reality, rather they imbrue life with “practical ideologies” (Wetherell et al. 1987). Repertoires become ideological by painting inequalities in society as “natural” and by legitimizing societal injustices that make them impregnable to modification.

Nevertheless, alternative repertoires do arise to reconstitute or contest the legitimized and natural status of this conventional wisdom. In Kenya, a gendered curricular ideology of women’s domestic role discouraged nondomestic pursuits because it became attributed to inherent care giving ability. Consequently, any alleged differences in gender could and still can be deployed discursively to make just discriminatory practices promulgating the modus operandi and keeping the status quo (Sheriff and Weatherell 2009; Weatherall 2002; Wetherell et al. 1987). The most pertinent point for our study, however, is that an alternative gender equality repertoire, as emerges from our data, indicates that Kenyan society’s conventional wisdom is undergoing a discursive reformulation.

3. Data and Methodology As stated in the introduction, our approach is discursive psychology (henceforth DP). DP, a social constructionist method, combines and applies

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concepts from conversational analysis, discourse analysis, and ethnomethodology to the psychological stances of participants (Wiggins 2017; Wetherell, Taylor and Yates 2001). This methodology required our being meticulous in our analysis of the details in the accounts of the participants, especially in how they were rhetorically and argumentatively constructed.

DP then is of particular assistance in the recognition of contradictory and inconsistent stances taken by a participant in order to secure a balance between being traditional and radical or old-fashioned and modern.

The data for this paper grew out of ethnographic fieldwork on citizenship in modern Kenya carried out on the campus of Mwananchi University (MU)4 in Nairobi during a ten-month period from September 2017 to July 2018. Discussions during a focus group formed to deliberate on what it means to be a citizen of modern Kenya first drew our attention to the concept of the modern Kenyan woman. Yet because it had come up again and again, we decided to invite the women from the original group to network and bring other female friends to form a new group to explore the concept. An in-depth, semi-structured interview employing open-ended questions focused on the perceptions of women in Kenya both tradition-wise and modernity-wise building to a revelation of the modern woman construct.

3.1 Participants The data presented here come from a focus group of “modern woman” participants. They constitute a small, friendship network that consists of a core of four, then current, students - Shiro, Flique, Edu, and Nzala—and two extra members, Njeti and Tassy. The latter is not a member of the friendship network but the moderator who is a graduate from another Kenyan university; the former is an MU graduate and long-time friend of Shiro. Each of the participants is a native of Kenya and fits the age range (18-25) of emerging adulthood (Arnett 2000) except for Flique and Tassy, who are both 27 at the time of the recording. Participants were first asked oral questions to complete a sociolinguistic and demographic survey to collect data including age, area of study, ethnicity, mother tongue, year in school, and pseudonym.

Each identified as a heterosexual woman. The anonymity of each one has been guaranteed through the provision of pseudonyms. If a participant neglected to provide a pseudonym, she was assigned one.

4

Mwananchi University (MU) is a pseudonym.

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3.2 Procedure The “modern woman” focus group met at one of the residences of the researchers on the MU campus. The researchers excused themselves to avoid the “observer’s paradox” (Labov 1972, 209) and to facilitate the group’s feeling comfortable to engage in “girl talk” a speech event in which women negotiate behavioral norms and assess symbolic capital (Eckert 1990, 91).

Tassy, the moderator, led the discussion and asked the other women to converse in whatever language they felt comfortable. As the interlocutors are educated, middle-class women, they are at least trilingual in English, Swahili, and a first ethnic language. Moreover, as the linguistic landscape in Kenya, like across Africa, tends to be polylectal, no one language indexes identity. Social practices involving age, classes and peer groups help maintain and transmit linguistic diversity. Furthermore, no one mother tongue is shared by all the interlocutors. The linguistic compromises in this speech event, mirroring many on the continent, are “fluid and unsteady” and emblematic, having come to be known as “youth language practices” (Beyer 2015, 23), of which the best-known in Kenya is Sheng. The linguistic mélange of this conversation was audio recorded, transcribed5, and given a liberal translation into English.

Beyond the transcription, themes of beauty, comparison, decision making, and femininity identified by Anthony, Okorie, and Norman (2016) were analyzed. The original project was on citizenship, and the comparisons and competition are framed by this initial research question; nonetheless, the comparisons and competition found in the discussion and much of the analysis are centered on the modern woman. The focus on the perspectives and language usage of Kenyan college-aged women has a pair of reasons.

First, little research exists on the linguistic practices of young African women (Mitsch 2016), and thus it is thought that a study of the linguistic practices of women of emerging adulthood would contribute to a better overall understanding of “girl talk” and modern womanhood in Africa. Second, such a study could also assist in the documentation of and better comprehension of Kenyan women’s perspectives on gender roles and life choices available in the past and at the present.

5

We have used a very simplified transcription system. For example, if English is not spoken, a translation is prefixed by the letter “b,” which follows the original with a prefix of “a.” Otherwise, no letters are present. Square brackets [] enclose clarificatory information or an English glossing of a word or phrase. Punctuation is added only for readability, not speech patterns.

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The procedure involved our going back and forth between the transcription, coding, and the themes that arose from the discourse. Looking for similarities and differences was the strategy that evolved to report responses from individual participants and the overall sample. Assigning codes required traces with similar meaning to be combined and grouped into preliminary interpretative repertoires. The transcript was gone over again to check that these interpretive repertoires were coherent. Section three below provides examples of how interpretive repertoires were assigned to traces or quotations from the excerpts and how they were categorized under three main groups.

The following section explores the principal interpretative repertoires that we identified in this investigation.

4. Findings and Analysis of Gendered Repertoires in Kenya In this investigation, “woman as natural child bearer/rearer,” “mother as homemaker,” “woman of difference” and “gender equality” were identified repertoires that emerged as provincial but dominant. We qualify them as “provincial” in order to acknowledge that the very process of discursive repertoire identification in itself is abstract and thus “interpretive” (Sunderland 2004, 3). Notwithstanding this concession, the repertoires identified and named here are derived from salient linguistic features or traces that surfaced in the data and from our interpretation of previous research, especially that of Baxter (2012), Charlebois (2010), and Holmes (2006).

Following Baxter (2012), Charlebois (2010), and Baxter (2003), we were able to identify evidence or to code “traces” (Sunderland 2004, 36-45) of the gendered resources deployed by the women in the conversations of the focus group. Baxter (2003, 89-100) guided us to a more systematic identification of particular repertoires. In the end, the intention is to make a qualitative study that is convincing in its interpretation of the sociolinguistic evidence, though we concede other interpretative repertoires cannot be ruled out.

As previously discussed, Baxter (2012) reconceptualizes Kanter’s (1993 [1977]) theorizations from a sociolinguistic perspective. The original four “role traps” of Pet, Iron Maiden, Mother, and Seductress are transformed from stereotyped and gendered subject positions into linguistic resources that assist a woman to leverage success. The data reveal that only the latter three role traps are elucidated in our excerpts. The first gendered resource is that of the Iron Maiden, whom Holmes (2005, 14) labels the “battle-axe.” She is likely the most powerful in the context of hegemonic masculinity because

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she is viewed as “unnaturally virilized” and maybe a little “bitchy” (Baxter 2012, 85). The second role trap identified is “Mother,” who encompasses a traditional position of authority in the domestic sphere in which she is seen as a sympathizer and comforter. Our third gendered resource is “Seductress,” whom our participants refer to as “Slay Queen.” Her role encapsulates the fact that her sexual objectification is empowering through feminine appeal but also disempowering because of suspicion and perceived threat to both men and women. Because our participants are career-oriented, they too stand out like women leaders as different. Their experiences could force them into such gendered subject positions. These role traps and gendered resources aided in the identification of the gendered repertoires in our data.

The repertoires of “woman as natural child bearer/rearer” and “mother as homemaker” cropped up when our participants complained about the motherhood mandate that frequently confronts them in their daily lives. The phrasings “It’s like nature lazima ukipata mtoto (it is a must if you get a child), you will want to take care of that kid, unajua (you know),” and “Si lazima ati nipike, babe (it’s not a must that I cook, babe)” are linguistic traces that directly reference these interrelated, and complementary repertoires. Of course, they are subsumed by the similar repertoires first identified and labeled by Sunderland (2004, 118) and Charlebois (2010, 707), hence, their apparent global commonsensicality. Other categorical references to women and specific activities, such as housekeeping and childcare, and references to baby, bath, and broom also occur. As we stated in the section on background, hegemonic notions of femininity in colonial and post-colonial Kenya position women in roles of domesticity and care-giving.

Complementary and interrelated too are the “woman of difference” and “gender equality” repertoires. Moreover, both are often accompanied by comments of mitigating circumstances. Linguistic traces of these repertoires were suggested by categorical references to “Maybachs,” “hustling,” and “shit” with women who engaged in work or other activities. Such mitigations and associations may be indicative of these gender resources being emergent.

Given that the Ministry of Education in Kenya first established a National Task Force for Gender and Education and a Ministerial Task Force on Girl’s Education and a Gender Desk only in 2007, it should be no surprise that a glaring gender gap exists. Given also that this Gender Policy in 2007 is a recent development of a strategy for a ten-year Policy Framework for Education, Training and Research, first outlined in the Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 (Amondi 2011, 58-59), suggests that “gender equality” is a somewhat

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inchoate repertoire at a rather incipient stage in the culture’s conventional wisdom.

Such a wide range of stances or subject positions enacted by the participants relative to these repertoires suggests that negotiation is frequent, meaning they are contestable and potentially overturnable in discursive accounts. In subsections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, we present extracts from the data which represent widespread patterns of accounting.

4.1 A Woman of Difference Identity has a relational aspect in that if speakers wish to participate, they have to accommodate others by suppressing their differences. Yet, they can also emphasize their differences by suppressing similarities. Conceptions of oneself are relational and so too gendered identity is constructed via contrast.

The concept of femininity, like that of masculinity (Edley and Whetherell 1997), can be defined quite clearly in opposition to the other. This contrast shows up in our participants’ descriptions of the modern woman. She is defined negatively. Put differently, she is defined in terms of being different, of what she is not. These differences mean that the concept of femininity contains multitudes, and therefore the construct is better pluralized as femininities.

The first extract begins after the interviewer has introduced the topic of the modern woman. Following a brief confusion by the participants about what she was asking, Tassy decides to use the word “stereotype.”

20b 21 22 23

24a 24b 25

Extract 01 Tassy: Ama wacha nitumie another word, stereotype.

(Or let me use another word, stereotype.)

Nzala: Of course, there are stereotypes.

Flique: Yes, stereotypes are there.

Flique: In every society there is stereotype everywhere. Everywhere there are classes, and you are put in a class without even knowing you are in such a class. Me, I know there is this modern woman yani [that is], people who run their businesses, like some kind of chick. They are driven around in Maybachs. Yes, that is one. They run their own businesses, that is one kind of a businesswoman and then....

(Interrupted) Tassy: Tunatumia Kiswahili bado.

(We are still using Swahili.)

Flique: Oh.

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Flique is the first to venture her view, and the modern woman she describes is a woman of difference. The modern woman is not only different,6 but she is exceptional as indicated by her being “driven around in Maybachs.” What this exceptionality implies is that Flique sees the modern woman as a successful businesswoman. The description is interrupted when Tassy wants to guide the group back to using the local lingua franca. English was not prohibited, but the original study had Sheng as its focus, which may have been the interviewer’s motive. Regardless, Flique, trying to be accommodating, draws a few laughs in the second excerpt.

Extract 02

26a 26b 27a 27b 28a

28b

29a 29b 30

Flique: Okey, kuna hawa wanawake wamemake it yani mtu .... (wenzake wanaanza kumcheka akijaribu kuongea kiswahili sanifu) (Okay, there are these ladies that have made it, that is someone…) (the others start laughing at her as she tries to use fluent Swahili.)

Eduu: (falisi) Yes, yes, continue, endelea.

(Paraphrase: Yes, yes, continue, continue.)

Flique: Sa huyu dem, huyu dem ni mzii yani anacall shots, anacall shots everywhere. Yani you can’t tell her shit. Yani, she has brought up empires. Okey, amejenga communities, ameemploy wasee. That is my ideal kind of businesswoman, as in ule mwanamke anamake impact not only kwa maisha yake, but kwa community pia.

(So, this dame (girl) is extraordinary, she calls the shots, she calls the shots everywhere. That is, you can’t tell her shit. She has raised up empires. Okay, she has built communities; she has employed people.

That is my ideal kind of businesswoman, as in that woman that makes an impact not only in her life, but also in the community.)

Tassy: Kwa hivo unaeza sema nikaa mwenye anahustle?

(So you can say she is like the one who hustles?)

Flique: Yes, no matter the kind of hustle unafanya [that you do]. Okay, umesema [you have said] classes. That is one class I was talking about.

The group laughs because it is obvious Flique was trying to use standard Swahili but ended up speaking an admixture. Edu teases her to continue (line 27), and the group, now relaxed, will speak as they normally do rather than 6

Non-academic sources to popular culture and celebrities demonstrate how influential the world of social media is to the participants and many of their contemporaries who frequently access and therefore necessitate their inclusion in the current paper. Though journalistic and sensational, the allusions add texture and authority to explicate the positioning of the interlocutors.

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trying to use mostly formal English for this focus group discussion. Excerpt two reveals that Flique’s idea of the modern woman is that she is “extraordinary.” This repertoire is being constructed from a restricted set of terms deployed in a particular fashion and grammatical style emblematic of “certain tropes or figures of speech” (Wetherell and Potter 1988, 172). The trope in this case happens to be the “large and in charge” idiom (Farlex 2015).

It is characteristic of television and film depictions of a boss (“ameemploy wasee”) or manager who is in control of a situation (“calls the shots”) and has complete authority (“can’t tell her shit”). To mitigate against “huyu dem nimzii” being construed negatively, Flique adds “ule mwanamke anamake impact not only kwa maisha yake, but kwa community pia.” The implied impact is positive on the society, notwithstanding the fact that this depiction complicates the portrayal of women in the dominant commonsensical use of the term. Lastly, the repertoire “modern woman” is qualified one final way by the stipulation that it does not “matter the kind of hustle unafanya [that you do].” In other words, being a modern woman is an attitude. This interpretation provides a suitable segue into the next excerpt.

31 32a 32b 33a 33b 34a

34b

35

Extract 03 Tassy: Class ingine [another]?

Shiro: Class ingine yenye like wasee wengi hawataki kuangaliani class yenye ikona masingle mothers.

(Another class that many people don’t want to look at is the class that has single mothers, (True, Flique agrees with her), single mothers.)

Tassy: By the way, ukienda fb sana wasee wanapenda kudiss masingle mothers.

(By the way, when you check Facebook, many people like insulting single mothers.)

Shiro: Eeeh. Me, I have seen it happen to people close to me. Kuna like hawa madem ama wamama… they are very aggressive. But pia society, unaeza ona place yenye society imewaeka sindio? But they don’t care.

Hawajali. Wanataka tu kufeed their kids, kuchange.... (Flique anamkatiza) (Yes. Me, I have seen it happen to people close to me. There are like these girls or women… they are very aggressive. But the society also you can see the place where the society has put them, right? But they don’t care.

They don’t care. They just want to feed their kids, to change...) (Flique interrupts) Flique: Yes, I think that’s the whole point of being a modern woman nowadays. To give them a better life.

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36a

36b

Shiro: Ya, that’s a modern woman, like hautaki ku depend on a jamaa.

Yes, I think that’s a whole point of being a modern woman in Africa nowadays. Hutakiku depend on a jamaa. Aa, zii.

(Yeah, that’s a modern woman, like you don’t want to depend on a man.

Yes, I think that’s the whole point of being a modern woman in Africa nowadays. You don’t want to depend on someone. Ah, no.)

After Flique’s elaboration of the exceptionality of the modern woman, Tassy intervenes once again in Excerpt 03 to refocus the group on what else makes a woman modern. The fifth participant in the discussion (Shiro) offers the classification: “masingle mothers” (line 32). With her “people close to me” comment (line 34), Shiro positions herself virtually or at least empathetically as an unmarried mother in the “troubled subject” position, a discursive placement that can be morally challenging to align with (Wetherell and Edley 1998). Of course, the traditional stereotype of a mother is one which assumes that the woman is married to a man and therefore has a bread-winning husband to depend on for support. As a single mother by definition does not fit this social expectation, she is marked as “other,” a deviation from the social norm and therefore viewed as an immoral and less competent parent.7 Little difficulty is there in picturing a pregnant woman who becomes a mother whose lover has become averse to commitment or outright irresponsible. Concluding that the mother is not the morally lapsed one or at least not the only immoral one is erumpent to the modern eye, though such sympathy could still taint the speaker with the same troubled social stain.

The moderator’s comment about Facebook insults (line 33) establishes a description of the event in order for Shiro to infer and formulate the nature of that event (i.e., the “place yenye society imewaeka” or “the place where the society has put them”), allowing for the important discursive tasks of accounting for (their being “very aggressive” like the Iron Maiden) and evaluating the event, which Flique promptly provides: “that’s the whole point of being a modern woman nowadays: to give them [children] a better life.” The aggression of the single mother, such as being “unnaturally virilized” and maybe a little “bitchy” (Baxter 2012, 85), is justified in the discussion by the reality of the situation which forces them to find a way to take care of their children. Shiro adds a coda comment that the modern woman “…hautakiku depend on a jamaa” or “you don’t want to depend on a man.” The nuance is the reality and realization that not only can a single mother not depend on anyone, but she may now no longer want to have to 7

The “troubled subject” position is being “defined negatively” from the dominant repertoire of what qualifies as being a good mother.

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depend on anyone. The position has then been reformulated as an “untroubled subject” in that a modern woman has choices, one of which may be purposely to be one of the “masingle mothers.”8

4.2 Natural Mothers Motherhood is a type of social mandate because commonplace patterns occur in the discursive accounts of women that construct women as having an innate ability or motherly instinct as an inevitable attribute of womanhood (Sheriff and Weatherall 2009). Excerpt 04 documents the pervasive influence the motherhood mandate has on the modern Kenyan woman. In line 62, Flique reports somewhat incredulously that there are women “who have studied everything” and still all they wish to do is “take care of the kids while the hubby hustles.” Nzala corroborates and interjects the surprising news that most of them have to quit their jobs when they have already started their careers (line 63). Shiro’s confession quells their bewilderment a bit by admitting, “Sisi, we are women. At the end of the day, we are women. It’s like nature lazima ukipata mtoto, you will want to take care of that kid, unajua.”

What we know is that these biological beliefs about women’s maternal instinct can rhetorically mobilize the justification of discriminatory practices.

Shiro’s deployment of “like nature” (line 64) functions rhetorically to invoke a “natural order” argument whereby biological nature predetermines a woman as the child-bearer and primary child-rearer of children (Edley and Wetherell 1999). In line 65, complaining that having a baby abruptly stops your career midcourse for three years unmistakably marks the woman—and distinctly not the man—as the main parent. Shiro further adds that even if a woman does not stop working, her career will drop into low gear. No option is entertained. It seems a foregone conclusion that the “motherhood is natural” repertoire is not just alive but thriving among young college-aged Kenyan women. “A choice between having a family and a career is not a choice young women should have to make,” decried Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) at the 31st African Union (AU) Summit, held in Nouakchott, Mauritania. “More likely than not, family wins. This leads to stalled career progression, which leads to unfulfillment (sic) and diminished confidence” (Mutambo 2018).

8

The modern single mother as an “untroubled” identity has Kenyan musician Akothe as a self-professed exemplar. She openly admits her second of three baby daddies kicked her out when she was nine-months pregnant and a victim of love until she woke up and decided to love herself (Aoko 2017). Of course, few of her modern mother sisters have resources similar to those of the Queen of Kanungo.

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62

63a

63b

64a

64b

65a 65b 66a 66b 67 68

Extract 04 Flique: But kuna watu [“there are people”], kuna watu by the way unapata mtu amesoma kila kitu [“you find someone who has studied everything”], but she is ready to stay at home take care of the kids while the hubby hustles. Kuna watu they are comfortable with that.

Nzala: By the way you know most of them, are usually women mpaka wameanza kufanya kazi then they leave their jobs... (Flique ana muunga mkono), there is a point they just go back.

(By the way you know most of them are usually women until they have started to do work, then they leave their jobs... (Flique agrees with her).

There is a point at which they just go back.)

Shiro: But you know, we are also…Sisi, we are women. At the end of the day, we are women. It’s like nature lazima ukipata mtoto, you will want to take care of that kid, unajua.

(But you know, we are also… we are women. At the end of the day, we are women. It’s like nature. It’s a must when you get a child, you will want to take care of that kid, you know.)

Flique: Yeah, like it takes three years out of your career, like ukipata mtoto like career yangu mahali iko... (interrupted) (Yes, like it takes three years out of your career, like when you get a child, like where my career is now...) (interrupted) Shiro: You will just have to stop. Hauna choice ama kama hautastop, itaslow down, itaslow down kiasi.

(You will just have to stop you don’t have a choice or if you won’t stop, it will slow down, it will slow down a little.)

Edu: But it’s so unfortunate that men don’t want career women.

Everyone: Yeah!

Edu suggests inline 67 a reason why the strength behind the mandated motherhood continues negatively impacting women: “But it’s so unfortunate that men don’t want career women,” which is met with a unanimous consensus in the last line. Edu’s question is an assertion that what the CS labels as a choice facing young career women may actually be a motherhood mandate.

The claim in line 67 is not whether or not the traditional gender division of labor is beneficial for children; rather it is that the whole issue lies outside women’s biology and the ideology of a modern society. The next extract explores a set of accounts in which the women undermine and contest the ideology that lies behind the motherhood mandate and construes women as natural mothers.

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In excerpt 05, we see an alternative explanation for why men do not want career women. Edu explains that traditional men do not respect them because the modern woman is always “hustling vibaya” (line 225). Flique elaborates on why by adding, “so when someone is intimidated, they will rubbish you” (line 226), which, according to Flique, explains all the disparaging memes about “girls” online. We are witnessing the discursive tension between “a woman of difference” and the “natural mother.” In excerpt 04, we saw that women are expected to give up their careers to be stay-at-home mothers, but in excerpt five we see the modern woman constructed as a career professional who is “hustling vibaya” (line 225). Here we are met with the concept of a particular type of modern woman, the “Seductress” (Baxter 2012) or “slay queen” (line 228) who has been defined as “a ‘good time girl’ who engages in compensatory and transactional relationships with elderly well-to-do men, or ‘sponsors,’ for their money for flashy lifestyles in a consumerist society” (Lumasia 2021, 108). Of course, this definition is typical from a male perspective (Muema 2018) and controversial. However, women may contest it by defining “slay queens” as successful businesswomen, such as Huddah Munroe, Vera Sidika, and the Kardashian sisters (Wambui 2018), who have large followings of would-be socialites on social media.

225 226 227a 227b 228

229 230 231a

Extract 05 Edu: Me I know for a fact right now men do not respect women because we are hustling vibaya [hustling hard].

Flique: They are really intimidated, so when someone is intimidated, they will rubbish you.

Edu: So unapata‘meme’zoteni za wasichana like what you are doing, what you are not doing.

(So, you find all the memes are about girls like what you are doing, what you are not doing.)

Flique: And this thing about slay queen by the way. It’s not all that negative because huyu [this] slay queen she knows there is nothing as good as knowing what you are worth. Do you know why they make it seem negative?

Shiro: Slay queen si ati ni kitu negative [it’s not that it is a negative thing].

Me, if you call me a slay queen, I will like [it].

Flique: Thank you. Because “slay” means “I worked hard for this.”

Shiro: Hutaki shit like unakuja kuniambia nini? “Ati? Nikuoshee vyatu?

Zii.” Si maringo. It’s your self-worth.

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231b

(You don’t want shit like you come telling me, “I wash your shoes?” No. It’s not pride. It’s your self-worth.)

This repertoire or “reality” enables Flique to employ a “particularization” (Billig 1985: 82) to discredit categorization based on individual “slay queens” who are extreme cases and thus could subvert their argument (lines 228-230).

Shiro also employs a hypothetical ventriloquizing (Tannen 2010) or intertextual 9 voice to demonstrate herself rejecting the hegemonic expectation for the motherhood mandate and the commonsensical rationalization that she should welcome an unequal distribution of housework (“Ati? Nikuosheevyatu? Zii” line 231). In contrast to excerpt 04 where the participants appear to give some concession to the biological argument that women should not work outside the home, Shiro discounts that “reality” by espousing a counter ideology: “Si maringo” (It’s your selfworth).

4.3 Modern Kenyan Women To explore that counter ideology, we continue extract 05 with extract 06 in which Shiro explains that she has had to leave “machali” (line 70) or guys and by extension the social expectation that women should keep the house because she was “hurting their egos. Nawa intimidate” (line 72) and because those situations potentially would or could hinder her career goals. With this extract, we see Flique opposing the subject position of the motherhood mandate and countering with a gender equality repertoire as she proposes in line 73 that “it takes a really strong man to handle an independent woman.” Flique’s expression of women as independent, strong, and mature demonstrates that she also resists the social mandates of housekeeping and motherhood. The evidence for men’s being “insecure” is elaborated on via her wielding of a sardonic ventriloquizing intertextual voice (line 73). If a woman in a relationship happens to decide to step out just a little (“ukitokanjekidogo”), she is confronted with “Unaendawapi?”

70a 70b

9

Extract 06 Shiro: Believe me out of experience mi nimeachana na machali walinikataa kwa sababu ati nawa... (anakatizwa) (Believe me out of experience I have left guys who wouldn’t date me because I am...) (interrupted)

Intertextuality is the notion that all texts are implicitly or explicitly part of other either hypothetical or actual dialogues, hence they are “intertextual” (Wetherell et al.

2001, 233).

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71 72a 72b 73a

73b

74

75a 75b 76 77 78a 78b

Flique: Ati because you are hustling harder than them, by the way it really takes a strong man to handle... (Shiro interrupts) Shiro: Nawa…nawa…, you are hurting their egos. Nawa intimidate.

(I…, I…, you are hurting their egos. I am intimidating them.)

Flique: I think it takes a really strong man to handle an independent woman, as in a very strong woman, a very mature woman plus so many men are insecure yani, ukitoka nje kidogo, like “Unaenda wapi?”

(I think it takes really a strong man to handle an independent woman, as in a very strong woman, a very mature woman plus so many men are insecure, that is when you just go out for a while, like, “Where are you going?”)

Nzala: Kama sometimes a man telling me they can’t get married to a woman who gets [more] money than them, I’m like the whole point, if I make more money, you have to make more money. As in tujenge [let’s build] whatever, it should push you, most men wanataka [they want] ... (interrupted) Tassy: Na ukikaa home tena wanaanza kuteta.

(And when you stay at home, they also begin to complain.)

Everyone: Exactly!

Njeti: Sana! [A lot!]

Nzala:...(anaendelea) Unashangaa wanataka nini, so unaona lakini sasa most men wanataka tu like a woman that soothes their ego. (...(continues) You wonder what they do want, so you see but now most men just want, like a woman that soothes their ego.)

Similar to the experiences of Shiro and Flique, Nzala renders a tale of her dealing with the socially mandated “man as breadwinner” repertoire (line 74). Her anecdote of the insecure man inhibiting a woman’s career advancement is one in which her earning more money cannot be abided, but her counter is a gender-equality argument: “I’m like the whole point, if I make more money, you have to make more money. As in tujenge [let’s build] whatever…” Piping in, Tassy notes “na ukikaa home tena wanaanza kuteta” (line 75) that reveals the dilemma of modern women in Kenya. Though Holmes (2006) has rightly demonstrated that women in positions of power face a “double bind” when they endeavor to “do power” because they are perceived as either overly assertive or overly tentative, a similar double bind may exist for the career-oriented modern Kenyan woman. The choral consensus “Exactly!” in line 76 suggests she can be either “hustling vibaya” or supporting a hustling hubby. Reminiscent of Edu’s line 67 comment in extract 04, Nzala summarizes, “[S]asa most men wanataka tu like a woman that soothes their ego.” In this extract, the participants can be seen as resisting

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the domestic subject position offered by a “motherhood mandate” repertoire.

They draw on the repertoires of “woman as housekeeper” and “gender equality” when it is revealed that perhaps even modern men do not want women to be just stay-at-home caretakers of children (lines 75--78).

In the last extract, Shiro constructs an account of the unequal burdens entailed in the domestic responsibilities of the homemaker mandate in which the woman is made to feel like a servant (line 195). The three examples of Uoshee watoto nguo, uoshee bwana yako nguo, ujioshee zako consist of “a three-part list” (Jefferson 1990) hinting that Shiro is making a reference to a much bigger injustice, that is, “woman as subservient.” The three-part list is a set of steps from one topic to the next. The third list item is focal for the speaker but cues the recipient to address new business (Jefferson 1990, 80).

The motherhood mandate binds the woman to child, subjugates her to the man, and leaves little of the human being for herself. The hegemony of this “reality” may prompt a woman with dreams of a career to experience a struggle so deep that the conflict of “idealized femininity” (i.e., “Hutaki shit” of line 231) with her goals (Because “slay” means “I worked hard for this” in line 230) engenders in her an impulse to defense—she may figuratively reach for the battle axe (i.e., become “very aggressive” as in line 34) out of selfpreservation. In other words, the speaker has positioned herself as a “troubled” subject. Her interlocutors pick up on the challenge of this weak third item. The challenge of being a modern woman seeking “gender equality” is evident. The magnitude of the inequity and injustice in Shiro’s adjunct “…like we tundio the errant [errand or servant] girl” (line 195) catalyzes Tassy to a “disjunct” (Jefferson 1990: 80) and she asks of the group in line 196, “So kama modern woman unadealaje na hiyo pressure?”

195a 195b 196a 196b 197

198a

Extract 07 Shiro: Uoshee watoto nguo, uoshee bwana yako nguo, ujioshee zako, like we tundio the errant girl.

(You wash clothes for the children, you wash clothes for your husband, you wash yours, like you are just the errant [errand or servant] girl.)

Tassy: So kama modern woman unadealaje na hiyo pressure?

(So, like for a modern woman, how do you deal with that pressure?)

Edu: But what she is saying I think it’s not wrong to do that, but for a man to expect you to do only that, that’s wrong, coz I mean you have to like do all that coz you are a female.

Flique: And pia the way they put like, they put the African man on such a high pedal... “Why don’t you come up, we do this together? Let’s do

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198b

this together. Si lazima ati nipike, babe. You can cook leo, I wash the babies.”

(And also, the way they put like, they put the African man on such a high pedestal. “Why don’t you come up, we do this together? Let’s do this together. It’s not a must that I cook, babe. You can cook today; I wash the babies.”)

It is here at this extract that the group appears to be raising the budding repertoire of a non-gendered “shared domestic work.” We suggest that it appears merely budding or emergent simply because of the way the topic discursively plays out. As with the extract 04-line 67 comment (“But it’s so unfortunate that men don’t want career women”) and the extract 05-line-227 comment (“‘meme’zoteni za wasichana”), Edu presents herself as attuned to yet torn by both the traditional and the modern: “But what she is saying I think it’s not wrong to do that, but for a man to expect you to do only that, that’s wrong, coz I mean you have to like do all that coz you are a female” (line 197). Then Flique ventriloquizes her future self with intertextual voicing to construct and “perform” an account of “unjust” domestic duties in line 198 (“Si lazima ati nipike, babe”) which enables her to enact their internal struggle and position themselves as modern (“Let’s do this together”) and equal (“You can cook today; I wash the babies”) but concerned (“Why don’t you come up, we do this together?”) future wives and mothers. In this fashion, these excerpts represent the conflict and tension between the modern women’s repertoire of sharing domestic duties and parental care and the traditional, biological, and hegemonic repertoire of the motherhood mandate.

The notion of the modern woman of “gender equality” as discerned from the accounts of these six participants remains at this time but an emergent repertoire. Kenyan women who endeavor to live their lives as gender equals without elaborating on how domestic duties need to be shared may risk running afoul of hegemonic ideas of femininity. To circumvent the role trap or troubled subject position of “slay queen” or “bad and unnatural mother,” Flique had to resort to ventriloquizing to act out the deep clash between the motherhood mandate and successful businesswoman and at the same time position herself not only as a doting mother but a dutiful wife.

Accordingly, the unjust notion of “woman as subservient” may become a discursive tool that empowers participants to leverage non-domestic work in order to fend off a troubled subject position of one or more tainted femininities.

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4.4 Limitations By investigating interpretive repertoires, the above analyses have endeavored to detail several aspects of the lived or experienced ideological tensions that modern Kenyan women confront. We have endeavored to analyze a range of positioning that is available to women to manage the dilemmas associated with striving to be modern while not utterly rejecting traditional and biological womanhood. This aspect is a limitation in itself for it appears to privilege heteronormativity. A larger sample should include members of the LGBTQ community. The focus on interpretative repertoires also draws attention to how positioning is ephemeral and fleetingly employed as a flexible resource by participants in order to justify (thereby achieve legitimacy) within a specific context. Because discursive psychology appears rather less than straightforward and requires some experience to develop skill, analyses may vary in what could be significant ways. This fact leaves our paper—and all qualitative research—open to criticism. Also, that our data are from a focus group in which a moderator provided topics and questions indicates that positioning could be somewhat less than or different from natural-occurring conversation. Finally, that the data set is small prevents traditional generalization. To approximate a more quantitative report, researchers would need to code a larger set of data and develop a method to somehow count those data. Though our work is preliminary, it could inspire further research.

5. Conclusion In this article, we have looked at the discursive construction of gendered identities within the cultural setting of Kenya and the institutional setting of a university in Nairobi. A focus group of six university women drew on the interpretative repertoires of “women of difference,” “women as natural child bearers and homemakers,” and “gender equality.” In discursive interactions, the participants actively deployed these gendered resources to justify the pursuit of a career and to refute the motherhood mandate. The investigation also revealed a discursive conflict between the dominant, traditional, social mandate of motherhood and the emergent and modern “shared domestic work” repertoire. What appears clear is that Kenyan society is going through a fluctuation in which “gender equality” may be becoming culturally commonsensical.

Another observation disclosed by this study is that discursive interaction indicates a sort of double-bind dilemma for women in which they

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can either support a hustling breadwinning man or be a “hustling vibaya” woman entrepreneur. The former embraces an accountably traditional femininity, while the latter denies complete social acceptance as it connotes a negligent mother. The women demonstrated the active and highly creative rhetorical work involved in resolving this dilemma. After Shiro constructed a troubled subject position through the conflict of career and unequal domestic duties, Flique took up an untroubled position by ventriloquizing her future self to draw on a language of justice and gender equality to construct the identity of a concerned mother and devoted wife.

This resolution to the tension between the gendered repertoires suggests the emergence of a shared parenting and domestic duties repertoire, which could be swirling the culturally hegemonic, gendered mandate of motherhood and be reformulating it into a modern resource in the discursive churn. Consequently, though women may invoke “gender equality,” they remain viewed as the child bearers and homemakers. They must build a critique of that form of femininity and deploy strategies that disclose a rhetoric of the injustice of “women as subservient” in order to effectively construct an identity of concerned parents who can agree and harmonize these two repertoires out of conflict. Discourse analysis in conjunction with discursive psychology creates awareness into construction of conversation in which speakers employ living ideologies and hegemonic conventional wisdom to work out femininities in the social context.

Finally, if the thrust of our paper is taken seriously, the comprehension of the lived ideological management of being a modern Kenyan woman could be of assistance in disarming subtle yet pervasive acts of sexism.

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9 Gender Dynamics in Camfranglais : A Study of Female and Male Cameroonian Musicians Elizabeth Bi Maondo Abang (University of Buea, Cameroon) Camfranglais is a popular youth language in Cameroon. It is a mixture of French, English, Pidgin and some words and expressions from some Cameroonian languages. The first Cameroonian musician who started singing in Camfranglais was Koppo in 2003. He released the song, Si tu vois ma go in 2004. The music became a hit and caught the attention of many youths. After Koppo, some Cameroonian male musicians started singing in Camfranglais. Recently, however, female artists have taken the baton. The present article compares the use of Camfranglais in the music of Cameroonian female artists as opposed to Cameroonian male musicians.

The article also examines the frequency of the use of Camfranglais and the contexts in which Camfranglais is used by female and the male musicians. Data collected included selected Cameroonian music from 10 male Cameroonian musicians (Salatiel, Locko, Mr. Leo, Ko-C, Stanley Enow, Jovi, Tenor, Tzy Panchak, Magasco, Blaise) and 10 female Cameroonian musicians (Daphne, Blanche Bailly, Nabila, Mimie, Ewube, Reniss, Shura, Mel B Akwen, Askia, Museba). This is a qualitative studyin which data is analyzed through content analysis. Results showed no great significant difference between the Camfranglais used in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and the Camfranglais used in the music of Cameroonian male musicians. However, the frequency and contexts of the use of Camfranglais provides some interesting perspectives on gender dynamics in the use of Camfranglais by the female and the male musicians.

Keywords: Camfranglais, youth language, Cameroon, female musicians, gender, difference and dynamics

1. Introduction This paper investigates the prevalence of Camfranglais among Cameroonian female musicians. The paper describes the frequency and the context of the use of the Cameroonian youth language called Camfranglais. Camfranglais is popular in the urban cities of Cameroon like Yaounde and Douala.

Camfranglais is a mixture of French, English, Pidgin English and expressions from some Cameroonian languages. An example of Camfranglais is, On va all back au mboa. On va is French, “all” is English, “back” is an expression from 215

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Pidgin-English, and mboa is from a Cameroonian indigenous language. The write up will begin with a statement of the problem where we will discover the rationale for this investigation. The statement of the problem will be closely followed by the background of the study which will attempt to explain the history of Camfranglais, the composite of Camfranglais and the main users of Camfranglais. The background of the study will be followed by the methodology used in the study. This includes the research design; research tools and method of data analysis. After the methodology, the data will be presented, analyzed and conclusions will be drawn.

2. Statement of the Problem It has been observed that there has been a rise in the use of Camfranglais in the Cameroonian music industry. First, some male Cameroonian musicians were using Camfranglais to accentuate their music, like Lapiro and Koppo.

In 2004, Koppo released Si tu vois ma go. The music became a hit and caught the attention of many youths. After Koppo, some Cameroonian male musicians started singing in Camfranglais. Recently, Cameroonian female musicians have taken the baton and are seemingly doing it better than the Cameroonian male musicians. The researcher seeks to find out if the assertion that the Cameroonian female musicians are using Camfranglais in their music more than the Cameroonian male musicians is true or false. The research also seeks to discover the relative contexts in which the language is used and the frequency of use by the two genders.

3. Background to the Study A number of articles have contributed to inform the present study. Kamdem (2015) worked on a dictionary of Camfranglais. Here, some words and expressions in Camfranglais are explained with palpable examples. Baghana et al. (2018) worked on some peculiarities of Camfranglais. The researchers aimed at acquainting the audience with the history of the emergence of Camfranglais. They cited some scholars who have contributed to the documentation of the history of Camfranglais. They then analyzed some aspects of the lexicon of Camfranglais. They studied the morphosyntactic structures of Camfranglais as well. In their analysis, it was discovered that Camfranglais is a blend of borrowed words from many languages (Bassa, Duala, Ewondo, Bulu, Bamileke, Fulfude, Hausa and Pidgin English).

Baghana et al. (2018) concluded that “Camfranglais is a hybrid sociolect whose morpho - syntactic system is based on French and that it cannot be considered as a language with its own system.” They believed that

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Camfranglais “signals rebellion against authority” and has been used as a tool “to expose the socio-economic and political problems of the country.”

Kouega (2003) is of the opinion that Camfranglais is used by secondary school students in Cameroon and that the students use Camfranglais “to exclude outsiders while talking about such matters of adolescent interest as food, drinks, money, sex and physical looks.”

Vacunta (2008) states that “Camfranglais first emerged in the mid 1970s after the reunification of Francophone Cameroun and Anglophone Southern Cameroons.” He believed that popular musicians caused Camfranglais to become fashionable in the late 1990s. Vacunta (2008) cites the description of the users of Camfranglais by Kouega (2003, 53) which says, “the profession of fluent Camfranglais speakers outside school premises...are peddlers and laborers, hairstylists and barbers, prostitutes and vagabonds, rank and file soldiers and policemen, thieves and prisoners, gamblers and con men, musicians and comedians, to name the most popular ones.” This gives an impression that Camfranglais is used by the lower social class in the society.

An interesting class of people according to this description is the police.

Including the police in the group of the users of Camfranglais contradicts the claim of Baghana et al. (2018) that Camfranglais is a tool to expose the political problems of the society. The question is, how do police rebel against authority?

The present research investigates the use of Camfranglais in Cameroonian music. Considering that Camfranglais is supposed to denote rebellion and a somewhat carefree way of speech, it becomes unusual for female musicians to use it in their music. Nevertheless, Cameroonian female musicians have embraced Camfranglais. This study compares how much Camfranglais the Cameroonian female musicians use as opposed to the Cameroonian male musicians.

Some questions are germane to the study, including the following:  Is there a difference between the context where Camfranglais is used in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that of Cameroonian male musicians?  Is there a difference between the frequency of the use of Camfranglais in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that of Cameroonian male musicians?

By way of hypotheses, we propose to answer the above questions in the negative. In other words, there will be no difference between the context

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where Camfranglais is used in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that of Cameroonian male musicians. Similarly, there will be no difference between the frequency of the use of Camfranglais in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that of Cameroonian male musicians.

4. Methodology The study is qualitative. The research design is a descriptive case study. The research tools used were observation and secondary data. The population of the study comprises ten Cameroonian female musicians and ten Cameroonian male musicians. Purposive sampling which is a nonprobability sampling technique was used. This is because the paper is a case study of a particular group of musicians, that is, musicians that sing in Camfranglais. Due to the qualitative nature of the research, the data were analyzed using content analysis. Content analysis is a technique used to analyze qualitative data. The purposes of content analysis are to present important aspects of content in a clear and effective manner; and to support an argument (Valcheva 2019). The present paper uses this method to analyze the content of some selected Cameroonian music in order to prove or disprove the hypotheses in the work. Krippendorff 2004 in White and Marsh 2006 defined content analysis as, “a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of their use.” Content analysis is a technique whereby large quantities of texts are organized into much fewer content categories (Weber 1990 in Hsiu-Fang and Shannon 2005). In this light, the present research gathered data from two hundred (200) songs and analyzed forty (40) songs. Therefore, content analysis is a relevant technique for the present paper.

Furthermore, in order to have a true and clear picture of the prevalence of Camfranglais among Cameroonian female musicians, ten top Cameroonian female musicians and ten top Cameroonian male musicians were selected. The lyrics of two or more songs per musician were analyzed to find out the context in which Camfranglais has been used as well as the frequency of its use. The findings were described using content analysis. The lyrics of the musicians were obtained from YouTube, to ensure the authenticity of the lyrics. The lyrics of the music of the Cameroonian male musicians were compared to that of the Cameroonian female musicians. This was to find out if there were any differences in their use of Camfranglais, in what contexts, and to measure the frequency of its use.

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5. Data Analysis 5.1 Camfranglais in the music of Cameroonian Male Musicians The songs of the top ten Cameroonian male musicians (KamerConnect 2019) were selected for this study. They were: Salatiel, Locko, Mr Leo, Ko-C, Stanley Enow, Jovi, Tenor, Tzy Panchak, Magasco, and Blaise B. The researcher printed out the lyrics of ten songs per musician and worked on two songs per musician. The two songs selected were songs that had Camfranglais the most. This was to ensure the validity and the reliability of the data collected.

5.1.1 Salatiel Out of the selected ten songs, five have Camfranglais which are: “Weekend,” fap kolo, touche pas, Anita, and qu’est ce qui n’as pas marché? Let us consider two of his songs.

The first one is “Weekend." In this song, Salatiel does not use a lot of Camfranglais. When he does, he uses it when referring to girls (les gos), boys (mes gars), dressing (sapée) and work (boulot). When you look at les gos and mes gars, you see how Camfranglais gracefully mixes the French articles, les and mes with gos and gars. Go and gar even have English plural forms, s. In addition, gar originates from garcon in French, which means “boy.” Below is an extract of the song.

Les gos sont sapée ... = [les (French) gos (Cameroonian) sont (French) sapée (Pidgin English)] Ce soir on va djeh hii Mais ou sont mes gars Bangando Aujourdhui il n'y a pas boulot ...

Mais ou sont mes gars Mbangando ...

The second song is Fap kolo. Here, Salatiel sings a lot in Camfranglais. The phrases are repeated several times throughout the song. Yé male male is a Camfranglais exclamation to show that trouble has come. It does not have any links to French or English. Don petite soeur means a kind of young girl who lives a free life. This girl taxes everything and everyone, five thousand francs (fap kolo) for gifts and services rendered. When we see les boys, there is a collaboration between the French plural article, les and the English noun in plural, boys. This is another evidence of Camfranglais.

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Yé male, male Don petite soeur dey for rendezvous sans blaguer Anything you want am na fap kolo ... pour les boys (na fap kolo)

5.1.2 Locko The second male Cameroonian musician is Locko. Let us consider the song, Je serai la. In this song, Locko sings in Camfranglais but not in many instances.

Out of the selected ten songs, five have some Camfranglais which are: Je Serai La, Au Marriage De Ma Go, Hein Hein Hein, Même Même Chose, and Ndutu. He does not sing in Camfranglais a lot. He either sings in French or in English.

In the song, Je serai la, he mixes French, English, Pidgin English and some Camfranglais. We see words like ‘muna which means a woman from the South West or Littoral region. He is assuring her of his love (ndolo) even if he has no money (kobo). He pleads with the girl not to deceive (ndem) him because he is head over heels (yamo) with her as if it were a spell (grimba). '.. Muna sawa eh no wanda oh = [muna sawa (Cameroonian) eh no wanda oh (Pidgin English)] Meme si j'ai pas kobo ... J'irai borrow ... Je te ndolo ... I know that i need you girl don't ndem me ... Façon je te yamo la c'est la grimba oh'

The second song is Au Marriage de ma Go. In this song, the artist sings in Camfranglais in some parts of the song. Locko is not known to sing a lot in Camfranglais. He however spices up his lyrics with Camfranglais to be in vogue. The title of this song is in Camfranglais which is catchy to the youths.

The song says he woke up with the strange feeling to attend the wedding of his girlfriend (“go”). So he goes reluctantly (kougna kougna) to the wedding.

Below is an extract of the song.

Troublé je me reveille en ayant ce feeling c’est fini aujourd’hui je vais à ton wedding ... on allait kougna kougna vers le marriage oh

5.1.3 Mr. Leo The third Cameroonian male musician is Mr. Leo. He is known to sing in Camfranglais. Out of the selected ten songs, eight have Camfranglais which

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are: je t’aime, c’est faux, on va gérer, partout, e go beta, on se connait pas, jamais jamais, and j’suis desolé. In most of his music, he assures his lover of his steadfast love. Let us look at the first song, Je t’aime. Mr. Leo sings a lot in Camfranglais in this song. Below is just an extract. The whole song has Camfranglais everywhere. In this song, he swears to his lover that she is the only one he has a relationship with (je kiffe). She has hit or is (frappe) the best in a thousand (le mil). In his heart, she has occupied everywhere (foutu le dawa). He chose her without thinking twice (dire inchalla). ... Je te jure t'es la seule que je kiffe ohoo = [je te jure t'es la seule que je (French) kiffe (Cameroonian)] .. Tu as frappé dans le mil Dans mon coeur t'as foutu le dawa .. Je ne serai pas la cause de tes tracas Je t'ai choisi sans dire inchalla ...

In the second song, C’est Faux, Mr. Leo displays his knowledge of Camfranglais once more. In the song, he tells his lover that since the day they chatted (tchatché), his heart has been telling him to go back to Douala so that she spoils (ndem) him some more. We see the interesting mixture of French and Pidgin English, je back, and newly formulated Camfranglais word, tchatché. Below is an extract. ... Baby depuis le jour qu’on a tchatché ... Mon coeur me dit que je back a Douala ... Que tu me ndem ...

5.1.4 Ko-C Ko-C is the fourth Cameroonian male musician we are considering. Out of the selected ten songs, nine have Camfranglais which are: Ça A Cuit, Bollo C’est Bollo, La Galère, Mon Pala Pala, On S’en Fout, Balancé, Sango, Caro, and Sango. Ça a Cuit is a song that has a lot of Camfranglais. Ko-C is known as a musician who sings a lot in Camfranglais. In the song, Ça a cuit, Ko-C sings in Camfranglais, Pidgin English and French. Even the title of the song is in Camfranglais. In this song, he sings to sensitize youths of the importance of using condoms. He takes the example of a young girl who refused to use condoms and so became pregnant (Belle don Enter). She does not even know who made her pregnant (qui a marqué); so, he is saying she will suffer (Ça a Cuit).

On t’a dit d’utiliser la capote (Ça a Cuit)

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Today the belle don enter (Ça a Cuit) = [“today” (English) “the belle don enter” (Pidgin-English) ça a cuit (Cameroonian expression)] Et tu ne connait pas qui a marqué

In the song, Bollo c’est Bollo, Ko-C sensitizes the public that there is no shame in working to earn a living, even by doing menial jobs. He says a job is a job (Bollo c’est Bollo). The bridge of the song and the title of the song are in Camfranglais. ... I di tell you say bollo c’est bollo eeh Je me redis bollo c’est bollo eeh Et memes si tu gagnes juste un peu d’argent Il faut bosser pour le faire en grand Parce que le bollo c’est le bollo eeh

5.1.5 Stanley Enow All of the ten selected songs of Stanley Enow have Camfranglais which are: Hein Pére, Tumbuboss, Nyongo, Tu vas Lire L’heure, Good Day, Caramel, King Kong, Njama Njama Cow, My Way, and Bounce. His songs are mostly about life and not love or romance.

Let us consider Hein Pére. This song has Camfranglais in every line.

Enow is addressing all his boys (mes gars) in the streets (mboko). He says they in the neighborhood (au quat) are feeling high. He also addresses the slay queens (mami nyanga) who wear high heels (koss koss). He also makes use of rhyming scheme in his songs. This artist sings a lot in Camfranglais. Even the title of this song is in Camfranglais.

Pour tous mes gars du mboko, mes tatats ...Nous on est au quat on est high pére (High Pére) Et comme mes gars du mboko on dit hein pére ...Mami nyanga rouge à levres, koss koss Straight bensikin wanna see Mr Cosmos

Looking at the second song, Tumbuboss, we find a lot of Camfranglais and Pidgin English. Tumbuboss is a song that children sing in school. Stanley Enow just gathered a collection of those children’s play songs and made music out of it. Here again, the song has nothing to do with romance. He is talking about a boy who wants a breakthrough (pekcé) in life. Most of the song is in Camfranglais.

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... Hey nouch yes boy!

I don waka no be small you know boy I don carry back tire work boy - boy This is me Gaou veut pekcé boy Asséée Mama Sarah...

5.1.6 Jovi Out of the selected ten songs, seven have Camfranglais which are: Mentality, Man Pass Man, Sok Sok, Zéle, Et P8 Koi, Devil no Di Sleep, and Pimentcam.

Mentality is a song about life’s struggles. A man would order for drinks (shack) when he has no money (doh) in his pocket. People struggle to make a name (repping). The Camfranglais he uses does not have much of French. It is mostly Pidgin English and Camfranglais. ... How you order shack wey doh no dey for your bag Repping so hard now we all on the map

The second song is Man Pass Man, Pt 3. Just like his other song above and the songs of Stanley Enow, the song has no message of romance. In this song, Jovi sings a lot in Camfranglais. The interesting part of the Camfranglais here is the mixture of the Pidgin English common among the old (tanap, sika say) and the Pidgin English among youths (level, men them, nkon), mixed with Camfranglais (tremblé, chombe).

Level wey man don reach these men them no want war I tanap ontop beat die man go sleep for floor Jovi no di tremblé sika say I short Tory long only nkon even when a chombe start ...

5.1.7 Tenor The seventh male Cameroonian musician is Tenor. Out of the selected ten songs, six have Camfranglais which are: Do le Dab, Comme D’habitude, Salauds, Alain Parfait, Kaba Ngondo, and Ce Que Je Veut. His songs have a lot of insults. He sings mostly about people, people’s lifestyle, and nothing about love and romance.

Let us consider Do le Dab. Most of this song is in Camfranglais. In this song, Tenor says, dressed to kill (sapé jusqu’a la mort), Papa Wemba who is another musician, looks very good (est die) in Dolce Gabanna. He continues by saying if you don’t like us, we will do (on do) as usual (d’hab), putting our

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glasses on (bicep) and act like we cannot see (gné) you. Then he insults, Connard ... Sapé jusqu’à la mort, papa Wemba est die en Dolce Gabanna Si tu nous aimes pas, on do commes d’hab Bicep sur les yeux on te gné pas, Connard!

Comme d’habitude is another song where Tenor describes a lady (go) who is infatuated with him because she heard him sing. She tries to get into his heart (bollait dans mon binks) using her sultry gaze (yeux doux). This song is mostly in French but has some Camfranglais. ... Délecte son jus parce que la go m’a écouté chanté ...Elle fait les yeux doux pour bollait dans mon binks

5.1.8 Tzy Panchak Out of the selected ten songs, five have Camfranglais which are: na so, ngueme, mon bebe, grind, and last last.

In Na so, he mixes Pidgin English, French and Camfranglais. This is another musician who does not sing much on romance. In this song, Tzy Panchak gives some lessons on life. He explains how enemies backstab (frape le dou) but God sees his work (bolo). ... Quand tu turne on te frape le dou Mem quand tu chante Namundo Les ennemies sont comme came no go Mes mon Dieu voir me bolo ehh

In the second song, Ngueme, he talks about poverty (ngueme). He says the President has asked us to go to the farm (chant) but he prefers to travel abroad to take care (jere) of his family. The song is mostly in Pidgin English.

Camfranglais is only littered here and there in the song. The title however is in Camfranglais.

Popo say make we go chant ... Me I want make waka, di jere all family

5.1.9 Magasco Out of the selected ten songs, four have Camfranglais which include: Créme de la Créme, kongossa, sokoto, and Bella. Magasco does not sing much in

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Camfranglais. He mostly sings in his local language, English, and French.

Magasco is a musician who sings a lot on romance.

Créme de la Créme is a romantic song. Magasco sings that he is mesmerized (scotché) by the looks of his lover. He has been told that she is a bad girl but he does not care. The lyrics of this song are in Pidgin English, French and Camfranglais.

Je suis scotché à ton regard On me dit que tu es bad girl Mama je m’en fou

The second song is Kongossa. He says he who likes to gossip (kongossa) will die. The song is in French and Pidgin English with just very few expressions in Camfranglais.

Toi qui aime le kongossa Tu va mourir

5.1.10 Blaise B Out of the selected ten songs, only two have Camfranglais, which are: Allo and On Fait comment. He sings mostly in Pidgin English and French. Most of Blaise’s songs portray how girls have jilted him. He is usually a victim of deceit. Allo is a song which is mostly in French with just a few expressions in Camfranglais (tourne le dos).

I jet lee for your love est ce que I lie (lie) ... mais tu me tourne le dos pourquoi

The second song, On fait comment, has very few expressions in Camfranglais which are repeated several times. Ça c’est ma go

To conclude the analysis of the Cameroonian male musicians, one can make the following remarks: the first remark is that, out of ten male musicians, four of them sing on romance; one is flexible, which means he sings on both romance and social phenomena; and five sing on social phenomena.

Secondly, there was no specific context in which Camfranglais is used exclusively. Camfranglais was therefore used to refer to drinks, boys, girls, work, love and no particular subject. Thirdly, apart from using Camfranglais to reach out to fans, the male musicians also used French, even the musicians

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who hail from the English-speaking part of the country. This could be explained by the fact that a larger part of the country speaks French.

5.2 Camfranglais in the music of Cameroonian Female Musicians The songs of the top ten Cameroonian female musicians (KamerConnect 2019) were selected for this study. They are: Daphne, Blanche Bailly, Nabila, Mimie, Ewube, Reniss, Shura, Mel B Akwen, Askia, and Museba. The researcher printed out the lyrics of ten songs per musician and analyzed two songs per musician. The two songs selected were songs that had Camfranglais the most. This was to ensure the validity and the reliability of the data collected.

5.2.1 Daphne Out of the selected ten songs, seven have Camfranglais. They are: Promets Moi, Calée, Jusqu’a La Gare, La Bas, Ne Lâche Pas, Doucement, and Ndolo.

Daphne is known for her romantic lyrics. Her music is mostly about a lady professing strong feelings to a man. She mixes English, French, a Cameroonian language (Ma Ding Wa) and Camfranglais (Ndolo).

Promets Moi is about a lady assuring her lover that he is the only lover she has. The song is in French mostly, with some English and Camfranglais.

C’est toi aaahhh I am sure and I want you to know say bébé ma ding wa é (C’est Toi aaahhh) Oh Bae tu es mon seul et unique cheri you’re my main man (c’est toi aaahhh) Le battement de mon coeur ah ndolo é (c’est toi aaahhh)

In the second song, Calée, Daphne sings of a lady who has found love in a man and refuses to let go. There is an interesting mix of Pidgin English and Camfranglais tu know. Tu is French for you and know is Pidgin English because it is not preceded by an article. I don di (Pidgin English) gauge (Camfranglais) you. Le gars la me bole is Camfranglais for that boy is killing me with his looks.

Je veut que tu know que je t’aime ... I don di gauge you for so long ...Le gars - là me bolé avec son regard

5.2.2 Blanche Bailly All of the selected ten songs have Camfranglais. They are: Doudou, Argent, Mimbayeur, Jaloux, Ton Pied Mon Pied, Bonbon, Mes Respects, Kam We Stay, Dinguo,and Dégage. Blanche Bailly, in her songs, tells stories of women who

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will not tolerate disrespect in relationships. In some songs, the lady professes love, like the song illustrated below.

In Doudou, Blanche Bailly says her lover should take her heart as a gift (cadeau) because she loves (ndolo) him. The lyrics are in English, French (cadeau) and some Camfranglais (ndolo).

Take my heart Cadeau ... Je te ndolo ndolo ehyiii

Argent is a song about the luxuries of life. This song is mostly in Camfranglais (nkap, take les jet). She also spices the song with her local language (lagdeh fah meh).

Argent, nkap, argent Je veux aussi take les jet comme Papa Eto’o (ekieu) Rouler dans des grosses caisses comme ma co coco Suis un etre humain pas different des autres Money if I vex you lagdeh fah meh money oh money

5.2.3 Nabila Out of the selected ten songs by Nabila, five have Camfranglais. They are: Ça Va Aller, Ça Ira, Dis Moi, Il est La, and Prends Ma Main. Nabila does not sing a lot on romance. In the song, Ça va Aller, Nabila sings to encourage someone struggling financially. She sings that if you are looking for a job (boulot), it will be fine someday. If you have no money (dos) now, things will still work out fine, she says be steady (molo), money (dos) will come. Most of the lyrics of this song are in Camfranglais.

Tu cherches le boulot (ça va aller) T’as pas les dos (ça va aller) Vas-y molo (ça va aller). Tu veux les dos (227 ava aller) 227 ava aller

Ca Ira” is also a song of encouragement. This time, she is encouraging a lover to forget their problems (sourcis) just for the night and everything will be fine. She assures him that her love is not a scam (talakou). The rest of her songs are mostly in French and English with a few words in Camfranglais.

5.2.4 Mimie Out of the selected ten songs by Mimie, seven have Camfranglais. These are: Ma’aleh, J’avance, Faya, Ten Ten, Je M’en Fou, Il Partition, and Django. Mimie mostly sings about life in general.

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In Ma’aleh, she sings that her family and friends tried to introduce her to fetishism (marabouts, Alamimbou) but she does not believe in magical powers. However, she is confident that she will marry one day. This song is in French, Pidgin English, a Cameroonian language and Camfranglais.

Ma famille m’a emmené chez les marabouts Les amies m’ont bring aussi chez Alamimbou

J’avance is a song of self-encouragement. It is a song not to care about small talks (le tcho-tchori) because they are too small (kougna kougna). She adds that every time she sings, they are affected (ya bad) but she will keep moving forward. The song is in French, Pidgin English and Camfranglais (ndoti, kougnakougna, tcho-tchori).

Le chien aboie Et la caravane passe Suis mon regard ah ... All this too much too much talking na ndoti ... Ils sont là kougna kougna pour le tcho-tchori

5.2.5 Ewube Out of the selected ten songs, three have Camfranglais. They are: Compliqué, Laisse-moi T’aimer, and Kpékpé. Ewube does not sing a lot in Camfranglais.

Her songs are mostly on romance. Compliqué is a story of how complicated life is. It is not a story of romance. The singer says there is a lot of envy (macabo), people do not care about you (te gere pas) but you must move on.

Most of the song is in French. It has Pidgin English and a little Camfranglais.

Ton macabo dans toutes les bouches Quand tu as faim on te gere pas

The second song, Laisse moi T’aimer is a story of romance. She is persuading her lover to let her love him (te yamo, te ndolo). This phrase in Camfranglais is repeated several times throughout the song.

Laisse-moi te yamo Let me love you Laisse-moi t’aimer Laisse-moi te ndolo

This song too is mostly in English; it has some French and Camfranglais.

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5.2.6 Reniss All of the ten selected songs by Reniss have a lot of Camfranglais infused in them. Her songs are mostly vulgar. The songs are: La Sauce, Pilon, Commando, Manamuh, Eya Eya, Nyama Nyama, Dashiki, On Dit Quoi, Wusai, and Na You. La Sauce (Dans la Sauce) is a vulgar song on the female genitalia. She is asking for the charm (grimba) of a single genital (ta sauce). The lyrics are mostly French and some Camfranglais (grimba, ta sauce, bole).

O moussongo na weti oh, situation a changé ...

Donne - moi le grimba de ta sauce hein ...

When soup don bole massa fufu no di pass

Pilon is another vulgar song, this time of the male genitalia. The song has Camfranglais words like talons, jong, ntong, pilon, on came.

Avec les talons On a la jong Tu as la ntong Le pilon Apelle moi pilon On came pour piler

Many of Reniss’s songs are in Ngemba (a Cameroonian language), French, some Pidgin English and some Camfranglais.

5.2.7 Shura Out of the selected ten songs, four have Camfranglais which are: Allez Dire, Run, Viola Moi, and Nyamangoro.

Allez Dire is athe story of a caring girlfriend who does not care about what people are saying to criticize the way she cares for her lover. She says people will get angry (faché) when she visits with food (dammé), washes or irons his clothes but she does not care. They would say her man is poor (galère) but they will be shocked (choqué). This song is mostly in Camfranglais with some Pidgin English.

Some people go faché Say when I di come for ya house I di cam with ya dammé

In Run, she is asking her lover to run to the wind or the river, to struggle to rekindle their love because the love she had for him is gone. Most of her

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songs are in English, Pidgin English, French (cours vers le vent) and very little Camfranglais (ndolo).

If you di fine that ndolo wey I be get for you

5.2.8 Mel B Akwen All of the ten selected songs by Akwen have Camfranglais but not much. The songs are: Dixans, Bella, Commando, Frappé, Ndele, Affaire D’amour, For Once in my Life, Chakara, Wanda, and Supa.

Dixans is a song where Mel B Akwen expresses disappointment with a man who wastes ten years of a lady’s life yet marries another. The song is mostly French and very little Camfranglais expressions (wayo).

I don di wait ti wee, juska juska juska oh

Bella is the second song. The song is mostly Pidgin English and French. It has very little Camfranglais (ton dos, mbere).

I swear toujours je vais avoir ton dos oh ...

You go turn me to mbere I go lock you for jail kaki mbere

5.2.9 Askia Out of the selected ten songs, seven have Camfranglais which are: Let’s Talk, Mami Bakala, Crooks, No Worry Me, Addiction, Ma Valour, and Sakani. She sings mostly about life experiences. Let’s Talk is mostly in English and very little Camfranglais (e.g., for di pays, perika).

For di pays open eye na normal thing Perika no get for grow ...

Mami Bakala is also a song on life experiences. This song has a lot of Camfranglais. She says money (Budget) has made her consider many things; that women (ngah) have become prostitutes, adding that we work (bolo), we spend (ont chop) and party (ont jong).

Budget di make am ma head don di turn ...

Ngah them di waka di open their foot ...

On bolo ont chop et ont jong pére

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5.2.10 Museba Museba is the tenth Cameroonian female musicians. She sings about romance and life experiences too. Out of the selected ten songs, four have Camfranglais which are: Gossip Hallelujar, African Mama, Owase, and Nayo slowly. The lyrics of Gossip Hallelujar are mostly in Pidgin English and very little Camfranglais (bouge, bobards).

Oya bouge pour ta vie Oublie tous ce bobards

The second song is African Mama. The song is about a hustler who does not care about the envious people around.

Dance like you be zombie I don dey go, I don dey go I don dey go, I don dey go gaga Oh ya coupe, décaillé mo

Here, there is some Camfranglais (wangolo, coupé décaillé) here and there. The song has French, Pidgin English and a local language.

To conclude on the analysis of the Cameroonian female musicians, a few points were noticed. Firstly, two out of the ten female musicians sing mostly on life experiences and little or no romance. This is the opposite of the male musicians who sing mostly on life experiences. This suggests that the women may be more sensitive to romance than the men. Secondly, there were no particular songs where Camfranglais was used predominantly or exclusively.

6. Findings It is important to note a few findings from the data presented above. The data revealed that both the male and the female Cameroonian musicians sing in Camfranglais.

6.1 On the Question of Context No particular context for the use of Camfranglais was noticed in the songs analyzed. The male musicians did not use Camfranglais in specific contexts which were different from those of the female musicians. That is, both male and female musicians used Camfranglais when singing about girls, boys, relationship, food, love or heartbreak. The difference lies in the frequency, that is, how much of Camfranglais the musicians use.

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6.2 On the Question of Frequency Of the top ten Cameroonian male musicians, two (Blaise B and Magasco) do not sing a lot in Camfranglais. Meanwhile out of the top ten Cameroonian female musicians, four of them do not sing a lot in Camfranglais. These are Mel B Akwen, Shura, Ewube and Museba. In other words, more Cameroonian male musicians use Camfranglais than the Cameroonian female musicians.

7. Conclusion From the foregoing, it will be safe to say that the hypotheses were partially confirmed. The first hypothesis stated that there would be no difference in the contexts within which Camfranglais is used in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that of Cameroonian male musicians. This assertion was confirmed because both the male and female Cameroonian musicians used Camfranglais in no particular order or context. The second hypothesis stated that there will be no difference between the frequency of the use of Camfranglais in the music of Cameroonian female musicians and that of Cameroonian male musicians. This hypothesis seems only partially correct.

Two out of the top ten male musicians used Camfranglais sparingly as opposed to the four out of the top ten female musicians; the difference therefore does not seem significant. However, the difference cannot be completely overlooked, as it goes without saying that, from the data, more Cameroonian male musicians use Camfranglais in their music (eight out of ten) than the Cameroonian female musicians (six out of ten). In other words, there is some dichotomy in usage here, though it does not seem very much.

Also, there is the issue of precedence, as it was Cameroonian male musicians that first started singing in Camfranglais (Lapiro 1985; Koppo 2003), which became popular after Koppo’s Si tu vois ma go. Currently, some female musicians have taken the baton and are equally excelling in it. Camfranglais, which is considered a language for the carefree or as belonging to the male domain, is now being used a lot by the female gender in the field of music.

This is an interesting finding in a society in which the standard gender stereotype is that women are or should be courteous in manner and speech.

While this background would suggest that women may not be inclined towards the use of a language like Camfranglais, which is typically associated with the opposite values; however, this has proved not to be so.

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Blog for DataDriven Business. https://www.intellspot.com/qualitative-data-analysis-methods/ White, Marilyn Domas and Emily E. Marsh. 2006. “Content analysis: A Flexible Methodology.” Library Trends 55 (1): 22- 45. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2006.0053

Musicography Askia, Karin. 2015. No worry me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOcbsd0xzLU Askia, Karin. 2017. Ma Valeur. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8euQHNwPwk Askia, Karin. 2018. Mami Bakala. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvMfNKfq78o Askia, Karin. 2019.Let's Talk. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL9OYw_VXtx Askia, Karin. 2020. Addiction. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohAdn-1j8ts&t=34s Askia, Karin. 2020. Crooks. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hlIu01tTV0 Aska, Karin. 2020. Sakani. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZssUqrvzGE Blaise B. 2021. Alló. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBc1Ny3fTzA Blaise B. 2018. On fait comment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T32lbgZLBmM Blaise B. 2015. Eposi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al5NSQ19G1M Blaise B. 2019. Mon Mieux. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP6M4egJtsc Blaise B. 2018. Mama. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUUFurmoopo Blaise B. 2020. Akwandor Santuary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aff8WrK3xNg Blaise B. 2020. Mr. Romantic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFfc_QGlVG0 Blaise B. 2018. No Tomorrow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0t4vdZGS0 Blaise B. 2017. Pour Moi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdOPT2fegW8 Blaise B. 2016. Marry You. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69uXbPUySL8 Blanche Bailly. 2021. Dou dou. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIpakggtzxs Blanche Bailly. 2019. Argent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qMoMTnxRno Blanche Bailly. 2017. Mimbayeur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1lBkyLASX0 Blanche Bailly. 2018. Bobon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ORW55NSEc Blanche Bailly. 2021. Jaloux. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6BxXYhlLZ8 Blanche Bailly. 2019. Ton pied mon pied. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgxPoqAnik4

234 ELIZABETH BI MAONDO ABANG Blanche Bailly. 2020. Mes respects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkt-cC23e_c Blanche Bailly. 2016. Kam we stay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5S_eFPbAuE Blanche Bailly. 2017. Dinguo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMlKUykCV5I Blanche Bailly. 2021. Dégage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSsaHJChew Daphne. 2017. Promets Moi. Very New Best Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM1t-BPinsk Daphné. 2017. Calée. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs0IChj82GE Daphné. 2017. Jusqu’a la gare. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3TL0D32A7o Daphné. 2019. La bas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uv8U8M4lbc Daphné. 2019. Ne lâche pas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uv8U8M4lbc Daphné. 2019. Doucement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp69JC5xxT0 Daphné. 2016. Ndolo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6cxP_a5Dz8 Ewube. 2020. Compliqué. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHTt4lfYizE Ewube. 2020. Laisse-moi t’aimer. Album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHdMEhRodKc Ewube. 2021. Kpé kpé. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkn3gtkbkU8 Jovi. 2020. Mentality. Young Vizu. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBJuT2mZ-wQ Jovi. 2021. Man pass man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weesAxWmIPs Jovi. 2020. Sok Sok. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWfwxaO8DMc Jovi. 2015. Zéle. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn4ZnPwg8jw Jovi. 2014. Et p8 koi. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-MxgvJdEdA Jovi. 2017. Devil no di sleep. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc07aZOKAg0 Jovi. 2018. Pimentcam. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS3vTuHjAvQ Ko-C. 2019. Ça a cuit. Ça a cuit Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8zsgFwzHrw Ko-C. 2017. Bollo c'est bollo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhM4g3uR-mc Ko-C. 2021. La galère. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8XdKCajmUU Ko-C. 2020. Mon pala pala. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4jeQDuaMo8 Ko-C. 2019. On s’en fout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii-OmC5Bhz0 Ko-C. 2018. Balancé. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MhIx8lsrm4 Ko-C. 2018. Sango. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwCSIvgeO_M Ko-C. 2018. Caro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXhkdPHH7VA Locko 2018. Je serai la. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVWT8SInlSE Locko. 2020. Au marriage de ma go. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqYYl4KMDZs Locko. 2018. Hein hein hein. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se_O_TKVV9Y Locko. 2020. Même même chose. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VARDjilbcxc Locko. 2016. Ndutu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaH4TkZdWiE Magasco. 2019. Créme de la Créme. Heart Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keTJPH-alFQ Magasco. 2019. Kongossa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esR6gWZ_XnQ Magasco. 2017. Sokoto. Golden Boy Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsVVSfmLWsY Magasco. 2017. Bella. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUzOIurVE44 Mr Leo. 2017. Je t’aime. Original Love Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQGjRREqldE Mr Leo. 2017. C’est faux. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_-a7fYNVk Mr Leo. 2015. On va gérer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVsDB9N6XcA Mr Leo. 2017. Partout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypO3Yd5VaNI Mr Leo. 2014. E go beta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcUGT7k-gyM Mr Leo. 2018. On se connait pas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yofllESgS8 Mr Leo. 2016. Jamais jamais. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTrXHFz4DS4 Mr Leo. 2018. J’suis desolé. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IZj_G7Oxiw Mel B Akwen. 2019. Dixans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRf3KpL5Dmw Mel B Akwen. 2018. Bella. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPuKlI_vu1o Mel B Akwen. 2021. Commando. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFGoOl9sek Mel B Akwen. 2017. Frappé. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KNcRz56Yz8 Mel B Akwen. 2016. Ndele. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvZx01biwx0 Mel B Akwen. 2019. Affaire d’amour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt1WJu2iqzw Mel B Akwen. 2015. Chakara. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAl0LojeciA Mel B Akwen. 2015. Wanda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b79ISKwWrXI Mel B Akwen. 2015. Supa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vJcr22ivE

GENDER DYNAMICS IN CAMFRANGLAIS MUSIC 235 Mimie. 2020. Ma’aleh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iklIGFMyDGE Mimie. 2020. J’avance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9E32OiybJM Mimie. 2021. Faya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMDsDVwhsiU Mimie. 2019. Ten ten. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM_cCzWbbgM Mimie. 2018. Je m’en fou. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9hBm8LeaA8 Mimie. 2018. Django. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhVc2Bm3ZK8 Museba. 2018. Gossip Hallelujar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn7wGPNB7yY Museba. 2014. African Mama. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQINbfPDQP8 Museba. 2021. O wase. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOx41tTYOko Museba. 2011. Nayo slowly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajP9nx6cIj0 Nabila. 2018. Ça va aller. Mon Univers Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y6A1dcuCBk Nabila. 2017. Ça ira. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YALdcK4LLFM Nabila. 2020. Dis moi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4mgEQNuSl8 Nabila. 2019. Il est la. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly8VHnf2MF0 Nabila. 2017. Prends ma main. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5rpsrtI4jI Reniss. 2016. La Sauce. Tendon Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDSapcbf3_I Reniss. 2017. Pilon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9JXkySSYo Reniss. 2020. Commando. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMupMeJUKbQ Reniss. 2017. Manamuh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4B3JUHKUC8 Reniss. 2017. Eya eya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ77YDwxjxc Reniss. 2020. Nyama nyama. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC314NX9MvE Reniss. 2016. Dashiki. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL9C7zM7W20 Reniss. 2018. On dit quoi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWYaC8hX81A Reniss. 2016. Wusai. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCk4VzR6zeo Reniss. 2015. Na you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoZMufZb64E Salatiel. 2018.Weekend. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YabNOMRSezk Salatiel. 2015. Fap kolo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9ogRBw3Ko8 Salatiel. 2020. Touche pas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMJTafbSO-M Salatiel. 2019. Anita. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYagB3K-9co Salatiel. 2017. Qu’est ce qui n’as pas marché. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnbUjpPflsQ Stanley Enow. 2015. Hein pére. Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcc2dAkaOcY Stanley Enow. 2015. Tumbuboss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAHaQxj2PsQ Stanley Enow. 2022. Nyongo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd90juIrjHc Stanley Enow. 2020. Tu vas lire l’heure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAbBnTGztM Stanley Enow. 2019. Good day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODigTGU3iNE Stanley Enow. 2017. Caramel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27vkwlGtRu8 Stanley Enow. 2015. King Kong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnEh1dU7bfY Stanley Enow. 2014. Njama njama cow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgRPI3QjSxU Stanley Enow. 2018. My way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T46oVO0KyCA Stanley Enow. 2016. Bounce. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrudpC6T4hk Shura. 2018. Allez Dire. Album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2GJIjvgqc Shura. 2021. Run. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXZ_1bA1Ss Shura. 2020. Nyamangoro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFxdzZXVBE Tenor. 2016. Do le dab. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1AV068nAEo Tenor. 2020. Comme d’habitude. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDR0ThovrCY Tenor. 2020. Salauds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN4DjqAFyus Tenor. 2019. Alain parfait. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihmpQdTj54 Tenor. 2017. Kaba ngondo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjueyT8D5Nk Tenor. 2020. Ce que je veut. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH1RXTIucxY Tzy Panchak. 2019. Na so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6O7YL3r-9I Tzy Panchak. 2017. Ngueme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWaZgk3A5sQ Tzy Panchak. 2018. Mon bebe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGK06JBI2a4 Tzy Panchak. 2022. Grind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7neNs3o0xRk Tzy Panchak. 2021. Last last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THb5HSyYwCM

10 Fluid Gender Identity Doing in the African Diaspora in New Zealand1 Oluwatoyin Olasimbo Kolawole (University of Otago, New Zealand) Prevailing discourses of cultural norms of roles and expectations of behaviors underlie polarized understanding of gendered identity and frame the experiences and disciplinary practices of young African women in New Zealand cities. The discourses nevertheless create a non-linear fluidity of identity doing that disturbs the notion of a fixed African woman identity. Through references to statements by the participants in my study, I consider how gender presents as a doing of identity. The paper examines how prevailing discourses of gendered cultural norms of roles and expectations of behaviors frame the experiences and disciplinary practices of Black African women in the diaspora. I also examine the language of the women as they negotiate shifting roles and the emerging contradictions in their enactment of gendered norms. In the process, I expose how the field of discourse(s) that a participant inhabits would influence what she can say, do or intend in relationships.

Keywords: New Zealand, African women, diaspora, gender roles, identity, youth, language, resistance.

1. Introduction Arguments advanced by authors such as Oyewumi (1997, 2016), that African societies did not traditionally adhere to gendered expectations in their current forms have formed the fulcrum of discourses on gender in African settings in the past couple of decades. While acknowledging limitations on African women’s agency, as prevailing understandings of gendered norms place women at home as childminders and domestic workers, Amman (2016) nevertheless points out that, because norms change in some form or the other, gender relations among Africans are more nuanced than the binary conclusions of oppressed women versus overemphasized change generalizations in literature would seem to suggest. Grillo and Mazzucato (2008) also argue that traditional gendered roles and their associated negotiations of

1 This chapter derived from a larger study by this author, on Black African women in the

African diaspora in New Zealand (Kolawole 2020). The focus here is on gendered norms and gendered language as deployed by some participants in the study.

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power in partner relations are contested and reconstructed when Africans migrate to Europe. Observations in my research among African women in New Zealand suggest a polarized understanding of gendered roles by the women. The language that they employ sometimes indicates acquiescence and sometimes defiance.

In this chapter, I examine how prevailing discourses of gendered cultural norms of roles and expectations of behaviors frame the experiences and disciplinary practices of Black African women in the New Zealand. Employing the instrument of interview, and drawing attention to elements of language, I consider how gender presents as a doing of identity, premised on understanding from prevailing discourses of social and cultural expectations of Black African women, even in the diaspora. I also examine how the women negotiate shifting roles and emerging contradictions in the enactment of gendered norms in the diaspora. Twenty-two participants, all African women in the diaspora in New Zealand, and mostly in their 20s-30s, were interviewed for the larger study, while statements by five of them were focused upon for this chapter. The objective is to expose how the field of discourse(s) that a participant inhabits would influence what she can say, do or intend, sometimes in imperceptible ways, in gendered relationships.

2. Diaspora Women Constructing the Traditional African Woman Made and Mpofu (2005) had suggested that African women experience unequal power in relationships with men, due to restrictions in role divisions that prescribe labors of food provision for men and homemaking and childminding for women. Similarly, the reflection on gendered role differentiation by participants in this study was premised on these embedded restrictions learned within their family and other cultural environments. The roles were not simple descriptions of functions that men and women performed, as they also involved elements of power play. Gendered roles were couched in binary expressions, which indicated that a man should go outside the home to source sustenance for the family, while the woman stayed at home to do the work of housekeeping, as well as, bearing and raising up children. However, according to Oyewumi in her influential treatise on making an African sense of Western gender discourses (1997), both the category ‘woman’ and the binary appreciation of women’s roles have been anchored on Western perceptions of gender and colonial misrepresentation of African womanhood.

Nonetheless, women in the African diaspora in New Zealand under study harp much on the traditional conception of the woman in Africa.

Participants acquired their narratives of gendered norms primarily from

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older women, who as cultural gatekeepers in privileged positions, performed an influential socializing role for younger women. The older women transferred the talk through traditional and more contemporary means. They enacted and reproduced the talk and language that described their own experiences of colonized and post-colonial African societies, and perhaps unwittingly reproduced the engagement with the inequality in relations it engendered between men and women. This shows clearly in many of the excerpts analyzed in this chapter. For example, Mary’s allusion to the practice of role division between men and women in provision in the extract immediately below, seems to suggest that, traditionally and in many cases contemporaneously, women are not required to make financial contribution to the home even when they have a source of income. Against the background of Oyewumi’s cautionary perspective as briefly summarized above, it would appear that Mary speaks from an imbibed perspective.

Extract 1 Yeah. Traditionally, an African woman is supposed to take care of the home, keeping the home clean, cooking, doing the laundry, shopping and everything that a woman needs to do in running the home. That is what an African woman is supposed to do.

And the men are supposed to go out and bring the money home. …. So, I know most of Africa, even though I am talking in my situation, they work but they never used to have money for their house. The man needs to provide for the house. And also, men don’t help with the housework because they think they provide. (Mary, married)

The gendered notions regarding home keeping and the burden of family finance are linguistically foregrounded to support the expressed view. For example, the disjunctive adverb, “traditionally,” serves to specify the context in which these gender roles and beliefs subsist within the traditional African context. The gender roles are further expressed through the verb “supposed” and “need” which denote necessity and obligation. In addition, the verb, “supposed,” suggests that the gender roles, in which women have the role of keeping the home, cleaning, cooking, etc., while men have the role of providing for the home, are unambiguous and in common knowledge.

Other participants in the study drew on their understanding of traditional gender roles to explain the role of men in expressions such as [A man has to]“go out to hunt and bring meat” (Tiri, 40s, married) and a man “should provide everything” (Mary, 40s, married). Ammann (2016) reported similar beliefs in an empirical study of Muslim women in Guinea, West Africa. She cited the example of a woman who relied on her husband to provide capital for her business, while she retained ownership of the capital and income from the business. In many cases, this traditional structure in which the

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husband is seen as the primary provider holds even when the woman happened to earn a higher income than the man. Gendered role differentiation as a form of gender socialization involves the sharing and transfer of specific cultural messages which guide relations among members of a society (Steinbacher and Holmes 1987). The messages set out the expectations and acceptable practices required of ‘responsible’ members of that society. Eccles, Jacobs, and Harold (1990) argued that there is an assumption that male children are preferred to female children, and there are appropriate behaviors for males and females linked to the practice of patriarchy. As children develop, parents respond to this understanding by assigning different roles and responsibilities to prepare them for their contribution to the family when they become adults. In this study as with others, the burden of house chores fell to girls and young women. Tiri, one of the participants in this study referred to above, perceived that African girls are intentionally prepared to assume responsibility for homemaking when they grow up and get married. In contrast, boys are less burdened, and so, it appears, is their language. Tiri’s narration also suggests that women continue the gender role they are socialized to play from girlhood, even when their adult selves question the role divisions: Extract 2 Even growing up, you would find, as girls, we used to do all the house chores, and then probably maybe the brothers, they’re just told probably maybe you just do the gardening, water the garden. And then everything else, it’s us the girls, who used to do the dishes, clean the house and cook … Yes, so we grow up thinking that, as girls – or then, when we grow up into women, that the kitchen and all these things, that’s our reponsibility. (Tiri, married.)

Similar to Extract 1, the above extract also centers on the gender role of home keeping, which is presented as gendered and understood as the duty of female. “Even growing up...” suggests that gendered roles emanate from practice. While, from a young age, females are made to perform 'all' the house chores, males are dissuaded in a language (i.e.: “probably,” “maybe”) which the boys quickly realize as a license for exemption. The practice impacts or even informs, their belief system: “so we grow up thinking...” This extract thus depicts the process of conditioning through socialization that makes home keeping a gendered role.

As shown in the extract below, specific woman “issues” also become occasions for the interpellation of women into gendered notions of “African

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woman” and the like. A participant describes such induction taking place during what she called a “period party.”

Extract 3 If you’re a girl you come of age, or you have your periods, we would have period party.

I don’t know if [laughing] but it was the most embarrassing thing ever because you would sit there… -I was lucky enough to meet my great grandmother, my mother’s grandmother who was… a hundred and seven [years old] when she died, yeah. And, she, until the day she died… she had an incredible memory which was ridiculous.

You know, she remembered things when she was a very young girl, the wars, everything, and the culture, the way things were. So, my mum aunties, great aunties and my grandmother and my great grandmother and my other aunties from my mom’s family and extended family would sit all girls …having a period for the first time [in a period party] … and the aunties would sit with us and talk to us about becoming a woman, the way of a woman, and in everything, everything, was catered to please the man (Bey, 30s, single).

This extract also reveals the discursive nature of the socialization process that produces a gendered being. This is evident in the reference to the verb, and the verbal process, “talk,” and a pointer to the recipient “us.” The quote also highlights the process of “becoming” discursively gendered through a process of construction.

Some participants spoke of parent(s) or guardian(s) waking them up in the middle of the night to provide advice on appropriate ways to behave.

Angela, 20s, married, highlighted that the foundation for her behavior was “properly laid” through such midnight instructions from her parents. Cultural values were also passed through subliminal messages while participating in traditional events. Ruty, 20s, single, learnt from attending a wedding ceremony that “that’s just the cultural thing at home[land], you have to pay lobola [bride wealth] if you want the girl.” Another participant also witnessed her mother disciplining her recently married aunt to “dish [her] husband’s food first” in a mark of “respect” for him as “head of the family” (Julianne, 40s, widowed). Although participants said that mothers and women in their families were the main source of their socialization to African cultural norms of relationships, some participants also shared that they picked up teachings on gendered norms from other sources: Extract 4 Most times, you learn things not knowing you are learning things. Things you see, things you hear, to a large extent, you are learning. So, it kind of informs your action.

It informs your conclusion. It informs your judgment. So maybe indirectly or directly, I must have maybe from even parents, teachers, I can’t really say this is where.

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Like I told you, even in movies, even in uncles’ stories, reality comes to you, even when it has nothing to do with you. You might be passing [by] and you just like, eh, you might go to the market, you will hear some people who are so loud[ly] discussing their family. Oh, this person is not doing this, he’s not doing that. You have friends who maybe might be facing some kinds of challenges, maybe parental challenges, oh, my dad does not do this, oh my mom, you know, stuffs like that. You begin to pick these stuffs. You balance one or two things together and it informs your judgment.

So, some you read in school, some you read from [news]papers, or you read from books (Angela, 20s, married).

The data extract from Angela presents the effect of not being mindful to challenge stereotypic representations wherever they are met. She notes how it influences people’s thoughts and invariably shapes their actions. The extract in short details ways by which gender norms and roles, beliefs and practices are acquired, that is, by learning. The frequent repetition of the lexeme “learning,” including its relexified variant “pick,” underscores this. There is also multiple reference to the process, which may be subtle, indirect and unconscious, and the diverse agency or source of indoctrination, including the environment, parents, teachers, movies, stories, books, and daily events and activities.

The regulation of the place of women in African societies therefore extends beyond fulfilling the primary role of housekeeper and bearer and minder of children. The potential to achieve wifehood and motherhood status was premised on prescriptions of appropriate behaviors assumed to attract male partners. As Bartky (2014) explained, women may engage in what are assumed to be “appropriate” behaviors in order to attract and or sustain male interest in them. Some participants in this study also assumed there would be undesirable consequences, if they did not behave in the manner that African societies expected of them. The social reality underpinning this belief may be gleaned from the examination of an old and popular Yoruba poem in the epigraph below titled Toju Iwa re Ore Mi (“Take heed of your character, my friend”; trans Oloruntoba-Oju 2007).

Tàbí bí o sì se obìnrin rọgbọdọ BÌ o ba jìnà sí 'wa tí èdá 'nfé, Taní jé fé o s'ílé bí aya? (“And even if you happen to be a plump beauty But you distance yourself from required behaviour Who would consent to take you home as wife?” (J.F. Odunjo; translation by Oloruntoba-Oju 2007)

The purport of this poem retains currency in contemporary times, as it continues to be recited in various forms in popular music (Oloruntoba-Oju

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2007). The threat in the poem amounts to what Oloruntoba-Oju named “capital censure” (n.p.), as what he calls “beauty synthesis” in Yoruba philosophy encapsulates physical appearance and good morals (as defined by the society), and places restrictions of the behavior on women but hardly men. It is clear from the poem that acting in accordance with ‘required’ behavior has more value than physical appearance in men’s choice of partners.

By implication, the admonition in the poem also carries with it the threat of a foreclosure of marriage and motherhood, as the society decries the expression of sexuality outside of marriage. Fakoya (2007) had also observed that proverbs and other pithy sayings contribute to cultural beliefs and behaviors that foster an imbalance in gender relations in African societies.

The experiences relayed by participants in this study of how the discourse shaped their identity and continue to influence their representation and worldview, indicate that the informal transfer of cultural understandings and expectations is no less effective than those transmitted through formalized avenues of recorded knowledge and published opinions in academia and journalism respectively, as observed by Van Dijk (2005). The acculturation of daughters into societal expectations of women by their mothers was so effective, in some participants’ experience, that it constrained them from adapting to other ways of being in the diaspora. Interestingly, most participants said their fathers and other men in their families were not involved in sharing knowledge about cultural norms or expectations in relationships, although men are the obvious beneficiaries of the cultural disciplining of women into subjects who respond to and perpetuate gendered norms. It is possible that men maintain the traditions precisely by not teaching their sons to have different expectations of the women and themselves in relationships. A participant observed that men only relate with their sons on issues of safer sex and sports: Extract 5 … But then also, I think there is a big lack in, not discipline, but in upbringing for and advice for African men on how to treat the African woman. And like, how to be in relationships instead of just having the woman drive the relationship, and them just being a part of it. … And I feel like the fathers of our African men need to be more involved in their sons [lives] when it comes to emotional dealing and relationships and talking about women, instead of just talking to them about safe sex. They need to also talk to them about how to respect and how to treat a woman, instead of just worrying about, oh is my son going to win in his soccer match this weekend, you know? [Makes face]. (Daneel, 24, in a relationship)

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The experience shared by Daneel also illustrate the frustration that a onesided expectation of responsibility for relationship building (summarized as “a big lack”). Daneel also notes that, “It always is up to the woman whether or not peace is being made, even if it [the problem] is not her fault.” The narratives of participants suggest that they shared an understanding that the responsibility for maintaining a relationship is the woman’s. Indeed, in contrast to the array of prescriptions of appropriate behaviors set out for women, participants did not relate any prescriptions for men, other than their primary role of breadwinner.

3. Transferring African Women’s Understanding of Roles into the Diasporic Household Patterson and Kelley (2000) had observed that the historical construction of the African diaspora is not a unidirectional narrative, but one with intersecting layers of identity construction influenced by socio-cultural and political expressions. Patterson and Kelly noted that diaspora as a “dispersal” is both a process and a condition; it is always in the making as a process and, situated within global race and gender hierarchies as a condition. The authors concluded that it is this characteristics of diaspora as a dispersal that makes it amenable to change where required. Grillo and Mazzucato (2008) found that the renegotiation of gendered roles in African diaspora families in Europe was associated with reduction in the elevated traditional status of men. This gave women greater freedoms in some families, while the accompanying tensions and conflicts created resistance and division in others. Similar tensions and conflicts were narrated in this study. However, although there was a shift in the expectations of sole provision by men, the economic empowerment of women was hardly accompanied by a direct challenge to the status of men. This is similar to findings by Ammann (2016) who observed that men retained decision making power in households even when their partners helped out financially. The observation in this study, as well as Amman’s, therefore differed from the observations of other studies, that Turkish (Erman 1997) and Colombian women (Meertens and Segura‐Escobar 1997) gained increased decision-making power within households, because of improved access to economic opportunities in the context of migration.

This observed difference appears to be because cultural norms of role divisions remained relevant for the women in this study, even though they lived in the diaspora. Although they worked and had financial resources, unlike when women had only unrecompensed domestic labor and relied on

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men for their daily needs (Made and Mpofu 2005), there remained an expectation that men would provide for the household. Women adjusted to a changing role for men while their own traditional roles remained unchanged.

The experience recounted by Tiri provided a vivid illustration of this phenomenon: Extract 6 … [Laughing] because, back home, he would probably have to do all that [pay bills], because our culture, that’s what it’s saying…But I find when –coming to New Zealand, it was a little bit different because in my situation, everything had to be like sort of half-half. Like, if it’s the rentals that we were paying, then, we had to contribute – my husband would contribute half of that and I have to contribute half of that…That’s my problem, because I wish it the equality would go into all the different sides of life because when it comes to cleaning, I am to clean. This love. Laundry, everything. I still have to do it the same way I was doing it back home. So, there’s no change there.

And I’m still expected to – when I come home, to cook and do all those things, and yet when it comes to this part [bills], it’s oh yeah, it’s half-half... so that’s when I’m finding there’s actually no equality. To be honest, yes, yeah, umh, that’s what I’m finding…. I have never actually had a conversation with him because I was told that it’s my job. So, I just continue to do it. (Tiri, married)

The contradictions were more complicated than women adjusting to the shifting role of men. Women were also torn between wanting help from the men and rejecting help from men when they perceived a threat to their constructed gender identity. The modification of roles in the diaspora was therefore fraught with contradictions as women juggled multiple identities.

Wilentz (1992) had pointed out that a woman’s engagement with norms and who she becomes as a person in her own right are greatly influenced by how fully she was socialized into African cultural values and traditions. Tiri who was not “faze[d]” by the unfamiliar requirement to share financial responsibility equally with her husband, would, at the same time, not countenance her husband taking over her role of cooking and making house. This is despite that earlier in her narrative, she had decried the challenge of juggling a busy career and homemaking without help. She had also expressed a desire for equal sharing of housekeeping responsibilities as they do with their financial commitments when she said, “Okay, let’s half-half the housework then, let’s half-half the cooking, let’s half-half this, you know?” (Tiri, 40s, married).

Reference to “back home” is understood as the African society, and the expression is explicated as implying that the husband or man in Africa pays all the bills. The use of the modal “would” as well as “probably” however serves to hedge the degree of generalization. Such hedging generally marks

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the language of uncertainty a number of participants employed. The interviewee equally cites “culture” as a proof of her depiction of the gender role of family finance in Africa.

Remarkably, Tiri’s cultural conditioning to do housework interfered with her husband’s readiness to adapt to the practices of their host country by helping out in the kitchen. She would attempt to relieve her husband of the burden of house chores immediately she arrived home: Extract 7 …So, I’m finding that he’s also trying to adapt to this western situation where he knows if I’m not home, and he’s home early, he can start cooking, and then when I get home and he’s cooking, I will be sometimes, – “oh, can I just finish off”? And, he will say, “Oh, no, just sit and relax” … So, at least now [laughing] it’s better. (Tiri, 40s, married)

The power of socialization or indoctrination manifests in the ambivalent attitude to the question of “equality.” Whereas this participant is happy to share financial responsibilities with her spouse within the new Western environment, she is not able to completely let go of domestic routines in areas that she has been conditioned to consider as core feminine domains within the household, even when her spouse has agreed to relieve her of some of the chores. The extract therefore reveals once again how socialization or indoctrination significantly determines gender roles. All of this also suggests that gender roles and norms are often rooted in culture, and are culture specific in man.

While dual consciousness towards enactment of gendered traditional expectations was evident for some participants, others were content with the minimal help they got from their husbands in managing house chores, despite that they had stated a preference for a more equitable sharing of home responsibilities. Barbie was concerned about her husband being busier because he would go out to work and returned to help with some chores at home. She did not express the same concern for herself, although she also would go out to work, do house chores and care for the children.

Extract 8 I can say he- there’s more commitment from him in terms of family time. Because in Africa there were times, because African men have the mentality of they don’t belong, yes the home is where they come back to, but they don’t see it like they should spend all of their time there. It’s actually a woman’s job to look after the family and they provide. But in terms of living abroad, there’s a shift, I can say there’s a shift in yeah, they provide, but at the same time, there’s no grandma to look after the kids, there’s no maid to, you know [smiles], to leave the kids to and my husband sees it’s a lot of

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work ‘cause sometimes at some point we were both working so there was no it’s my responsibility to look after the home, it was our responsibility. So, he would come home and you know, help with chores at home, and you know, spend time with the kids and having to juggle that with getting back to work to provide. So, I think it’s, it’s busier for him but I see there’s more of a sense of commitment to family as opposed to when we lived in Africa before we arrived (Barbie, 30s, married).

This extract compares gender roles from the perspective of the male in two settings: African setting and western setting. The interviewee notes that this may owe to African men's “mentality” that they do not belong to the private space of the home. Such language of exoneration or condonation again suggests that gender role practices in Africa are rooted in cultural ideologies and beliefs. Adichie (2014) discussed similar self-effacing behavior by a married woman who expressed gratitude to her husband when he changed their child’s nappy, despite that she does most of the housework when they return from the same job. She highlighted how a woman may continue to be vulnerable to societal expectations of her gender.

It is noteworthy that none of the participants who were married to African men indicated that their partner never helped. It would appear from their stories that part of the issue was that women sometimes felt frustrated that the pace of change towards mutual responsibility for domestic chores and parenting was slow, compared to how quickly the expectation for men to provide sustenance for the family was modified in the diaspora. The participants’ narratives also suggested that it was not the case that men were always sole providers for material needs of the family even while in the homeland. Ess provided the financial resources for her partner’s passage to New Zealand. Mary also shared responsibility for finances with her husband whilst in her home country in Africa.

Extract 9 Initially when I was back home, he was mostly using his money for projects like putting up our future home and then I was also using mine to take care of the house. And then, back home, I think my financial position was higher than his, so if I get more, then some also goes to the project that we are undertaking. And we do that including even helping our families, when it comes to helping our families, both of us put our monies together and we use it to help our families. (Mary, 40s, married)

Again, the phrase “back home,” is invoked, but this time to express an apparent contradiction. Contrary to the traditional gender role on finance in the family in which it is the sole responsibility of the man to take care of the finances, both the wife and husband share in the financial responsibility of the family even back home. The wife even seems to contribute more, going by

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this extract. The deictic 'that' provides reference to the fact that, even in Africa, gender roles may be fluid. Indeed, Voices4Change (2015) had also observed similar role shifting in an empirical study conducted in Nigeria with the support of the UK Department For International Development. They found that attitudes and behaviors regarding traditional gendered roles were shifting and that the widely held belief that a man should provide for his family’s material needs, was hardly borne out in contemporary practice.

They noted the burden that men feel to meet this expectation within a harsh economic climate and observed that women’s access to economic opportunities was contributing to the shift, with some women supporting their husbands in financial provision for the family. This realization paves the way for a change from the language of exoneration to the language of resistance, even if some tentativeness still shows in this latter language.

4. Resistance to African Gendered Norms in the Diaspora The intrusion of modernity and living abroad began to change the scripts that African parents passed to their children in the diaspora. There appeared to be a realization that the old traditions may not hold; therefore, parents tend to moderate the advice given to their young. The parents appeared to be constrained by both pull and push factors. On the one hand, they are motivated by a desire not to indoctrinate their children in what they apparently consider to be discomforting gender norms. Here, they simultaneously experience a push factor, which moves them away from “home,” and a pull factor that draws them to the new realities. On the other hand, however, they are or appear to be equally wary of the reality that their children who grow up abroad may “follow western ways” in their host country and have no understanding of the norms of the homeland.

The domain of sex and sexuality is one of those in which gendered norms of home and the diaspora tends to clash. Parents try to manage the conflict by being subtle rather than direct in raising issues relating to gender norms, or by not relating them directly to their African origins, but the younger or more youthful women tend to spearhead a kind of resistance.

This accords with the notion that being youth often correlates with deviant behavior including resistant language use (Lee 2016).

Extract 10 Barely any [conversations]. I think there was never like, a talk… Being I grew up in a Christian home, I was not to have sex until marriage… I remember my mom said to me if I ever get pregnant, I must not have an abortion. I know that she used to tell

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me you shouldn’t drink too much [laughing], she’d say that’s when you could have sex with someone you don’t want to [have sex with], or you could get sick, or you could get yeah, like, sexually assaulted or something. But there was never a sit down and talk and be like one day, you gonna meet a man and this is gonna happen, it was just you wait till marriage. Yeah, there was not much detail other than that. (Stacy, 20s, single)

The terms, “barely any” and the word “never” suggest the frustration of the younger ones at the evasion of direct sex education or guidance (lack of “talk” or “conversation”). The younger women in the study resisted their mothers’ subtle attempts to socialize them to gendered and especially sexual norms of their African origins. Stacy, cited above, also rejected the logic of the norm of managing conflict in marital relationships and therefore disowned the practice. The context is that of conflict between “home” and diaspora norms: Extract 11 And I know that in our culture, you’re not meant to really like … how do I put it? I don’t know how to put it because it doesn’t make sense to me. ‘Cause I grew up in New Zealand so I don’t know why the hell that even makes sense. But my mummy used to tell me for example, if you wanted to address an issue you have with your husband back home, you don’t tell your husband you have an issue with him, you set something up. You ask his, one of his friends or someone that you’ve appointed, yeah, to tell the husband. So, you can’t tell the husband right away. But to me that doesn’t make any sense. But my mom just told me that’s how you avoid drama and that’s how you do it traditionally, yeah … I just said he’s your husband, if you can’t tell him, [laughing], then you have an issue that’s not normal. Like, you should be able to tell him, and I will definitely not be able to do that personally. I’ll tell him straightaway. (Stacy, 20s, single)

The possessive pronoun “our culture” initially suggests positive identification on the part of Stacy, but she quickly negates this (“it doesn’t make sense to me”). This denunciatory language is part of an established process of resistance especially by the more youthful women in the study. It is possible that growing up in a western setting might have influenced her disposition to this cultural practice. However, her disposition that gender norms and practices are often in the process of contestation and resistance.

Resistance to gendered norms gleaned from some participants’ narratives was not limited to issues of negotiating conflict in marital relationships.

There was also resistance to the basic norm that homemaking is a primary role of the female. Sarah, 20, single, shared her perspective:

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Extract 12 I think it was always more of an expectation of you know, this is how you look after a home. But she [mother] never, I’ve never had conversations with her [about culture].

Yeah, I feel like my parents definitely tried to domesticate me in terms of … feel free to clean, feel free to cook. I’m a terrible cook, but I never felt like there was much significance being able to do those things, and having value as a person to be able to keep a home and to cook and to clean and you know, all that sort of stuff, yeah. (Sarah, 20s, single)

Indirect comments such as, “feel free to clean, feel free to cook” signal a subtle approach to sidetrack the resistance. They reveal that gender roles are due to a process of conditioning and teaching, but that this process can sometimes be subtle and indirect, and that it is open to resistance as well. One may suppose that these unmarried participants may take a more conforming response to cultural socialization to gendered norms if they were married.

However, there are narratives of participants who had the status of wife and mother when they resisted an African woman identity premised on generally accepted gendered norms and expectations of behaviors for women. For instance, Winifred had insisted on being treated as a person in her marriage and failed to achieve her desire. She was not willing to compromise her wellbeing, and the marriage ended.

Extract 13 Here [in New Zealand], everybody fights their own battles, yeah. So, when we came here, the pressure of living in a different land, no family and we battling financially and all these other things, is bound to tear us apart, you know. So, you know, so he was studying. He worked hard to get me here, me and my son, and when I came, I took the ball so that he can go and study and I would do the jobs. You know, I worked and he’s studying. It was, - it worked out. Cause that’s what we both wanted and we agreed in so many other things. But some things we did not agree on and it just got to the point that what we agreed on, I was waiting for that to emerge. But then it never did. So, I find my wishes or my desires were always pushed back and his was going further. So, I said “No, this is not working.” (Winifred, 40s, divorced).

As highlighted in the extract, change in the gender role of the provider is necessitated by the circumstance. The maintenance or dissolution of gendered unions is also contingent on circumstances and the will of the parties to continue to prop up or crumble the union. The resistance to the force of inequitable expectations of cultural norms of Africans was also implicated in the dissolution of Amy’s marriage. Her narrative indicated that she had met with and resisted conformity with the norms of her African roots, because she was not practicing those norms when she met and married her husband.

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In particular, she decried the partial nature of the demands, because her husband was not held to the same standard of adherence to the stringent rules of their religious persuasion demanded from her. Like Winifred, she decided that she would not compromise her wellbeing for her husband’s pleasure and ended the marriage.

Extract 14 After I got pregnant … he started, “you have to wear scarf” you know, ‘cause the mother had a big influence. Yes. She was still the same. She didn’t change. So, she always tells me, “Oh, you need to wear a scarf, you need to wear long dress”. And I always wear pants and some skin tights [laughing]. And I’m always stubborn. Even my mum always says to me, “you need to do that”. “You need to listen”. And I would say like, “no.” … [my mom also said] that I have to cover myself since I am married now and stuff. But I said, “No. I can’t. I wanna wear what I wanna wear, like what is comfortable for me.” And he didn’t want me talking, saying what I wanna say.

Like [he saide], “now you [are] married you have to listen now”. I will be like, “yeah”.

[Eyes rolling]. (Amy, 20s, In a relationship)

Again, we are confronted with verbs like “need” and “have to,” used here to signal the imperativeness attached to traditional African gendered norms, that is, to express the obligatory nature of this cultural expectation, and to enhance the force of the persuasion in ensuring conformity. When young women resist these norms, their language mimics the confrontation as indicated in the extract (“No, I can’t … “, etc.). Winifred and Amy acknowledged the requirements of appropriate behaviors and expectations of an African woman. Therefore, they were not ignorant of the expectations and the associated ‘punishment’ that could be a consequence of their refusal of the disciplining gaze of relevant others. Both women however asked to be treated as persons first and only, by their relevant others. The experience of these women who resisted the demand to live according to others’ understanding of the essence of being an African woman appear consistent with that of women in the “essentialism confronted” model of the three models in the construction of female identity in Nigerian postcolonial literatures proposed

by Oloruntoba-Oju and Oloruntoba-Oju (2013). Firstly, they were proactive and direct in their rejection of a perceived requirement to conform to a fixed African woman identity. Secondly, they had achieved motherhood, which elevates the status of women in African societies, so their challenge in marriage was not linked to childlessness. Further, neither of the two women chose to reject the relevance of a male partner in her life, following their failed marriages. They were also not put off relationships because they went on to

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form other intimate relationships. The narratives of some participants had indicated that women tend to stay in unions that challenge their health and wellbeing for the sake of their children. Therefore, the fact that each woman had at least one child in the union strengthens the argument that their proactive dissolution of their marriage in pursuit of respect for their personhood, challenges the “bio-essentialist” (Oloruntoba-Oju and Oloruntoba-Oju (2013) notion of an African woman identity.

The understanding of role differentiation relayed by participants and its enactment in relationships was interesting in two ways. Firstly, it showed how gendered norms pattern from generation to generation. Secondly, it exhibited the role of actual, recognizable persons in the socialization process that reproduces gendered norms. Participants in this study spoke of how they had been socialized within specific gendered norms which they continued to practice even when some presented a challenge to their wellbeing.

Like women in other patriarchal societies, African women are regulated by a social dialectic that keeps the traditional and the modern in constant flux. For instance, Fogiel-Bijaoui and Rutlinger-Reiner (2013) have pointed out that although Israeli women have been somewhat integrated into the mainstream of life and the polity in male oriented societies, patriarchal norms still link the identity and status of women to attainment of motherhood. Empirical studies by Ammann (2016) and Tinarwo and Pasura (2014) have also highlighted how women respond to the constraints that gendered role differentiation pose to their agency and wellbeing in intimate relationships. The experiences shared by some women in this study highlighted similar challenges to agency inherent in recitations of shared norms of cultural expectations, even when they find some aspects constraining. This provided material for further reflection and recollections by the participants, and for negotiation of gendered identity when they experienced some modifications of their cultural expectations in the diaspora.

Although Nolte’s (2008) research showed that women have some power, it nonetheless highlighted that an understanding of gendered role differentiation is an organizing principle that contributes to identity construction by contemporary Black Africans. The socialization to gendered roles is maintained by a real or imagined threat of sanctions for transgression of such norms often for the man but not the woman. Some of the experiences of enacting gendered norms and engaging with its contradictions in the diaspora created conflict in participants’ intimate relationships. Nonetheless, the belief in a threat of sanctions for non-conformity indicates that gendered role characteristics are not inherent. Instead they are constructed by how

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fully a person is socialized into a specific gender role (Oakley, 1974 cited in Omadjohwoefe (2011)), and how a person repeats the acts of the gender they have been socialized to (Butler 1988). Hence, there was a fluidity of identities in the way women responded to the changes in gendered traditional norms in the diaspora. Tensions and conflicts remained, which participants negotiated with different strategies. Whereas some women were overt in their resistance to the constraints they experienced in gendered norms, others simultaneously embraced the norms and resisted the policing of its boundaries by significant others in their lives with a performative façade that arguably conceals women’s power in relationships (Kolawole, 2018, forthcoming paper).

5. Conclusion The cultural expectation of sole provision by men is possibly a slowly bending norm in the diaspora, in spite of what seemed like rigid understanding of role boundaries. This study of women in the New Zealand shows resilient tensions and conflicts engendered by residual reflections and recollections of participants’ understanding of cultural discourse on gendered roles of their origins. The extract-by-extract analysis of their interview responses carried out in the foregoing reveals that the main gender issues confronting African women in the diaspora in New Zealand relate to conflict over gender roles, such as home keeping and family finance (i.e., Extracts 1, 2, 6,7, 8, 9, 12 and 13), cultural practice which have a gendered dimension (Extract 3 and 11), as well as socialization on gender-based issues and norms (Extracts 4, 5, 10 and 14). These issues are explored within the two settings relevant to the participants gendered trajectory, namely: the home, African, setting, and the host, western, setting. In all of the extracts, setting is important in determining the nature and dynamics of the gender issues and roles.

One important finding of the study is that there is fluidity in how the women respond to their experience of gendered norms. The language deployed by the women in the study manifests this fluidity in different contexts. As noted, in some cases, there is much hedging, which generally marks the language of uncertainty on the part of some participants. Allied to this is the language of exoneration or condonation, which again suggests that gender role practices in Africa are rooted in culture and socialization or social upbringing, and conform to general expectation. However, the language of the younger or more youthful women is often denunciatory, showing emphatic negation, mimicking the conflicts noted above and demonstrating levels of resistance to established gender norms. As noted in the foregoing, this

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also accords with the notion that being youth often correlates with deviant behavior including resistant language use. Still, the doing of gendered identity by these women is not fixed but fluid. In other words, the African woman identity is not linear as traditional conceptions would suggest; our data shows that the same woman could conform to or resist gendered norms of roles and behaviors as her experience demands. However, it is also worthy of note that the women in the study who resisted constraining gender norms did not suffer irreparable consequences. This, in my view, is a positive narrative for women and for gender.

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11 ‘Baby, I’m coming’: The Linguistic Construction of Orgasm

by Female Youth in Rural and Urban Nigeria Eyo Mensah (University of Calabar, Nigeria, and FRIAS, University of Freiburg)

Romanus Aboh (University of Calabar, Nigeria)

Lucy Ushuple (University of Calabar, Nigeria) This article examines the discursive construction of vaginal and clitoral orgasms in heterosexual experiences of sexually active young women in Akpabuyo (a rural setting) who have undergone genital mutilation and those in Calabar metropolis (an urban centre) who have not been circumcised. Both locations are found in southern Cross River State, South-eastern Nigeria. Exploring in-depth semistructured interviews and informal conversations with twenty young women, we analyze the nuanced narratives and perspectives of participants’ experiences, beliefs and linguistic framing of orgasm during casual sexual encounters.

Participants’ discourses of orgasm revolved around four dominant thematic threads: sources of orgasm; orgasm as the height of pleasurable sex; the correlation of orgasm with female genital mutilation/cutting; and the locally constitutive language of orgasm. The study discovers that participants in the urban setting who were not circumcised tended to have a higher sexual satisfaction and orgasmic expression than participants in the rural areas who were circumcised. These differences account for participants’ varying linguistic conceptualizations of orgasm. The finding reinforces stereotyped norms about female sexual desire and resonates with the cultural belief about female genital mutilation/cutting. In this way, orgasm provides an entry point into sexual empowerment or disempowerment of young women in Nigeria, and defines how they are doing or undoing gender.

Keywords: orgasm, female youth, sexual activity, sexual habitus, heterosexuality, youth language, Nigeria

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1. Introduction The subject of orgasm and more broadly female sexuality is generally tabooed in open discussion in most African contexts and beyond, given the “cultural relegation of sex and sexuality to the realm of the unspoken” (Izugbara 2005, 53). This cultural inhibition on sexual discourses and practices correlates with the dearth of research on gender and sexuality in Africa compared to other climes. Balarabe (2022) argues that in Nigeria, the tension between a modern conception of sexuality, sexual expression and sexual rights, on the one hand and religious teaching and cultural taboo, on the other hand, is profound. This is because the link between Nigerians and their culture and religion is too strong. Aboh (2015, 95) corroborates the foregoing assertion thus: “…in the Nigerian sociolinguistic context… sex and sexuality are shaped and socially constructed sociocultural entities and concepts. One is considered uncultured, ill-trained and lacking in manners if one describes or talks about sex openly.” Human beings are sexual beings, and sexual pleasure and satisfaction are significant determinants of a healthy sexual life which is a part of a healthy body and general well-being (Kontula and Meittinen 2016). Orgasm, according to Alwaal et al. (2015, 1051), “is an intense transient peak sensation of intense (sexual) pleasure creating an altered state of consciousness associated with reported physical changes.”

Orgasm is essential for relationship maintenance and plays a role in increasing bond between partners. It is also correlated with greater satisfaction with sex life, and general improvement in quality of life (Best 2017).

Some empirical studies have linked orgasm to young women’s relationship quality and satisfaction. It is associated with better physiological and psychological functions (Broody 2007; Costa and Broody 2007). Beyond emotional health, and sexual responsiveness, orgasmic experience is also believed to impact positively on the physical health; it increases immune response and boosts the functioning of antibodies. Studies have also shown that women who experience frequent orgasm tend to have regular monthly cycles more than those who do not have sex or experience orgasm regularly (Meston et al. 2004). Sexual pleasure also reduces bodily pain and improves cardiovascular health of men and women. It is believed to improve the quality of sleep, and enhance the functioning of the brain and mood.

Given the sensitive and discreet nature of the subject of female sexuality, little is known from a sociocultural account about how young urban and rural Nigerian women discursively construct an understanding of

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orgasm which is an essential component of their sexuality. This is the gap the present study aims to fill. The study aims to investigate young women nuanced cultural perspectives of their experiences of orgasm, and their linguistic framing of the phenomenon as well as to demonstrate how their varied experiences correlates with stereotyped cultural beliefs about female genital mutilation and female sexual desire generally. This study is useful in understanding women’s sexual responsiveness, and in interpreting sexual encounters in terms of orgasmic experiences.

2. The Female Orgasm and Sexual Satisfaction The importance of orgasm to sexual satisfaction has been richly explored in the literature of sexuality studies from a wide range of disciplinary accounts: psychological (Brody 2007; Brody et al. 2013), biological (Frederick et al.

2018), socio-cultural (Best 2017; Lavie-Ajayi and Joffe 2009; Mahar 2000) and physiological (Younis et al. 2015). Orgasm as a physiological process and social construct has been associated with intimacy, commitment and relationship satisfaction. It enables partners to locate pleasure, meet sexual expectations and relieve sexual desires. Studies have shown that orgasm in a sexual encounter appears to be somewhat more important for men in comparison to women (Salisbury and Fisher 2014). Other studies conclude that the sexes are more alike than different in evaluating the relationship between orgasm and sexual enjoyment (Waterman and Chiauzzi 1982).

There has been debate in the literature on whether orgasm is the ultimate goal of sex. A school of thought believes that orgasm is not the most important factor in female sexual satisfaction and it is not also a condition for a female partner’s sexual enjoyment (Waterman and Chiauzzi 2014), and other empirical research (Lavie-Ajayi and Joffe 2009; Lavie and Willig 2005; Nicolson and Burr 2003; Potts 2000) have found that orgasm is symbolized and valued as the goal of sex, and the orgasmic imperative has been linked with feelings of dysfunctionality, shame and inadequacy. This position assumes that sexual intercourse cannot be complete without orgasm.

Research findings have also revealed that women are most orgasmic when including a variety of activities (e.g., oral sex, manual stimulation of sexual organs, intercourse) in their sexual encounter (Frederick et al. 2018; Mahar et al. 2020; Mensah et al. 2022). However, since the physiology of sexual functions varies in women, the experience of orgasm and subjective sexual satisfaction depends largely on individual idiosyncrasies.

The attainment of orgasm is a factor of better sexual communication between consenting sexual partners. This communication can be through

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intercourse position, which varies from one encounter to another in some women. Corroborating the foregoing claim, Younis et al. (2015) posit that coital position has an effect on ability to attain an orgasm. Sexual position is therefore useful in frequency (of orgasm) and pleasurability in multiorgasmic women. Sexual activities like foreplay, oral sex and clitoral stimulation may also be used to enhance the experience of orgasm. Foreplay includes a lot of activities like kissing, touching, and caressing. It helps to increase vaginal lubrication in women in preparing them for greater sexual excitement and pleasure. This position is further reinforced by Weiss and Brody (2009) who maintain that partnered orgasm in women is mainly determined by the duration of foreplay. The pleasure of oral sex or cunnilingus is also believed to be a delightful way of experiencing orgasm.

Women who receive oral sex end up being more intimate as it is a better way to reach orgasm quickly (Wood et al. 2016). The study further encourages men to give more oral sex to their partners given the accompanying health benefits. According to the authors, women produce hormones like oxytocin and DHEA, which can be transferred from their vaginas to their partners’ mouths. They have protective effects against diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The position of Wood et al. (2016) shows that oral sex helps women to maintain more passion and experience higher levels of sexual satisfaction, and has health benefits for men in addition to their subjective sexual satisfaction. Manual clitoral stimulation has also been reported as a way of attaining orgasm in women. It can ignite passion over the long haul.

According to Pevzner (2019), when the clitoris is stimulated during sexual contact, it creates a cascade of changes in the brain and in the reproductive tract. The clitoris is the primary source of female sexual pleasure, and its stimulation during intercourse elicits sexual responses and can easily facilitate partnered orgasm.

There are social and cultural perceptions of female orgasm, for example, women are socially stereotyped as lacking sexual desire (Best 2017), thus creating a gap in orgasmic frequency between men and women. In the cultural context where this study was conducted, until recently, female genital mutilation has been a significant rite of passage that reinforces stereotyped norms about gender and female sexuality. This ritualized practice was believed to moderate female sexual desire, urge and behavior, and prepare the female adolescent for future challenges of marriage. The socialization of women to conform to this stereotyped sexual norm was mainly aimed to reduce the rate of orgasm and sexual satisfaction (Lentz and Zaikman 2021). This evidence also shows how the reinforcement of

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traditional gender roles could be used to control women’s sexuality. Such cultural inhibition does not allow women to assert their sexual needs or “to curate better and more positive sexual encounters” (Lentz and Zaikman 2021, 1118). Sexism and heteronormativity have also compounded sexual stigma for women. Every sexual orientation outside heterosexuality is tabooed in some African contexts (Izugbara 2004), and this kind of attitude also disempowers women with alternative sexual orientations from expressing sexual satisfaction. It is worthy of note that changes in cultural taboos and expectations have been informed by modern realities and conception of sexuality which has witnessed a shift in focus in understanding female sexuality and giving women greater latitude to express their sexual freedom and well-being. In this study, we extend knowledge about the sociocultural context of orgasm to understand how rural-urban adolescents make meaning of their orgasmic experiences either by conforming to or resisting stereotypes.

3. Method 3.1 Participants Data for this study were collected during a six-month qualitative ethnographic fieldwork in Calabar metropolis and Akpabuyo Local Government Area in southern Cross River State, Southern Nigeria. Thirty young women (N=30) within the age range of 16-25 participated in the research. 15 participants were selected from each study area. The average age of participants was 21. Participants’ ethnic identity were mainly Efik 15 (50%), with others identifying as Ibibio 6 (20%), Upper Cross River 4 (13%), Igbo 3 (10%), and Oro 2 (7%). The socio-biographical data of participants such as gender, age, education, marital status and religion were recorded.

Some of these variables were relevant in their experience of orgasm. 15 participants (50%) were graduates of higher institutions like university, polytechnics and colleges of education. Five participants (17%) were students of higher institutions, while 10 participants (33%) did not attend school beyond primary level. 15 (50%) participants were working in private and public sectors of the Nigerian economy. Five participants (17%) were still in school and 10 participants (33%) claimed to be self-employed (entrepreneurs). 27 participants (90%) reported to be Christians and three participants (10%) did not have religious affiliation as they claimed to have an agnostic view of religion. In terms of sexual orientation, all participants reported to be engaged in heterosexual relationships. None of the

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participants is married but two reported to have had previous failed marriages. The research was approved by the ethics committee of the university, and participants gave written consents for all interviews and recordings.

3.2 Sampling Technique The research design adopted in this study was basically the qualitative approach. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling technique.

They were recruited based on their ability to best inform the research questions and enhance understanding of the phenomenon under study (Creswell 2009). Two female field assistants identified and selected most of the participants. Few others were invited by their friends who were earlier selected as participants. Three participants were contacted by the researcher directly. Their selection was primarily based on their willingness to participate in the research; having lived experience and knowledge about orgasm and were ready to speak freely without any cultural inhibitions.

Participants’ sexual identity as heterosexuals was also a key determinant for selection since the work was mainly focused on heterosexual sex. The number of participants depended on what was required to fully inform all important elements of the phenomenon being studied (Sargeant 2012).

Participants’ discursive representation of orgasm was broadly contextualized to gain understanding of the cultural significations of orgasm, the role of female genital mutilation and the sources of orgasm.

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis This study relied on ethnographic data collection instruments like in-depth semi-structured interviews and informal conversations. Semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to ask series of open-ended questions regarding participants’ personal knowledge about their cultural conceptualization of orgasm, circumcision status, age at first sexual intercourse, and age at first orgasm experience. This approach allowed participants the freedom to express themselves in their own ways and pace (Jamshed 2014). The dialogue was guided by a flexible interview protocol, and supplemented by follow-up questions, probe and comments (Dejonckhere and Vaughn 2019). The interview method facilitated a more naturalistic approach to data elicitation. Participants were engaged with regard to their degree of socio-sexuality, relationship satisfaction, sexual communication, sexual dysfunction of their partners and other subjective narratives about their sexual lives. The approach enabled the researchers to

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gain deeper perspectives, beliefs, and values participants attached to their experience of orgasm.

Informal conversations enabled the researchers to gain other information which were hidden in the previous mode of enquiry, and add context and authenticity to participants’ nuanced experiences of orgasm.

Questions were generated in the form of dialogues about frequency of orgasm during partnered sex, cultural beliefs about female genital mutilation, individual history of orgasm, and how participants conceptualized values, meanings, and viewpoints about orgasm. During the conversations, questions were asked about participants’ sexual pleasure zone that is the most effective path to orgasmic contraction, how often did they have sexual communication with partners to discuss their sexual needs, responsibilities and limitations, and the types of boundaries they set for themselves and their partners. The potential of sex position for orgasmic intensity and factors that were responsible for their inability to reach orgasm was also discussed in order to gain deeper understanding and evaluate how orgasm is understood in participants’ community of practice and cultural contexts. An audio recorder was used in recording participants’ responses, and field notes were useful in documenting metadata of participants, date, time and place of interviews, as well as transcripts of interviews.

Data were coded into relevant frames, checked for accuracy, themed, transcribed and translated verbatim. The descriptive approach was adopted in data analysis, interpretation and discussion. The method of data analysis is based on thematic analysis. Thematic analysis was used to sort the data into relevant categories or themes to allow for flexibility in the interpretation of the data. It helped in identifying commonalities in patterns of meaning to draw interpretation from the data (Castleberry and Nolan 2018). The researchers wish to acknowledge some limitation during the fieldwork; the presence of a male researcher and a recording device may have constrained some young women from saying everything about their personal experiences of sexual (dis)satisfaction.

In the following analysis, we provide insights into how participants understand the meaning and experience of orgasm based on their nuanced narratives and perspectives. We identified four thematic tropes with which to interrogate the discourse of sexual satisfaction: sources of orgasm; orgasm as the height of sexual pleasure; the correlation of orgasm with female genital mutilation; and the language of orgasm. We also undertook an exploration of youth slang and metaphors which are related to orgasm in participants’ social context to unpack the dichotomy between rural and urban domains of

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usage, and to demonstrate how socially situated language use is re-inscribed in their community of practice to reinforce communality and identity particularly on issues of female sexuality.

4. Results 4.1 Sources of Orgasm Sexual satisfaction is an essential aspect of sexual health and well-being.

Participants believed that they are entitled to sexual pleasure which they can derive from specific sexual activities. They identified such activities to include masturbation, direct genital stimulation, and sexual position during partnered intercourse. They also talked about the importance of orgasm to them as individuals, since every woman’s sexual desire may differ greatly from one person to another in terms of the tendency and capacity to experience orgasm (Kontolu and Miettinen 2016). Some urban-based participants admitted that the most consistent source of their experiencing orgasm was through masturbation. They argued that masturbation (or solo play) is a natural way of feeling good and releasing bottled-up sexual tensions. Justifying this choice further, a participant narrated her experience as follows: As a young woman, you work out what feels best for you, and going solo (masturbation) has been cool, smoother experience for me especially while relaxing with soul music. It’s simple, I just need to fantasize about some hot moments (past sexual intercourse), and explore my erogenous zones to send tingles down my spines (orgasm). I feel safe and confident with it (Veronica 22).

Based on this account, the participant contended that masturbation aligns her with her desire, and takes her mind off worries. She believed that it made her to be sexually comfortable and confident, especially when her partner was not within her reach. She also maintained that it was not all the time that one may have experienced orgasm through playing solo (masturbation), but it always a plus if one could achieve it. Another participant reiterated that a good solo session (masturbation) increased her body confidence by not feeling starved sexually; helped her to feel happier and to sleep well. Participants admitted either using their fingers or vibrator to stroke and stimulate their clitoris and/or vagina, or generally played with their bodies which led to a better sexual experiment. This category of participants apparently constructed masturbation as a healthy sexual practice in contrast to rural

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participants who classified it as “dirty” and “ungodly.” When they were asked to explain their position further, a participant argued as follows: It’s just unthinkable for anyone to do such a thing here (in the village). How can l be stimulating myself until I come? Am I mad? I am feeling so ashamed and embarrassed to even talk about it. My sexual drive is not strong like that please (Bassey 23).

The reservation about masturbation expressed by this participant reveals that participants have ambivalent attitudes towards the practice. While some participants in the city support and practice masturbation as a way of relieving sexual tension, participants in the rural area are vehemently opposed to it due to their deep cultural inclinations. This latter opinion may not be unconnected with the cultural socialization of young men and women to engage in and promote heterosexuality as the only legitimate sexual ideology and to stigmatize practices like alternative sexualities, and masturbation.

Participants also identified heterosexual intercourse as a source of sexual satisfaction and orgasm. Both rural and urban participants agreed that a mutually consenting sexual encounter is most pleasurable and cherishing experience, and which predict their overall relationship satisfaction. In this regard, participants argued that they took a number of variables into consideration if orgasm is meant to be experienced in partnered sex. These included the frequency of sex; the length of time spent; and the activities performed during sex. A participant offered more contextualization of this point as follows: The time spent and the frequency of sex are important factors in recording quality sex. That is why I create time and postpone many things when I feel like being laid (having sexual intercourse). As a woman, you don’t just lie there as a log of wood and allow the guy to overwork himself. You have to tumble him as he tumbles you. That is my secret of coming as l like (Edisua 24).

Apart from the frequency and the length of time spent, this participant also talked about sexual positions and techniques as important ways of achieving orgasm. She revealed that exchanging position with her partner has contributed to her success story in experiencing orgasm. Many participants in the urban area shared their narratives of orgasm experiences, but only few participants said they had experienced orgasm. A few others admitted that they had never achieved orgasm in partnered intercourse. This narrative

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leads us to our next concern which is to evaluate participants’ subjective understanding of orgasm.

Participants from the urban area tended to enjoy robust sexual history and positive sexual reputation. They viewed the accounts of orgasm as narratives of gain, and a way of controlling their sexuality. They all admitted to have had different degrees of orgasms that come with convulsing pleasurable sensation that made them to always feel better and happier. To this class of participants, orgasm promotes self-esteem and increases quality of life. For many participants in the rural area, the expression of orgasm was constrained by their culture and popular beliefs. Some participants admitted that they experienced orgasm while some never did, so to them, orgasm is not a goal of sexual satisfaction. It is a social construction of female sexuality which has varied significations depending on one’s subjective belief and experience.

4.2 Orgasm as a Marker of Sexual Pleasure Participants have different perceptions of their experience of orgasm. Some said that they achieve orgasm faster and easily, others reported that they took more time and effort and still others declared that they did not experience orgasm at all. The preponderance of opinion among urban participants was that orgasm is the height of sexual arousal, and it is largely dependent on the type of stimulation of the clitoris one can achieve: either directly or indirectly.

Direct stimulation involves the up and down and/or side to side stroking of the clitoris with one’s hands or sex toys. Indirect stimulation is achieved by massaging the clitoris through upper vaginal walls as the study found out.

On why orgasm is a source of sexual pleasure, a participant responded as follows: It is the “juiciest” (most pleasurable) part of the show (sexual intercourse), and it comes with certain changes in the body that climaxed in a strong sensation and intense pleasurable feeling all over my body. It is at that point I usually announce to my guy, Baby, I’m coming so that he can sustain the tempo until I finally come. That is the only time I can be sexually satisfied (Tessy 25).

For this participant, orgasm is mainly achieved through penile stimulation of the vagina. The excitement has to be sustained for a while before she could attain orgasm. She also employed a strategy of informing her partner beforehand so that he can sustain the pleasurable feeling until she achieves orgasm. This position seems to align with a popular saying about orgasm

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among participants, Ényénéídém á-fighting for (“One can only fight (make it work) for oneself”). This means that if one values orgasm as an essential ingredient of sexual pleasure, she has to know how to stimulate herself or be stimulated to achieve it. A set of participants argued that they can only achieve orgasm when they are high (take alcohol). The position emphasizes the role of alcohol as it impacts the ability to have orgasm. Increased alcohol intake, according to this category of participants, directly correlates with increased sensations of pleasure that will lead to orgasm. This position aligns with Mensah (2021a) which states that alcohol is a booster of sexual prowess.

Giving an account of the place of alcohol and its association with orgasm, a participant maintained that: If I am not high (be tipsy with alcohol), there is no way I can come (achieve orgasm) or be on top of the situation (enjoy sex). Booze (alcohol) helps to prepare my body to be very receptive and causes greater sensation in my genitalia. It also makes me to be really committed to the project (sexual intercourse) (Nkese 24).

This participant listed the choice of her brand of alcohol to include brandy, vodka or whisky which is often taken with ice block about an hour before intercourse, and intermittently during it. This brand of alcohol itself necessitates a class identification of the participants. Based on observations, participants who consumed alcohol as sex enhancer tended to establish a positive association between alcohol and orgasm in particular and sex more broadly. From their nuanced personal experiences, alcohol has functioned as libido enhancer, heightened their sexual responses as well as increased sexual arousal and orgasm. Based on interviews, it was discovered that participants in the city used both sex toys and partnered sex to get clitoral arousal. Some of them admitted practicing self-arousal (masturbation) to reach orgasm when they are horny. Conversely, no participant in the rural setting had used any sex toys before. While some of them disdained its use, others expressed willingness to have them but were constrained financially.

Another group of participants similarly supported the feeling of achieving orgasm as an important source of sexual pleasure but could only be aided with drugs. In the community of practice where this study was conducted, the consumption of sex-enhancing drugs is widely regarded as a masculine attribute (Mensah 2021b). However, young women have also admitted to using drugs as sex enhancers to achieve orgasm. These aphrodisiacs are meant to stimulate sexual desire and ultimately to activate orgasm. Hackett (2016) succinctly captures the motivation in using drugs as

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pathways for orgasm when he stated that people mix drugs with sex simply because it allows their minds to better connect with their bodies, allowing them to feel sex more keenly and have bigger, better, and more orgasms. A participant further justified the usefulness of drugs in their sexual response cycle as follows: It (drug) just makes one to feel cool and flow with the tide. When l first started taking drugs to generate orgasm, I was having opposite effects but now, it has blended with my system, and it makes a whole lot of sense (Ada 26).

This position accentuates the importance that some participants ascribed to the use of drugs to achieve sexual satisfaction. In terms of sexual drive or libido, participants generally agreed that everybody’s libido cannot be the same, due to environmental and physiological factors. Some participants, especially from the city, expressed knowledge of how they often boost their sexual desires such as avoiding certain foods, eating certain fruits, having good sleep cycles and relieving stress. This set of participants also talked about sexual techniques that put them in the mood or sustain their drive.

Such techniques include sexual position, masturbation and sufficient foreplay. Participants from the rural area claimed they have never been conscious of the need to increase their sexual desire. For this set of participants, cultural influence does not permit young women to devote serious attention on how to improve their power of sexual pleasure. A participant further reiterated the point this way: It sounds odd for one to openly say that she has or doesn’t have sexual urge.

It is a given, and anybody who is biologically ready for sex has the drive naturally. I think it’s something nobody can control (Agnes 20).

This participant believed that every sexually mature person has some measure of sex drive which only declines with age or illness. This conservative approach towards orgasm by rural participants sharply contrasts with the egalitarian posture of urban participants in respect of boosting sex drive or desire. Participants also reported differences in their arousal level to sexual communication as one method does not work for everyone. While the urban participants identified exposure to explicit sexual contents like porn, touching of erogenous zones like the teats of the breasts or clitoris, they acknowledged self-stimulation often through fingering the vagina and engaged in sexual fantasies and thoughts as ways of getting sexually aroused. Participants in the rural area did not engage in extra-sexual

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activities to boost their urge. They maintained a conservative posture towards such practices and influences.

4.3 Correlation of Orgasm with Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation or cutting in the context of this study is understood as “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organ whether for cultural, religious or non-therapeutic reasons” (Alkinson and Geisler 2019, 997).

Urban participants reported an average age of 16 years at first sex while rural participants indicated 14. This outcome reveals that girls in the rural areas are exposed to sex much earlier in life than their contemporaries in the cities.

All urban participants in our sample except two were not circumcised representing 47% and all participants from the rural area including two from the city had undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) representing 53%. This evidence shows clearly that the practice of FGM/C is predominant in the rural area. In examining the association between this practice and the experience among participants, we first sought to know from participants the most sensitive sexual part of their bodies. All urban participants mentioned the clitoris while the choice varied between rural participants. While some mentioned their nipples, others said they got aroused through the slapping of their buttocks when they are in the mood for sex. A participant narrated her experience of her most sexually stimulating organ as follows: People have different G-spots depending on their body chemistry. For me, I tell my partner to spank my bumbum (buttocks) very well when we are on the mountain (having intercourse). It does the magic for me, as I receive the strongest sexual arousal (Ekaete 24).

Based on our findings, FGM/C is often performed to decrease women’s sexual pleasure, and from the accounts of rural participants, the removal of their clitoris has impaired pleasure and orgasmic functions (Paterson et al.

2012). Rural participants believed that young women who are not circumcised usually have uncontrollable sexual urge. This justifies the claim

by Johansen (2009, 248) that FGM/C is “a way to domesticate female sexuality.” This is in comparison to the urban participants who reported higher desire, arousal, orgasmic and general sexual satisfaction.

Another consequence of FGM/C in relation to orgasmic response was evaluated in terms of the length of time to achieve orgasm during partnered sex. Many urban participants reported multiple orgasmic experiences during

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a single round of sex while the few rural participants who attain orgasm said they take longer time, and do not have the urge to continue immediately thereafter. A participant described her experience in this way: People get there through different ways and for me, I need long and sweet sex to reach that end point (orgasm) because I am V-less (circumcised). It is not a journey one can accomplish with a two-minute guy. It’s a critical assignment and the logical conclusion is that your body must vibrate at the end to show that you have worked well (Agi 25).

The account by this participant reinforced the views by other rural participants that it takes longer time to accomplish orgasms unlike the urban participants who achieve orgasm at ease. The magnitude and variability of duration judgment indicates that rural circumcised participants paid more attention to longer time for sex in order to achieve orgasm unlike the urban uncircumcised participants who utilized their little time to achieve multiple orgasm. Closely related to the duration of sex was the frequency of having sex. Given the higher drive and arousal rate reported by urban participants, the average frequency for sex was twice a week, while the rural participants reported on the average to have sex thrice monthly. From the interviews and observations, it is evident that urban participants who were not circumcised had greater sexual drive and satisfaction than rural participants who have undergone FGM/C. The evidence also resonates with the popular belief that FGM/C suppresses female sexual feeling and desire (Alsibiani and Rouzi 2008).

4.4 The Language of Orgasm In this section, we examine the peculiar socially situated language and linguistic codes like metaphors and slang young women have devised in describing orgasm experiences and beliefs in their social circles. An attempt shall also be made to contextualize some of these expressions in order to provide further clarity in understanding participants’ sexual communication involving orgasm. Orgasm is generally referred to as the main point; thus, emphasizing its role as the peak of sexual pleasure and satisfaction. It also implies that the main motivation for pleasurable sex is the achievement of orgasm from one’s choice of partner. This is a belief that was mainly espoused by urban participants. Another metaphoric expression that is commonly used to reconceptualize the notion of orgasm is Cloud Seven. Cloud Seven represents a euphoric state where there is “eternal” happiness and satisfaction which is analogous to the sensation generated by orgasm during

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intercourse. A participant maintained that Cloud Seven is used to depict the gratifying appeal of orgasm which creates relief, increases happiness and more generally, improves the quality of life. Participants in the rural area refer to orgasm as fire. Orgasmic allusion to fire is defined in terms of the vibrating or electrifying reaction to orgasm which could plunge participants into a temporary sub-conscious state.

The expression ádiá úyúhọ́ké (“You eat yet you are not satisfied”) is metaphorically used by rural participants to describe one who longs for orgasm but could not experience it during partnered sex. These participants reconceptualized sex as food and orgasm as the satisfaction one gets from eating the “food.” According to Mensah and Nkamigbo (2016), this reconceptualization is rooted in the belief that human need for sex is as basic as the need for food; thus, the use of food lexicon to process new meaning behind sexual satisfaction. This expression also directly justifies the claim that not all partnered sex may result in orgasm, and projects orgasm as an option but not the ultimate goal of pleasurable sex. Further reconstruction of sex and orgasm as food is seen in Excerpt 1 below. In the city, participants used the Nigerian Pidgin expression, E shock yu! (“Were you shocked?”) to inquire from group members if they had experienced orgasm from a previous encounter or activity. This expression, in the wider context of its use, especially in the social media, is an exclamation that is used to express surprise or unexpected course of event. However, in the context of the discourse of orgasm, participants use it to reconstruct the presence or absence of orgasm. The idea of shock is derived from the electrifying sensation of orgasm. On why the experience of orgasm is shocking, a participant explained as follows: That momentary sensation is the best thing that can happen to a woman.

It shocks your heart, mind, body and soul, and connects pleasure with satisfaction. That is when some babes (young women) will shout and begin to say sweet nothing (Joy 23).

This participant’s neurophysiological description of her feeling of orgasm as a shocking experience is earth-shattering and is hinged on pleasurable release of built-up tension, explosion of sensation coupled with a wave of calmness and relaxation. This description neatly fits into Kinsey et al.’s (1953/1998) conceptualization of orgasm as the explosive discharge of neuromuscular tensions at the peak of sexual response.

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The language of orgasm can further be contextualized in the following excerpts where a participant in the city had explained how she negotiates sex with her partner: Excerpt 1: Speaker A: Baby, I’m hungry.

Speaker B: Yes, I know; it’s time for lunch.

Speaker A: Solid lunch and dinner!

Speaker B: Will you drink pure (sachet) water after the meal?

Speaker A: That means I’m getting something yummy.

Excerpt 1 involves the further use of food metaphors in reconstructing sex and orgasm. Speaker A was negotiating sexual intercourse with her partner, and informed him that she was hungry, and needed food. This is a direct sex initiation cue which makes the participant to be seen as an agent who chooses to negotiate sexual intercourse with her partner. The partner acknowledged that he knew she desired sex, and it was time they had it. Her reference to “solid lunch and dinner” indicates that she wants it to the fullest, and not merely foreplay in addition to an extra round of sex. The idea of drinking pure (sachet) water after the meal was interpreted in this way: the partner was not willing to use condom so that he could ejaculate directly into the participant. The idea excited the participants who felt she was getting something yummy, which means to achieve orgasm. In Excerpt 1, the conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson 1980; Lakoff and Turner 1989) makes it possible for the conceptual correspondence of sex as food to be established as follows: hunger is sexual desire; lunch is sexual intercourse; solid lunch is penile-vagina penetration; dinner is extra round of sex; pure water is sperm; and yummy is orgasm. The mapping of food domain into the domain of sex offers participants the resources to talk about sex and its gratifying appeal openly (Mensah and Nkamigbo 2016) which is not overtly permitted by the conservative society.

In the rural context, the experience of orgasm was also described as ḿkpá-ńsét (“I died and resurrected”) in the Efik language by participants. It was contextualized by two participants in Excerpt 2 as follows: Excerpt 2: Speaker A: Dà (pal), how far (how have you been)?

Speaker B: Ó- mó- kútùfànfò 2SG-PAST-see friend your (Have you seen your boyfriend?)

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Speaker A: Ń- yóm-ké ḿbók 1SG-want-NEG please (I don’t want (to see him) please.)

Speaker B: Ńsó í- tíbé?

Q 3SG-happen (What happened?)

Speaker A: Dà, úfánórò ọ ́-nọ ́mọ ́ mí ńkpọ ́ñtútú ḿkpá-ńsét Pal friend DET 3SG-beat me ADV till orgasm (The guy sexed me yesterday until l reached multiple orgasms.)

Speaker B: Ńdién á- námdídié ADV 3SG-do Q (What’s wrong with that?)

Speaker A: Ń- yóm -ké ń- dí- kpáábá 1SG-want-NEG 1SG-ASP-die ADV (I do not want to die again.)

The interaction in excerpt 2 was scripted between two participants based on a past experience when the researchers needed them to use the form for orgasm ḿkpá-ńsét (“I died and resurrected”) contextually. This serial verb construction is used to define their subjective conceptualization and mechanics of orgasm where one passes out briefly before she could regain full consciousness. The serial verb has m-kpa (“I died”) as its inception phase and n-set (“I resurrected”) as its termination phase with no overt marker of co-ordination in the surface structure. The two verbs have the same salience and syntactic prominence where V1 is the action expressed by the Speaker A, and V2 is the immediate consequence of the action (Mensah and Ishima 2020).

Taken together, the serial verb describes the feeling of intense pleasure and a state of heightened sexual excitement occasioned by the experience of momentary muscular contraction. Note also how Speaker A has recreated the sexual act as a beating experience that caused her to “die” and “resurrect.” Although orgasm is perceived as a pleasurable experience, this interaction tended to portray it as punishment, thus creating an opposite effect to a cultural outsider.

5. Discussion and Conclusion Participants’ discourses of orgasm have layers of signification depending on the belief and experience of each participant which vary greatly with respect

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to their capacity to achieve orgasm. Participants have identified sources of orgasm to include masturbation, stimulation of vagina and clitoris, heterosexual intercourse and sex position. Urban participants tended to have egalitarian approach towards masturbation. They exhibit performative power (Butler 1988, 1990) towards masturbation as a precursor of orgasm, which like gender, is “based on the collective taste of the sensational” (Marsman 2017, 678). Urban female youth posture towards masturbation shows that the practice promotes their sexual health and well-being, and this position aligns with the claim by de Brujin (2008) that masturbation is a factor that contributes positively to a woman’s ability to enjoy sexual relations, and there is a positive relationship between masturbation experience and orgasmic response during coitus. It was however acknowledged that not every masturbatory experience could lead to orgasm. Closely related to the experience of masturbation was genital stimulation, particularly of vagina and clitoris as a source of attaining orgasm. Since this behavior is closely related to orgasm, only participants in the city appreciated it as an essential aspect of their sexual satisfaction. This result corroborates the finding by Brody et al. (2013) that deep vaginal stimulation during masturbation might indicate individual’s readiness for developing greater vaginal responsiveness to excitement. Participants in the rural setting, conversely, have a different attitude towards masturbation and self-stimulation with deference to local taboos and cultural principles. They argued that such behaviors undermine healthy femininity (Mensah 2020). In other words, their behavior and criticisms of this sexual practice is influenced by the culture of the society to which they belong.

Participants generally accepted penile-vaginal penetrative intercourse as the most common source of their orgasmic experience. Levin (2016) recounts that female pleasure comes from the friction and pressure of the thrusting penis against some genital structures containing sensory nerves ending. Participants emphasized the role of foreplay to prepare their bodies physically, emotionally and physiologically for an ensuing pleasurable intercourse. Within this context, the importance of sex position was also highlighted in order to make penetration more pleasurable. The only position that was mentioned by participants was called angling which entails lifting up one’s leg and the pelvic to make vaginal thrusting more accurate and penetrating. Some participants agreed that it was an easy way to orgasm.

Participants also demonstrated their discursive subjectivities of orgasm as the height of sexual pleasure. In this respect, two points of view were paramount. Most urban participants believed that it was the highpoint of

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every sexual relation while the rural participants thought otherwise. The latter category of participants hinged their position on the fact that some of them have been enjoying partnered sex without necessarily experiencing orgasm, and they do not see it as a sexual dysfunction. For these participants, there is no social anxiety or depression to fill the orgasmic gap because some of them do not even know what orgasm is. Significantly, we attempted to establish a connection between orgasmic experience and female genital mutilation. Our observation is that most urban participants who were not circumcised seem to experience orgasm better than most rural participants who were circumcised. The urban participants were able to identify their preferences such as self-pleasuring by the use of fingers and sex toys to arouse themselves, adjusting sex position to get maximum penetration and using their clitoris to their best advantage. They appear to have greater selfawareness and education to articulate their sexual pleasure than rural participants. As one of these participants said “when you climax regularly, it keeps you looking younger.” This account may explain the higher frequency of sex by urban participants.

Rural participants, on the other hand, have a rather conformist orientation towards orgasm. For those who experience it, it is considered as a given and no additional effort should be made to enhance it. This is mainly as a result of cultural stereotype that exerts pressure to moderate the woman’s sexual desires. For those who do not experience it, they do not crave or pressure themselves to experience orgasm since they still derive satisfaction from partnered sex. The study has also explored the expressive lexicons of orgasm in both rural and urban contexts by female youth. The forms and expressions used to communicate about orgasm are distinct and particular to these communities of practice. They employ creativity, indirectness and appropriation as key linguistic strategies in making sense out of the narratives of sexual satisfaction. While some participants use socially situated language to advocate their sexual pleasure, others were more interested in manipulating or undermining the real picture. The overall narrative structure here is that participants use metaphors and “slanguage” to construct gendered or sexualized identity.

In this study, young urban and rural women have provided subtle nuances of meaning based on their personal experiences of orgasm from a sociocultural account. Discourses of female orgasm among participants in this study are complex, multivariate and contested. It is a contest between resistant feminism represented by urban participants and traditional femininity as depicted by rural participants. The urban participants attempt

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to claim genital integrity and conquer their bodies by illuminating egalitarian attitudes towards orgasm experiences. They assert their agency and sexual needs, and identify their preferences in their social subjective construction of orgasm (Fiaveh and Okyerefo 2019, 144). Rural participants, on the other hand, conform to local meaning and values about sexual practices and behavior. These cultural constraints on sexuality inhibit their sexual expression and freedom, and also increase their vulnerability. In this way, the experience of orgasm becomes a site for “doing gender” (West and Zimmerman 1987), a social constructionist approach to gender studies which conceives gender as a routine accomplishment that is embedded in everyday interaction that recreates and reinforces the cultural meaning of gender. The urban participants attempt to undo gender by resisting certain aspects of normative heterosexuality by moving away from their essential sexual nature with respect to sexual pleasure. The rural participants, on the other hand, conform to stereotyped standard of sexuality and gender expectation thus acting out their essential gender nature, and doing gender in the long run. We recommend intensive reproductive health education through all media, school context, and community level to empower young women to take absolute control of their sexualities and assert their rights to safe and pleasurable sex. Obnoxious practice like FGM/C should also be outlawed, and made a “tradition in transition” (Berg and Denison 2012, 837) to guarantee the sexual rights of young women as part of their developmental processes.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to all the participants who were involved in this study. We thank Abigail David and Ibok Ita for facilitating the fieldwork at Calabar metropolis and Akpabuyo respectively, and for acting as the liaison between the participants and the researchers. We thank Queen Daline Iloh for referencing assistance and Prof. Basile Ndijio (University of Douala, Cameroon) for reading an earlier draft of the manuscript. The remaining errors are ours.

Declarations Ethical Approval: Approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the University of Calabar. The procedure used in this study adheres to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Funding: The authors received no funding for this research.

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Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent to publish: The authors affirmed that human research participants provided informed consent for the publication of the data they generated for the research.

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12 Intersecting Youth Digital Practices and Homosexuality: Identity Construction, Ideological Framing and Decolonisation in Homosexuality Narratives on Nigerian Twitter1 Paul Onanuga (Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria)

Josef Schmied (Technische Universitat Chemnitz, Germany) Contemporary digital technologies and social media platforms have ruptured conservative attitudes towards the topic of sex and sexuality, and also afforded Africans much broader and open discourses on language and identity issues. In this contribution, we explore the linguistic representations of the term, “government,” and other discourse actors/agents among young Nigerians in negotiating identities and ideologies on homosexuality in Nigeria. We identify this as a male discourse terrain in which female linguistic representation appears largely muted. The data for the study is a 114,000 word-corpus collected from “Nigerian” Twitter and this was subsequently processed with Anthony’s (2019) AntConc software. The quantitative corpus-linguistic analysis of hybrid new language practices was complemented by the application of the tenets of Critical Discourse Analysis which facilitates the contextualization of the analysis. The analysis reveals that the government bears the brunt of the ideological blamegame, as it is at the receiving end of both positive and negative attributions. We identify two strains in the narratives: anti-homosexuality vs. pro-homosexuality.

In the anti-homosexuality tweets, the government is charged with the necessity of toughening the stance against the queer community through requisite legislation and implementation. Conversely however, the pro-homosexuality tweets upbraid the government for failing to uphold the global standards of human rights and protect marginalized communities. Clearly, social media continue to be platforms for marginalized communities to actively make their voices heard, and this allows 1 We would like to thank the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation for their support for

this project, which combines the African perspectives in Critical Discourse with the German methodologies in corpus-linguistics. We also thank colleagues and partners at the Chemnitz research symposium in the English Linguistics department for their continuous support and fruitful discussions.

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linguists to analyze new hybrid and controversial language practices that reflect the new hybrid and controversial identity constructions in Nigeria today.

Keywords: linguistic twitter practices, homosexuality, colonialism

ideology,

identity

construction,

1. Introduction Mobile telephone services—alongside it, the Internet—kicked off around 1999/2000 in Nigeria, as one of the dividends of the return to democratic governance (Taiwo 2010a). Since then, the subscriber base in terms of Internet access has continued to soar, and despite Internet use still being a luxurious activity in Nigeria with just 13% active on social networks2, Nigerians are some of the most noticeable online demographics globally3. This access has encouraged citizen engagement especially for religious and political purposes, while also deepening social connectivity and interactions (Schmied 2016, 2018). Prior to the widespread use of social media platforms in Nigeria, sex and topics around sexuality were often avoided in the public.

This is reflective of the perspective to sex by many of Nigeria’s densely multicultural societies. Even more hushed is any discussion on homosexuality or other forms of non-heterosexuality, since these are perceived as immoral and foreign, thus unacceptable. Linking up to the affordances of the digital space, especially in its breaking of hitherto inhibitive physical borders, however, is the opportunity for users to connect with other people in different locations and societies. The resultant effect of this outshoot of globalization is a diffusion of values and viewpoints. This has percolated into the context of homosexuality in Nigeria. It is necessary to document that the prevailing perspective to homosexuality in Nigeria is significantly homophobic. While recent studies have drawn attention to the presence of sexual fluidity and tacit acceptance of homosexuality in traditional/pre-colonial Nigerian—nay, African—societies, the subsisting attitudes are outcrops of British colonial legal and administrative bequeathment (Onanuga 2020). The presence and use of digital networking platforms by Nigerians have, however, gradually started contesting the discriminatory practices to homosexuality. Central to the arguments are the necessity for the recognition of the human rights of people of nonheterosexual orientations as well as decrying the colonial influences that have emboldened the surge in homophobia. Such engagements constitute 2

3

https://www.statista.com/statistics/282846/regular-social-networking-usage-penetration-worldwide-by-country/ (Accessed May 7, 2020) https://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm (Accessed May, 7, 2020)

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the focus of the current study and we examine the negotiation of these viewpoints in purposively extracted discourses on Nigerian Twitter. We contend that a sociolinguistic enquiry will yield useful insight into these online discursive practices on homosexuality and assert that there are representative data showing conscious attempts at decolonizing the knowledge on homosexuality. We further opine that these language practices represent and reflect controversial identity and ideological constructions on the perception of homosexuality in Nigeria today. These interventions are particularly timely as they reveal an irony: that current homophobic attitudes are colonial relics and legacies which have now become so entrenched and ingrained that they are used to construct and assert the unAfrican-ness of queer sexualities (Goodman 2001; Hayes 2016).

2. Sociolinguistics, Sexuality and Youth Language Labov’s (1972, 183) definition of sociolinguistics as “a set of inter-related fields which do emphasize the study of language in social contexts” stresses the societal and contextual import of linguistic variation. This may be realized through documented observation of language change or in-group or idiolectal differences in language use. Labov’s viewpoint has been further expanded by Bloome and Green (2002, 396), who opine that “[a] sociolinguistic perspective requires exploring how language is used to establish a social context while simultaneously exploring how the social context influences language use and the communication of meaning.” While there are two main perspectives to sociolinguistic analysis—interactional and variational, in this work, we are concerned with the interactional approach. This is because we are interested in observing and analyzing how users wield and manipulate language in speech situations. As Thurlow and Brown (2003) have identified, digital discourse appropriates features of faceto-face communication and it simulates real-life conversational engagement.

Flowerdew (2012) validates this with the submission that the interactional approach to sociolinguistics is more qualitative and ethnographic since it views language as an unfolding dynamic entity that is co-constructed in the process of interaction. In examining this in linguistic data, attention is paid to the identification of linguistic features and the discussion of their social significance. Even more specifically, sociolinguistics draws attention to the differences between individual users of language and language varieties. To realize this, it engages the influences of social factors (like age, gender, social class and ethnicity) and situational categories (like the degree of formality of the speech situation, the social networks of the speaker, dialects,

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multilingualism, language policy, standardization) on the language of individuals or groups (Andersen 2010, 547). In this article, the focus is on how digital narratives on sexuality evince Nigerian youth language. Several existing studies have interrogated youth lingo in new media contexts. Taiwo (2010b, 1) describes young Nigerians as members of “the thumb tribe” and submits that these young people creatively manipulated the affordances of the digital space in expressing their behaviors and attitudes. While Oloruntoba-Oju (2018) interrogates youth linguistic inventiveness in Nigerian music and social media, Oloruntoba-Oju (2020) explores textual and multimodal youth language on the digital space and Onanuga (2022) pays attention to online language use in re-inventing homosexual selves. A recurring observation across these studies is that young people creatively enrich digital ecologies through their linguistic practices. Applied to the current study, the considerations extend from an evaluation of the linguistic practices among young Nigerians on a specific topic—homosexuality— within a specific domain—Twitter.

3. Decolonization and (Alternative) Sexuality Colonization has had far-reaching consequences on colonized territories, with its ramifications extending beyond the physical occupation of territories. Instead, colonization also encompassed a mental and psychological subjugation of the colonized people and reinforced supremacist and hegemonic tendencies from the colonizers. This resonates with what Fanon (2008/1952, 14) metaphorizes in his acclaimed book, Black Skin, White Masks where he adduces that decolonization “is meant to liberate the black man from the arsenal of complexes that germinated in the colonial situation.” According to Mamdani (1996), relics of colonialism are sustained in labels like developed vs. developing vs. under-developed; 1st world vs.

3rd world—terms which are applied to the concretization of the bifurcation resultant from the colonial experience. Although decolonization is also an on-going social and academic engagement in Latin America and Asia, the current discussion focuses on the African realities. Within this perspective, we, however, borrow Grosfoguel’s (2007, 3) perception of decolonization as a “critique of eurocentrism from subalternized and silenced knowledges.” In line with this, Chitonge (2018, 21) interrogates decolonization from the angle of its effects on knowledge production and submits that the “dominant modes of thinking and production of knowledge across Africa are defined and dominated by a Western world view.” He further, through illustration using land and economy, expresses the conviction that the attempts at

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decolonizing the African space have not been effective enough, particularly in view of subsisting existential challenges. Ngugi (1986), in recognition of the limitation and constraints that western world view portends for Africans, had also earlier advocated a radical reorientation—one which extends from language to naming and ultimately to decolonizing the African mind from the self-alienation which colonial devaluation has caused. Oloruntoba-Oju (2019) also interrogates the implications of coloniality on African lived experiences as he examines the character and sources of African urbanity and the associated languages using Nigeria as a contextual frame.

While decolonization as a movement reverberates across the African continent currently, it is not a recent ideological phenomenon. The wave which has spurred the current attempts to decolonize African lived realities kicked in fully in the 1950s. This found expression and culminated in the agitations for independence and self-rule by many nationalist African leaders. However, despite the achievement of independence and formation of governments for self-rule, many African nations were unable to keep on with the optimism which provoked their initial drive. Some of the hindrances were in the inherited colonial structures and “invisible” puppet strings which ensured that the colonial powers were actually still in control of their former colonies. These militating factors have ensured that many African countries continue to struggle with development challenges; and for many of their citizens, there are identity issues. The colonial influences also manifest in language use, educational system, geographical divisions (national borders are still largely maintaining the colonial boundaries), and political structures. Efforts are however continually being made to decolonize these spaces. Nyamnjoh (2016) for instance draws attention to campaigns in South Africa to decolonize higher education curriculum through student movements like #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall.

These campaigns, according to Nyamnjoh (2012, 136), are attempts at contesting the “widespread and stubborn misrepresentation of African cultures as static, bounded and primitive, and Africa as needing the benevolence and enlightenment of colonialism and Cartesian rationalism or their residue to come alive.”

There are expectedly oppositional views to attempts at decolonization, with Gilley (2017), for instance, arguing that colonialism was a legitimate project as at the time it was undertaken and was also beneficial to the colonized peoples while it lasted. Despite this viewpoint, manifestations of the aftermath of the colonial project continue to resurface. One of such is the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests across the world following police

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complicity in the death of an African-America man, George Floyd, in the United States which has led to attempts to decolonize public spaces via the destruction as well as relocation of statues of personalities tied to slavery and colonial brutalities. The protests have also opened up debates on inter-racial relations alongside how the African continent will react to the narratives which frame its image. It is believed that public engagements and advocacies like these are targeted at raising societal and national consciousness to the need to reinvent the knowledge base in Africa as well as to spur an appreciation of African identities.

While decolonization has been largely perceived from the academic, philosophical and inter-racial interactions—all of which are perceived as more “serious” social manifestations—we opine that there is need to also decolonize the framing and perception of homosexuality in Africa, using Nigeria as focus of study. This is because the normativity of heterosexuality and its hierarchization as the only “normal” sexuality was significantly constructed by Eurocentric moralizations during the missionary stage of European disruption in many African societies. Lugones (2007), leaning on Quijano’s dual terminologies of coloniality of power and modernity, has extensively interrogated the multiplicities of power negotiation that have been infused in the performance of sexuality. She argues that in many subaltern communities, the dichotomy of superiority and inferiority of gender are “colonial introduction” (Lugones, 2007, 186). This is why, for instance, the contemporary advocacy for the normalization of sexual identity and its diverse spectrum of categorizations, for instance, therefore continue to be largely framed as synonymous with Western “modernization.” Such movements are represented as, according to Segal (2008: 392), an “acknowledgment of the injustice and suffering of others.” These viewpoints seek to reaffirm the reality that gender fluidity in social roles was a regular occurrence while people of alternative sexualities were indeed acknowledged and accommodated, even if not promoted, in many African contexts. Baisley (2015) examines the discursive frames that manifest in narratives on homosexuality in Ghana. Hinged on the exploration of the constructs of decolonization in the expression of pro- and antihomosexuality viewpoints, she identifies an oscillation between “corruption”—homosexuality is foreign and immoral—and “preservation”—sexuality in Africa was diverse and fluid in pre-colonial times—frames. She concludes however that the preservation frame has not been very successful, leading therefore to the appropriation of human rights dimension in the propagation of pro-homosexuality viewpoints. Currier

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(2012) further examines how gender and sexuality movements operate as decolonization movements within the African context, paying attention to data from Namibia. What is evident is that there is the need for sustained enquiry of the linguistic practices around the intersection of decolonization and homosexuality within African contexts.

4. Methodological Background This study is part of a larger research on Nigerian homosexual narratives on Twitter. The data for the study is currently a 114,000 word-corpus collected from “Nigerian” Twitter and this was subsequently processed with Anthony’s (2019) AntConc software. Specifically, keyword searches (Nigeria + Gay + Homosexuality + LGBTQ) were used for the data collection process.

This was done between May 2019 and February 2020. These search terms helped to restrict the tweets in terms of topic and location (Nigeria).

Identified tweets and threads were manually culled and saved in .txt files.

This was to make the documents accessible and analyzable using Anthony’s AntConc (2019) software. While the software analysis affords the quantitative corpus-linguistic analyzes of hybrid new language practices as set out in the aim, this was complemented by a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) perspective. The CDA dimension allows an examination of the contributions of language to identity and ideological formations as identifiable within the context of homosexuality. Thus, while Corpus Linguistics has “come to embody methodologies for linguistic description in which quantification…is part of the research activity” (Kennedy 1998, 7), CDA enables the identification of the ways in which language is used to construct or represent the world especially in relation to ideologies, attitudes or power relations (Baker 2010). More essentially, we focus on how lexical choices, as topoi (strategies used to construct an argument), are used in providing sociolinguistic insight into the perception of homosexuality and what “new” linguistic practices frame the discussions of youth language visa-vis the decolonization of homosexuality in Nigerian digital space. Such findings are of course related to the wider socio-cultural, historical, and political contexts within which the text occurs in order to explain their manifestations.

In what follows, we pay attention to peculiar (socio)linguistic features of homosexuality narratives by Nigerian users on Twitter. We explore how language and multilingualism are used as codes and indices of identity formation in the rendition of opinions on homosexuality. In addition, we examine name-calling and linguistic equivalence as well as the incorporation

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of history in remarking homosexual realities. These linguistic features are used as tools for challenging perceived neo-colonial influences which persist in framing the public perception of homosexuality in Nigeria.

5. “Blame Colonialism”: Intersecting Homosexuality, Multilingualism and Historicization 5.1 “Abnaturality” and Homosexual Narratives The “abnaturality” feature of language refers to the manipulation of language as code (Trudgill, 1989). Within this function, language is used for the discursive and ideological function of inclusion and/or exclusion.

Alongside the obvious dominance of English language as the language for online interactions, the language is also privileged in its functions in Nigeria.

It is the language of education, formal interactions, science, business and international engagements. This is reflected in the suffusion of the language in the collected tweets. However, there are identifications of non-English tweets in the data too, even if English is the matrix language. Part of the reasons for the entrenchment of the English language in Nigerian life is the fact that the country is very heterogeneous linguistically and culturally.

Thus, to neutralize and assuage fears of ethnic domination, the English language, as a relic of colonialism and an exoglossic language, has been elevated to perform the hitherto identified functions. In the data, Hausa represents the most realizations of non-English language. Exemplifications with their English translations in brackets are presented and discussed.

In the realizations shown below, one recognizes identity negotiation based on language politics. Many of these exemplifications were realized during the #ArewaAgainstLGBT trend on Twitter. During this period which lasted between July 20 and July 26, 2019, Nigerian Northerners expressed their displeasure with and rejection of homosexuality in Nigeria (Onanuga, 2021). Relying on an oppositional ideological framing hinged on religion, culture and region, there is the assertion of the belief that the South (which is mainly Christian and liberal Muslim) is more embracing of perceived Western influences and this has reflected in its tolerance of homosexual practices. The Arewa nomenclature, as represented in Figure 1, thus becomes an identity frame from which this ideological stance is negotiated. By identifying themselves as an “Other,” they advocate for insularity from perceived moral degeneration, which homosexuality is assumed to foster.

Hit 7 from Figure 1 indeed asserts that the opposition to homosexuality

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transcends religious leanings since Arewa represents the entire region, including Christians and Muslims.

Thus, Arewa is adjudged as being “decent” (Hit 5), while homosexuality is regarded as a “problem” (Hit 6). Alongside the regional peculiarity, which the designation “Arewa” represents, language is also used to assert an ingroup orientation, as exemplified below: 1. Wutabal ball Sakar will surely be your destination (“Hell fire will be your destination.”)

2. Ga sako na musamma ga Musulumai yayin da suka gan ana sabawa Allaah.

Masu ganin cewa yancin mutum ne a bar shi yayi luwadi LGBTQ (“A message for Muslims at the period they disobey God, who are saying doing dirty(Gay) is part of human rights.” LGBTQ) 3. Yarimakabarsukawai. Yarandujjal ne dukansu. Dik acikin alamomin tashin kiyama ne. Bazasu ji hargalokachin da hazabar Allah zai kai garesu (“Yarima just leave them they are sons/daughters of Satan, it is also part and signs of end of time and they will suffer from God punishment.”)

4. Allaahyashiryeki... Allaahyafahimtardakeaddini. Allaahyaganardakeillarwannanal 'amarin da kikeyi. Amin Yaa Allaah. ( “May God forgive you for the sins you been committing.”)

Figure 1: ‘Arewa’ in the data

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The use of Hausa language to render these perceptions serves as a means of exclusion since the discursive exchange occurred within the context of Northern vs. Southern Nigeria. It is used to establish a sense of moral, cultural and linguistic homogeneity in Northern Nigeria. Seeking to deepen the narrative of maintenance of purity and curtailing of undue external infiltration, Tweets 1 to 5 are expressions of the perceptions of homosexuality in Nigeria. Tweets 1 to 4 frame homosexuality from the religious perspective—God, end of time, sin, punishment, Satan—thus rendering its performance as a sinful disobedience to God which will be punished with “Hell fire.” This viewpoint is sustained with opinions like: “Homosexuality is bad. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah cos of it.” Tweet 5 however performs its opposition from the legal angle and recommends jail time for whoever is caught doing “gay.” “Kirikiri” is one of the most notorious prisons in Nigeria and is usually reserved for hardened criminals. Therefore, putting a homosexual in such a prison on the basis of their sexuality is represented as a worthy punishment. The commenter also vaunts the legal criminalization of homosexuality and uses it as a threat against the homosexual community in Nigeria.

In addition, it is necessary to point out that the linguistic realizations and the overt opposition to the acceptance of homosexuality is couched within a narrative that attempts decolonization. Through sentential realizations like: “Worthless journalist paid to do trash job in Nigeria by the western media” and “We true Africans are not homosexual. The undiluted and real Africans are not homosexual” for instance, homosexuality is presented as a foreign or western export which Western countries seem to be forcing on non-Western countries (Thoreson 2008). The concern of coercion is not unfounded though: there were widespread outcries in 2013 over claims that the UK and the US had made the legalization of homosexuality a prerequisite for accessing foreign aid for many African countries. Thus, by maintaining their antagonistic stance, the commenters as a demographic stipulate the need to preserve their identity as Africans and Muslims.

This stance tallies with Baisley’s (2015) identification of “corruption” ideology in Ghanaian narratives on homosexuality, where homosexuality is challenged and rebuffed as a (post)colonial introduction into the African society. This is also reinforced by old western literature, for instance the 1987 British film White Mischief, which documents the hedonism and debauchery of British aristocracy in Kenya during colonial times and portrays Kenyans, and by extension, represents African societies as pure and untainted. By putting up resistance, anti-homosexuality advocates challenge homosexual

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practices as being absent in pre-colonial Africa and further uphold their viewpoint by referencing the tenets of hitherto European/Arab religious codes which have been appropriated in the Nigerian society. It is therefore ironical however that the ideological framing of homosexuality as foreign is premised on a wrong perception.

Studies have shown that homosexuality and its practices were indeed part of the social fabrics of many African societies, including within the Hausa/Fulani-dominated Northern Nigeria. The existence of the Yan Daudu, a group of homosexual and transvestite men who were fully integrated in the Hausa/Fulani society and who still thrive reasonably, is testament of this reality (Gaudio, 2009). According to Oyeniyi and Olubowale (2014), the Yan Daudu are men who act like women, and who have peacefully existed for centuries within what now makes up Northern Nigeria. While many contemporary narratives around the term Yan Daudu foreground their homosexuality and reference this as a marker for pre-colonial queer practices, Sinikangas (2004) and Oloruntoba-Oju (2011) are among those who express doubt about its etymology and definitiveness of its original link with homosexual practices. They however consent to the possibility that a Yan Daudu identity may include same-sex practices even if a definition of the scope of the term may not be straightforward.

The identified displacement of historical realities further foregrounds the necessity of interrogating the past in order to clarify the diverse perceptions of same-sex relations in pre-colonial Nigerian societies.

Amadiume (1997) also exemplifies the presence of the possibilities of samesex relations in pre-colonial Igboland, Nigeria, using the village of Nnobi and the practice of female husbands (women marrying other women). She however clarifies that while women may indeed “marry” other women, it is not exactly for sexual relations but for lineage preservation as the younger woman is expected to bring forth children in the name of the older woman.

The younger woman is also expected to provide companionship. Exploring the varied conceptualizations and practices of same-sex relations in precolonial Nigerian societies form part of the decolonization process being advocated within the domain of sexuality. As Baisley (2015) observes, the preservation ideology acknowledges and upholds the diversity of sexuality in several traditional African societies. Thoreson (2008, 688) also asserts this stance and perceives the decolonization of African sexuality to be focused on the criticism of “colonial taboos” and the celebration of “sexual diversity as inherently African.”

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5.2 Name-calling and Linguistic Equivalence Name-calling and other forms of depreciative appellations constitute parts of the digital ecology (Van Heeet al. 2015; Schmidt and Wiegand 2017; Wulczynet al. 2017). Such discriminatory expressions have been referred to as flaming and constitute, oftentimes, ways through which linguistic terrorism is enacted. Linguistic terrorism, to Christoffersen (2019), is a biased use of language to discriminate against or censure a group of people.

Unsurprisingly and reflective of how rife homophobic verbal abuse is globally (Epstein 1994; Fontaine 1997; Thurlow 2001), the Nigerian homosexual community is subjected to online diatribes and name-calling.

Some of these offensive expressions are reflective of expletives that are globally recognized with gay culture. Some exemplifications of the deprecation refer to the personality of the person being abused (or to sexual behavior): homo, fag, gay, etc. while some others reflect attitudinal perception of homosexuality: sick, mad, dirty, stinking, wrong, indecent, etc.

Baére, Zanello and Romero (2015) recognize these linguistic choices as insulting and reflective of heteronormative values. They also reinforce the stigma attached to homosexuality and help in excluding and rejecting nonheteronormative sexualities. Some more reinforcement of the attitudinal perceptions of same-sex relations in Nigeria are realizations such as “no homo” and “Gabriel.” While “no homo” is used as a form of clarification when a language user suspects that their expression might be construed as betraying a possibility of their being gay, “Gabriel” is a pun on the word “gay” as identifiable in the first syllable. “Gabriel” is covertly used to mock and abuse a suspected male homosexual.

Extending the narrative beyond name-calling, there are also realizations of what we have tagged “linguistic equivalence.” This is an applied linguistic term which, according to Panou (2013), indicates sameness between a source text/language and target text. Although in this context, the equivalence has not occurred through translation, the identified lexical items refer to indigenous expressions for homosexuality. Apart from “Yan Daudu” which does not exactly have a negative connotation, “Liwadi,” “adodi,” and “adofuro,” which were also realized in the data, are all suggestive of perceptions which focus on private sexual practices. “Liwadi” is Hausa for homosexual while “adodi” and “adofuro” are Yoruba. However, they all draw attention to anal penetration, which has been central to the sexualization of

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homosexuality.4 In all of these realizations, studies have of course shown that homophobic language has negative effects on the mental health, esteem and wellbeing of marginalized communities. It is also reflective of digital bullying and its prevalence. Sadly, this might also be contributory to the rise in homophobic violence (Merrill and Wolfe 2000) since homosexuals are consistently denigrated and dehumanized verbally. Despite this however, the realizations of these expressions also remark the fact that homosexual practices have been in existence in these societies. It is commonplace for linguistic expressions, particularly those which do not betray any form of linguistic borrowing, to be regarded as expressive of indigenous experiences and realities.

5.3 Historicization and Remarking Homosexual Realities According to Beiser (2016, 43-44), “‘to historicize’ means showing how something is the product of history.” Therefore, while previous discussions (in the preceding headings) have mostly focused on the use of language to establish identity and to foreclose the possibilities of legalising homosexuality in Nigeria, historicization in the data is used dyadically in the narratives: to establish and validate a pro-homosexuality stance, and to substantiate the origins of homophobia within the Nigerian social establishment.

Figure 2: “History” in the Data

4

It should be noted, however, that the etymology and significance of these terms have also been subject of considerable contestation (see Banwo 2013; Oloruntoba-Oju 2011).

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“History” as identifiable in Figure 2 reveals the multiple perceptions towards homosexuality. Hits 4, 5, and 9 for instance testify to the existence of homosexuality in pre-colonial Nigerian history with Hit 5 stating that there are no records of Africans attacking or killing people because of their orientations. However, while the foregoing hinge their pro-homosexuality argument on pre-colonial history, Hits 1 and 8 historicize human rights advocacy and aver that Nigeria is “on the wrong side of history for not legalizing gay marriage.” From the anti-homosexuality front however, Hit 11 regards homosexuality as harmful to humanity while Hit 13 is prognostic in hoping that homosexuality will become history at a particular point in time.

A striking historical reference in the data refers to the Yan Daudu. The Yan Daudu, as earlier presented, are a group of usually transvestite but often homosexual men who thrived (and still thrive) in many Hausa/Fulani societies. They were overtly effeminate in their daily lives and mostly resort to performing duties and roles that were societally allocated to women.

However, there have been documented cases of members of the Yan Daudu community who have heterosexual families while still maintaining their transvestite bisexuality. Realizations of references to the Yan Daudu in the corpus are: 5. “Sorry darling our Arewa has condoned and normalized homosexuality from way way back. ‘YANDAUDU’ sounds familiar? They have become a part of Arewa & no 1 is blinking. How about the 1st gay marriage in Kano 2013? Did anything change Sis homosexuality lives here ‘unfortunately’.”

6. “The biggest problem of Northern Nigeria is Denial. I knew about ‘Yan Daudu’ before I knew what gays or homosexuals meant in English. The first step towards solving a problem is accepting that the problem exists in the first place. May Allah guide us all.”

7. “Yan daudu in Kano arrested on suspicion of performing same sex acts and forced to perform Muslim religious acts by morality police. Another sad and violent incursion into the lives of consenting adults. If only the morality police could check the thieving Governor.”

In the excerpts, there are references to rebut the presentation of sexual homogeneity which certain sections of the Nigerian society seek to promote as being normative. Tweet 6 not only testifies that Northern Nigeria “condoned and normalized homosexuality”; it also informs that the first publicized gay marriage held in Kano, a metropolitan hub in the North of

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Nigeria. Quoting the word “unfortunately” in quotation marks also remarks the mock which is attributed to the discriminatory practices that have been visited on homosexuals in Nigeria. By drawing attention to the historical antecedents of homosexuality, they deconstruct the narrative of foreign-ness and invisibility, which have been the dominant frames of homosexuality in many Nigerian societies. Tweet 7 builds further on the notion of the historical reality of same-sex relations in Nigeria by testifying that: “I knew about ‘Yan Daudu’ before I knew what gays or homosexuals meant in English.” In validating this reality, the commenter challenges the society to stop the denial. This should however not be perceived as a support of homosexuality especially as the tweep regards homosexuality as a problem. The tweep instead advocates an acknowledgement of the presence of homosexuals as this, it is believed, would assist in successfully attending to the “challenges” which the practice of homosexuality poses. In Tweet 8, the reference to Yan Daudu is located within the present discrimination, stigmatization and societal moralization against homosexuality.

There are also identifications of references to the Yoruba society and its religious practices and how these are tied to perceptions of homosexuality.

In contextualizing some of such realizations in the data, it is necessary to foreground scholarly explorations of same-sex relations in the Yoruba society. Drewal (1992) documents the presence and performance of gender fluidity among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, especially within ritual practices where adherents often expressed transvestitism. While asserting that there were indeed homosexual relations among the people, she submits however that “homosexuality as a way of life is absent in Yorubaland.” She premises this conclusion on the primal value placed on procreation because “to have no children is regarded as a great human tragedy” (Drewal 1992, 186). This viewpoint is corroborated by Lanre-Abass (2012), who further argues that homosexuality is morally unacceptable and damaging to Yoruba, nay African, values. However, this has been contested by Ajibade (2013) and Dasaolu (2019), who aver that homosexuality was never foreign to the Yoruba society. Relying on documentations from traditional oral literary sources, both authors assert that there are no documented evidence of discrimination and stigmatization of homosexuals. Rather, their existence was acknowledged, although not altogether promoted. References to history as forms of validation and argumentation were also realized in the data.

Some examples of validation are:

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8. “I’m intrigued at the handling of Alafin Orompoto’s accession to the throne.

I believe he was double gendered. Even the name supports this! Now, I must say this is mere speculation, based on a casual reading of the events surrounding his ascension to the throne.”

9. “Is Jesus and Christianity part of your culture?... Ode... And yes homosexuality is in our history... Go and read your dumb fellow!”

Tweet 9 relies on a historical allusion to royalty in the traditional Yoruba society. While Yoruba and gender scholars like Olajubu (2003) and Oyewumi (2015) identify Orompoto as a female Alaafin who performed remarkably as a warrior in the Yoruba Empire of Oyo, Matory (2005) observed that oral traditions stated that she miraculously turned to a man before ascension to the throne. This of course might be explained as a patriarchal construct, an effort at masculinizing female achievements. This could also have been performative gender fluidity which is practiced in many African societies.

For instance, Amadiume (1987, 7) denies lesbian practices among the Igbo and was also vocal in her denunciation of the “prejudiced interpretations of African situations to justify their choices of sexual alternatives.” She explains the facets of same-sex relations and marriages among Igbo women and affirms that such relationships were not sexual in practice. Instead, they were merely to perpetuate a family line or to provide company for the concerned women. Thus, while historical records might be ambivalent in the recording of Orompoto, some even suggesting a transgender orientation 5 , the commenter uses the reference as a way to exemplifying the presence of samesex activities in pre-colonial Nigerian societies. Through this, there is an advocacy for the acknowledgement and acceptance of such sexual orientations in the contemporary society. This allusion to history is also sustained in Tweet 10 which juxtaposes Christianity with traditional religious and cultural practices. By this comparison, the pervasive homophobia in Nigeria is blamed on religious and cultural infiltration. By recommending recourse to pre-colonial history and religio-cultural practices, the tweep suggests that there will be better appreciation of the presence and integration of people of alternative sexualities in traditional Nigerian societies.

There are, however, even more contentious references to history; and these are argued, negotiated and clarified by the interactants. An

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/the-little-known-story-of-the-firsttransgender- royal-of-this-nigerian-empire-who-ruled-in-1540 (Accessed May, 9 2020) 5

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exemplification is recorded with reference to the word lakiriboto in Yoruba viz: 10. “Yoruba has a whole word for lesbians lakiriboto. Igbos had too.”

In Tweet 11, the commenter attempts to domesticate lesbianism as a practical realization in Yorubaland, and by extension Nigeria, through recourse to a Yoruba lexical item. The tweep claims that lakiriboto is equivalent to “lesbians” and suggests that this realization remarks the existence and practice of same-sex relations in Nigeria. However, this assertion is contested by other commenters: 11. “I am a Yoruba and lakiriboto doesn’t mean lesbians.”

12. “even the Lakiriboto in Yoruba is usually used to refer to impotency in either male or female, but if it makes her feel good, ignorance is allowed.”

13. “Even the Yoruba word is wrong. She is confused fa!”

“Lakiriboto” actually means a woman with no vaginal opening, thus she is unable to have or enjoy sexual intercourse. Applied to the man, it means impotence. However, through these online discursive engagements, the interactants are not only able to clear the lexical and semantic conundrums; they are also able to educate themselves on linguistic, cultural and historical realities of same-sex relations in Nigeria. Through these varied references to history in contextualizing homosexuality in Nigeria, Nigerians interact on a contemporary issue of national relevance. By engaging the intricacies of the past to understand the present, they seek to chart a path to the future. For some of the interactants, opposition to same-sex relations has been hinged on the moral codes provided by Christianity and Islam as well as perceived cultural codes. Conversations online thus become platforms where they learn to deconstruct oftentimes ingrained perceptions.

6. “Blame the Government”: Intersecting Homosexuality, Decolonization and the Nigerian Government In the arguments for the entrenchment of the decolonization ideology within the African context, the role of the government in nurturing and sustaining the tides is often underscored. This is because it has the powers and the agents to propagate and chart society’s course. It is therefore not surprising to find that a recurring undercurrent in the digital narratives examined is how the government in drawn into the pro- and anti-homosexuality discourses. Each side of the divide represents the government as not doing enough to take charge and put action to their opinions.

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6.1 Attribution of Pro- and Anti-Government Narratives The concordance in Figure 3 shows that government receives many hits and usually refers to Federal Government, only in few cases to local (hit 67) or even US government (hit 81). The possessive pronouns (My vs. your) are revealing, as usual, indicative of ideological stance and subjective distancing to the topic of homosexuality. As the language of the federal government is English, it is not surprising that the matrix language in all these tweets is English. Of course, this is also related to the fact that initially social media language has been predominantly English. However, with the expansion of mobile phones and the inclusion of African language symbols, this is changing rapidly, so that Mair (2020) calls his data-base Corpus of CyberNigerian, which clearly indicates the hybridity of “cyber discourse” (incl.

Nigerian Pidgin).

Thus, while the government is framed as being complicit in homophobic violence in Hits 71, 76, 79 and 82, especially through the criminalization of homosexuality and the empowerment and emboldening of security agents and private citizens in attacking homosexuals, Hits 64, 68 and 69 problematize homosexuality within the Nigerian context. Hit 64 advocates an extension, a doubling actually, of the jail term for confirmed homosexuals; Hit 68 requests for the government to step to the plate in silencing homosexual tendencies, while Hit 69 questions whether the government has been proactive enough in combating homosexuality.

Figure 3: “Government” in the Data

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Through these counter-advocacies, the government is put in the middle of the narratives. It is obvious that the government has a huge role to play in influencing the perceptions and attitudes to homosexuality. The role of governments through policies also forms the focus of Tweets 15 and 16: 14. “The fact that you don't understand that those “better opportunities” exist BECAUSE of human right policies (bold mine) supporting gay rights, women's rights, anti racism etc is part of the problem.”

15.“Some idiots support Obama! The same guy that destroyed Nigeria with his useless policy (bold mine)! He sanctioned Nigeria because we won't legalize homosexuality in our own Country??? Wow! Wow!” Tweet 15 suggests that “human rights policies” continue to be central to homosexual advocacies. It further contrasts the role of non-discriminatory policies in “saner climes” with the situation in Nigeria and opines that such policies create the “better opportunities” which Nigerian migrants and members of the marginalized homosexual community enjoy abroad. In its advocacy for the acceptance of homosexuality while affirming the role of the government, the tweet thus expresses a conviction that favourable policies, especially those that embrace all sections of the Nigerian society, will only improve the condition of living in the country. The over-reaching implications of policies also form the crux of Tweet 16, which reinforces the perception that the Nigerian Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) of 2014 was a reaction to the United States’ sanctions because Nigeria “won't legalize homosexuality in our own Country.” These tweets sustain the double-edged nature of government policies as they can be used to either positively or negatively contribute to the lived experiences of queer people.

6.2 Human Rights in the Nigerian Context As we do not want to concentrate on or give voice to the anti-homosexuality perspective, especially as it seems to be the prevailing strain in Nigeria with the rising spate of homophobic violence as a result of government criminalization of homosexuality, we pay attention instead to how the government can ensure the enforcement of human rights and the assurance of equality among all members of the Nigerian society. In more recent times, apart from arguments that foreground the biological naturalness of homosexual orientation, human rights has become a salient detail in drumming support for ostracized and minorities groups of people (Nordberg 2012). According to Holzhacker (2014), the integration of this

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dimension has occasioned significant legal and political gains for the advocacies on behalf of LGBT equality. At the heart of this movement is the United Nations’ universal human rights declaration and this is applied to national advocacies for the acceptance of citizens regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity (McGoldrick 2016). According to Helfer and Miller (1996, 85), “by locating sexual orientation within a set of rights claims, lesbians and gay men can link their struggle to a tradition that has transformed a panoply of basic human needs into rights respected under domestic and international law.” This has yielded fruits as, since 1990, over 40 countries have legalized same-sex relationships, spurring the United Nations to further launch a global campaign tagged “Free & Equal” to raise awareness to homophobic violence and discrimination. Helfer and Miller further highlight the role of respective governments in fostering equality when they assert that individuals as citizens have: …the freedom to establish intimate relationships, to enjoy sexual practices, and to develop a sexual identity takes on the quality of other fundamental and universally recognized rights…Every human being has a sexual orientation and every individual should have the ability to develop and manifest the sexual activities and identity that reflect that orientation in harmony with his or her own desires, and to receive the respect and protection of the state. (Helfer & Miller 1996, 86)

These of course are still challenges that have been unmet in the Nigerian environment. Thus, in addition and beyond the Nigerian government meeting the UN goals by putting in place regulations and policies to protect the rights of marginalized communities, adequate public sensitization to reorientate perceptions of same-sex relations and to stem the tides of violence and discrimination against non-heterosexual Nigerians must be undertaken.

Through these activities, an equitable society can be built.

7. Summary and Conclusion This article has been concerned with an examination of the linguistic practices by young Nigerians in discourses on homosexuality online. This has been engaged with attention paid to how these practices reveal attempts at outreaching for the decolonization of knowledge on homosexuality.

Through the identified features, we identify how the interactants present and assert their identities and ideological stance within the discursive field. In the recourse to Hausa language, there is a manifestation of regional cum identity politics in the negotiation of opinions on homosexuality in Nigeria. Hausa

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language is the lingua franca in Northern Nigeria; it is also a language with significant international use. By tweeting in Hausa and trending the Arewahash-tag, there is a dichotomization of the perspectives to homosexuality—presenting Northern Nigeria as more opposed to homosexual practices. Of course, this is not essentially reflective of the true state of events. Actually, all regions of the country were united in the support of the 2014 Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act by the federal government. In navigating the perspectives to homosexuality, we also identify the appropriation of name-calling, linguistic equivalence and historicization in the data. While name-calling is usually found within contexts that seek the perpetuation of homophobia, linguistic equivalence and historicization attempt to decolonize existing knowledge on the presence and attitudes to same-sex relationships in pre-colonial Nigerian (African) societies. Through the strategic advocacies for the revitalization of these pre-colonial norms in negating the contemporary pervasive anti-homosexuality narratives, one identifies language—mostly the indigenous Nigerian languages—as a veritable tool in rewriting the representations of same-sex relations.

The lexical items identified in the tweets can be recapped and described as follows: Arewa Government Liwadi Yan Daudu Adodi Adofuro Lakiriboto While Arewa is a Hausa expression used to refer to peoples and places in the Northern part of Nigeria, it has taken up a more political turn as a hegemonic identifier, despite the multi-ethnic and multilingual nature of the location.

The expression is therefore suffused with Hausa-Fulani cultural and religious values which imbue it with ideological strains. Applied to the present study, Arewa identity frontally opposes homosexual visibility, an ideology identifiable with the next expression, Liwadi, which sexualizes homosexual encounters from the lens of penetrative sex—anal sex. Thus, despite the long-documented existence of the Yan Daudu in Northern Nigeria, the existence of Sharia legal codes as well as religious extremism have contributed to deep-seated homophobia in Northern Nigeria. The terms, Adodi and Adofuro, extend the denigration of homosexuality, and

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their negative connotation further contextualize the entrenchment of homophobia across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Both Yoruba words, these expressions referencing anal penetration graphically marginalize gay identities especially as their equivalents do not exist for heterosexualidentifying people. Although lakiriboto is not directly related to queer sexuality, its realization in the data draws attention to abnormal biological development of sexual organs as well as how the digital space constitutes a form of classroom where users share knowledge and educate one another.

These lexical realizations index the widespread perception of homosexuality in Nigeria and sum up to the legislation against queer-identifying people in the country. However, the digital affordance of social media suggests that Nigerian queers use these online spaces for queer visibility and advocacies.

Although the tweeters do not identify their genders, the use orientation suggests that they are mostly male.

As an aside within this discussion, one identifies the limitations of and concerns over the role of literacy and social class in social media accessibility.

The preponderance of English in the narratives brings into focus the pervasive role of the English language in Nigeria. Taiwo (2008, 2010a) for instance, in contextualizing why English is the matrix language for digital engagement in Nigeria, remarks on the cultural constraints which manifest in the realization of greetings and prayers as contexts of the use of indigenous language expressions. This effectively means that cultural restrictions have implications on the language use online. Beyond the prestige associated with its use, the English language also avails internationalization especially in view of the borderlessness of the Internet. In addition, technological constraints like input keyboards, which thankfully are being constantly remediated, often inhibit the use of indigenous languages online. However, while one may allege that social media platforms are elitist since most Nigerian users are educated youth with enough financial wherewithal to afford Internet connectivity, the identifications of multilingualism as well as references to historical realities constitute ways in which indigenization is showcased and energized within queer narratives. Identity construction in Nigeria is thus clearly embedded in ideological frames of anti-colonial and anti-governmental discourses that are identifiable not only in language use but also in attitudes towards homosexuality in Nigeria. Consequently, one may project that apart from the global human rights advocacies for the humanization of queer people, indigenous knowledges hold the key if the advocacies are to have local impact.

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13 Li(ea)ving Behind the Mask: The Stylistics of Nigerian Sexual Diversity, and Homophobic Discourse in The Digital Media Rasaq Atanda Ajadi (Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Nigeria) Diverse or non-conforming sexual relationships are “masked” as non-existent in Africa. With the internet and social media assuming a veritable platform for the advocacy of the rights of Nigerian LGBTQ persons, it is necessary to examine the language that is operational in the discourses involving sexual diversity and homophobia. In this chapter, I examine the use of language in the discourse on sexual diversity and homophobic discourse in Nigeria. I focus on 100 manually culled Tweets and comments from Twitter using “Nigerian homosexuals”, “Nigerian homophobia”, and “Naija LGBTQ” as search terms on the subject. I adopt the orientation of discourse stylistics to carry out a qualitative analysis of the data. Linguistic negativity, agentivity and affectivity, and language of silence are the dominant stylistic features identified in the discourse. The study reveals that queer sexualities are masked as having no representation in the Nigerian indigenous languages, at least, in the sampled Tweets. The implication is that homosexuality is objectified in digital media as Western infiltration on African modernity. People with alternative sexualities are represented as objects and are subjected to cyber-bullying. The study also examines the gendered or nongendered nature of the vocabulary employed by the Tweeters of both genders.

Keywords: sexual diversity, homophobic discourse, Nigeria, gender, agentivity and affectivity, language of silence, Twitter

1. Introduction The masking of alternative sexuality in most African societies occur within arguments around normative culture and coloniality. By “masking” is meant that non-normative sexualities are concealed (masked) as non-existent in Nigeria and in most of Africa; discourse on homosexuality is shrouded in a series of narratives that mark its practice as a social aberration. However, the societal, legal, and digital media clampdown on the practice and expression of queerness in urban African societies, and especially in the Nigerian physical space has not deterred lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons from the continuous expression of their sexuality in 307

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the digital space. The LGBTQ persons took a courageous step by coming out bearing their “rainbow flag” during the #EndSARS protests (regarded as the mother of protests championed by Nigerian youths) in October 2020. By coming out, they signaled their readiness to combat the denigrating experiences that they are subjected to in the hands of Nigerians and the security agencies; they also marched alongside other Nigerian youths to demand a change in the processes of governance in the country and question how their sexuality is “manipulated or conditioned by the culture of the society in which [they live]” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2010, 3).

While there were episodes of overt anti-queer rhetoric from some of the largely heterosexual protesters, the Nigerian queer community, comprising mostly youths, also enjoyed significant backing from people who, with a united voice, sought to put an end to the systemic marginalization of sexual minorities and police brutality. The event also served as a watershed moment which documented the attempts by sexual minority groups to change the narratives of identity misrepresentation and representation of their sexuality as Western-originated phenomenon. From being regarded as “worse than dogs” (Reddy 2002, 168) to being recommended for total extermination from the African society, queer persons have lived in fear, stigmatization, and marginalization through a dominant heterosexual discourse that masks alternative sexuality as non-existent. The queer protesters are, therefore, engaged in a battle against attempts to write them out of history, since one of the ways to demonize an act is by making words relating to such an idea conventionally taboo. Sexual colonialist narratives have attempted to write Nigerian sexual diversities out of history by demonizing and suppressing the public use of words bearing the knowledge or awareness of homosexuality; thereby, “masking” knowledge around the practice through homophobic expressions. Knowledge masking is, therefore, a form of coloniality that requires refuting. Same-sex relationship or alternative sexuality knowledge in Africa can be said to be constructed around epistemic relations such as the colonial episteme and genetic/biological episteme. These paradigms reflect the linguistic construction of and reaction to queerness. The colonial episteme is promoted by those who believe that alternative sexuality is unAfrica. This group argued that homosexuality is one of the relics of the nurtured moral ills of colonialism in Africa (Cock 2003; Reddy 2002). This argument is, however, countered by the genetic epistemic paradigm that attributes homosexual orientation to nature (Schneider and Lewis 1984; Wood and Bartkowski 2004). In addition, anti-queer campaigns rely on economic motive arguments, as well as arguments relating to the attestation

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or otherwise of queer vocabulary in Nigerian indigenous languages, to construct alternative sexuality as a sexual travesty.

2. The English Language in Nigerian Youth Homosexual Digital Discourse The continuous influence of the English language as a colonial heritage and language of wider communication has promoted knowledge around alternative sexuality. The use of digital media to counter homophobic narratives and the employment digital space by LGBTQ persons to “come out” of the closet pave the way for striking a new balance in the web of discriminatory narratives on sexual diversities in youth discourse.

Although the digital space has also been a refuge from the inhibiting realities of the physical space, it is not clear if the level of acceptability sought by the LGBTQ person is achieved. A recent movie challenging negative attitudes towards homosexuality is the yet-to-be-released controversial film, Ife. Threatened by government and the Censors Board, producer of the film— whose language is English—had to release it online to avoid sanctions. A review of the film by VOA (2020) opined that most movies on homosexuality ape the negative attitude of portraying lesbian and gay persons as “people to be feared, people who should be imprisoned, people who should be killed, people who should deserve no rights in the Nigerian society” (Powell 2020).

This reality seems mostly aided by the use of the English language in such films. It is against this background that this study analyzes Tweets around homophobic discourse to probe the linguistic framings of queer sexualities on digital media. The study applies discourse stylistics as the theoretical framework to examine sexuality in online homophobic discourse. This contribution analyzes the linguistic and discursive elements that contribute to the continuous masking of sexual knowledge or awareness in Nigeria.

3. Deconstructing the Epistemic Construction of Sexuality Postcolonial studies until recently have not given serious attention to how discourse around sexuality determines power struggles and identity within nations. The claim that homosexuality is “un-African” is mostly widespread as a dominant belief among Nigerians. Devji (2016, 343) classified such a view as a sexual colonial narrative which “describes queer sexuality as an un-African colonial legacy”. Ndlovu submitted that “in spite of the significance of knowledge in determining peoples’ destinies, the triumph of Western-centered modernity negated the legitimacy of “other” knowledge and ways of knowing—outside the Western purview of seeing, imagining,

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and knowing the world” (2018 95). The performative effect of colonialism is felt in not only retelling African realities but reconstructing the historical arrangement of such realities.

As argued earlier, language shares a symbiotic relationship with its speakers’ culture and social reality. The attempt to rewrite Africa reality has also included sexuality issues. Recently described as a “shit-hole continent” by a former American President, Trump, in a voice representing white supremacists, Africa and all things African are continuously derogated, and this also manifests linguistically. The knowledge of Africa and about Africa is steeped in inferiority and Eurocentric views and has continued to flourish, and, in Fanon’s (2008/1952, 14) reproachful words, Africa is perceived as “a zone of non-being, an extraordinarily sterile and arid region, an utterly naked declivity where an authentic upheaval can be born”. This perception around Africa reflects on sundry aspects of life on the continent, including trade, education, gender, politics, and sexuality. Imprints of colonialism have mixed, and in many cases eroded, African cultural observances; thereby blurring or masking the understanding of “pristine” African knowledge. Just as “culture, mores, and observances socialize us into believing what may or may not be expressed” (Oloruntoba-Oju 2010), colonialism has further helped in silencing African knowledge production by fostering dominant Western views on the colonized. The discursive construction of African epistemic alterity is done both from within by Africanists, African kings, and African historians on the one hand, and colonialists and imperialists on the other. The knowledge about sexuality in Nigeria is bifurcated into basically heterosexuality and homosexuality. However, spatial, agential, structural, and historical manipulations of African identity present homosexuality as modern individual fantasies. Meanwhile, the challenge of traditional beliefs has exposed contemporary Africans to the truth and reality of most fossilized aspects of traditions.

Knowledge regarding sexuality in Nigeria is bifurcated into basic notions of heterosexuality and homosexuality. However, spatial, agential, structural, and historical manipulations of African identities present homosexuality as modern phenomenon. On the other hand, the challenge of traditional beliefs has exposed contemporary Africans to the truth and reality of these hidden aspects of history. It should be noted that stock phrases relating to homosexuals and homosexuality abound in Nigerian indigenous languages, at least, the three major Nigerian languages. In Hausa, there are terms like yan daudu, liwadu, yan madigo, dan kishili. Igbo has idina udi, nwoke idi nwoke and umu nwanyi, and in Yoruba we have adofuro (or adodi), fohun,

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okonrin, alagbedemeji. While the etymology and trajectory of these terms have been subject to scholarly disputes (Sininkangas 2004; Banwo 2013), and while some of them are contemporary slang terms, their presence does indicate that homosexuality is not a colonial accident in the country. “Language is no mere signaling system” (Richards, 1936, 131); words capture distinctive aspects of social life.

4. Stylistics of Masked Homophobic Discourse Burke’s (2014, 3) submission that stylistics is “a kind of linguistic-forensic” approach to texts’ analysis supports the stance that stylistics priced the bringing out of linguistic evidence to scientifically replicate interpretation.

Among the different approaches to stylistics, discourse stylistics is influential in probing the implicit ways gender and sexuality are discursively constructed in everyday, as well as institutional, discourses. “Gender concerns”, in its plurality of meaning, submerges “sexual plurality”.

However, it is believed that this fails to accrue commensurate importance to sexuality in gender discourse. The argument around sexuality has expanded in recent times and attracted the interests of sociologists, anthropologists, linguists, and psychologists. Feminist stylistics has raised concerns about coming up with stylistic toolkits for a replicable analysis of the linguistic construction of gender and sexuality. This initiative supports the call by Short (2016) to strengthen stylistics to become an academic activity divorced from its diachronic stylometry background. Discourse stylistics approach to gender discourse raises the consciousness of language users especially the listeners/readers to oppressive or pernicious comments. According to Mills (1995), readers are often not unaware of gender construction in discourse, but they are subconsciously receptive to the linguistic signification of gender deprecating meanings which are sometimes resisted. However, this is not the same as sexuality, as the sexual minority group is conscious of their sexuality and almost quick to challenge homophobic comments or comments that try to mask her/his sexual identity. Discourse stylistics demonstrates a potential to examine the complexity of language politics. The digital media texts, such as the one under contextual scrutiny in this study, reveal how the sexual minority group validates their sexual existence and identity, appropriate interpersonal features of communication such as those found in face-to-face interaction, and immediate feedback.

The objectives guiding this study are to: i. examine the linguistic features deployed to mask homosexuality;

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ii. evaluate the stylistic means of promoting and countering homophobia in Nigerian online discourse. and iii. assess the naming and describing potentials of noun phrases in gendered convergence in homophobic discourse.

These objectives form the focus of this contribution and are investigated in the collected samples of Tweets that are afterward analyzed. This is envisaged to allow this contribution to examine the different linguistic strategies employed by Nigerian homosexuals and heterosexuals in their online engagements.

5. Scope and Methodological Background This study involves 100 manually culled Tweets and comments from Twitter using “Nigerian homosexuals”, “Nigerian homophobia”, and “Nigerian gay, LGBTQ persons” as search terms to access Twitter handles and follow Tweets relating to the subject. The search is restricted to October and November 2020. Besides limiting the data boundary to Nigeria, the period covers a critical moment when the LGBTQ persons joined other Nigerian youths in protesting against police brutality and other national anomalies, including the clampdown on sexual minorities. This gives the contribution the opportunity of recency of data which guarantees the study to look at the subject from new perspectives. Also, the words used in indexing homosexuals are carefully analyzed through an approach that sees discourse analysis as being “concerned not simply with micro-contexts of the effects of words across sentences or conversational turns but also with the macrocontexts of larger social patterns” (Carter and Simpson 1989, 16).

This approach demonstrates the vivid representation and (re)presentation of homosexuality in ways that counter the normative indexing of minority sexual groups. The availability of Tweets and comments from pro- and anti-homosexual persons of different genders following such Tweets goes a long way to reveal how the linguistics of homosexual discourse plays a role in the advocacy for the recognition of LGBTQ rights. This is in the bid to examine the role that language plays in sustaining the perpetuation of homophobia and discrimination against homosexuals in Nigeria. The succeeding section presents the analysis and discussion of the sampled tweets.

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6. Analysis and Discussion In this section, I examine the linguistic features of homosexual discourse to reveal the rejection and acceptance among Nigerian Twitter users. I believe that these users are youths and expectedly more informed about matters relating to sexual diversity than the older generations. I analyze the use of linguistic negation, agentivity and affectivity, and silence in promoting, creating, and advocating acceptance.

6.1 Linguistic Negation Negation is a linguistic aspect of a language that produces cognitive images of negative propositions and their opposing positives (Jeffries 2014). In the data, linguistic negation is deployed to prompt discussion on issues of public interest. Often negation is used to influence participants to imagine the opposing poles of the issues at hand. Letter T is used in the data presentation to represent “Tweet”.

T1 @thefelakinging Nigerians are low-key accepting homosexuals now.

T2 @therealdamola Replying to @thefelakinging You are too cute to be this stupid.

T3 @thefelakinging Lmao what did I say wrong actually?

T4 @therealdamilola Replying to @thefelakinging

What was the purpose of your Tweet? When you answer that, you’d know what you said wrong. Or you want to tell me that you are also low-key accepting homosexuals T5 @thefelakinging I’m actually happy Nigerians are low-key accepting homosexuals. I have no issues whatsoever with someone’s choice of partner.

The opening Tweet in this thread is contextually negative but structurally positive. The background knowledge informing this Tweet is the general episteme that homosexuality is not Nigerian and un-African. This episteme has been argued to be a postcolonial knowledge promoted by the negative imprints of Western modernity that have bifurcated the world into “‘Zone of Being’ and ‘Zone of Non-Being’ maintained by invisible ‘abyssal lines’” (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013a, 1, and Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013b). As other Tweets reveal, Tweet 1 can be decoded as mischief. It queries the LGBTQ persons’

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“beingness” and public appearance on the #EndSars protest ground as Nigerians’ open acceptance and accommodation of homosexuality. Tweet 2 shows an understanding of the negative intent of Tweet 1 and thereby, Tweet “you are too cute to be this stupid” avoiding also structural negation but uses lexical negation, “stupid”. The avoidance of structural negation in Tweet 1 makes the Twitter user, who later confesses to mischief-making, to sample views on the level of acceptance, complicit in the masking of homosexuality in Nigeria. Linguistic negation allows Twitter users to imagine the actual positive version of the situation from different standpoints. The use of expletives in Tweets 3 and 5 forces the Tweet initiator to capitulate and claim to support the recognition of the queer person’s right in Nigeria. This gives a false sense of homogeneity where, by implication, the acceptance of homosexuality is not totally reliable. This will become clearer presently with the Tweets below.

T6 @lanraee It’s really sad tbh ( weeping emoji) T7 @felakinging: Replying to @lanraee What’s your take on the issue T8 @Rahhkeem: Replying to @felakinging and @lanraee Guys na to burn them.

T9 @chrysiie: Cause we look like a pack of Guinea Rats??? …

Tweet 6 decodes the sarcasm of Tweet 1 and this prompted the “really sad” turn which shows the standpoint of a typical homophobic. Tweet 8 goes extreme to propose a capital verdict of “burning” gay persons by calling on previous Tweets “guys”. The negative perceptions become obvious through such words as “sad”, and “burn”. Tweet 9 exhumes the reduction of homosexuals to “pack of Guinea Rats”. The Tweet opens up a network of negativity around the subject of the acceptance of homosexuality among Nigerians. The use of negative terms relating to emotion is found majorly among homophobes while negative terms relating to prey species are deployed by homosexuals. Tweets 8 and 9 confirm a relationship between a prey hunter and the prey that runs through the data. Therefore, Tweet 8 reinforces the perception that homosexuals are social misfits and deserve no compassion. By recommending homosexuals for burning, the Tweeter reiterates the contention around homosexuality. Since stylistics generally is not merely concerned with “effects” in language and text, discourse stylistics

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analyses social and political perspectives of texts and how we understand the portrayal of the homosexual as ineffective or inconsequential persons that can be exterminated at will by anyone through the patterns of Tweet exchanges. Tweet 9 reflects the powerlessness of this person as the construction of the Nigerian sexual realities. Homosexuality is not perceived asexuality or sexual ideal but as an object bearing a specific negative identity.

“Sexuality thrives on the separation of the body into independent parts, whereas a sexually repressive morality insists on the wholeness and singleness of body and mind or soul” (Attridge 1988, 167). The succeeding section puts this in perspective.

6.2 Agentivity and Affectivity Agentivity and affectivity are two concepts used in Montoro (2014). In this contribution, agentivity and affectivity constitute strategies used in sexuality discourse to draw the lines between heteronormative and homosexual identities. Agentivity refers to the initiator of homophobic actions while affectivity is the one who is directly affected by such an action (Montoro 2014). Any homophobic event must fulfill the “who does what to whoM” relationship. Agents necessarily belong to one gender or the other, although the gender will not always be discernible from the Tweet names or aliases.

There is also the age factor. Being homophobic, agents give no regard to age and time, and unlike the popular belief that homophobia is found only among the old, the illiterate, and the unexposed, it is identifiable that online communication transmits homophobia expressions by youths who constitute the largest number of internet and Twitter patrons. space.

The Tweets below give an indication of youth homophobia in the country: T10 @notpessimistic_ The number of homophobia children Nigerian parents are breeding and hip hop is enabling is scary.

T11 @guavavenezolana Never dated a homophobic man but the closest I came to that was a Nigerian dude who’s* parents were insanely homophobic but if a dude shows signs of ignorance akin to homophobia or anything related—it’s a dub.

T12 @chidinmaNnoli Nigerians need therapy ‘is so f*cking laughable because the average Nigerian is either sexist, misogynist, homophobic or a

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religious bigot. What are the chances of ever getting a sane therapist. I’m gay but can’t tell my parents’ will turn to there’s a spirit following you”.

T13 @beejonson Yeah, this is the Nigerian parent for you. And not just homophobic children, they raise them to be sexist and misogynist too.

Tweets 10-13 show that becoming homophobic involves a process of parental breeding and it is biologically rather than physically transmitted.

“Breeding”, “enabling” and “raise” suggest a continuous transmission of a belief system that has been sustained and emboldened through colonialism.

Nigerian parents play agentive roles in repressing the knowledge of homosexuality. They sustain the repression through words such as “shameful act”, “a disgrace”, “evil”, “devil’s agent”, etc. Therefore, homophobia is ever a part of socialization in Nigeria. This, as revealed in the Tweets above, implies the construction of homosexuality as a product of civilization and materialism.

Beyond agentivity, homophobic Tweets affect the interactional potentials of homosexuals who are mostly affected by cyber-bullying and parental rejection and ejection. Underlining these Tweets is the “homosexual equals modernity and a threat” viewpoints.

T14 @mzBellaaa Who says it’s low-key?

T15 @felakinging Lmao, you mean it’s the norm now.

T16 @chrysiie It’s not a norm yet but people no longer see us as a threat.

T17 @mzBellaaa Uncle said ‘us’

Nigeria has always masked the historical basis of alternative sexuality either in silence or by making a taboo of the idea. Agentive categorization of homosexuality creates negative affectivity which makes the homosexual an interloper, the subdued group that needs to hide their vulnerability in silence. Silence is another strategy that will be looked into in the next section.

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6.3 ‘Naming and Describing’ and the Gender Image in Homophobic Tweets Naming and describing is, according to Jeffries (2014), a veritable strategy for constructing opposing binary identities in discourse. The composition of a noun phrase can, and often, reveals the bias in the construction of gender identity in homophobic discourse. The modifying elements within noun phrases have evaluative potentials (Jeffries, 2014) which correlate to the pronouns and pronominals that are deployed as reference elements. The data reveals that there is convergence in the construction of gender in homophobic discourse. See the tweets below.

T22 @lindaikeji Gay means God adores you – Homosexual Nigerian Clergyman, Jide Macaulay says.

T23 @ppintlltd Replying to @lindaikeji He is confused, he needs to read the scriptures very well T24 @shukri_ibm Replying to @lindaikeji Be deceiving yourself. Finding meaningful meanings to nonsense.

T25 @AdokiyeAribibia Replying to @lindaikeji Where did he find that meaning, pls he should quote scriptures.

T26 @babbs_elijah Madness in diversity, he’s probably gay and trying to know peoples opinion if he said that T27 @Ovadje_El He should come to #Oshodi to say that nonsense, it will turn to “Grave Adores you” T28 @Nay_rosy Men wasting T29 @Onomskieb The devil just strategically plants its own claiming being in the household of God. Don’t be mocked, God knows his own.

T30 @eze_tweets Oga clergy, ( ) is using your head to play Ludo!

T31 @iremainslim With all these soft female behind everywhere … the thing tire me o.

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Tweet T22 attempts a reconstruction of homosexuality as Godly, saying that homosexuals are adored by God. The tweep reinterpreted ‘gay’ as “God adores you”; meanwhile other tweeps, besides T22, registered outright disapproval of ‘gay’ sexuality with a stance indicating support for normative sexuality. Naming and describing, as seen in the tweets above, aid the foregrounding of the particular conception of norms in the digital space which converges with the perception in the Nigerian socio-geographical space. The noun phrases in T24, 25, and 27, for example, evaluate the perception of the lead tweet, T22. ‘Finding meaningful meanings to nonsense’ (T24) derides the attempt by T22 to reconstruct the conception of ‘Gay’ as ‘God adores you’. The tweets, ‘meaningful meaning to nonsense’ (T24) and ‘that nonsense’ (T27) support the normative sexual episteme of the Nigerian society.

With the consistent use of the anaphoric pronoun ‘he’ to refer to the clergyman to whom the pro-gay sentiment is credited, the tweets show one of the discourse features of the Nigerian Twitter space where often the ‘messenger’, rather than the message, becomes the object of attack. As seen in T23, ‘He is confused, he needs to read the scriptures very well’, T25 ‘Where did he find that meaning, pls he should quote scriptures.’, T26 ‘Madness in diversity, he’s probably gay and trying to know peoples’ opinion if he said that’ T27, and ‘He should come to #Oshodi to say that nonsense, it will turn to “Grave Adores you”’, anaphoric ‘he’ is used to identify the tweep as a confused, a con, and a mad clergyman. This is indicative of the “hostile sexism” (Nagoshi, Adams, Terrel, Hill, Brzuzy and Nagoshi 2008, 521) and the belligerence homophobes melt towards homosexuals. Hostile sexism describes the “attitudes that characterize women who challenge men’s power as manipulative and subversive.” (Hammond and Overall 2013, 1585).

In the present study, the term is used to refer to the expression of hostile attitudes, and aggressive attacks on gay men, which are characteristic of male tweets.

On the other hand, the female tweeps, @Nay_rosy (T28) and @iremainslim (T31), whose apparent female identity is revealed by the profile pictures and biodata attached to their tweets, use noun phrases such as “men wasting” and “all these soft female behind” (sic), to indicate a lamentation and a form of ‘benevolent sexism” (Nagoshi, et al., 2008).

Hammond and Overall 2013, 1585) describes benevolent sexism as “a seemingly flattering ideology that emphasizes traditional gender roles depicting women as warm but weak and men as competent but cold.” In both cases the above tweets use the linguistic strategy of naming and

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describing to indirectly promote homophobic sentiments. Characterising gay men as a “wasted breed” means that they deny Nigerian women the munificence of potential suitors. The other phrase evaluates the imagery of the female sexuality and also represents a relatively mild homophobic nudging towards heterosexuality.

The above tweets are particularly important for our analysis because the tweeps are female. On the one hand, the tweets by the female tweeps indicate that Nigerian homophobes generally converge, irrespective of gender differences, against the homosexual community. On the other hand, however, a deeper assessment of the implication of gender for homophobic discourse in the Nigerian Twitter space reveals some divergence between the male homophobic’s ‘unreceptive’ (malignant) sexism and the female’s ‘benign’ sexism (terms by Nagoshi et al. 2008).

6.4 Language of silence Discourse analysts (see Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson 1974) have posited that silence does not occur at a random nor is it accidental or meaningless in conversational situations. Silence is a deliberate communicative strategy that bears the descriptive weight of being golden and consensual. Silence can be a product of suppression induced by a dominant force at various levels of social organization. This socially induced silence signals vulnerability and resignation as it is observed in the Tweets below.

T18 @the_amarion A lady brought a rainbow flag and our fellow protesters turned on us at Berger Roundabout, Abuja. They tore our placards and seized the flag. I got it back but they refused that we fly it. I wore it on my neck and they refused. Said we take it off or leave. I’m leaving.

Tweet 18 suggests an on–the–spot report of homophobic bullying on the protest ground. Expectedly, the Tweet generated reactions from Twitter users who continued the bullying online as presented below.

T19 @Iam_Ol ujay Let it be clearly stated … we are not in support of homosexuality…

Gerraout here jor.

T20 @Paulbabs4 I swear my brother this lady has been used, I was mad., we talking life, they talking lesbian.

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T21 @Iam_Olujay I was provoked bruh… Imagine her likes relating the issue with what’s on ground not talking about how they can influence the young ones with their nonsense.

Tweets 19-21 generate “written bully” (not verbal bully) as responses. The bullying Tweets do not get the reaction of the person who posts the Tweet.

Silence is a rhetorical non-linguistic device that shows LGBTQ persons as vulnerable individuals. Tweeting and recoiling do not interpret to a lack of voice in the online space. Homosexuals use Tweeting and recoiling/silence as a performative strategy associated with “powerlessness” or a specific situation of being at the margins (Ferguson 2003, 52-53). The lack of public power or protest power manifests in cyberspace. The LGBTQ person becomes the object of the power of other Tweeter users and her Tweet is obviously overwhelmed by homophobic Tweets as seen in “this lady has been used” (meaning: this lady is under a spell), and “they can influence the young ones with their nonsense.” Devji (2016, 343) supports this position that “resistance to queerness in African is at least partially rooted in the language used to describe non-heteronormative sexualities. Many of the most familiar terms such as the acronym LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer), are sourced in western studies of non-heteronormative sexuality and are, therefore, assumed to express Western conceptions of sexuality”. This leads to the understanding of such Tweets as “Let it be clearly stated … we are not in support of homosexuality” and “we talking life, they talking lesbian” as not involving or constituting issues around the right to life, equality, and freedom of association. The patterning of African knowledge in the direction of theories drawn from the West is consistently impeding the accommodation of alternative sexuality in Nigeria.

Suppression of autochthonous African knowledge is therefore aided and made effective by silencing indigenous linguistic resources that can speak of sexual diversities in indigenous voices.

7. Conclusion This contribution has examined the discursive strategies used in masking the knowledge of homosexuality as un-African. The focus was on the language features used by Twitter users to express their attitudes and perceptions of alternative sexuality in digital media. As noted earlier, stock phrases relating to homosexuals and homosexuality abound in Nigerian indigenous languages and constitute a background to the deployment of language in a homophobic vein. Four stylistic strategies—linguistic negativity, agentivity

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and affectivity, naming and describing, and language of silence—were identified in the foregoing as predominant in the marginalization of sexual minorities. Linguistic negativity reveals that homosexuals are endangered species in Nigeria as sexual differences are portrayed as European—Western modernity—which “reinvents the sex and gender codes of the West that privilege not only heteronormative social relations” (Spurlin 2016, 17). AntiWestern sentiment and linguistic negativity towards homosexuality are enacted in physical and digital spaces. Linguistic negativity is the stylistic feature used to legitimize negative homosexual identity by subverting traditional knowledge of sexuality. Agentivity and affectivity are twin language features employed in masking homosexual knowledge in the studied Tweets. These two stylistic strategies foster silence in the affected group; thereby, making them recoil in the face of cyber-bullying. Therefore, being and becoming African is a complex web of epistemic crisis “mediated through and through by spatial, agential, structural, historical and contingent variables” (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013b, 117) whereas the global explosion of public discourse in the digital media and the internet has not been able to deeply and speedily democratize. Finally, naming and describing not only enables us to see the deployment of language for negative portrayals, but also to see a gendered dimension in the language of the tweets.

Finally, the gendered nature of homophobic discourse in the Nigerian Twitter space is revealed in language use. While the discourse is engaged in by different genders, that is, male and female homophobes, who converged in decrying homosexuality, female homophobes tend to post a language of lamentation and regret (e.g., “what a waste!"; that is, gay men constitute a “waste” to multitudes of available and desiring females). On the other hand, male homophobes tend to be frontally condemning in their language, including the deployment of outrightly abusive language (“madness” (T26), “nonsense” (T27), “devil[ish]” (T29, etc.).

References Attridge, Derek. 2004. Peculiar Language: Literature as Difference from the Renaissance to James Joyce. Methuen & Co. Ltd. Banwo, Adeyinka. 2013. “Sexuality in Africa: A Review of Marc Epprecht’s Heterosexual Africa?” In Culture and the Contemporary African, edited by Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju and Kirsten Petersen, 359–361. Sandared, Sweden: Recito Forlag AB/Nordic Africa Institute.

Burke, Michael. 2014. “Rhetoric and Poetics: The Classical Heritage of Stylistics.” In Routledge handbook of stylistics, edited by Michael Burke, 11–30. Routledge. .

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Carter, Ronald and Paul Simpson. 1989. eds. Language, Discourse and Literature. London: Unwin Hyman.

Cock, Jacklyn. 2003. “Engendering Gay and Lesbian Rights: The Equality Clause in the South Africa Constitution.” Women’s Studies International Forum. 2(61): 35–45.

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Associations With System Justification and Life Satisfaction.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 36(4): 432-443. Sage.

Devji, Zahrah Z. 2016. “Forging Paths for the African Queer. Is there an ‘African’ Mechanism for Reading LGBTIQ Rights?” Journal of African Law 60(3): 343–363.

Fanon, Frantz. 2008 [1952]. Black Skin, White Masks, translated by R. Philcox. Grove Press.

Ferguson, Kennan. 2003. “Silence. A Politics.” Contemporary Political Theory. 2(1): 49–65.

Hammond, M. D. and Overall, N. C. (2013). Men’s hostile sexism and biased perceptions of intimate partners: Fostering dissatisfaction and negative behavior in close relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 39(12): 1585–1599. Sage.

Jeffries, Leslie. 2014. “Critical Stylistics.” In Routledge Handbook of Stylistics, edited by Michael Burke, 408–420. Routledge.

Mills, Sarah. 1995. Feminist Stylistics. Routledge.

Montoro, Rocio. 2014. “Feminist Stylistics.” In Routledge Handbook of Stylistics, edited by Michael Burke, 46–361. Routledge. 3.

Nagoshi, Julie L., Katherine A. Adams, Heather K. Terrel, Eric D., Stephanie Brzuzy, and Craig T. Nagoshi. 2008. “Gender Differences in Correlates of Homophobia and Transphobia.” Sex Roles 59: 521–531. DOI:10:1007/s1199-008-9458-7.

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Sininkangas, Maarit. 2004. “Yan Daudu - A Study of Trans gendering Men in Hausaland in West Africa. M.A. Thesis in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University.

Spurlin, William J. 2006. Imperialism Within the Margins: Queer Representation and the Politics of Culture in South Africa. Palgrave.

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Gendered Dichotomies in African Youth Language and Language Practices:

A Postscript Fiona Mc Laughlin (University of Florida, USA)

Africa’s future – if not its present – is both young and urban. As the most rapidly urbanizing continent in the world, Africa’s population is expected to double between 2020 and 2050, and African cities will increase their collective populations by 950 million during this period (OECD/Sahel and West Africa Club 2020, 14). As these facts sink in, scholars in various disciplines have focused their attention on youth (e.g., Honwana & De Boeck 2005; Honwana 2012; Newell 2012; Masquelier 2019) in order to understand the ways in which young people create their own cultural particularities and attempt to find creative solutions to the many problems, such as state failure, poor educational systems, underemployment, clandestine migration, etc., that they face. Linguists have participated in these conversations about the youthful and urban present and future of the continent in some profound ways by describing and analyzing ways of speaking among urban youth, as well as the ways in which they shape youth culture and notions of identity across Africa. Kießling and Mous’ 2004 article, “Urban youth languages in Africa,” started a conversation about the ways in which young people use language creatively in order to distinguish themselves from older generations. Their proposals have been both expanded and contested to create a rich literature on youth languages in Africa (e.g., Nassenstein & Hollington 2015; Mensah 2016; Hurst-Harosh & Kanana Erastus 2018; Mesthrie, Schmied & Oloruntoba-Oju 2019, Hurst & Brookes 2021, etc.).

Although specifically youthful ways of speaking are not restricted to urban youth, the city is where they are most elaborated. Like other kinds of urban languages that are not restricted to youth, urban youth languages – or former youth languages, because youth inevitably grow older and aspects of their ways of speaking may spread into a larger, less youthful population, only to be renewed in different ways by new generations – like Camfranglais, Luga ya Mitaani, Sheng, Tsotsitaal, or Nouchi, always show evidence of contact between multiple languages. Africa’s highly multilingual environments thus invite the mapping of ideologies onto different ways of speaking, so that using one language over another, or mixing them, comes to be seen as an ideological choice in the performance of youth identity.

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Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, and with some notable exceptions, until now the majority of studies on youth languages in Africa have not focused much on gendered linguistic practices, but the essays in this volume change that. Fully inscribed within contemporary discourses on the performance and fluidity of gender, they propose multiple approaches to the study of gender, ranging from how gender roles are prescribed in the lexicon of African languages and in formulaic language and proverbs (Namyalo); to the gendered use of urban youth languages (Reuster-Jahn, Ojongnkpot, HurstHarosh & Kanana Erastus, Ndlovu; Oloruntoba-Oju and Oloruntoba-Oju); to discursive practices in talking (or writing) about gender roles (Rudd & Kanana Erastus), and sexuality (Mensah, Aboh, & Ushuple; Onanuga & Schmied; Ajadi); and to gendered language in performance, broadly construed (Abang; Kolawole; Oloruntoba-Oju and Oloruntoba-Oju). What do these essays tell us? Many of the studies (Ndlovu, Reuster-Jahn, Ojongnkpot, Hurst-Harosh & Kanana Erastus) report that young men are the primary users of youth languages, which raises an important question: have we inadvertently been studying male speech in our previous research on youth languages? The profile of the typical youth language user that emerges from these studies is the “clever” (Hurst-Harosh & Kanana Erastus), namely the urban, streetwise young man who is at ease in public space. He may perform his dominance in such spaces by “sexually evaluating and objectifying women” through catcalling in a youth language such as Lugha ya Mitaani (Reuster-Jahn), a type of harassment that also enhances camaraderie between young men. Abang’s characterization of Camfranglais as a “language for the carefree” furthermore reflects the relative ease with which men inhabit public space. Once class and other intersectional aspects of identity are added to the equation, the notion of a public space that is accessible to male speakers of youth languages becomes substantially more circumscribed, a point that deserves attention in future research. In addition to being a primarily male phenomenon, youth languages have been seen as predominantly urban. Both Ndlovu and Oloruntoba-Oju make compelling cases for further research on rural youth languages.

While urban youth languages eventually spread from cities to rural areas, there are also rural youth languages that contribute to their urban counterparts (Schmied & Oloruntoba-Oju 2019). Interest in the sociolinguistics of rural Africa is growing, as evidenced, for example, by the essays in Di Carlo and Good (2020), and the study of rural youth languages has an important role to play in understanding the dynamics of linguistic practices in smaller towns and rural spaces in Africa. Although the male

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orientation of youth languages is an important theme in the essays in this volume, they also – and perhaps more importantly – draw our attention to the ways in which young women do or do not use such languages, how they use their own versions of youth languages, and what their attitudes towards such languages are. Hurst and Kanana point to previous research by Maribe and Brookes (2014), who show that lesbians in a South African township either eschew or draw on features of male Tsotsitaal repertoires in enacting sexual roles, while Ojongngpot claims that young women use Camfranglais minimally in mixed (male and female) settings, and not at all in all female settings.

Popular culture, and in particular music, is an important domain for the use of youth languages, and young female singers have appropriated aspects of these languages in their own repertoires (Abang). Moreover, Tanzanian women have created numerous terms in Lugha ya Mitani that are not widely known to men to describe hair and hairstyles which are more important to them in discussing female appearance than the body parts that men focus on (Reuster-Jahn). One of the main differences between women’s and men’s use of youth languages can be found in their respective lexicons. While the use of youth languages can be seen as a transgressive act, as in the overlexicalization of female body parts, the situation is often quite complex.

Words and even whole semantic fields related to culturally taboo topics of conversation such as sexuality, genitalia, etc. can be more palatable in youth languages than in other more standard varieties of language. Reuster-Jahn, for example, proposes that catcalling is made more acceptable though the use of Lugha ya Mitani because of the strong taboo associated with such behavior in Swahili, and she also cites Ogechi’s (2005) study that shows that, in Kenya, people talk about sex and HIV/AIDS in Sheng. Likewise, the use of food metaphors to talk about sexual desire and gratification in some of the urban Nigerian communities studied by Mensah, Aboh and Ushuple allows people to talk more openly about such experiences. Global discourses on sexuality gleaned from conventional and social media play a role in the changing views of Kenyan women (Rudd & Kanana Erastus) who discursively integrate hitherto conflicting roles into their gendered identities, not unlike African women in New Zealand (Kolawole).

The contributions by Ajadi, and Onanuga & Schmied are interesting on public discussions of homosexuality in Nigeria which have often tended to cast same-sex relations as a western phenomenon that corrupts African societies, a view that often translates directly into anti-homosexual legislation. The discursive construction of queer sexualities in English –

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“masked as having no representation” in Nigerian languages – in the Tweets sampled by Ajadi – reinforce that view and lead to further marginalization and cyberbullying. On the other hand, negative attitudes and policies towards homosexuality are also contested in online platforms in Nigeria, and the many terms that exist, and have existed for a long time in Nigerian languages for homosexuals, though sometimes contested too, are harnessed by activists as “a veritable tool in rewriting the representations of same-sex relations” (Onanuga & Schmied).

In focusing on the multifaceted and complex ways in which gender is performed in youth languages, the various essays in this volume open myriad new pathways for studying the imbrication of gender, youth, and language in African societies.

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