What did mugabe say about gays quote in 2008

Is homosexuality a postcolonial issue? Since it has been argued that colonization erased many native ways of thinking, some critics have suggested that postcolonial peoples have constructed mythologized depictions of their cultures before colonization. These myths tend to paint native societies as the absolute negation of everything that Western culture brought.

Thus, they brand many things deemed inappropriate or immoral by the popular culture of postcolonial nations as characteristic of Western, non-native values see Myths of a NativeOrientalismEssentialism. Mugabe indicts homosexuality as the product of morally degenerate colonial cultures and finds that such behaviors were not initially present in cultures indigenous to Zimbabwe.

Using this reasoning, a number of postcolonial peoples foster homophobia, since the elimination of homosexuality might be seen as a purging of the ills of colonial influence. Thus, attempts to re-establish native language and customs become inextricably entangled with problematic efforts to promote imaginary aspects of a prelapsarian native culture.

To complicate issues further, homophobia within some postcolonial nations also come from the hybrid incorporation of sexual and gender norms from the West as well as indigenous ones into the cultural discourse. That said, sexuality and sexual acts cannot be defined consistently across national, cultural and ethnic boundaries.

John C. Hawley points out. Tanzania: In Tanzania, restrictions on homosexual activity are actually increasing; they have passed law which extends the prison sentences for homosexual conduct, increasing them from 20 to 25 years. After listing these case studies, it should be noted that although the decisions in these cases reflect the sentiments of the ruling powers, these are not necessarily shared by the often disenfranchised general populace.

Power, whites and gays – Robert Mugabe in quotes

Also, each of these reports came from predominantly Western news services, so they must be closely examined for Western biases that may depict postcolonial nations as being less advanced and inhumane. Herdt, Gilbert and Robert J. Published by Columbia University Press in This is consider the first phase of their sexual maturity.

Then as they enter adolescence they must receive fellatio from younger community members. Once these two sexual phases have occurred, males then participate in solely heterosexual sex acts. Kalutwo is known in his community for refusing to undergo the second sexual phase in his development.

This isolates him from the community. Depending on these boundaries some may find the work of Herdt and Stoller suggestive or flat out offensive. Another such case of culturally specific notions of the queer is the mati culture—the practice of erotic female relationships— in Suriname.

The word mati has an unknown origin, although two explanations are generally provided. Not surprisingly, this erotic female companionship is thought to have begun with the importation of slaves to Suriname. Many scholars have argued that this expression of sexuality is a powerful act of reclaiming the black body from enslavement—either historically from slave masters or in a contemporary context as a counterpoint to Western queer identities.

In so doing, mati- ism does important work, contributing to a multiplicity of queer identities in the Caribbean. Women who engage in these kinds of relationships may also be involved in multiple relationships simultaneously Mati- ism is often associated with Caribbean feminism and becomes the means for both empowering women and also embracing the potential for men to participate in a non-Patriarchal social system.

Homosexuality, both male and female, was perceived as a threat only when it caused an interrogation of the heterosexual imperative. This meant that homosexual acts were not the problem—homosexual identity, however, was another matter As Chancy makes clear, it is the identity claimed by an individual that makes the difference, not always the participation in an act.

Thus, here there is a disjunct between behavior and identity which may not entirely make sense from a Western perspective. Neither Mugabe nor Fanon are the endpoint for a discussion of non-Western sexuality.