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This paper describes how South African soldiers draw on notions of gender, sexuality and morality in their constructions of identity and heterosexual sexuality. Popular discourses around HIV and AIDS in South Africa and elsewhere have highlighted the centrality of notions of morality, many of them problematic, in the response to the epidemic. In Southern Africa, the centrality of heterosexuality to HIV transmission has triggered a focus on morality in sexuality, including calls for abstinence or, in married relationships, monogamy. This paper discusses the findings of a research study that explored male soldiers' constructions of masculinity, sexuality and risky sexual practices. Discourses that emerged reflected dominant attitudes regarding men and women's sexual rights and, in particular, the moralisation of women's sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Explains that this special issue of "Culture, Health and Sexuality" aims to broaden existing horizons in the realm of sexuality research in Africa. Public health; Challenge to stereotypes; Complex and multi-faceted roles of men and masculinities in the realm of sexuality; Articles drawn from the papers presented at "Sex and Secrecy," the Fourth International Conference of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society.

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies of female sexuality in Africa tend to adopt an instrumental approach, many times problematizing sexual conduct in relation to HIV infection and/or reproduction. This study aimed to explore sexuality as a relational concept. Using interviews and participant observation, the paper shows how sexuality becomes a point of self-identification for young professional women in Nairobi between 20 and 30 years-old. These women form a group who implicitly and explicitly criticize conventional gender roles through the overt pursuit of sexual pleasure as recognition of their womanhood. This aspect of the feminine sense of self is at odds with normative notions of femininity. To avoid criticism for being ‘un-proper’, women adopt a deferential attitude towards men. The focus on upwardly mobile professional women and their experiments with new types of heterosexual relations in dating provides insight into both sexuality and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of HIV/AIDS, there is increasing interest in female controlled barrier methods. HIV prevention suffers from a critical 'technology gap': namely, the lack of products to enable women to reduce their own risk of sexually transmitted infection, independent of their male partners. An ideal technology should be low-cost, free of side effects, effective against both HIV and other STIs, and undetectable by male sexual partners. A first generation of barriers is already in circulation: namely, female condoms (FCs). But what can we learn from FCs that will help to increase the chance that programmes focused on other barrier methods will be successful? This paper draws on lessons from the past decade of FC programming. Interviews with 34 professional stakeholders in FC programming from the USA and South Africa highlight a number of factors that can help create public and institutional cultures, in which barrier methods can be considered feasible and can be put into use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the local, regional and international efforts to end the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in Africa. Association of FGC with cultural norms of femininity, chastity and religious observance; Details on the magnitude of the health and psychosexual consequences associated with FGC; Promotion of reproductive health in the region.

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)