Despite the abundance of information about the negative attitudes towards intersex Africans and the hardships they face as a result, details about the various cultural underpinnings of these negative attitudes are not well documented. Individual testimonies refer to beliefs in generational curses, witchcraft, demonic possession and more. The one research paper I found which analyzes Bambara (Mali) beliefs about intersex (and albino) individuals based on the Bambara creation myth left me with conflicting feelings of hope and grief. Hope, because the first step to change is knowing exactly what needs to change. Grief, because the reasons are so deeply rooted in Bambara spiritual and cultural notions of what it even means to be a person, I can only imagine what intersex people in this and other cultures with similar beliefs have endured over time.
Researching this episode brought me face-to-face with the question of how to navigate obviously harmful metaphysical beliefs without undermining the entire belief framework. I remain more hopeful than despairing because a cultural fabric with ugly patterns and dark threads is not unique to any one people. If anything, in acknowledging and addressing these negative aspects, African people affirm their place in the shared human struggle to build better societies in a constantly changing and wildly uncertain world.
I hope you enjoy the episode!
Intersex Africans