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Understanding Sexual Negotiation between Marital Partners: A Study of Ogu Famil

Understanding Sexual Negotiation between Marital Partners: A Study of Ogu Families in Southwestern Nigeria By Wusu, Onipede and Isiugo-Abanihe, Uche C. Department of Sociology, Department of Sociology Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of the Social Sciences Lagos State University, Ojo University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria Nigeria Abstract Studies on African sexuality have concentrated on men extra-marital affairs and a total neglect of sexual negotiation between husband and wife. The main objective of this study is to examine gender differentials in sexual negotiation strategies between marital partners among the Ogu, South-western Nigeria. Data were generated from survey conducted among 900 married men and women and 9 focus group discussions. Analysis reveals that both husband and wife have sexual needs that make them to desire sex naturally. While men do make direct demand for sex, women employ indirect erotic strategies to initiate sex. The consent of both partners is required for sexual encounter to give maximum pleasure. Logistic models show that urban residence and frequent spousal communication are associated with gender equity in sexual negotiation between marital partners. It is suggested that sexual health programmes should therefore focus on both partners and not just men. Keywords: Sexual, Relations, Negotiation, Marital, Partners Résumé Des études sur la sexualité africaine sont portées sur les relations extra-conjugales des hommes et sur une négligence totale des négotiations sexuelles entre mari et femme. L'objectif majeur de cette étude est d'examiner les comportements des sexes dans les stratégies de la négotiation sexuelle entre les couples parmi les Ogu, au sud-ouest du Nigeria. Des données ont été obtenues à partir des enquêtes menées parmi 900 hommes et femmes mariés dans 9 groupes de discussion donnés. Les analyses revèlent que le mari et la femme ont des désires sexuels qui les poussent à naturellement désirer le sexe. Le consentement des deux partenaires dans le couple est nécéssaire pour une relation sexuelle avec un maximum de plaisire. Des modèles logistiques montrent que le résidents des villes et une fréquente communication conjugale sont associés avec l'égalité des sexes dans la négociation sexuelle entre mari et femme. Il est suggéré que les programmes de santé sexuelle devraient cependant se focaliser sur les deux partenaires dans un couple et non seulement sur l'homme. http://aps.journals.ac.za/ Introduction In a paper presented at a seminar organized by the IUSSP Committee for Reproductive Health, Dixon-Muller (1999) attempted a classical disintegration of reproductive health goals into measurable components. Two of the reproductive health goals she articulated include: freedom from unwanted sexual relations and harmful or unwanted sexual practices, including violence and coercion within sexual relationships; and the capacity to enjoy and sustain sexual relations in a spirit of affection and partnership. These components set sexuality as an integral part of reproductive health. Needless to mention sexual and reproductive health are directly related to the attainment of the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially with respect to improving maternal mortality and combating HIV/AIDS—goals 5 and 6 (Mba 2006). The WHO (2004) defines sexuality as “a central aspect of being a human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender, identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction”. In view of this definition, this paper focuses on various sexual negotiation strategies among marital partners in order to re-examine aspects of age-long stereotypical myths on sub-Saharan African sexuality. The main objectives are to examine the context of sexual relation in the regular marriage and relative sexual negotiation strategies between intimate partners in the study setting. The main question addressed in the study is, do men actually dominate sexual negotiation within conjugal unions? Literature Review and Theoretical Framework The field of sexuality is largely understudied in sub-Saharan Africa despite its undisputed importance for reproduction and health (Undie and Benaya 2006; WHO 2004; Vance 1999). The examination of the existing literature on sexuality by Undie and Benawa (2006: 3) “revealed undeniable tension in the emergent body of sexuality literature”. Quoting Okami and Pendleton (1994), they affirmed the existence of a contradiction between “empirical data gathering and hypothesis testing and postmodern, post p o s i t i v i s t c o n s t r u c t i o n i s t scholarship/science” on African sexuality. Locally, only a few researchers have delved into this all important area. Among the few studies, there has been concentration on male sexuality with emphasis on extra- marital affairs and a total neglect of sexual negotiation between husband and wife (Orubuloye et al. 1995; Boroffice 1995). In addition, majority of the available studies on sub-Saharan Africa do not focus directly on sexuality per se but on the African family system and the HIV/AIDS pandemic (Undie and Benaya 2006). As a result most of the theories constructed on African sexuality are quite tenuous and have been highly criticized (Ahlberg 2007; Undie and Benaya 2006). Perhaps this accounts for the prevailing mystification of sexuality, and especially control over sexuality, between married partners. African Population Studies Vol. 23 N°2/Etude de la Population Africaine Vol. 23 N*2 http://aps.journals.ac.za/ The literature is replete with assertions that because African society is largely patriarchal, men dominate family decision-making. The extension of this reality to sexuality appears to fuel some discord in the literature on who really determines timing and the frequency of sex between heterosexual married partners. Some studies report that men are relatively stronger in sexual negotiation in conjugal unions than their female counterparts (Isiugo-Abanihe 1994; Oyekanmi 1999), and that women cannot resist sexual advances from their husbands even when they perceive their health is at risk (possibility of contacting STIs) (Bammeke 1999; Adewuyi 1999). In essence the position established by scholars indicates that women are at a disadvantage in sexual negotiation relative to their husbands' privileged and stronger position in African culture. However some other studies have indicated that women exact considerable influence in negotiating sex in marriage. Orubuloye (1995: 231) observed that “Yoruba women would increasingly refuse to have sex with partners that are infected with HIV/AIDS”. This was attributed to “their economic independence, the ease with which they could break up marriages and return to their families of origin, and the traditional expectation that it is primarily women who are responsible for ensuring that sexual relations do not take place during pregnancy and the post- partum period”. Beside this, Orubuloye, Caldwell and Caldwell (1991) reported from a survey in Ekiti that at least 77 percent of female respondents indicate that they refuse sex to their husbands. Again, in a study conducted by Orubuloye et al. (1997) in Ekiti, it was reported that about 70 percent urban and 75 percent rural women claimed to have the right to resist sexual advances by their partners, particularly when they suspect that their husbands are engaged in extra-marital affairs. Also Ogunjuyigbe and Adeyemi (2005) observed in a study carried out in Lagos metropolis that women have some control over their sexuality in Africa, especially during breastfeeding, pregnancy, menstruation and sick period. In view of these discordant voices on the subject matter in Nigeria, more studies are needed. This justifies the present study. A n u m b e r o f c o n c e p t u a l perspectives have been advanced on global sexuality namely psychoanalytic perspective, learning perspective, script theory and evolutionary psychology perspective (Padgug 1999). The emphasis of these perspectives ranges from conceiving sexuality as a powerful drive to the shaping effect of culture and society on human sexuality. There is no doubt that these existing theories are characterized by limitations as outlined by Undie and Banaya (2006). In this study we propose a bio-cultural conceptual framework for understanding sexuality in the Ogu marital context (figure 1). The focus on this region is predicated upon reports of earlier studies that significant differences exist between this and other parts of Africa in gender relations, especially married couples (Orubuloye, Caldwell and Caldwell 1991) Wusu, Onipede, Isiugo-Abanihe, Uche C.: Understanding Sexual Negotiation between Marital Partners: A Study of Ogu Families in Southwestern Nigeria http://aps.journals.ac.za/ This approach stipulates that an inseparable interaction exists between biology and culture as determinants of sexuality between marital partners. There is a biological basis of sexual feelings which is common to both sexes. As Padgug (1999: 18, 19) observes, “biological sexuality is the necessary precondition for human sexuality”. The biological aspect of sexuality is rooted in the fact that every normal man or woman (boy or girl) possesses the sexual instinct to desire sex beginning from puberty. This is universal and it has nothing to do with inequality in the access material resources. This suggests that married women have as much need for sex as are their husbands, and this is natural (Foster 2000). However, in human society, culture works upon biological sexuality to provide a framework for its manifestation and operations. Padgug (1999: 19) observes that “biological sexuality is only a precondition, a set of potentialities, which is never unmediated by human reality, and which becomes transformed in qualitatively new ways in human society”. Culture is thus a human creation in society that shapes uploads/Societe et culture/ understanding-sexual-negotiation-between-martial-partners-a-study-of-ogu-families-in-southwestern-nigeria 1 .pdf