Afrieros presents: Sensuality and Erotism in the Afriurban context

"Guinean teenagers wearing skirts or hipsters, associated with Wolosso, which partly expose their buttocks and midriff"
The provocative dance is considered by many in the mainly Muslim West African country to be pornographic.

A ban on an "indecent" dance which has been performed naked in public places is prompting an angry reaction in south-west Cameroon
'The lyrics are not indecent ... what I know is that some Cameroonian youths are overdoing it and dancing naked to Mapouka ( Traditional name: Makouca) music.''

He says he is convinced that the supposed immorality of some Mapouka dancers is a reflection of immorality in wider Cameroonian society.
Upon reading these quotes out of an article by the BBC, the overplayed notion that being African means being morally pure began being strongly discussed among the staff.
Cameroon is ranked 138/160 most corrupt country in the world, while Guinea is ranked 160/163.
Do we have a case of misdirection of frustrution and anger towards something quite normal/cultural. Most african dances look daring and sexually evocative but that would be to the fearful and wicked mind. A society at ease with their body,senses and sexual energy is not scared of nor obsessed with frivolous stimuli. They would know that there is a time to play and there is a time to take care of other tasks.They do it without being overwhelmed like a 12 years old , a zealot or a hypocritical individual.

What could be lacking during the formative years of the young in Africa that would have them succumb to the power of the flesh?
What is it with some our would-be moralists in Africa that they do not see the "Africanness" of these choreographies. As fas as we know , the colonialists have always described our dancing as being sensual,decadent ( In their eyes),wild,animalistic and many more epithets.Most of the dances are most often than not picked from the folklore. This is the way we have danced but we have not gone to create Playboy,Vivid Entertainment,Hustler and Hentai. Someone once said of our ways with dancing:
"We dance and free ourselves,they repress. We express,their repression manifests violently".


In the upcoming posts we are going to have a series of videos from all over the continent depicting how we move our bodies and follow suit will be a discussion on the general concept of sexuality in African culture and its impact on our behaviour.