Allah Made Us: Sexual Outlaws in an Islamic African City: 03

A rich and engrossing account of 'sexual outlaws' in the Hausa-speaking region of northern Nigeria under Shari'a law, this text provides the first ethnographic study of sexual minorities in Africa, and one of very few works on sexual minorities in the Islamic world. In the Hausa-speaking region of northern Nigeria, Shari'a or Islamic law, requires strict separation of the sexes and different rules of behavior for women and men in virtually every facet of life. Allah Made Us: Sexual Outlaws in an Islamic African City is about the men who break those rules. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the ancient Islamic city-state of Kano, Allah Made Us analyzes the social experiences and expressive culture of ‘yan daudu (feminine men in Nigerian Hausaland) in relation to local, national, and global debates over gender and sexuality at the turn of the twenty-first century. Rudolf Gaudio explores how ‘yan daudu use language, their bodies and other media (including food, clothing, and video) to ‘play’ with what it means to be male and female. In this innovative text, cultural anthropologist and linguist Rudolf Gaudio offers not only a rich and highly engrossing ethnographic account of these sexual outlaws, but also provides those readers with little background in linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and queer studies a primer to key concepts by presenting a range of sophisticated ideas in an accessible manner. A rich and engrossing account of 'sexual outlaws' in the Hausa-speaking region of northern Nigeria, where Islamic law requires strict separation of the sexes and different rules of behavior for women and men in virtually every facet of life. The first ethnographic study of sexual minorities in Africa, and one of very few works on sexual minorities in the Islamic world Engagingly written, combining innovative, ethnographic narrative with analyses of sociolinguistic transcripts, historical texts, and popular media, including video, film, newspapers, and song-poetry Analyzes the social experiences and expressive culture of ‘yan daudu (feminine men in Nigerian Hausaland) in relation to local, national, and global debates over gender and sexuality at the turn of the twenty-first century Winner of the 2009 Ruth Benedict Prize in the category of "Outstanding Monograph"