A same-sex-oriented book that focuses on women in Ghana, a country where same-sex relations are culturally and religiously frowned upon, and written by a Swiss-Ghanaian woman, is undoubtedly a ground-breaking project. Knowing Women opens a new chapter in sexuality debates in Ghana – and, by extension, in sub-Saharan Africa. The release of the book at a time when the discourse and public outcry on LBTQIA+ in Ghana are at their peak (early 2021) makes it even more relevant. The book fills a big gap, because books on sexuality in Africa have mainly focused on Southern and East Africa with little attention given to West Africa. Many such works have focused on male same-sex relations or gayism and have neglected women.
Situated within anthropological literature and informed by ethnographic research approaches and life histories, the book teases out the sexuality of women who prefer to engage in intimate relationships with their fellow women in postcolonial Ghana. The author contextualizes the phenomenon of homosexuality and identity politics through an in-depth review of African feminist and gender literature. Structured in five chapters, the author shares the lived experiences of women involved in same-sex relations and how they cope with everyday stigma associated with the practice of lesbianism. I found the sections on pp. 54–78 very insightful in our appreciation of the complexities involved in juxtaposing religious values with traditional orientations towards sexuality issues in West Africa. The book identifies charismatic sexualization, the media, group and public spaces, globalization, the law and labelling as some of the key factors that trigger positive or negative orientation towards same-sex persons and their practices in Ghana.
A remarkable feature of the book is the tactical and sensitive strategies employed by the author, specifically by drawing on the concept of ‘indirection and discretion’ in accessing and gaining the confidence of respondents in her study. Dankwa describes some of the challenges of research: ‘Given the absence of a language about “lesbianism,” and given the fact that in public discourse same-sex desire was considered taboo, it was not feasible to state upfront that I was looking for women who had sexual relationships with each other. When I did state the matter directly, I encountered a range of self-proclaimed experts on sin and sex’ (p. 3). While this approach worked well with the working-class women she studied, it was still challenging for her to gain access to more ‘powerful women’ from other social classes. This draws attention to power relations and her positionality as an outsider. I wonder if an insider or ‘local Ghanaian researcher’ who may not belong to the same-sex subculture could successfully carry out similar research without challenges.
The author demonstrated great creativity in the techniques through which she generated data among the participants in this sensitive study. Also notable is the author's use of the term ‘postcolonial Ghana’ as an analytical tool rather than a stage or period in Ghana's development. Dankwa's Knowing Women further draws attention to the role of labelling in same-sex relations. While many of her working-class participants engaged in same-sex relations, they hesitated about being identified as lesbians. Some therefore were involved in heterosexual practices to cover up their same-sex relations, while others enacted ‘joking relations’ to distance themselves from such relationships. This resonates with the challenge of labelling that has framed most same-sex relations in many parts of Africa. It confirms Murray and Roscoe's work in Boy-Wives and Female-Husbands: studies in African homosexualities,Footnote 1 where they argued that such practices existed among Lesotho women but that they never labelled it in the same way as in the West. What is Dankwa's position on the labelling of same-sex relations in Ghana? And how does the author reconcile ‘supi’ as used among Asafo groups in the coastal areas of Ghana with supi in reference to same-sex relations among women in Ghana?
The findings from Dankwa's exploratory ethnographic work, which uncovers challenging experiences encountered by lesbians in Ghana, have the potential to influence Ghanaians with regard to redefining the labelling of lesbians and appreciating the sexualities of other minority groups. The first chapter of the book, for example, reveals some indirectness in the Ghanaian language, religion, politics and laws relating to the subject of homosexuality. Policy engagement with Dankwa's conceptualization of the terminologies of sexuality in this book could provide precise definitions for hazy legal terms in the Criminal Code. This would also help clarify matters relating to criminality within the context of social justice and a person's sexuality as a social construct.
Overall, I found this book very timely and relevant to sexuality research design techniques and policy formulation. It contributes immensely to global discourses on sexual identities. Knowing Women is a must-read for scholars of African sexuality, social scientists, researchers, cultural studies scholars, sexuality and gender policy formulators and implementers and all those who have a stake in advancing and protecting the identities of African women.
