This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Mokk Pooj: Gender, Interpretive Labour and Sexual Imaginary in Senegal’s Art/Work of Seduction Véronique Gilbert PhD Social Anthropology The University of Edinburgh 2016 2 I declare that this thesis has been composed solely by myself and that it has not been submitted, in whole or in part, in any previous application for a degree. Except where stated otherwise by reference or acknowledgment, the work presented is entirely my own. Véronique Gilbert Edinburgh, UK August 2016 3 4 Abstract This thesis examines the evolving gender relationships exposed by and contested through the Senegalese art of seduction, mokk pooj. The Wolof expression encompasses a set of feminine attitudes and actions (culinary prowess, docility, eroticism) that reflect values such as teraanga (hospitality), sutura (discretion), and muñ (patience, endurance). These beliefs and the discursive practices that perpetuate them are central to the reproduction of a gendered, normative, patriarchal, polygamous Senegalese sexual imaginary, but are framed within the playful and pleasurable realm of seduction and sexuality. Indeed, mokk pooj implies a satisfying sexual life based on a religiously-informed sexual ethics: in a country where 95% of people identify as Muslim, marriage and procreation are divine recommendations, and sexual pleasure is said to make a married couple feel closer to Allah. In consequence, objects and strategies that enhance sexual satisfaction are an integral part of the Senegalese seduction toolkit. Each chapter pays attention to a specific element of the material culture of seduction and explores how it exposes larger gender dynamics. By taking potions and amulets, money, aphrodisiacs, food, and lingerie as the starting point of each chapter, I explore how these objects relate to concepts of social conformity and normativity, love, anxiety, complementarity and agency. In doing so, I analyse the gendered labour – the art/work of seduction – that goes into mokk pooj. David Graeber (2012) suggests that within hierarchical relationships, individuals in an inferior position (women) have to constantly imagine, understand, manage and care about the egos, perspectives and points of view of those on the top (men) while the latter rarely reciprocate. While Graeber contends that this ‘interpretive labor’ or ‘imaginative identification’ reproduces an internalised structural violence, I analyse mokk pooj as an affective economy in which women’s emotional, interpretive labour, becomes an agentive, albeit conservative, tool of negotiation and power (Mahmood 2005). In imagining and interpreting men’s needs and desires, Senegalese women uphold the Senegalese sexual imaginary that portray them as docile and submissive. However, it is through the apparent conformity and subdued demeanour that mokk pooj requires of them that Senegalese women manage to portray themselves as good women and consequently enhance their agentive power of negotiation. 5 6 Table of Contents Abstract 4 Table of contents 7 List of illustrations 10 About Wolof transcription and pronunciation 10 Acknowledgements 13 Chapter 1. Mokk pooj: an introduction 17 Mokk pooj: the art of seduction 20 A Senegalese sexual imaginary 22 The interpretive labour of seduction 28 An Islamised way of life 32 Signares and the history of seduction 40 Mokk pooj and sexuality in the literature 47 The chapters ahead 50 Chapter 2. 'I hope you get a taste of the black snake before you leave': fieldwork and erotic subjectivity 55 Shifting subjectivities 58 Foreign, loose and rich 63 Erotic subjectivity 69 Living arrangements 74 Working with an assistant 77 Conclusion 79 Chapter 3. ‘Women don’t love men anymore’ : love, money and kinship 81 Mbaraan as interpretive work 83 Marriage and brideprice 87 Love grows 90 The good wife 99 The good husband 107 Competing loves 113 Conclusion 117 7 Chapter 4. ‘You have a jinne lover’ : maraboutage and wellbeing 119 Maraboutage 124 Shortage of husbands 131 A seed of doubt 136 Attaching one’s love 141 Attacking rivals 147 Protecting oneself 150 ‘What is not true does not last’ 155 Conclusion 157 Chapter 5. ‘Virginity. You can get it at the pharmacy’ : aphrodisiacs, ideals and feminine capital 159 A woman’s second soul? 162 Vaginas, small and big 169 Faking it 174 Bloody egos 176 ‘hop on, hop off, and next stop’ 180 Double standards 185 Sutura 188 ‘Saccalma sama jabar’ 192 Conclusion 196 Chapter 6. ‘The pepper will talk back’: the gift economy of food and sex 199 Gift economy 203 The kitchen, a feminine space 206 Learning to cook, learning to be 209 Small dish, small heart 212 Cooking femininity 215 ‘Poobar déey feyyu’ 218 The consumptive production of food and sex 223 Prescription, proscription, incorporation 224 Consumptive production of energy 227 Of big penises and orgasms 230 Conclusion 234 8 Chapter 7. ‘A slut, a saint, and everything in between’: mokk pooj, submission and agency 237 Mokk pooj, the art of negotiation 240 The Muslim sexual ethics of mokk pooj 243 Liggéeyu ndeye 247 The spectre of polygamy 251 Ammunition for marriage 259 Covert sexuality 265 Being and becoming mokk pooj 268 Conclusion 272 Chapter 8. Mokk pooj: a conclusion 273 The agency of interpretive labour 275 Mokk pooj as self-production 280 Bibliography 285 9 List of Illustrations Figure 1. Secrets de femme at Marché HLM 15 Figure 1. Map of Senegal 18 Figure 2. Morning prayer 37 Figure 3. ‘Husband Wife Child Good Love’ 94 Figure 4. Awa Konté at work 120 Figure 5. Cherche-mari / garde-mari 143 Figure 6. Virginity soap 160 Figure 7. Car rapide 182 Figure 8. The recipe-for-good-sex bethio 200 Figure 9. Waistbeads 238 Figure 10. Lingerie 259 Figure 11. Aphrodisiacs 264 Figure 12. Pagne ‘Kamasutra’ 268 10 About Wolof Transcription and Pronunciation Throughout the thesis, I use specific Wolof words that denote essential concepts and ideas, or have not equivalents in English. The Wolof transcription follows Jean-Léopold Diouf’s Dictionnaire wolof-français et français-wolof (2003). I borrow Agnes Hann’s (2013) examples to explain the approximate phonetic equivalents of the Wolof letters whose pronunciation differs from English: Vowels a absorb à cat e get é say ë bird i meet o hot ó or u as in the French ‘ou’ A doubling of the vowel indicates that it should be pronounced for a little longer than the normal (short) vowel. Consonants c church, but closer to the French ‘tiens’ j job, but closer to the French ‘dieu’ ñ onion x between the English ‘h’ and ‘k’ q a more guttural version of the Wolof ‘x’ A doubling of the consonant denotes phonetic strength. Proper nouns and names are spelled in French, as this is how they tend to be transcribed locally, for example in the media or official documents such as identity cards. Apart from proper nouns, most Wolof words are rarely written down in practice (Hann 2013: 10). 11 12 Acknowledgements ‘Whether it is the dizzy, heady and overwhelming feeling of love for a lover, or the warmth and joy at being near a friend who has shared one’s struggles, it is our relation to particular others that gives life meaning and direction, and can give us the feeling of there being somebody and something to live for. […] how one loves matters; it has effects on the texture of everyday life and on the intimate "withness" of social relations’. Ahmed (2004: 139-140) The labour behind this thesis has been one of blood, sweat and, thankfully, more coffee than tears. It has also been one of love, friendship and unconditional support over three continents, and I am greatly indebted to all the wonderful people who have made it possible. À Dakar, toute ma gratitude va d’abord et avant tout à ceux et celles qui ont généreusement accepté de partager leur intimité avec moi et dont les expériences forment le coeur de cette thèse. Je dois aussi une fière chandelle à Kira, coach en séduction, et aux nombreux artisans qui m’ont fait découvrir le surprenant univers de la séduction à la sénégalaise. Merci de m’avoir fait confiance. Mon assistant El Hadj Ndao a été d’une aide exceptionnelle et je le remercie pour son ouverture et sa franchise. Un immense merci à Bernard Diouf d’avoir contribué à la transcription des entrevues. Une mention spéciale va à l’équipe de l’UMI Dakar qui m’a offert un lieu de travail (climatisé !) et une source de motivation quotidienne. Je remercie aussi tout particulièrement la famille Moreira-Ba qui m’a accueillie comme l’une des leurs, et le groupe d’amis extraordinaires qui m’ont épaulée tout au long de ce périple : Viviane, Atou, Khady, Amadou, et Madame Diop; Bouba; Leah, Nelson et Rainha; Allison; Fabrice; Marie, Sébastien, Martin-tintin et Timothée; Sophie et Xavier; Hélène, Mika et Judith. Mon aventure sénégalaise a été ponctuée de rencontres incroyables, mais trois d’entre elles ont été particulièrement marquantes. Julie, nos intérêts professionnels communs se sont transformés en une amitié riche et durable (et en une passion partagée pour le wax!), et ni mon séjour ni ma thèse n’auraient été les mêmes sans toi! Tigger, you have helped me remember to be amazed by the little things in life, to see the good and the beautiful in everyone, and to keep dreaming; your drive and optimism inspire me.