Connect
To Top

Sexual Liberties, Divorce Parties & the Tuareg Woman

Many Africans who are yet to come across the Tuareg may express remarkable excitement when they finally learn about this distinct culture and its women. Africa is a continent with extant diverse cultures. At the heart of the Sahara Desert lies one of the world’s most peculiar cultures- the Tuareg.

The Tuareg People

Encyclopedia.com describes the Tuareg as a semi-nomadic, Islamic people who speak a Berber language, Tamacheq and live in the contemporary nation-states of Niger, Mali, Algeria, and Libya. They are believed to be descendants of the North African Berbers and to have originated in the Fezzan region of Libya but later to have expanded into areas bordering the Sahara, assimilating into their traditionally stratified society the sedentary farming peoples from regions south of the Sahara.

The Eminent Women

One of the most exciting information about the Tuareg is the status of its women in its society. Tuareg women are considered one of the freest women in the world. The culture is one that places immense power in the hands of its women thus elevating them to a level women of other cultures can only envy.

Tuareg women pictured in Niger_blog.swaliafrica.com_

Tuareg women pictured in Niger.Credit: Frans Lemmens/Corbis- DailyMail

Sex And The Tuareg

In most African systems, there is an imbalance in sexual liberty across genders. Men are known to have more freedom in choosing partners as well as the number of partners they keep as supported by the polygamous systems that run in several cultures. What makes the Tuareg different is that it gives similar and even more freedom to its women, without eliminating the freedom of the men as well.
Tuareg women have the liberty to choose as many sexual partners as they want. Women are known to welcome different men into their tents at different night. When a woman welcomes a sexual partner into her tent, who usually stays over the night, the family of the woman who lives in the same tent, pretend not to notice. A place known as the ahal (aka poetry soirée) is the venue for courting and young Tuareg flirt freely.

The Family Structure

In the Tuareg’s traditional culture, it is the husband who goes to live with his wife and not the other round. Upon marriage, the woman can still keep as many partners as she wants. While the knowledge of this liberty is widely acknowledged, the women still have to keep their relationships secret. Male sexual partners enter a woman’s tent in the dead of the night and leave before the break of dawn, largely unnoticed.
Marrying just one woman at a time, Tuareg men are known to be serial monogamists.
The Tuareg society is matrilineal meaning that family descents are traced through the female line. Natives bear the surnames of their mothers. Matrilineal surnames are used rather than the conventional patrilineal system. Social status is also transferred via the women.

Divorce Parties

Divorce is celebrated in the traditional Tuareg culture. These divorce parties are to announce the availability of a woman for remarriage. Upon divorce, the woman keeps all her possession including the children and the tent, and it is the man who gets to move out of the house. Such men usually return to their mother’s camp. Women may initiate the processes that lead to divorce. Divorce in this society comes with neither stigma nor shame.

Economic Power & Politics

Women own the homes and the animals. In a society that depends on the livestock for survival, leaving such invaluable resource in the hands of women reveals the extent of the power that women wield. The woman’s home serves as the source of the community.
While men are generally involved in caravan trade, a woman sends out her camels with a male relative to participate in the trade. Several women also own gardens and date palms that are tilled by men.

Opinions The Tuareg women, seen here arriving at the Tuareg Political Party speech.Their opinion is highly valued by the men_Blog.swaliafrica.com_.

The Tuareg women arriving at a Political Party speech.Their opinion is highly valued by the men. Credit: Alamy- DailyMail

The Tuareg maintain a patriarchal system, just like many other cultures in the world, where political decisions are largely in the hands of its men. However, women still play an important role as external but important influences in political discussions. Men consult with their wives and mothers before taking political decisions.

Clothing

In Tuareg society, men wear veils while the women do not. Unlike traditional Arab societies, it is men who begin to wear veils upon reaching puberty. However, women cover their hair and most parts of their bodies.

History’s Side

The Tuareg are believed to be descendant of a legendary Queen Tin Hinan who lived in the 4th Century and led the expansion of the Tuareg southwards of Algeria. Tin Hinan is credited in Tuareg lore with uniting the ancestral tribes and founding the unique culture that continues to the present day. Her title, Tamenukalt can be translated to “Mother of the tribe” or “she of the tents”.


[Header image]–  Wikipedia

Discover Africa Everyday!

Dont miss out on the latest stories from around Africa

You have Successfully Subscribed!