3. Gender Crossing and Sex Role Segregation in Hausa Society

Sani Lawal Malumfashi

He is partly a man and partly a woman, but not a hermaphrodite. He is anatomically a man and socio-occupationally a woman—casually homosexual and occasionally heterosexual. At the best of times, he is transsexual. Transvestite is the congenial term referring to Dandaudu (gender crosser) of Hausa society. Daudu is the act whilst Dandaudu is the actor. According to Abdullahi and Kleis (1983), the Yan Daudu form a strikingly distinctive social category of males associated with female prostitution in the Hausa speaking areas of northern Nigeria and Niger Republics. Gender, as opposed to sex, has a social connotation; it means socially transforming two biological classes, male and female, into two social classes, men and women. In between men and women lies the Dandaudu (gender crosser) who is, by behavioral disposition, a woman.

Hausa is a language and Bahaushe refers to a person who is originally of Hausa language. He is also referred to by some Nigerian tribes as Afuno, Kado, Gambari and Malam respectively. Hausa speaking people number at least some forty million and are predominant in most Northerly states of Nigeria and in the Republic of Niger. Sizeable populations of Hausa speakers are also found in Ghana, Cameroon, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, North Africa, and Saudi Arabia (Last, 2003, p. 718). Hausa culture is an amalgam of Islamic and traditional cultures. Despite its Islamic identity, Hausa society still tolerates “gender crossers” and, until very recently, even prostitution. Three reasons are perhaps responsible for this tolerance.

First, like the Bori cult (worship of spirits), transvestism predates Islam. Second, it is difficult to detect and punish sex offenders in Islam. Detection is a practical difficult because four sane and mature people must individually witness the “actual” copulation before a sex offender is punished. Actual copulation is stressed here to mean that the genitals of the two copulating adults must clearly be seen interacting with each other by all four witnesses. Third, some Hausa transvestites are economically powerful and have a stronger sense of group feelings than other socio-occupational groups. In addition, they enjoyed the patronage of pre-jihad Hausa merchants and aristocrats, either as pimps or sex partners. As a pimp, the dandaudu establishes an erotic relationship between prostitutes and clients. According to Abdullahi and Kleis (1983), dandaudu acts as agent of prostitutes, soliciting suitors, arranging contacts, advertising her charms and managing relations with authorities. Evidence of tolerance is found in the fact that the local authorities in the past often organized football competition between Yan Daudu and prostitutes.

The personality of the dandaudu is characterized by his voice, which is feminine, and body language, which is also very feminine. He dresses in a long Kaftan with a wrapper tied round his waist. He rarely wears make up, but teaches women how to do so. Dandaudu are not only skilled organizing erotic relationships between prostitutes and clients but also in cooking and selling of food.

Cultural and Institutional Support for Dandaudu

The question of why the institution of daudu exists and why it continues to persist in a society that is fundamentally Islamic still lingers. Why are gender-crossers absent in other equally Islamic but non-Hausa societies of Nigeria? Abdullahi and Kleis (1983) opine that it is the strict maintenance of socio-spatial boundaries between genders (purdah), which is strongly emphasized in Hausa culture with prostitution as an intervening variable that gives rise to daudu. It could be safe, therefore, to argue that the institution of purdah (seclusion of married women from the outside world), which is more identified with Hausa Muslims than non-Hausa Muslims, is one of the cultural and institutional supports for daudu or gender crossing. In addition, Dandaudu is tolerated in Hausa Islamic society because his role as a social broker is culturally supportive. The societal norm typical to most Islamic societies discourage free and unguarded interaction between members of the opposite sex. Dandaudu, being a person of mixed gender status, therefore, plays an intermediary role in simplifying heterosexual interaction by, in the words of Abdullahi and Kleis (1983), arranging erotic relationships between prostitutes and clients and managing relations with authorities. His mixed and ambivalent gender status enables him to interact and mingle freely with men and women (married and unmarried) without having any sexual encounter. He is, in fact, a trusted partner in managing and influencing heterosexual relations much more so than a male or a female intermediary.

Furthermore, the gender crosser’s role in the society helps maintains and even sharpens Hausa gender dichotomy. By standing in between, the gender crosser reinforces the strict gender division within the Hausa society. A careful examination of his role enhances our understanding of the boundaries at which men’s and women’s roles end. Thus, both Hausa culture and political institutions recognize gender crossers by the social role they play, which is in many respects entertaining and supportive.

Relevant Terms Examined: Dandaudu and Gender Role

Dandaudu is referred to by Omani as xanith and by Indians as hijiras and is best translated into English as a transvestite or a gender-crosser. Homosexuality is a gateway to achieving altered gender status among the Hausa transvestite, a bridge to becoming a “woman.” However, not all Hausa homosexuals are transvestites and not all transvestites are active homosexuals. Yet, the majority of Yan Daudu are homosexuals if only at a casual level. Gender has a social expression. It means giving social meaning to physical variation between sexes, transforming two biological classes, male and female, into two social classes” (men and women) and defining the boundary within which each class is restricted (Sherry, 1986, p. 83).

In other words, when talking of sex, we are referring to the basic physiological differences, while gender refers to the culturally specific patterns of behavior, either actual or normative, which may be attached to sexes (Giddens, 1981, p. 148). Accordingly, Kessler and McKenna (1978) and Basaw (1980) note that gender may refer to a person’s subjective feeling of maleness or femaleness (gender identity) and also societal definitions of behavior as masculine or feminine (gender role).

Gender role is culturally determined and varies according to societies. Michener et al (1986) observe that every society has a varied expectation for the mannerisms and behaviors of males and females. Michener et al (1986) affirm that in Western societies, for example, men have traditionally been expected to be competent, competitive, logical, decisive, and ambitious. Women, on the other hand, have been expected to be warm and expressive, gentle, sensitive, and tactful. Parents accordingly use these expectations as blueprints in socializing their children. In most societies, the male child engages in activities outside home and the female child in domestic activities. Parents reinforce the gender roles by the different kinds of toys they buy for their children. The prescriptive role of a female is to nurture and nourish, and, as a child, she is provided with a baby doll and a pot. The role of a male, on the other hand, is to provide and protect and, as a child, he is allowed to play with a harvester and a toy gun or horse, depending on the cultural expectations of the society in question.

Thus, all societies have their culturally defined ways in which men and women should and ought to act, behave, and present themselves. These normative ways also cover what men and women wear, the economic activity with which they must identify themselves, and which political roles they should differently play. Male and female children are socialized into these sex specific roles first by the parents and later by the general society. Accordingly, Collins (1984) argues that biological males and females learn how to play the social role of men or women. Just what these behaviors are depends on the society in which they happen to live and on each person’s individual experiences.

In the Hausa society, the female child is socialized to become a woman by inculcating into the child the role of looking after, taking care of, attending to, and comforting a child. The male child, on the other hand, is socialized to command, dominate, instruct, and control. Such gender differences as this exist in most societies, yet the content varies according to societies. Kessler and McKenna (1978) for example, observe that, the Mundugumor society expects both males and females to behave in masculine ways (aggressive and non emotional), while the Arapesh people expect both males and females to behave in what most societies would conceptualize as feminine. Again, among the Zuni Indians of North America, women are expected to be sexually aggressive and men sexually timid (Giddens, 1981, p. 179). Compared to Zunis, the Hausa society is the reverse. Even though gender difference is social, the sexual anatomy of the neonate (vagina or penis) provides the basis for the social differentiation of the sexes. The genital identity provides a clue as to whether the child is a potential merchant, priest, engineer, or domestic servant. Hausa parents prefer male genitals because it is culturally seen as more socio-economically promising than the female’s sexual identity. In spite of the tremendous opportunities open to men, however, the Hausa transvestite (Dandaudu) still wants to see himself, and for others to see him, as a woman. What could be the predisposing factor for this?

 Psycho-Social Basis for “Gender Crossing”

Yan Daudu (Hausa Transvestites) are biologically males. Some of them are passive homosexuals and others are active ones. Their dominant source of income, however, is selling food such as frying eggs on the street, roasting chickens, and running restaurants (women’s culturally prescribed occupations). Given the occupational definition, Dandaudu is socio-occupationally a woman. In terms of acting as a woman, he could be more “woman” than a biological woman, because he is more flexible in terms of body language and more skillful in cooking than a typical Hausa woman. His voice is equally feminine. He can be an extraordinarily perfect player of the game, because he occasionally teaches women how to dress, attract, and dance. While some members of the society see him as deviant, others see him as a fashionable comedian.

A dandaudu is simply not satisfied with his biological identity, a reason that perhaps accounts for his crossing to the opposite gender. Abdullahi and Kleis(1983) asserts that the conspicuous aspect of the status of the dandaudu is his rejection of conventional masculine identity and adoption of feminine dress, speech, and self-presentation. Unlike in Western societies, Hausa transvestites still retain their genitals, which enable them to cross back to men in later parts of their lives by marrying and procreating. Even where they become “men” again, Hausa transvestites find it difficult to stamp out their feminine voice and effeminate character. An interview with Tajogana, who was an ex-transvestite, reveals that he and all the ex-transvestites he knew still speak as women because they could not regain their masculine voice. Whether this applies to all ex-transvestites of all cultures is subject to further research. The reason for Daudu, however, goes beyond dissatisfaction with one’s own gender to some bio-psychological and sociological factors.

Psycho-biologically, the tendency for homosexuality by an individual is possibly explained by the male’s testes having too little testosterone in prenatal life, which predisposed the man to homosexuality in adult life. Homosexuality is still emphasized in respect to Hausa transvestite because, as stated earlier, it is a sexual ritual that changes one’s own gender status. Another psychological reason could be that homosexuality in men develops as a result of a son’s strong attachment to his mother or what Freud calls Oedipus fixation (Caprio, 1957, p. 89).

From a biological perspective, Shaffer (1988) notes that males and females differ in five important respects:

• Sex chromosome—xy for male and xx for female;
• Hormonal balance—e.g., males higher in androgen and female higher in estrogen;
• Composition of gonads—testicular tissue for males and ovarian tissue for females;
• Internal reproductive system—testes, seminal vesicles, and prostate for males and vagina, uterus, ovaries, and ovarian tissue for females; and
• External genitalia—penis and scrotum for males and labia and clitoris for females.

According to this perspective, genetic and hormonal differences between sexes are responsible for several sex-linked characteristics that are apparent at birth and shortly thereafter. The argument here is that males and females are biologically programmed for certain activities that are consistent with either a masculine or a feminine role. The situation of dandaudu, given this perspective, is a typical case of biological maladjustment—either he has too little androgen or too much estrogen in his biological make-up.

The sociological explanation for transvestism, however, centers on the idea that human sexuality is learned, not inherent. We learn either homosexuality or heterosexuality by association with peers of the like. We also see heterosexuality as normal because our society is predominantly heterosexual. Sexual perversion is, according to the sociological viewpoint, also culturally defined. In most cultures, homosexuality and premarital intercourse are prohibited.

Yet some cultures in West and East Africa permit practices that are considered deviant in many societies, including masturbation and incest in varying degrees and exceptional circumstances. The Sambia people of New Guinea for example have legalized man-boy homosexual relations: from childhood until marriage, a boy lives with an elderly male and engages in homosexual practices (Atkinson, 1990, p. 328). This practice is called “semen ritual” and implies that becoming an adult means having man’s semen injected into your body. This kind of pederastic practice also existed among the Azandes (boy-wives) of central Africa as well as the ancient Greeks. Through this process, it is possible for the act to be habitual among exposed individuals.  The situation of Hausa transvestite is no more different. Either elderly men initiate them or in childhood they associated more with female than male peers—a reason that would account for their feminine disposition. Contrary to Abdullahi and Kleis’ (1983) assertion that dandaudu is very likely the product of prostitution, the position here is that the feminine disposition in males started in early childhood. The effeminate person who has already been “sissified” by male peers since childhood relates only with prostitutes after joining daudu.

Discussion and Conclusion

The paper is basically a sociological explanation for gender crossing, i.e., the adaptation by men of the socially prescribed role for women as exemplified by the phenomenon of Daudu in the Hausa society. The paper also relates homosexuality to Daudu because homosexuality is a gateway to achieving altered gender status among Hausa transvestites. The position of the paper, however, is that not all homosexuals are Yan Daudu and not all Yan Daudu are active homosexuals. Transvestite is the congenial English expression of dandaudu.

The fact that a person is dandaudu implies that he has rejected the male gender identity. He is by every social reason not a man. Since to be a male or female is biological and to be a man or woman is social, dandaudu is more of a woman than a man. The act of daudu is learned, not instinctually inherent. This paper is theory based, i.e., it relied on theoretical postulations on sex and gender and reviewed relevant literature. Except for the interview with Tajogana, a Badawa (Kano) based dandaudu, no in depth survey was conducted. Little, if any, sociological study is conducted on the Dandaudu and his status in Hausa gender dichotomy. Thus, the paper intends to pave the way for more studies on gender crossers; it is a pioneering sociological insight into yet another sociologically relevant but obscure area.

In conclusion, the gender division in most societies is between men and women. Roles prescribed for men are different from those prescribed for women. Men play the dominant role in the Hausa society, while women play the subordinate one. However, the content of these roles varies according to societies. In between man and woman there is a “mixed” gender, i.e., Dandaudu (Hausa transvestite). Dandaudu cannot be a third gender. His position within the wider Hausa gender role is that of reinforcing the sharp, societal gender dichotomy and division between the two roles. It is easy to figure out by looking at Dandaudu where men’s roles end and where women’s roles begin. He is, for every social purpose and intent, a woman. He is a deviant, but a harmless one, although some people see him as a comedian. He commonly learns the act of Daudu from the elderly ones who are also Yan Daudu and from imitating female friends in childhood.

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