4 TUFTS UNIVERSITY HEALTH & NUTRITION LETTER www.tuftshealthl.docx

4 TUFTS UNIVERSITY HEALTH & NUTRITION LETTER
<www.tuftshealthletter.com> : NOVEMBER 2011
SpecialReport
Though “probiotics” have only recently passed the 8 million
mark in Google hits, these “good bacte-
ria” have been touted for their health
benefits in many cultures for more than
a century. An early 20th-century scien-
tist, Russian biologist and Nobel Prize
winner Elie Metchnikoff, first studied
them after noticing that Bulgarians and
Russians lived exceptionally long lives
on diets including fermented dairy.
In the late 20th and early 21st cen-
tury, interest in probiotics has boomed.
From 1994 to 2003, US sales of prio-
botic supplements nearly tripled. Food
products containing probiotics have
proliferated throughout the supermar-
ket, including yogurt, fermented and
unfermented milk, miso, tempeh, juices
and soy beverages. Some of these foods
get their “good bacteria” naturally,
while others have the bacteria added in
processing.
It’s important to keep in mind that,
whether probiotics come in pill form or
added to foods, they are regulated as

foods, not medicines. As a result, when
probiotic health claims have gone too far
out on a limb, the manufacturers usually
run afoul of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion, which regulates false advertising,
not the Food and Drug Administration.
So what should you make of these
claims? Are probiotics right for you?
Friendly Bacteria
Though “bacteria” sounds like some-thing to stay far away
from, the human body relies on “friendly”
bacteria for healthy operation. The
human gastrointestinal tract alone
contains more than 400 different bacte-
rial species. They work to maintain a
healthy gut lining; we depend on them
to produce vitamins and to suppress
bad bacteria. They’re also used to break
down food and produce the lactase en-
zyme necessary to digest milk. (People
who are lactose intolerant are deficient
in this enzyme.)
Probiotics, according to the World
Health Organization, are “live micro-
organisms, which, when administered
in adequate amounts, confer a health
benefit on the host.” There are four
main families of probiotics: Lactobacil-
lus and Bifidobacterium provide the
most commonly used “good bacteria,”
while others belong to the Saccharo-

myces (actually yeasts, a different type
of microorganism) and Streptococcus
groups. Despite the scary associations
with the term “Streptococcus,” a form
of that bacteria—Streptococcus ther-
mophilus—was the original probiotic,
a yogurt starter popularized by Metch-
nikoff in a book on longevity research,
The Prolongation of Life.
Within each family are individual
strains of microorganisms—the names
you might see when looking on the back
of a yogurt cup, for instance. Among
the more common are Lactobacillus
acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum
and Lactobacillus reuteri. Strains of
Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium have
especially been highlighted in studies as
therapeutic for various gastrointestinal
conditions. Keep in mind, however, that
benefits found from one species or strain
of probiotics do not necessarily hold true
for others, or even for different prepara-
tions of the same species or strain.
Do They Work?
Some probiotics work to protect the body from unwanted
invaders by colonizing and reproducing. These
good bacteria are normally present
in a healthy digestive tract, but some-
times, there’s an imbalance that leads
to gastrointestinal problems. Taking
antibiotics can also deplete your body’s
good bacteria while killing bad micro-

organisms.
According to the federal govern-
ment’s National Center for Comple-
mentary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM), “There is limited evidence
supporting some uses of probiotics.
Much more scientific knowledge is
needed about probiotics, including
about their safety and appropriate use.”
Nonetheless, a number of studies,
especially over the past decade, have
suggested possible health benefits for
probiotics. These have shown positive
results not only for gastrointestinal con-
ditions such as diarrhea, irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS) and ulcerative colitis,
but also with bacterial vaginosis. Other
conditions have also been known to
benefit from probiotics, such as Crohn’s
disease and chronic yeast infections.
Diarrhea: A 2010 review of the
scientific evidence by the international
Cochrane Collaborative concluded
that probiotic bacteria help reduce the
length of time people suffer from diar-
rhea. Patients given probiotics along
with rehydration fluids reduced the
duration of their diarrhea by one day
compared to those not given probiotics,
and were 59% less likely to suffer diar-
rhea lasting four or more days.

Irritable bowel syndrome: A 2001
randomized, double-blind clinical trial
focused on the effect of Bifidobacterium
on IBS. Out of 122 patients tested, 62
received a placebo and 60 received the
probiotic once a day for four weeks.
Patients rated their intestinal discom-
fort and IBS symptoms on a seven-
point scale. Those who received the
probiotic had their scores drop by 0.88
points, while those in the placebo group
dropped only 0.16 points. In the pro-
biotic group, 47% of patients reported
“adequate relief,” compared to only
11% in the placebo group. Overall, the
probiotic significantly improved pain,
bloating and bowel urgency.
Ulcerative colitis: A 2004 study
looked at the effect of using VSL-3, a
commercial probiotic combining eight
strains of bacteria, plus a mild dose of
balsalazide, a drug used to treat ulcer-
ative colitis, compared to the drug on
its own in a higher dose. Three groups
were studied: one with a combination
of VSL-3 and balsalazide, one with bal-
salazide alone, and one with mesalazine
(another drug used to treat ulcerative
colitis) alone. The results showed
that the first group was “significantly
superior” in obtaining remission; 24
of 30 patients enrolled in the probiotic
groups were in remission by the end of
the 12-month study.

Are Probiotics Right for You?
Weighing the evidence on how good for you
these “good bacteria” really are.
NOVEMBER 2011 : TUFTS UNIVERSITY HEALTH &
NUTRITION LETTER 5
SpecialReport
A condition
in women where the normal balance
of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted,
bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most
prevalent vaginal disorder in adults
across the world. A 2010 Italian study
looked at the proposed treatment of BV
with a strain of the probiotic Lacto-
bacillus, seeking to lower vaginal pH
(more acidic). The study of 40 patients
found that after 12 months of treat-
ment, 24 had the desired pH and after
24 months, 32 had successfully lowered
pH. As the pH lowered, the symptoms
of BV were likewise reduced.
Which Should I Take?
If you think probiotics might be right for you, Robert M.
Russell, MD, a gastroenterologist and emeritus profes-
sor in Tufts’ Friedman School, suggests
looking for the probiotic that has been
researched the most for the condition
you’re concerned about. For instance, a
2010 study in Poland concluded that, for

adults with constipation, their problems
are best treated with Bifidobacterium
or Lactobacillus strains. The probiotic
lactobacillus GG, discovered at Tufts in
1985 by Sherwood H. Gorbach, MD,
and Barry R. Goldin, PhD, has also been
thoroughly studied and proven to treat
and prevent diarrhea.
The most important thing to look for,
according to Dr. Russell, is that the bac-
teria you’re ingesting is live. He explains
that live bacteria-producing enzymes
do different things metabolically in the
intestines that dead bacteria simply can-
not do. If the label doesn’t specifically say
“live,” he advises not getting the product
at all. It should also have a high bacte-
rial count, typically labeled as “colony
forming units” or CFU; look for at least
5-10 billion per serving. Keep probiotic
products in the refrigerator to help the
bacteria remain live.
Also, don’t necessarily jump to grab
a bunch of yogurts just because they’re
an easy way to get those friendly bacte-
ria. Stephen Wangen, MD, chief medi-
cal officer at the IBS Treatment Center
in Seattle, warns that for those people
who have a dairy allergy or intoler-
ance, “the consumption of yogurt, even
brands with high probiotic bacteria
content, is inadvisable.”
What About Activia?

Perhaps the best-known probiotic product on supermarket
shelves today is Activia, a yogurt made by
Dannon that’s advertised as an aid to
regularity and a healthier gastrointesti-
nal tract. Activia has a high content of
“Bifidus regularis,” a probiotic whose
name was coined by Dannon, which
advertises that Bifidus regularis is
uniquely strong enough to survive the
digestion process.
In late 2010, however, the Federal
Trade Commission imposed strict new
limits on Dannon probiotic yogurt prod-
ucts as part of a $21 million settlement
of an investigation into the company’s
marketing. The agreement with the FTC
states that Activia can claim only to
“relieve temporary irregularity or help
with slow intestinal transit time” if it
also states that three daily servings are
required for this benefit. And Dannon,
which has marketed its drinkable yogurt
DanActiv as an immune-system booster,
must not make cold- or flu-fighting
claims without FDA approval.
(Since then, however, a Cochrane
Review concluded that probiotics were
associated with a 12% reduction in up-
per respiratory tract infections.)
If you’re considering trying Activia,
Dr. Russell suggests it’s important to
consider what regulation means to you.

He explains that Activia ads are talking
about the “prevention or treatment
of constipation that’s not due to an
obstructive disease, but rather, what we
call functional constipation.” Dannon
advertises that the yogurt should be
consumed “daily for two weeks as part
of a balanced diet and healthy life-
style.” Dr. Russell suggests that those
with functional constipation might
indeed benefit, but they should give it
about a month before deciding if it’s
working or not.
So far, the research funded by
Dannon itself has been promising. But
an independent Dutch study in 2008
reported that 248 out of 267 sub-
jects reported “no significant effect of
Activia... on the frequency, quantity or
consistency of stools.”
What’s Next?
The jury’s still out on most hoped-for benefits of probiotics.
But scientific research continues to probe these
friendly bacteria for a wide variety of
health effects, including those beyond
the gastrointestinal tract. According to
a 2005 conference report by NCCAM
and the American Society for Micro-
biology, other areas in which there is
some encouraging evidence include
reducing recurrence of bladder cancer
and preventing and managing eczema

in children. Researchers at Tufts Medi-
cal Center are studying probiotics for
treating an antibiotic-resistant type of
bacteria that afflicts people who are
hospitalized, live in nursing homes, or
have weakened immune systems.
Given the long history of some
probiotics, we know that these friendly
bacteria are generally safe and that
any side effects tend to be mild, such
as gas or bloating. NCCAM cautions,
however, that probiotics’ safety has not
been thoroughly studied scientifically.
More information is especially needed
on how safe they are for young chil-
dren, elderly people, and people with
compromised immune systems.
As with any supplement or alterna-
tive treatment, if you’re thinking about
using a probiotic product, consult your
health care provider first. Probiotics
should not be used in place of conven-
tional medical care or to delay seeking
that care.—Jordana Kozupsky
TO LEARN MORE: “An Introduction to Probiotics,”
<nccam.nih.gov/health/probiotics/introduction.
htm?nav=cd>. X
Pro- or Pre-?
Don’t confuse probiotics with prebiot-
ics, which are often touted as offering
similar benefits. “Prebiotics” aren’t actually
microorganisms at all, but are non-digestible

carbohydrates found in foods such as apples,
onions, asparagus, bananas, sauerkraut and
miso, as well as in extracts in supplement
form. They are believed to improve the bal-
ance of good bacteria in the digestive tract.
Other possible benefits range from strength-
ening the immune system to reducing the
risk of high blood pressure to helping prevent
colon cancer. These claims have yet to be
verified by rigorous scientific trials, however.
Reproducedwithpermissionofthecopyrightowner.Furtherreproduc
tionprohibitedwithoutpermission.
The Words Have Changed But the Ideology Remains the Same:
Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap
Music
Author(s): Terri M. Adams and Douglas B. Fuller
Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 36, No. 6 (Jul., 2006),
pp. 938-957
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40034353 .
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THE WORDS HAVE CHANGED
BUT THE IDEOLOGY
REMAINS THE SAME
Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music
TERRI M. ADAMS
DOUGLAS B. FULLER
Howard University
Rap music emerged as an aesthetic cultural expression of the

urban youth
in the late 1970s. It has been denoted as the poetry of the youth
who are
often disregarded as a result of their race and class status. Since
it first came
on the music scene, rap has gone through a number of phases,
and it has
been used as a medium to express a variety of ideas, feelings,
and emotions.
Hope, love, fear, anger, frustration, pride, violence, and
misogyny have all
been expressed through the medium of rap. This article
examines the use of
misogynistic ideology in gangsta rap and traces the connection
between its
prevalence in rap and the larger cultural picture of how African
American
women have been characterized historically.
Keywords: misogyny; hip-hop; rap music; women
The misogynist lyrics of gangsta rap are hateful indeed, but they
do
not represent a new trend in Black popular culture, nor do they
differ
fundamentally from woman-hating discourses that are common
among White men. The danger of this insight is that it might be
read
as an apology for Black misogyny.
-Johnson (1996)
Music historically has been a medium for human social expres-
sion. This social expression can take many forms, from triumph
and hope to utter frustration and despair. Regardless of the
catalyst

that creates it, music serves to stimulate the mind, stir the soul,
and
JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 36 No. 6, July 2006
938-957
DOI: 10.1177/0021934704274072
© 2006 Sage Publications
938
2014 17:52:22 PM
Adams, Fuller / MISOGYNISTIC RAP LYRICS 939
elicit emotions. It has been said that music is a reflection of the
cul-
tural and political environment from which it is born. Rap music
emerged as an aesthetic cultural expression of urban African
Amer-
ican youth in Bronx, New York, in the late 1970s. It has been
denoted as the poetry of the youth who are often disregarded as
a
result of their race and class. As Rose (1994) states,
Hip Hop is a cultural form that attempts to negotiate the
experiences
of marginalization, brutality, truncated opportunity, and
oppression
within the cultural imperatives of African American and
Caribbean
history, identity, and community, (p. 21)

Since its emergence on the music scene, rap has undergone a
vari-
ety of transformations. It has been used as a medium for
expressing
a variety of ideas, feelings, and emotions. Although rap music
has
been on the open commercial market since the late 1970s, overt
misogyny in rap did not emerge in this genre of music until the
late
1980s. Lyricists such as Ice T, N.W.A., and 2 Live Crew
weaved
such lyrics into many of their rap songs. Since its emergence in
rap,
misogyny has become a constant feature in the works of several
art-
ists. This article examines the use of misogynistic ideology in
rap
music and traces the connection between its use in rap and the
larger cultural picture of how African American women have
been
characterized historically.
WHAT IS MISOGYNY AND
MISOGYNISTIC GANGSTA RAP MUSIC?
Misogyny is the hatred or disdain of women. It is an ideology
that reduces women to objects for men's ownership, use, or
abuse.
It diminishes women to expendable beings. This ideology is
wide-
spread and common throughout society. As Joan Smith (1991)
has
stated,
Misogyny wears many guises, revels itself in different forms

which
are dictated by class, wealth, education, race, religion and other
fac-
tors, but its chief characteristic is its pervasiveness, (p. xvii)
2014 17:52:22 PM
940 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / JULY 2006
Misogyny in gansta rap is the promotion, glamorization, sup-
port, humorization, justification, or normalization of oppressive
ideas about women. In this genre of rap music, women
(specifically
African American women)1 are reduced to mere objects -
objects
that are only good for sex and abuse and are ultimately a burden
to
men. In rap, this ideology reveals itself in many ways, from
mild
innuendoes to blatant stereotypical characterizations and
defama-
tions. Whatever form the characterizations take - whether mild
or
extreme - provides the listener with derogatory views of women.
These views ultimately support, justify, instill, and perpetuate
ideas, values, beliefs, and stereotypes that debase women.
Much of what is considered to be misogynistic rap usually has
one or more of the following six themes: (a) derogatory
statements
about women in relation to sex; (b) statements involving violent

actions toward women, particularly in relation to sex; (c)
references
of women causing "trouble" for men; (d) characterization of
women
as "users" of men; (e) references of women being beneath men;
and
(f) references of women as usable and discardable beings.
Although
this list is not exhaustive, the categories capture the essence of
the
general themes expressed in this genre of music. The gist of
these
themes reflects how women in misogynistic rap are reduced to
sub-
human beings, subjects not worthy of respect, love, or
compassion.
THE ROOTS OF MISOGYNISTIC IDEOLOGY
Misogynistic ideas expressed in music are not a unique or new
phenomenon. The music world has been saturated with
misogynistic
imagery - from country musicians lamenting about how some
"no
good woman kicked him out, sold his truck, took his money, and
slept with his best friend" to rock-n-rollers screaming about
their
latest groupie sexual conquest - misogynistic convictions have
always had a home within the music industry. Like the
misogynistic
music before it, misogynistic rap has been accepted and allowed
to
flourish, generating wealth for some of the artists and the music
industry as a whole. Lyricists that use misogyny get plenty of
air-
time on the radio, and their videos are often in heavy rotation

on
2014 17:52:22 PM
Adams, Fuller / MISOGYNISTIC RAP LYRICS 94 1
music video television stations (i.e., MTV and BET). Although
the
expletives are often edited, the misogynistic overtones are
overtly
clear to the listener. Many of these artists are touted as great
celebri-
ties (i.e., Dr. Dre, Ice T, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube). The
popularity
of these individuals has opened the doors for lucrative careers
in the
film industry, with many rap artists starring in films in which
they
mirror their music personas.
There seems to be a definite trend among some rap artists (not
all
rap artists, of course), where misogynistic themes are used in a
vari-
ety of forms, from mild innuendoes to extreme and excessively
bla-
tant defamations. In some rap songs whose overall theme is not
misogynistic, artists often refer to women as bitches or hoes -
Jay
Z's "Money, Cash, Hoes" and Kurupt's "We Can Freak It" are
two

of many examples. Although the overall themes of the songs are
not
about women, these songs use derogatory terms to refer to
women.
Although music is powerful, music is only a reflection of social
relations and culture; thus, misogynistic views have a cultural
rather than a musical value. As Roberta Hamilton ( 1 987) has
stated,
Misogyny is not a word useful simply for describing
particularly
nasty bits of behavior, but rather it directs us to a set of
relations, atti-
tudes, and behaviors that are embedded within all other social
rela-
tions, (p. 123)
Thus, misogyny in its varied forms does not exist in a vacuum
but is
instead a part of a larger social, cultural, and economic system
that
sustains and perpetuates the ideology.
To properly analyze the cultural components, one must not look
at small subsets of culture for answers; rather, one must look at
the
dominant culture that has an immeasurable influence on all
aspects
of society and subsets of the dominant culture. This leads one to
question, What caused this development of misogynistic
language
in gangsta rap, and why is there such intense hatred for African
American women in this genre of music? To understand this,
one
must understand the development of misogynistic values in
corre-

spondence with the history of the African in America.
2014 17:52:22 PM
In discussing misogyny in gangsta rap, we must not divorce our-
selves from the history of misogynistic ideology, for this is an
ide-
ology that reaches far back into history. However, for the
purpose
of this article, there will be a limited discussion of the history
of this
phenomenon within the confines of the United States and its
rela-
tion to African American women.
Misogynistic orientations have a long history in the United
States - one intricately tied to racialized themes. The imagery
pro-
jected in misogynistic rap has its roots in the development of
the
capitalist patriarchal system based on the principles of White
supremacy, elitism, racism, and sexism. A system that is
patriarchal
not in the sense of family lineage being traced through the
father,
but patriarchal in the sense of domination and rule by men. This
system was the blueprint used for the economic, political, and
social structuring of the United States (hooks, 1981):

Institutionalized sexism, that is, patriarchy - formed the base of
the
American social structure along with racial imperialism. Sexism
was an integral part of the social political order white
colonizers
brought with them from their European homelands, (p. 15)
Within the confines of capitalism, the doctrine of misogyny has
become a fine-tuned systematized ideology that has permeated
all
aspects of society and culture. This philosophy historically has
been legitimated and perpetuated by the economic, political,
and
social structural institutions, which ultimately is reflected and
supported in culture. These types of convictions have oppressed
women of color, the poor, and women of all colors alike.
Use of misogynistic ideology in rap is a result of widespread
rac-
ist and sexist dogmas (for example, the images of the Sapphire,
Jezebel, etc., which will be discussed later) colonizing the
minds of
African Americans and Americans in general. Racialized misog-
yny has permeated and become a part of America's
consciousness,
and it has had a profound effect on the inner psyche of African
Americans as the ideology feeds off of not only hatred of
women
but also hatred toward Blackness, which serves as a two-edged
2014 17:52:22 PM

sword. These beliefs have their roots in the racially and
sexually
oppressive capitalistic patriarchal system (hooks, 1994):
The sexist, misogynist, patriarchal ways of thinking and
behaving
that are glorified in gangsta rap are a reflection of the
prevailing val-
ues in our society, values created and sustained by white
suprema-
cist capitalist patriarchy. As the crudest and most brutal
expression
of sexism, misogynistic attitudes tend to be portrayed by the
domi-
nant culture as an expression of male deviance. In reality they
are
part of a sexist continuum, necessary for the maintenance of
patriar-
chal social order, (p. 2)
Whereas misogyny is present in various forms in cultures
around
the globe, to understand how it is related to the demonizing of
Afri-
can American women in America, one must realize how it was
"racially loaded" in America in order to obtain maximum
effective-
ness. By racially loading misogynistic ideology, the African
Amer-
ican woman has been hated for being both Black and woman
(White, 1985):
The uniqueness of the African American female's situation is

that
she stands at the cross roads of two of the most well developed
ide-
ologies in America, that regarding women and that regarding the
Negro, (p. 27)
This racialized hatred and sexism has its roots in some of the
myths
that were used, and continue to be used, to stereotype and
subjugate
African American women. Since the beginning of the institution
of
slavery, African American women have been major targets of
racial
and sexual stereotypical and detrimental propaganda.
Since the founding of the United States, myths and stereotypes
were created to legitimize the racial and sexual oppression of
Afri-
can American women. Being both Black and female, African
American women became the ultimate "other," which allowed
White patriarchy to use this difference as justification for their
oppressive behaviors. In her critique of early American
literature in
Playing in the Dark, Toni Morrison (1993) explains how the
pres-
ence of Africans created for the White American mind a broad
2014 17:52:22 PM

range of contract possibilities to uphold Whiteness in direct
opposi-
tion to Blackness:
Black slavery enriched the country's creative possibilities. For
in
the construction of blackness and enslavement could be found
not
only the not free but, also, the not-me. The result was a
playground
for the imagination. What rose up out of the collective needs to
ally
internal fears and to rationalize external exploitation was an
Ameri-
can Africanism - a fabricated brew of darkness, otherness,
alarm,
and desire that is uniquely American, (p. 38)
Thus, Black women served (and continue to serve) as the
ultimate
other in the American imagination, whereby White women were
exalted for their difference in the backdrop of their own
oppression
as women. This positioning provided the space for White
women to
feel auspicious in the face of their own oppression, while at the
same time they felt free to ignore the oppression of their darker
sis-
ters under the guise of racial supremacy.
It was out of this process that racialized myths about who Black
women are were created and accepted by the American masses.
Images such as the Mammy, the Sapphire, the tragic Mulatto,
the
Matriarch, and the Jezebel were created to predispose the

general
American culture to the acceptance of the racial and sexual
oppres-
sion of African American women. For the purpose of this
article,
we will discuss the Sapphire and the Jezebel stereotypes. These
images are regularly found (in their modernized version) in
many
misogynistic rap lyrics.
The image of the Sapphire is analogous to the Mammy image.
That is, the Sapphire grew out of the perpetuation of the
Mammy
image. The Mammy figure has a long history in the American
mind, as she is perhaps the most notable stereotype. She is
gener-
ally depicted as an overweight, dark-skinned woman who
appears
to be asexual. Her major mission in life is to please the White
fam-
ily she works for, and she enjoys tending to White children
more so
than she does her own. Morton (1991) refers to the Sapphire as
the
"post war Mammy"; she was the Black female figure in the
popular
radio and later television series, "Amos and Andy." Morton, in
her
book Disfigured Images, states (1991),
2014 17:52:22 PM

With "colored folks" this caricatured figure became a bossy
"black
bitch," although remaining a faithful servant to the white
family.
Thus, the Mammy became an explicitly matriarchal figure who
"wore the pants" in her own home and made a fool of her man.
Although likened to the Mammy figure, the sapphire is not
asexual,
(p. 7)
According to this stereotypical view, the Sapphire (in rap,
referred to as "the bitch") is an African American woman who
dominates her entire household including her man. The Sapphire
can be described as a socially aggressive woman who tries
through
manipulation to control her man. She is filled with attitude, has
a
fiery tongue, and she squashes the aspirations of her man or
men in
general.
The Jezebel (referred to as the "ho" [whore] in rap) represents a
loose, sexually aggressive woman. The Jezebel wants and
accepts
sexual activity in any form from men, and she often uses sex as
a
means to get what she wants from men. This image provides a
ratio-
nale for the history of sexual assaults on African American
women.
Lerner (1972) states,

To sustain it (sexual exploitation), in the face of the nominal
free-
dom of black men, a complex system of supportive mechanisms
and
sustaining myths were created
A myth was created that all black
women were eager for sexual exploits, voluntarily "loose" in
their
morals and, therefore, deserved none of the consideration and
respect granted to white women. Every black woman was, by
defi-
nition, a slut according to this racist mythology; therefore, to
assault
her and exploit her sexually was not reprehensible and carried
with
it none of the normal communal sanctions against such
behavior,
(p. 163)
The Sapphire and the Jezebel images (along with other deroga-
tory images of African American women) have blended together
to
create a mythology that has cast African American women as
the
enemy of African American men, White women, and the general
American public. These images serve the purpose of not only
justi-
fying the actions of the power elite, but they also have the
power of
casting blame for economic, political, and social subordination
on

2014 17:52:22 PM
the victim rather than the perpetrator. That is, the racist, sexist,
and
elitist capitalist system is not viewed as the core perpetrator of
the
living conditions of many African Americans, but instead
African
Americans themselves are blamed for not fitting into the proper
structures of society (Collins, 1990):
By meshing smoothly with systems of race, class, and gender
oppression, they [negative images and stereotypes] provide
effec-
tive ideological justifications for racial oppression, the politics
of
gender subordination, and the economic exploitation inherent in
capitalist economies, (p. 78)
The Sapphire and the Jezebel images, along with other
depictions,
have seeped into the consciousness of America (in both the past
and
the present) and are accepted as truths by many. Although
individu-
als may say, "I don't buy into stereotypical ideologies," some
aspect of their consciousness taps into this mythology.
The acceptance of these myths and stereotypes is evident
throughout dominant American culture and literature. For exam-

ple, drawing on the stereotype of the matriarch, E. Franklin
Frazier
( 1 948) and Patrick Moynihan ( 1 965), in their famous studies
on the
Black family, suggest that the deterioration of the Black family
was
due in part to the Black woman's dominance in the family and
her
failure to fulfill her traditional womanly duties, thus placing the
blame for certain problems in the African American community
on
the shoulders of African American women. Another example of
the
acceptance and usage of stereotypical characterizations of
African
American women is witnessed in William Julius Wilson's book,
The Truly Disadvantaged (1987), which was touted as a seminal
work in urban sociology among many scholars and the American
press. In this examination of the African American urban poor
in
Chicago, the portrayals of poor inner-city African American
women
and their "ghetto specific" behaviors rely heavily on
stereotypical
depictions of African American women as welfare queens.
Evidence of the continued perpetuation of the stereotypical pro-
paganda about African American women can be found when one
dissects the political attack on the welfare system in the late
1990s.
This attack largely rested on the myths of both the welfare
mother
2014 17:52:22 PM

and the Jezebel - the face placed on that issue was that of a
single
unemployed African American woman who has had a number of
children born out of wedlock. Various mediums depicted a
prepon-
derance of African American welfare recipients despite the fact
that Whites accounted for the majority of individuals on welfare
at
the time of the attack on the system. The depictions mentioned
here
are only a few of the many possible examples of how
stereotypical
characterizations of African American women have tapped into
America's predisposition to accept racist and sexist ideologies
about who African American women are as a group. Thus, the
neg-
ative and stereotypical images of African American women are
still
pervasive - and they continue to carry a great deal of social and
political power.
RAPPIN' TO OPPRESS:
MISOGYNY IN RAP MUSIC
Current illustrations of racist and sexist myths can be seen in
var-
ious forms of literature, music, television programming, and
gen-
eral social interaction. Although the terminology and
presentation

have changed, the content of the original idea has remained the
same. These myths came from outside the African American
com-
munity and serve the purpose of empowering those who created
them. As a result of the great shaping effect the dominant
culture
has on all components of society, many in the African American
community have internalized these myths and stereotypes.
Rodgers-
Rose (1980) states,
It is easy for Black people to internalize and use such false
defini-
tions of themselves. To the extent that an individual has
internalized
these definitions, his/her mode of interaction with the opposite
sex
will be affected, (p. 253)
Thus, we see these internalized myths and stereotypes in
gangsta
rap.
Myth versus reality has been a battle that African American
women have had to contend with for ages. Steadily, the Jezebel
and
2014 17:52:22 PM

the Sapphire images have been replaced by the terms bitch and
ho
in the use of language and imagery as a means of oppressing
Afri-
can American women in misogynistic rap. These terms have
been
around for ages, but their use has increasingly become a means
of
defining women.
Today, the Sapphire concept, represented as the bitch in
misogynistic rap, takes the form of a money-hungry,
scandalous,
manipulating, and demanding woman. The bitch is a woman
who
thinks of no one but herself and is willing to do anything to
obtain
material possessions. Currently, the Jezebel concept is
represented
as the ho. In rap, the ho is very much like the bitch. These
images
are often synonymous. The ho is illustrated as a sex object that
can
be used and abused in any form to satisfy the sexual desires of a
man. The ho's entire self-image is wrapped up in doing anything
for a man, often for the attainment of material possessions. She
is
generally depicted as a person with no conscious, no self-
esteem,
and no values.
Rap artists who use misogynistic imagery in their music proba-
bly do so for a variety of reasons. First, misogynistic lyricists,
like
other Americans, have been influenced by the dominant
culture's

views about who African American women are as a group and,
par-
ticularly, about who they are sexually. As stated earlier, many
have
internalized negative stereotypes and images of African
American
women. Using such lyrics allows the male artists to boost them-
selves while degrading their female counterparts. The
subjugation
of African American women allows these artists to exalt them-
selves in a world that constantly oppresses them. Thus, the
degra-
dation of African American women lyrically provides these
artists
a means for asserting their masculinity. As stated by Zora Neal
Hurston (1995), "[Black women] are the mules of the world."
Afri-
can American women have been and continue to be the means
by
which others assert their sense of importance. As hooks (1981)
states,
In patriarchal society men are conditioned to channel frustrated
aggression in the direction of those without power - women and
children, (p. 15)
2014 17:52:22 PM
It is also evident from the sales records of such artists as Jay-Z,

Snoop Doggy Dog, and Kurupt (who use such lyrics in their
music)
that this ideology is lucrative in the music industry. Some
artists
may use such lyrics to gain status, recognition, and high volume
sales - when they may not personally believe in what they
espouse.
CAN YOU FEEL THE PAIN?
EXAMPLES OF MISOGYNISTIC RAP LYRICS
The following are excerpts from misogynistic rap songs. These
lyrics provide examples of how misogynistic ideology manifests
itself in rap. Whereas the lyrics are highly controversial and
offen-
sive, they display the type of material that has been and is
currently
being produced by major recording studios. It should be men-
tioned that often in rap music, as with the historical usage of
these
characterizations, the terms are sometimes used
interchangeably,
such that the Jezebel/ho and the Sapphire/bitch have shared
charac-
teristics. So what is important is not how well these
characteriza-
tions fit a particular definition but rather how they reflect
misogy-
nistic ideology as a whole.
Although the terms bitch and ho and their definitions are being
used to describe a certain type of woman (as some artists
claim),
their use and the images they create oppress women as a group.
This is because the blurring of the lines between bitch and ho
can

also lead to the blurring of the lines of varying female
personalities.
There is a double standard for men and women, and what is
accept-
able for a man might label a woman in derogatory terms.
The first excerpts come from N.W.A.'s last and final release,
Niggaz 4 Life. N.W.A. was one of the first celebrated groups to
use
misogyny in their lyrics, and they became synonymous with
"hard-
core" lyrics. Although we will only deal with one of N.W.A' s
cre-
ations in this article, the CD in its entirety is a dedication to
murder,
rebellion, and misogynistic ideology. The first example is an
excerpt from a song entitled, "She Swallowed It" (N.W.A.,
1991).
The entirety of this song discusses women in terms of
humiliating,
degrading, and violent sexual acts:
2014 17:52:22 PM
This is a bitch who did the whole crew . . .
And she'll let you video tape her
And if you got a gang of niggaz
The bitch' 11 let you rape her

The woman depicted in this song is characterized as a Jezebel/
ho, as the lyrics describe a nymphomaniac who can be used and
abused sexually. Furthermore, it suggests the idea that women
(or
arguably, some women) are subhumans, who willingly perform
degrading acts. Last, the lyrics suggest that rape is an activity
in
which women voluntarily participate.
The next excerpt from a more recently produced song entitled,
"Head in Advance," from the CD Juve the Great, performed by
Juvenile (2003), is another example of the celebration of
misogyny,
as the lyricist boasts about using violence against women. This
example illustrates the use of violence against women as a
means to
confront what is deemed improper behavior. It should be noted
that
the lyrics of this song also have sexual overtones, another
example
of the fusion of sex and violence.
I like having relations
I punch a bitch in the head for playing with my patience
I make a local hoe turn hashin had me at the station
They hating saying that I violated my probation
The third example is from a song entitled, "Bitches From
Eastwick," from the CD Money, Power, & Respect, performed
by
the group known as The Lox:
From the Jacuzzi to the bed
We fucked until be both got woozy . . .
I smelt breakfast in the kitchen but where waz the bitch
I walked in there it was cheese eggs and grits on the table . . .

With a note sayin sorry I had to rob you baby but
I need cash like you I ain't no ordinary slut . . .
The woman described in this song is depicted as both a
Jezebel/ho
and a Sapphire/bitch. She is a Jezebel/ho because her sexual
values
2014 17:52:22 PM
Adams, Fuller / MISOGYNISTIC RAP LYRICS 95 1
are placed into question as she is depicted as having sex with a
man
she hardly knows; at the same time, she is also a Sapphire/bitch
because she uses this encounter to steal money.
The last example, "Bust a Nut," from the CD Uncle Luke, is
per-
formed by the late Notorious B .I.G. and Luke Campbell ( 1
996, also
known as Uncle Luke) - who was at the forefront of the debate
over
the right to freedom of expression in musical content in the
early
1990s (as his lewd and misogynistic lyrics came under attack by
political activists and politicians):
I got a bitch that suck my dick 'till I nut
Spit it on my gut and slurp that shit up
Ain't that a slut, (hell yeah) she even take it in the butt

Fuck for about an hour, now she want a golden shower
You don't know that we be pissing on hos, bitch . . .
In this example, the African American woman is not only some-
thing to be used sexually, but she is also the recipient of
degrading
acts, disrespect, and violent behavior. The woman in this song
is
characterized as a Jezebel/ho who is an object to be passed
along to
other men, to be used and abused, as the lyrics describe using
women sexually until they are physically injured.
The aforementioned lyrics are but a few examples of the many
in
the music world. Although it is necessary to show the offensive
nature of the misogyny expressed in rap, it is important to note
that
the hatred and disrespect directed toward women in rap music is
only an outgrowth of the cultural acceptance of misogyny at-
large,
particularly when it is directed toward African American
women. It
is therefore imperative to differentiate between the source of
misogynistic ideas and the manifestation of such ideology in
gangsta rap. Although this genre of music has been embraced by
a
wide variety of consumers, it is important to emphasize that it
can
have negative effects on young people who in general tend to be
the
primary consumers of rap music.
2014 17:52:22 PM

THE POWER IN THE MUSIC:
POSSIBLE EFFECTS
Although the possible effects misogynistic music can have are
numerous and questionable, music is a powerful art form that
has
the potential to be influential, particularly when it is supported
by a
structural system and cultural ideologies. In this article, we will
deal with three effects that misogynistic rap can have in
conjunc-
tion with a system that makes such an ideology viable. These
effects are the devaluation effect, the defining gender relation
effect, and the desensitization effect.
The contemporary use of derogatory images of African Ameri-
can women in rap music serves to perpetuate historical myths
and
stereotypes about African American women. The usage of the
neg-
ative imagery and characterizations of African American women
in
gangsta rap cuts African American women deeply, as the
crafters of
this attack are their male counterparts, who should be cognizant
of
the detriment of negative images because they have also been
under
a similar ideological attack. Misogyny in rap music serves to
sup-

port the ideological and social systems that have historically
placed
African American women at the bottom of the social strata.
It has been said that "rap has become a forum for debating the
nature of gender relations among African- American youth"
(Lusane,
1993). However, what also needs to be added is that rap has the
potential of becoming a means for defining gender relations
among
the youth. That is, one must consider the potential shaping force
that misogyny in rap may have on how young people may view
themselves and the relations between the sexes. For many young
people who do not have what some may call "positive
socializing
agents," outside influences (such as "the streets," other peer
forces,
or the mass media) sometimes become the replacement agents of
socialization. If what an impressionable youth sees and hears is
negative, society should not be surprised to see the youth act
accordingly. Young women can internalize these views,
incorpo-
rate them into their consciousness, and act out in self-
destructive
ways. Young men may also internalize these characterizations
and
2014 17:52:22 PM

incorporate sexist and misogynistic ways of being into their
own
way of life.
As Alix Dobkin (1987) stated,
Even though large numbers of women are victims of violence by
husbands and lovers, the culture, especially this music
[misogynistic
pop music], encourages men to beat up women, to control
women,
to dominate women. People are taught that dominance is a man's
right. Some boys may not want to dominate, but feel they ought
to,
in order to measure up to the culture. And they've got the music
to
back them up.
Wade and Thomas-Gunnar (1993) report that more than half of a
sample of young educated adult males "agreed that rap
accurately
reflects at least some of the reality of gender relations between
black males and females" (p. 58). Thus, the influence of music,
and
particularly this genre of rap music, must be taken seriously as
it
continues to dominate the music scene. The embracing and use
of
such myths and stereotypes by African Americans and the
Ameri-
can public, in general, create false definitions of who women
are as
a group, ultimately operating as a divisional force between the
sexes (Rodgers-Rose, 1980):
Such myths, then, have functioned to divide Black men and

women,
and they have served as rationalizations for the status quo.
Myths
keep the individual focused on criticism rather than on the
interplay
between the critical and the creative aspects of any male-female
relationship, (p. 253)
Last, misogynistic music also serves as a means to desensitize
individuals to sexual harassment, exploitation, abuse, and
violence
toward women. In addition, it serves as an ideological support
mechanism that legitimizes the mistreatment and degradation of
women. Although the terms bitch and ho speak to a specific
type of
woman (so some rappers claim), their use and the images they
cre-
ate oppress women as a group.
2014 17:52:22 PM
Every time an artist who uses misogynistic overtones is given a
platform (e.g., T.V. award shows) to spout misogynistic ideas,
this
ideology is furthered legitimated - and the listener or viewer is
fur-
ther desensitized. Furthermore, each time music critics or the
like
refer to misogynistic rappers (e.g., Dr. Dre) as "an innovator in

the
music industry," further legitimization and desensitization is
given
to this ideology. Although the verdict is still out on the direct
effects
of lewd rap lyrics, some social scientists contend that this
medium
of music can have a negative effect on individual attitudes.
Wester,
Crown, Quatman, and Heesacker (1997) report that after respon-
dents with little prior exposure to gangsta rap music were
exposed
to the music, they exhibited greater "adversarial sexual beliefs"
than those who were not exposed to such lyrics.
Because of the aforementioned, it is easy to conclude that the
rap
artists and record producers must assume complete
responsibility
for the lyrics they produce. Although this is true, it only holds
up to
a point. As Reebee Garofalo (1993) has stated,
While rap should not be let off the hook for its sexism, it should
be
noted that sexism has never been a stranger to any genre of
popular
music or, for that matter, any aspect of life in America, (p. 115)
The ultimate burden of responsibility must be placed on the
social
structures of society and the dominant culture, which created,
sup-
ports, and makes this ideology viable. Only through challenging
and changing these aspects of social life will misogynistic
ideology

be able to be dealt with in a realistic and truthful manner. If
misog-
yny continues to be ignored, it will only continue to manifest
itself
in all arenas of social life. Rape, spousal abuse, and other
violent
acts against women are all manifestations of misogynistic
ideology.
CONCLUSION
Misogyny has been and continues to be a constant force in
American culture. The misogynistic ideology directed toward
Afri-
can American women has been particularly insidious, as a whole
2014 17:52:22 PM
system of myths and stereotypes was developed to justify the
exploitation of African American women. These stereotypes
have
seeped into the consciousness of the general American public
and
the African American community itself.
The words have changed but the meanings stay the same, as
neg-
ative images about African American women have materialized
in

their modernized versions in rap music. Whereas the myths of
the
Jezebel and Sapphire are commonly found in gangsta rap, these
as
well as others can be found in various aspects of American
social
life. Artists who incorporate misogyny in their music act as
individ-
ual agents, but the lyrics they create are a reflection of the
uncon-
scious acceptance of negative categorizations of women and, in
particular, African American women by the general American
public.
It is imperative that we as a society move beyond the beat and
seriously consider the effect that negative imagery produced in
misogynistic rap can have on the African American community
and society at large. Scholars and activists alike must continue
to
confront the issue, and expose and critically analyze the
vehicles
that are used to express this ideology. Continued scrutiny of
these
mediums as well as continued dialogue on the relevance and
preva-
lence of negative and detrimental characterizations is important
to
dismantle the hold these myths, and the practices they engender,
have on American society.
NOTE
1 . Although the misogyny in gangsta rap is degrading to all
women, the characterizations
of women in this genre of music specifically target African
American women, as the images

of women portrayed in the songs, on the CD covers, and in the
music videos are most often
that of an African American woman.
2014 17:52:22 PM
REFERENCES
Collins, P. (1990). Black feminist thought. New York:
Routledge.
Dobkin, A. (1987, August). Misogyny and racism top the charts.
USA Today (Special News-
letter Edition), 116, p. 14.
Frazier, E. F. (1948). The Negro family in the United States.
New York: Dryden Press.
Garofalo, R. (1993). Crossing over: 1939-1992. In J. L. Dates &
W. Barlow (Eds.), Split
image: African Americans in the mass media (pp. 57-127).
Washington, DC: Howard
University Press.
Hamilton, R. ( 1 987, Summer). Does misogyny matter? Its
reproduction and its consequences
for social progress. Studies in Political Economy, 23, 123-139.
hooks, b. (1981). Ain't I a woman: Black women and feminism.
Boston: South End Press.

hooks, b. (1994, February). Sexism and misogyny: Who takes
the rap? . . . Misogyny, gangsta
rap, and piano. Z Magazine.
Hurston, Z. N. (1995). Their eyes were watching God. New
York: Perennial Press.
Johnson, L. (1996). Rap misogyny and racism. Radical America,
26(3), 7-19.
Juvenile. (2003). Head in advance. On Juve the great [CD]. Los
Angeles: Universal Records.
Lerner, G. (1972). Black women in White America. New York:
Vintage Books.
Lusane, C. (1993). Rap, race and politics. Race and Class,
35(1), 41-56.
Morrison, T. (1993). Playing in the dark: Whiteness and the
literary imagination. New York:
Vintage Press.
Morton, P. (1991). Disfigured images: The historical assault on
Afro-American women.
Westport, CT: Praeger.
Moynihan, D. (1965). The Negro family: The case for national
action. Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office.
Notorious B.I.G., & Campbell, L. (1996). Bust a nut. On Uncle
Luke [CD]. Miami, FL:
Luther Campbell Records.
N. W. A. ( 1 99 1 ). She swallowed it. On Niggaz 4 life [CD] .
Hollywood, C A: Priority Records.
Rodgers-Rose, L. E (1980). The Black women. Newbury Park,
CA: Sage.
Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and Black culture in
contemporary America.

Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Smith, J. ( 199 1 ). Misogynies: Reflections on myths and
malice. New York: Ballantine Books.
The Lox. (1998). Bitches from Eastwick. On Money, power, &
respect [CD]. New York:
BMG Records.
Wade, B. H., & Thomas-Gunnar, C. A. (1993). Explicit rap
music lyrics and attitudes toward
rape: The perceived effects on African American students'
attitudes. Challenge, 4(1), 51-
60.
Wester, S. R., Crown, C. L., Quatman, G. L., & Heesacker, M.
(1997). The influence of sexu-
ally violent rap music on attitudes of men with little prior
exposure. Psychology of
Women Quarterly, 21, 497-508.
White, D. (1985). Ar'nt I a woman? Female slaves in the
plantation South. New York:
Norton.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city,
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icy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2014 17:52:22 PM

Terri M.Adams-Fuller PhD, is an assistant professor of
administration of justice in
the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Howard
University. Her areas of
expertise include violent crime, women and crime, misogyny in
popular culture, and
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. Her
research primarily focuses
on the examination of the effects of violent crime on women
and the intersection of
social and economic factors and violent crime.
Douglas B. Fuller, Ph.D., is a graduate of Howard University's
Department of Soci-
ology and Anthropology and an associate scientist at Abt
Associates, Inc., in
Bethesda, Maryland. While at Howard, he specialized in urban
sociology and race
and ethnic relations, focusing his dissertation work on the
media depictions of Afri-
can Americans in four major newspaper sources. At Abt, he has
been involved in a
number of health service provision programs targeting
historically underserved pop-
ulations as well as substance abuse research, including The
Center for Integrating
and Developing Trauma Services for Women (SAMHSA), The
Mental Health HIV/
AIDS Services Collaborative Program (CMHS), The W K.
Kellogg Men 's Health Ini-
tiative, and The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program
(NIJ).

2014 17:52:22 PM
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jspArticle
Contentsp. 938p. 939p. 940p. 941p. 942p. 943p. 944p. 945p.
946p. 947p. 948p. 949p. 950p. 951p. 952p. 953p. 954p. 955p.
956p. 957Issue Table of ContentsJournal of Black Studies, Vol.
36, No. 6 (Jul., 2006), pp. 793-978Volume InformationFront
MatterDebunking the Myth That All Is Well in the Home of
"Brown v. Topeka Board of Education": A Study of Perceived
Discrimination [pp. 793-814]Gebrehiwot Baykedagn,
Eurocentrism, and the Decentering of Ethiopia [pp. 815-
832]"The Great Negro State of the Country?": Black Legislators
in Arkansas: 1973-2000 [pp. 833-872]Differences and
Similarities Between the Rastafari Movement and the Nation of
Islam [pp. 873-893]Drowning in Inequalities: Swimming and
Social Justice [pp. 894-917]"The Streets": An Alternative Black
Male Socialization Institution [pp. 918-937]The Words Have
Changed But the Ideology Remains the Same: Misogynistic
Lyrics in Rap Music [pp. 938-957]Philosophy Against Empire:
An Ancient Egyptian Renaissance [pp. 958-973]Back Matter
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
The monster inside: 19th century racial constructs in the 24th
century mythos of Star Trek
Denise Alessandria Hurd
Journal of Popular Culture; Summer 1997; 31, 1; ProQuest
Central
pg. 23

Matrilineal motives: kinship,
witchcraft, and repatriation
among Congolese refugees
Andrew Apter University of California, Los Angeles
This article explores the significance of matrilineal descent
among Congolese refugees in camp Kala,
Zambia. Matriliny mattered in Kala, I argue, because it
motivated repatriation, generating witchcraft
accusations stemming from variations of the matrilineal puzzle.

On the surface, Kala did not ‘look’
particularly matrilineal, given the ad hoc domestic arrangements
of surviving refugees. But when
placed against the backdrop of matrilineal descent – expressed
in broader kinship networks between
refugee households, and as an evaluative discourse of
illegitimate accumulation – witchcraft-driven
repatriation makes sense as an ‘extreme’ form of lineage
fission. Within the confines of the refugee
camp, a Central African model of matriliny was effectively
reduced to its core dynamics, highlighting
a bio-social economy of the womb and its witchcraft
conversions of blood into money. After
examining three social dramas of witchcraft and repatriation in
Kala, I engage broader considerations
of gender and history to recast descent as a regenerative
scheme.
Over sixty years have passed since Audrey Richards (1950)
published her now-classic
account of the ‘matrilineal puzzle’ in Central Africa, and
although much has changed
both on the continent and within the discipline of social
anthropology, her key
perspectives on the micro-politics of the womb continue to
resonate with realities
on the ground.1 In this article, I focus on matrilineal descent
among Congolese refu-
gees in camp Kala, Zambia, where an influx of displaced
civilians sought sanctuary
from ‘the Second Congo War’ (1999-2003) and the armed
militias and rebel groups
that have flourished in its wake. Harbouring different ethnic
groups that are
primarily matrilineal in their reckoning of descent, camp Kala
represents the remak-

ing of society in extremis, under violent conditions of forced
migration and man-
dated UNHCR management – hardly a typical environment for
returning to
‘first principles’ of social organization, yet tragically
emblematic of Africa’s post-
colonial conflicts and predicaments (Mbembe 2001). In this
sense, life in camp Kala
is symptomatic not just of ‘failed states’ and collapsed
economies but also of new
forms of sociality and sovereignty emerging across the
continent (J.L. Comaroff &
Comaroff 2006). Highly regulated from the outside yet
extremely dynamic and
unstable from within, Kala provides a particular perspective on
the core institu-
tions of kinship in crisis, one that speaks to the specificities of
refugee communities
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 18, 22-44
© Royal Anthropological Institute 2012
while returning to a historic dialogue about the meanings and
models of matrilineal
descent.
Matriliny matters in Kala, I argue, because it generates negative
‘push factors’ moti-
vating repatriation, represented by patterns of witchcraft
accusation stemming from
variations of the matrilineal puzzle. On the surface, Kala does
not ‘look’ particularly
matrilineal. Residential groups represent a wide variety of ad
hoc arrangements

between surviving adults and children, siblings and cousins,
lovers and spouses – with
relatively high rates of polygyny – that appear cognatic or
patrilineal at first glance. It
is only when seen against the backdrop of matrilineal descent –
expressed in broader
kinship networks between refugee households, and as an
evaluative discourse criticiz-
ing patrilineal trends – that the implicit dynamics of matrilineal
descent can be dis-
cerned and their impact on repatriation appreciated. Such an
association between
matrilineal descent and the ‘witchcraft’ of repatriation is of
some interest to UNHCR
officers and NGO workers in Kala, who have sought positive
inducements over negative
push factors in encouraging refugees to choose to return. But it
also sheds theoretical
light on what we mean by ‘matrilineal descent’: that is, how we
understand its various
‘locations’ and transformations within dramatically ‘displaced’
historical contexts. In
Kala, Central African matriliny was stripped to essentials,
highlighting a bio-social
economy of the womb and its witchcraft conversions of blood
into money. After
examining three social ‘dramas’ of witchcraft and repatriation, I
engage broader
considerations of gender and history to recast descent as a
regenerative scheme.2
From camp to community
The standard narrative of the Second Congo War begins with
the First Congo War of
1996, when Laurent Kabila, with support from Rwanda and
Uganda, brought his rebel

army (the ADFL) from Katanga to Kinshasa, where he
overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko
and his thirty-year dictatorship. If Kabila used Rwanda for
military support, Rwanda
allied with Kabila’s movement to support ethnic Tutsis (the
Banyamulenge) living in
Katanga, rout genocidal Hutus (the Interhamwe) hiding in Zaïre,
and establish a stake
in the mineral-rich resources where the Banyamulenge had
settled earlier. When Kabila
assumed power, however, he turned his back on the ethnic
Tutsis and Rwandans who
had supported him. Responding to Congolese fears of ‘foreign’
influence and favourit-
ism, he dismissed ethnic Tutsis from their government posts and
ordered the Rwandans
out of the country. The stage was set for a new conflagration.
The Rwandan Patriotic
Army (RPA) allied with the Banyamulenge-dominated
Rassemblement Congolais pour
la Démocratie (RCD) in opposition to Kabila’s Forces Armées
Congolais (FAC) and its
newly forged alliance with those Rwandan Hutu rebels who had
formerly supported
Mobutu. Initial Rwandan victories in eastern Katanga, and the
taking of Moba, Pweto,
and Pepa townships, uprooted civilians who were caught in the
cross-fire between
Rwandan troops, government forces, and local militias that
Kabila had funded. As
eastern Congo became a battleground of local groups and
regional interests, the con-
flict escalated into the Second Congo War.
The political upheaval and sheer violence of the Second Congo
War involved no

fewer than six African stakeholder nations, which, in addition to
the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), included Rwanda, Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Angola, and
Namibia, giving rise to its moniker as Africa’s World War
(Prunier 2009). In a series of
armed struggles, it spawned a proliferation of military
organizations, local militias,
proxy forces, and rebel groups that brought ethnic politics,
territorial ambitions,
Matrilineal motives 23
pillage, rape, and plunder to eastern Katanga as well as North
and South Kivu.3 As a
labile landscape of shifting alliances and agendas, it combined
political calculations
with economic interests in the rich deposits of gold, cobalt,
coltan, and diamonds that
were there for the taking. In a war that devolved into a
Hobbesian state of ‘warre’, an
estimated 5.4 million civilians died from 1998 to 2008, either
directly by violent preda-
tion, or indirectly from disease and starvation. Many millions
more were displaced,
either internally to other parts of the DRC or across the border
as refugees in Uganda,
Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia.
It was against this backdrop of war and predation that thousands
of refugees fled the

Katangan territories of Pepa, Moba, and Pweto into Zambia.
Camp Kala was founded
in August 2000 after Mwange Refugee Camp to the east reached
its capacity of 25,000
(Lloyd 2010: 10). Ten thousand refugees entered Kala within
the first four months, but
the influx continued after the war was formally concluded in
December 2002 owing to
the ravages of armed militias against the Congolese army and
the local population. By
2005, Kala’s population peaked at 26,000, and began to decline
the following year when
the UNHCR determined that conditions in Katanga were stable
enough for the refugees
to return safely. Repatriation, however, remains a right, not a
duty, which a refugee –
once recognized as such – must ‘freely’ exercise without undue
pressure or coercion
from host governments or UNHCR officials. During my field
study in summer 2008,
camp officials were frustrated by low rates of return. If some
refugees still feared for
their safety in eastern Katanga – not without reason, as
subsequent outbreaks of
violence would confirm – others used their professed anxieties
to mask what were
primarily economic motives for staying. Indeed, in eight years
the camp had evolved
into a more or less ‘functioning’ social system. Housed within
an overarching admin-
istrative complex, Kalans – as the refugees came to be called –
developed local forms of
social, political, religious, and economic life through normative
routines that were
gradually institutionalized over time, bleeding beyond the
boundaries of the camp

itself into surrounding Bemba towns and communities, with
trade networks extending
further to Tanzania, Uganda, and even Dubai.
As a formally constituted administrative entity managed by the
UNHCR and its
implementing partners, camp Kala was organized into a rational
grid of four major
zones and thirty-three sections, with four streets per section and
forty houses per street.
The camp provided educational opportunities at preschool,
primary and secondary
levels, largely implemented by World Vision Zambia, as well as
a health clinic, a mobile
court, a resident police officer, a Sex- and Gender-Based
Violence Center, and a variety
of micro-finance, vocational training, and income-generating
programmes. Food
rations provided by the World Food Programme were channelled
monthly through the
distribution centre near the camp’s main gate, consisting of
sorghum as the main
staple, supplemented with beans, peas, cooking oil, salt, and all-
purpose soap used for
dishes, laundry, and bathing (Lloyd 2010: 14). If the rations fell
below the daily needs of
the refugees, supplemented by smoked fish, garden produce, and
locally raised chickens
and ducks, it was sorghum that generated the greatest discontent
– a grain not typically
consumed by Congolese, who used it for animals and considered
it fit for ‘dogs’. It is
thus not surprising that sorghum emerged as a key symbol of the
refugee’s dehuman-
ized condition, a focus of resistance, and a significant marker of
national difference

since it figured positively in the Zambian diet.4 Indeed, for this
very reason, sorghum
became the key catalyst of an informal and expansive refugee
economy connecting local
relations of accumulation and distribution to regional markets
and trading networks.
Andrew Ap ter24
As refugees sold their rationed sorghum to Zambians at
competitive prices, they trans-
formed it into trading capital which they used to establish small
shops and businesses
within the camp, or invest in smuggled gold and gems
originating from South Kivu.
Not all such investments were profitable, and many ventures
failed. Nor did the
multiplier effect of increased profits and spheres of employment
yield purely ‘positive’
results; rather it strained the social relations of accumulation
and redistribution within
and between relocated families. Partly this was due to the
exclusive allocation of ration
cards to household heads, reinforcing the integrity of the
domestic group as the
locus of distribution and capital conversion while undermining
norms of reciprocity
between matrikin in different domiciles. The ‘pull’ of profits
also destabilized relations
of marriage and cohabitation, as successful businessmen

attracted multiple wives and
concubines away from husbands and boyfriends who couldn’t
produce the goods.
Within the limited opportunities open to women, the majority of
whom were unedu-
cated and illiterate, becoming the second or third wife of a
relatively wealthy protector
and provider trumped marriage to a partner living on handouts.
To be sure, women
also engaged in business activities, particularly female
household heads who sold fish,
fruit, and vegetables in the camp’s two markets. But the
generally gendered spheres of
exchange – locally produced foodstuffs for women, imported
commodities and luxury
goods for men, whose trading activities took them much further
afield – created
patterns of conflict and inequality in which men dominated not
only as patrons and
brokers but also invisibly as witches and sorcerers by
converting reproductive value into
personal gain.5 It is precisely because witchcraft was
symptomatic of these intensified
tensions within the camp that its idioms and accusations provide
such an accurate lens
for perceiving their core socio-economic conditions.
Witchcraft beliefs along the matrilineal belt of what is now the
DRC and northern
Zambia embrace a range of idioms and motifs that defy strict
codification along ethnic
lines. As one Kala refugee maintained, ‘The witches know each
other, they meet each
other in the night, even from different tribes’. Generally, as
MacGaffey (1986; 2000) and
Fabian (1990) explain, Congolese witchcraft and sorcery

involve powers of consump-
tion and expressions of ‘eating’, whether by local chiefs in
contests for power, when ‘the
chief as killer in defense of the public good readily slips into
the mode of the chief as
sorcerer and cannibal’ (MacGaffey 2000: 225), or by extractive
politicians and busi-
nessmen accumulating wealth from the people through nefarious
means. These idioms
of ingestion and incorporation involve deep transmutations of
blood, flesh, and bodily
organs into accumulated wealth, whether in bundles of cash or
truckloads of com-
modities.6 In some accounts, ‘black money’ is produced by
business tycoons who
collude with women to kill their husbands, who are said to have
gone away on business
trips but are secretly buried and later exhumed for magical
maggots that turn into cash
when picked from the rotting corpses. Reproductive organs,
particularly the penis,
figure prominently in witchcraft profiteering. Some strategies
amount to explicit
extortion, like the witches who ‘steal’ a man’s genitalia and
demand payment for their
return. Corpses discovered sans hands, feet, penis, and eyes
represent murdered
victims of money-making magic. Copperbelt genres of devil
pact narratives portray
miners who ‘sell their years’ for quick profits and kill their
managers to be promoted.
But the most pervasive expressions of those vital transmutations
associated with the
wages of witchcraft and sorcery involve dissimulation and
invisibility, converting the
reproductive powers of blood and fertility into life-draining

value-chains of profit
and accumulation.7
One particularly dominant motif in Kala concerned male
witches who ‘stole’
women’s pregnancies – referred to as their ‘luck’ or ‘chance’ –
in order to convert them
into illicit gains. The shadowy malefactors would ‘go through
the face of the woman’s
husband’ while she was dreaming in order to have sex with her,
inverting the normal
logic of insemination by appropriating the actual or potential
foetus and converting it
into business capital. Characteristic of such majende stories
(also referred to as ichiwo or
ichiwa) is their serial emplotment: female victims are pursued
in succession, forming
expansive circuits of accumulation that leave a trail of barren
women. And characteristic
of the alleged perpetrators is the lack of a material basis for
their profits.
The witchcraft of accumulating pregnancies for profit represents
a widespread logic
of occult diversions of the positive values of social
reproduction and fertility into
anti-social and non-productive pathways of illicit gain.8
Roberts quotes a Tabwa apho-
rism that ‘theft and sorcery are twin brothers’ to underscore

their intimate association
and the general understanding ‘that when fortunes are so
outrageous as to defy other,
more benign explanation, then sorcery is suspected’ (1986a:
118). The Tabwa case is
particularly linked to the dynamics of matrilineal descent, and
the tensions identified
so long ago by Richards (1934: 272-9) between fathers and
mothers’ brothers.9 Both
relations generate potential lines of witchcraft and sorcery. Like
the Tabwa chief who
can use his sorcery to protect his people or consume them, ‘a
mother’s brother may be
and, indeed, most often is, loving, caring and protective; yet he
is feared as a sorcerer’
(Roberts 1986a: 118). A complementary ambivalence applies to
the husband-father,
who occupies a position of ‘paradox and ... tension’, according
to Roberts, because he
stands as ‘an “outsider” to his wife’s descent group, a mediator
between that of his wife
and children, and that of his mother and sisters’ (1984: 53).
Quoting Tabwa author
Stefano Kaoze that ‘the father [is] responsible for all illness and
misfortune which may
befall young children’, Roberts (ibid.) notes that although
overstated, given alternative
indigenous aetiologies and attributions, such a perspective
confirms ‘that living the
“matrilineal puzzle” is not without its difficulties’ (1984:
53).10
The matrilineal idioms and tensions brought out by Roberts are
particularly relevant
to life in camp Kala because an estimated 83-90 per cent of its
refugees identified as

ethnically Tabwa. The remaining ‘minorities’ included Luba,
Lunda, Kasai, Bwile,
Bemba, Bembe, Sanga, and Ndande – all matrilineal except
arguably the Luba. Such
ethnic differentiations and their ‘principles’ of descent,
however, should not be taken
too rigidly, not only due to the ‘tribal’ reifications of colonial
administration and
postcolonial patronage, but also because historically this area of
Central Africa pos-
sesses an unusual degree of underlying coherence and
relatedness. As MacGaffey (1998:
297) explains, drawing on Vansina (1990), ‘The apparently
numerous social systems of
Central Africa are not independent iterations but local versions
of one another, diverse
outgrowths of a single historical process analogous to that
which formed European
societies’. Thus even as the Tabwa dominated demographically
in Kala, the camp qua
community, like a displaced microcosm of Katanga province,
exhibited remarkable
underlying commonalities, not only in high rates of inter-ethnic
marriage and cohabi-
tation stemming in part from forced relocation, but in the very
core vocabularies of
focal kinship terms elicited from members of these different
‘groups’. In a survey of 113
refugee households tracing kinship relations within and between
them, a remarkably
restricted terminological set underlay imputed ethnic variations
(Table 1). And cluster-
ing around these core terms and relations were a number of
modal matrilineal
configurations which, if not exactly mirroring Richards’s three
varieties of ‘Central

Andrew Ap ter26
Bantu’ family structure (Richards 1950: 211-41) and the four
solution-types of the
matrilineal puzzle (Richards 1950: 246-8),11 none the less
represented variations of its
key contradictions.
In her original formulation, Richards located the matrilineal
puzzle ‘in the difficulty
of combining recognition of descent through the woman with
the rule of exogamous
marriage’ (1950: 246), such that women must reproduce the
matriline through hus-
bands who remain lineage outsiders. The naturalistic bias of
presumed male authority
whereby control over lineage property and affairs is assumed by
the mother’s brother
has been criticized by feminist scholars – an issue we shall
presently readdress – but the
empirical tensions that play out on the ground hinge on the
character of the marriage
contract and norms of post-marital residence. The previously
identified tensions
between fathers and mothers’ brothers are compounded by
virilocal or uxorilocal
residence patterns, the former strengthening the marriage
relation and the father’s
authority, the latter weakening the marriage relation and
enhancing the authority of

the mother’s brother. For example, Turner’s rich symbolic
exegeses of Ndembu ritual
symbolism – particularly the Nkang’a female puberty ceremony
– identify such a
conflict between matrilineal descent and virilocal residence as a
core contradiction
requiring ritual resolution.12 Roberts (1985: 5) documents the
same contradiction
among Tabwa in (then) Zaïre. But such classic variations of the
matrilineal puzzle
involved developmental cycles and degrees of lineage
incorporation that were simply
not possible in Kala, designed as a temporary safe haven geared
towards resettlement,
relocation, and repatriation. Granted that housing in Kala was
semi-permanent, with
funds allocated for building ‘traditional’ mud and wattle huts
intended for years of
anticipated shelter, but the UNHCR model was of a male-headed
conjugal unit family
with children and ‘relatives’ in ad hoc arrangements. Patterns of
household residence
ranged widely, with conjugality dominating siblingship as the
core relation of official
domicile, but the casualties of war and persecution necessitated
improvised accommo-
dations with remnants of shattered families forming new
domestic partnerships. As
new unions developed among survivors, many of whom were
accompanied by children
of murdered spouses or siblings, it was difficult to observe the
formation of localized
matrilineal descent groups. Such patterns did reassert
themselves in cases of single-
women-headed households, and here the tendency of sons
marrying out was encour-

aged by the allocation of ration cards ‘per family’ (Fig. 1). In
larger families with many
Table 1. Focal kin terms in Kala.
Tabwa Luba Bemba Kasai Bembe
M mama mama mayo baba (mau) maha
F tawe/tata tata taata tatu (tau) tata
B kaka tutu mukalamba tutu ndome (yaya)
Z dada kaka nkashi yaya (yayi) achi (dada)
S muanalume mwanamulume mwana umwanme mwana mulume
mmbaka (Mwana
wa mlome)
D mwana mwana
kazi
mwanamulkaji umwana kashi wabakaji msea (mwana
wam-achi)
H mulume mulume umulume mulume mlome
W mukazi mukaji umukashi mukaji m-achi
Translation note: ‘kaji/kashi’ or ‘achi’ means ‘female’; ‘lume’
or ‘lome’ means ‘male’; ‘mwana’ means ‘child’.
children, out-marrying daughters tended to settle close by,
creating localized groups of

matrikin within adjacent houses, whereas the out-marrying sons
settled in other camp
sections further afield. ‘Borrowed husbands’ were also in
evidence as men slept with
their wives – who resided as daughters within established
households – but took their
meals with their matrikin. But such incipient patterns of
matrilocality were comple-
mented by patrilineal trends, particularly those fuelled by
polygyny. In general,
co-wives lived in different households, while the husband –
officially settled with his
first wife – visited the others in what appeared to be
autonomous matrifocal units. In
this way, polygynous husbands could maximize the rations
allocated to their additional
spouses as household heads, convert these rations into trading
capital, and in some
cases accumulate substantial holdings and political influence
within camp sections and
zones. As Kala developed from camp to community,
institutionalizing new domestic
arrangements that both reinforced and undermined the
development of localized
matrilineal descent groups, it was matrilineal ideology that
provided an evaluative
discourse to address the transmutations of blood – and
bloodlines – into otherwise
inexplicable losses and gains.13
To grasp the inner connections between witchcraft, matriliny,
and repatriation,
we shift to specific conflicts within Kala and their underlying
motivations.
Three conflicts

Let us begin with the story of ‘M’, a suspiciously successful
tailor and businessman
whose wealth appeared to be disconnected from any material
evidence of hard work or
trading capital. Like many Kala traders, M claimed to buy goods
in Nakonde – 588
kilometres to the east at the Tanzanian border – for resale in the
camp, but these
commodities were never seen. Somehow he was able to buy two
Hammer grinding
machines for six million kwacha each, and two others which he
sent back to the DRC
on a convoy. He also purchased a motorbike for four million
kwacha, and was planning
to buy a small Mitsubishi Canter truck and hire a Zambian
driver to increase the
volume of his Nakonde trade.14 His wealth bought him
significant influence with
refugee officers, whom he bribed for special favours.
M’s empty market stall provided scant evidence of legitimate
commerce, and
rumours circulated that he was ‘buying pregnancies’ to fuel his
growing business
empire. The story emphasizes the iniquitous conversion of
reproductive value into
Figure 1. Tabwa sons marrying out to maximize ration cards.
Andrew Ap ter28

unproductive wealth, a dominant witchcraft idiom throughout
the matrilineal belt
where, as Richards so aptly noted, ‘metaphors of kinship stress
the ties between people
“born from the same womb” ’, and where ‘blood is believed to
be passed through the
woman and not the man’ (1950: 207). As we also noted, not all
conversions of blood into
money follow lineage lines, since husbands and strangers can
also be killed for money-
generating body parts, but the key focus on the blood of wombs
underscores the
procreative powers of matrilineal reproduction and the socially
destructive conse-
quences of its transmutation into illegitimate wealth. And here
the plot thickens,
expanding on the theme of matrilineal divestment and decline.
When M began his tailoring business, he hired a woman to work
for him. She was
impressed by M’s wealth, and became interested in teaming up
with him when she saw
how he used the pregnancy-buying ichiwo witchcraft. M also
used medicine to make
the woman love him, and soon she demanded a divorce from her
husband on the
grounds that he didn’t take care of her. Two days after the
divorce, the woman married
the tailor and became his second wife. They bought a house
together in section A, with
M leaving his first wife and children in section X. At this point
the infuriated
ex-husband sought revenge. He went to a sorcerer to
commission a ‘work’, and imme-
diately afterwards the tailor was struck by lightning and became
paralysed in both legs.

After three months without walking, he was taken by his family
members to Congo,
illegally, where he was treated by a Congolese healer and given
a strong protective
medicine. His second wife accompanied him on this journey.
After three months, the tailor returned to Kala, healthy and fit.
When the
ex-husband saw him back on his feet, he went to try another
medicine, but this
time the lightning backfired because of the tailor’s protective
medicine, and struck the
ex-husband’s house, which burned. Then the tailor went to the
man, saying, ‘I know
you are trying to fight me, if you don’t stop I will destroy you. I
didn’t take your wife
by force, she loves me’. The ex-husband was a teacher and had
nine children with his
former wife. The children called their mother to find out why
she had left them, and
when she refused to come, they went to her new house to
discuss the situation,
exclaiming, ‘Mama, you have abandoned us, you have forced
our father into a terrible
condition. Mama, we can never forgive you for what you have
done, but can you still
come back to us?’ When their mother refused to change her
mind, the eldest daughter
advised her father: ‘This life is too tough. Why not let us
repatriate as a family? I am old
enough to take care of you’. Thereafter all of the children
repatriated to Pweto with their
father. The day the convoy for the DRC was leaving, the mother
came to see them off
for a final farewell, but the children would not greet her.

The story of M is clearly embedded within discursive genres
and narrative conven-
tions that are as ethnographic as the ‘underlying tensions’ that
they represent, and was
furthermore told from the sympathetic viewpoint of the
victimized ex-husband’s
friend. What is ‘true’, ‘fictive’, ‘objective’, or ‘embellished’, of
course, varies with the
epistemological commitments of the ‘participant-observer’,
distinctions which have
plagued social anthropology since its imputed positivism has
been called into question.
Refugee narratives are particularly structured by themes of
massacre, exile, and recon-
stitution within the collective imagination, as Malkki (1995) has
so brilliantly explicated
among Hutu refugees in Tanzania. Indeed, ‘every refugee has a
story’, UNHCR officers
complained while processing their case-work, balancing
unthinkable acts of violent
persecution against inflated family head-counts that maximized
rations. Seen as
a relatively isolated event in Kala, M’s story recounts the social
consequences of
entrepreneurial success and economic opportunism as a married
woman with children
leaves her husband to become the second wife of a wealthy
trader. Difficult as it was for

the ex-husband to accept, his wife was willing to leave him and
her children for a better
life with M. Embedded within idioms of witchcraft and sorcery,
however, a broader
social horizon emerges in which matrilineal descent and its
kinship values are system-
atically violated and eroded. M’s profits are nefarious,
converting the blood of wombs
– through ‘stolen’ and ‘bought’ pregnancies – into personal
gain, thereby destroying the
generative locus of matrilineal reproduction. His new wife
personified this disposses-
sion of matrilineal blood. Her refusal to see her children and
honour their request for
an explanation underscores her rejection of those ‘born from the
same womb’. It is M,
however, who is identified as the witch, using medicine to
attract the woman and fully
appropriate her reproductive powers. In lineage terms, the
appropriation is completed
when the ex-husband repatriates to Pweto with his children, a
splintered segment of a
matrilineage with no viable future in Kala (Fig. 2). In a final
moment of remorse, as the
ex-wife attempted to bid her children goodbye, they refused to
greet her, thus severing all
recognized ties with the woman, and the womb, that gave them
life.
The second conflict represents a variation on this matrilineal
transfusion of blood
into wealth, in this case emphasizing deteriorating relations
between a mother’s
brother and his sister’s sons. Days after arriving in Kala, I
attended an elaborate funeral
for a 15-year-old Tabwa boy, with hundreds of friends and

relatives assembled to
honour the family and bear witness to the corpse. Family
clusters from different
sections of Kala brought food, firewood, and financial
donations to the event, with
affines from Mwange refugee camp also in attendance. The
sponsor of the funeral – we
can call him J – was the deceased’s mother’s brother, a
prominent leader and business-
man in Kala with several wives in adjacent households of
section Q (creating an
incipient polygynous compound), another wife in section C, and
many siblings in the
camp, some with sizeable families of their own.15 J’s female
matrikin sat together on
benches, singing Catholic hymns in extraordinary harmony
punctuated by periodic
outbursts of crying and mourning by specific women within
each group. In marked
contrast to the assembled female mourners, two brothers of the
deceased wandered on
the periphery of the assembled groups, breaking into
protestations of grief, repeatedly
walking away and returning as if pulled back by an invisible
cord.
Stories circulating around the event identified J as a powerful
witch who consumed
the blood of one of his sister’s children to get rich and enhance
his influence within the
Figure 2. Repatriation in the story of M.
Andrew Ap ter30

camp. Indeed, the deceased Tabwa boy was the fifth of nine
children to die – two en
route to Kala, three more within the camp – and suspicions were
mounting that J was
to blame. Had he not been a successful merchant with powerful
medicines in Pepa? Was
he not credited with using these medicines to bring down a
Banyamulengue aeroplane
that was bombing and strafing Pepa during the war, forcing him
to flee? During the
funeral, J stood centre stage, gripping the central post of the
shelter next to the corpse,
utterly speechless and immobile while cutting a sharp figure in
his decorated cowboy
hat – a primary axis, fixed to the earth, around which all
activity revolved. Like M, J’s
wealth was not easily explained. He sold guinea fowl in
Kawambwa, but was suspected
of doing majende and selling money-making medicines to
clients for killing enemies
and even friends.16 Conspicuously absent from the funeral
itself was the deceased’s
extremely ill and distressed father, who was effectively hiding
in a nearby house with his
two youngest surviving sons. Refusing to attend the public
event, he was not only
convinced that his wife’s brother was consuming his children,
but had evidence from a
healer to prove it.
Pursuing both sides of the conflict, I heard later from J that his
sister’s husband was

a ‘useless’ man, unsuccessful in business and farming,
continually depending on his
wife’s family for support since they arrived together in Kala. J’s
full assumption of
funeral responsibilities for his sister’s deceased son was just
another example of how
seriously he took his matrilineal obligations – all the more so
since his sister had died
during the violence in Pepa. J’s sister’s husband was
furthermore a ‘sickla’: that is, he
suffered from sickle cell anaemia, which passed down to his
children, causing several to
die. The camp nurse confirmed this diagnosis with evidence
from the clinic. But J’s
sister’s husband told a very different story, which I reproduce at
some length because it
maps the bad blood of matrilineal witchcraft onto marriage,
sexuality, and siblingship:
People say I am a sickla [i.e. have sickle cell anaemia] but it is
different, my problem is much deeper.
I lost my wife in Pepa, she died in a mysterious way, like my
son we buried last week. She died of a short
illness; during the time we were going to bury her fresh blood
was coming out of her nose. After my
wife, I lost my second-born in Pepa, who had been sick for
some time. He was in hospital due to lack
of blood. I was asked to donate blood for a transfusion, but the
day after the transfusion my son was
still without blood. I tried to get more donated blood from
relatives, but nobody would help me.
During the war, when Pepa was invaded, we ran away as a
family. My third-born died at Muchenja
village, where I myself became sick. So I managed to run away
with the remaining children. I had lost

my wife and two sons, and then entered Kala camp with my
remaining children and my [late] wife’s
brother, who came with his family as well. I was depending on
my wife’s brother, he was pretending
to help me. In fact, he was destroying the family.
In the camp I lost another daughter at age 16. When I went to a
traditional healer to find out the
cause, he refused to co-operate, he was too afraid to help, and
told me to find another healer. Then my
wife’s brother came to help me with the problem. He went to a
healer and told me it was my own
brother who was the witch, but I couldn’t believe it. Then, when
my sixth-born died at age 10, I went
to the hospital and was told he died of sickla, but I couldn’t
believe this because the disease was never
in the family.
I went to Kabuta [80 km away] in Zambia to find out from
another traditional healer what was
going on. He told me, ‘Your brother-in-law is very dangerous,
he is pretending to be a good man to you
but he is eating your children. He even took you to a healer to
“help” you, but that man was his friend,
he tricked you. To prove this, you are going to lose another
child because he is using your children in
business. If you want help from me you must give me ZMK
800,000, because this man is very
dangerous’.
I had no way to find that kind of money, which equals two
brand-new bicycles. Since I couldn’t
find the funds, I just forgot about it. That is when the fifth
death happened to my last-born [the 15 year
old]. Out of my nine children, four remain. The problem will
still continue until I settle this with a

4 TUFTS UNIVERSITY HEALTH & NUTRITION LETTER www.tuftshealthl.docx

4 TUFTS UNIVERSITY HEALTH & NUTRITION LETTER www.tuftshealthl.docx

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