African Hypersexuality: A Threat to White Settlers? The Stigmatization of “Black Sexuality” as a Means of Regulating “White Sexuality”

Abstract

During the nineteenth century and at the start of the twentieth century, hypersexuality was one of the most common prejudices about Africans in the medical literature, as well as in popular depictions in France. African people were thought to be predisposed by nature and by culture to have an immoderate, uncontrollable sexuality that justified, in particular, female circumcision and polygamy. The goal of scientists was to learn about the sexuality of Others in order to define sexuality in their own society. They were also motivated by colonial context. Understanding the sexual practices of African people was focused on trying to control and preserve the sexuality of colonists and to ensure the success of colonial project. White colonists who spent several months in the colonies were faced with all sorts of temptations, such as the supposed “free” sexuality of the indigenous people and the hot climate. Out of these fears, appears rhetoric about racial mixing and its dangers for the white race. Medical observations, descriptions, and theories about a “black sexuality” were intended to maintain racial boundaries and support colonialism. The supposed irrepressible sexuality of black people in Africa was an argument for colonization and its “civilizing mission.”