Some Notes on Zande Sex Habits Author(s): E. E. Evans-Pritchard Source: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 75, No.

1 (Feb., 1973), pp. 171-175 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/672346 Accessed: 26/08/2009 11:36
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Some Notes on Zande Sex Habits~

E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD All Souls, Oxford

Zande practices of intercourse and other intimate aspects of the husband-wife relationshipare discussed. They retire usually shortly after fall of night, although the sound of mortar and pestle long after sunset tells us that some women are still preparingthe evening meal. Whenthe man enters he fixes the door, takes off his barkcloth and lies down beside his wife, who has already taken off her pubicleaf covering.If there are any small children, they lie on the bare ground, as close to the fire as possible, so close that they are sometimes burnt. If the man is young and in a good mood he may commence with some sexual play before copulating. Erection would seem to take place easily with a Zande, and I was told that a man becomes tumescent as he approacheshis wife on the bed andsees her nakedness.His excitement is increased by preliminaryplay in which he hits his wife on the back, pulls and squeezes her breastsand pubes. She will laughat these approachesand will playfully struggle with him and take hold of his penis. When the man feels that he wishes to complete intercourse he says to his wife "you bringyour vulva over here so that I may take it in my hand." She on her part says "give me your penis, let me take hold of it." The man has already an erection; insertion is generally easy. If he were not fully erect by this time, or even in preliminary play, the woman might chaff him and ask him "have you become impotent?" For the sight of a woman'svulva is thought to be sufficient to give any potent man an immediateerection. Indeed, in questions of impotency which sometimes arise between man and wife in

Here we describe the sexual act among the Azande. It is of course difficult to obtain informationon the approachesto copulation but the generaloutline is clear.Wemust bear in mind that copulation is to the Zande something that goes on most nightsand that it forms only a small part of the pleasuresof sharinga common bed. The bed is normally placed on the righthand side of the hut as one enters the door. On it are placed heaps of leaves which the wife gathersevery two or three days, and on top of the leaves is spreada mat. The leaves and mat protect the sleepers from the hard wood of the baresleepingcouch. The pillow is simply a raised piece of wood at one end of the bed. Both sexes generallysleep naked, although on very cold nights they spread over themselvesa long stretch of barkcloth. At the side of the bed a fire is kept burning through the night, although often needing some attention to keep it bright.The door is shut by placing a structureof reeds against the opening and a beam between the reed structure and a post planted in front of the opening so that it cannot be pushed open during the night. Sometimes there is a little doorway at the other side so that a man can make a quick escape if enemies attack him. The fire burningbrightlyat the bed-sideand the closed doorway enable the occupantsof a hut to remain warm,althoughnaked,even on the coldest nights. The man alwayssleeps with his back to the fire to give himself warmth, and the woman opposite him againstthe wall.

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suits before a princein court the princemay use this test to ascertainwhether a husband was really potent, as he claimes to be, or impotent, as his wife alleges. One of my informants, Kuagbiaru,a trusted servantof Prince Gangurafor many years, was ordered to make such a test between man and wife. He told me that he made the woman take off her pubic leaf and lie on the bed with her legs apart and her vulva well exposed and thrust forwardso that her husbandmight be able to gaze at it. He told me that since this did not produce an erection the man was obviouslyimpotent. I was told that penetrationperanum was unknown and would be considered disgusting. The same applies to fellatio and cunnilinctus.The fingeris sometimesused as a means of stimulatinga woman, especially if a man is tired. I was told that princes often masturbated their wives by stimulating the clitoris in this way. However, it is not regarded as quite proper. Princes indeed seem to have a tendency for the bizarrein sexualintercourse,which may be due to the frequencywith which they indulgein it. It is saidthat Liwa, the father of KingTembura, ate porridge after rubbing it against the vagina of his wife (Natimangu, sister of of Adagaraga the Avunduaclan) in place of the usual flavoring. The ordinary Zande, however,considersany form of intercourse, or even of the use of sexual parts outside simple copulation and the rubbing or squeezing of them in sexual play, as abnormal disclaimstheir practice. and Thereare two ordinary ways of copulation, and I cannot say for sure that one is more frequent than the other; although I think the first to be described is the more general. The woman places her left arm acrossthe end of the bed under the ribs of herhusband,who lies on his rightside facing heras she lies on her left, the man putting hisarm also under hers. The man then raises hisbody to let the woman slip her left leg under so that her vulva is exposed toward it her mate. She raises her right leg, either keepingher foot on the bed and the knee flexedor swingingit over the man'sthighsas

he presses them between her own. With his left hand he encircles her back as she does his back with her right hand. He leans on his rightelbow to givehimself supportand slightly raiseshimselffor the action. In this position he thrusts backwards and forwards, and the woman makes correspondingrhythmic movement. The greater part, however, rests with the woman to whom her husbandsays in a Zande phrase "momadi ke fe re" (you twist your pubes for me please). This word madi refers to an action at which Zande women are skilled, since they practice it as little girls in play and in the morelicentious dances. It consists in makinga rotary movement of the muscles of the lower abdomen so that it and the region of the genitals is excited by it. This massagesthe penis while it rests in the vagina,and it is said to be the best method of obtaining a pleasantejaculation. Men, however, consider it essential for a really satisfactory copulation that the penis should be well gripped.Nothing is so disappointingto a Zande as to lie with a woman who has what they call a large watery vagina so that in the backwardsand forwardsand rotary movements of the sex act the penis keeps on slipping out. They like a vagina which is what they call sticky and small, which is difficult to enter, and which grips the penis firmly when entrance hasbeen effected. Men dislike a vaginainto which they merely slide the penis easily, preferringan effort for insertion, pushing slowlyand with greaterfriction to the organ and so greater pleasure. If a little pain is caused to the girl, if so she be, by the difficultythe man regardsit as added to his pleasure, knowing that the girl has had little of experience the kind. Indeed a woman will take pride in her husband's difficulty to insert his penis as a compliment to her chastity,and if he has been long away she mayon his returnmake some allusionto this evidence her fidelity. of Ofsuch women a young man will say to a friend"li ki nidu wa kinabakindegbanda" (sheis just like manioc-porridge), heavy and stickyand difficult to turn with a cooking stick.But though men like a slightly difficult

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entrance, they dislike women with an exceptionally small vagina,which is regardedas an affliction (ima kpatakpali). A man tries to enforce an entrance and his wife cries out, "Ai! You are killing me, you go slowly or you will kill me." Sometimes a husbandwill be resisted by his wife because of her infirmity and will have disputes with her, and eventuallyher parents may interveneto discover what all the trouble is about. The husband may be shy about speakingof the matter but they may guess and say to him "if ima kpatakpali is the cause do not hesitate to say so." Those Azande who know of the Muhammadanpractice of operating on girls, and also the customs pertainingto a wedding night among the Arabs, consider they are disgusting. A Zande does not attach very much importance to virginity. If he has to pierce his wife's hymen (pio de), it gives him satisfaction to know that he has been the first to ravishher. If, on the other hand, he finds that he is not the first he will not, if he is wise, say anything. A stupid man may ask her who has lain with her or may even speak to her father about the matter but he would be foolish to start a fuss like this at the commencement of marriage, and it is improbable that he will find out who was responsiblefor taking away his wife's virginity. Women on their part will discuss the merits of their husbands' prowess when in privacy,out of the hearingof any man. One will say, so I was told, "my husbandhas a huge penis, it is enough to kill one," at which her friends giggle; and one of them replies "o my mother's child, my husband has a tiny penis; it is far better to have a husbandwith a long penis which goes well into one." Apart from a preference for youth, a Zande does not seem to make so much of a distinctionbetweenwomen as we do. So long as they are not old and are healthy, he will make love to all who give him opportunity. In thinking about women, he is attractedby their breasts, which of course he can see. He dislikesbreastswhich are dried up and hang

down. Azande have words for different types of breasts.They like to grip the breasts during intercourse, and for this the full but slightly falling, pear-like, are the most admired, a man taking one in each hand, enclosing them with his fingers where they fall from the body. This gives him a grip as he thrusts into the woman; and it is also pleasingto the woman, the man pressingher breastsand now and againgivingthem a firm squeeze which makes her give a little cry "ai ti na ima," "ai it's hurting."A man likes to hear a woman cry thus, and he knows that she does so more from pleasure than from pain. A man will also suck the breasts.I have not heard of any truly sadistic or masochistic activities on the part of man or woman in sexual play. The second mode of intercourseis more suitable for gripping the breasts in both hands than the one just described.In this the woman lies on her back with her legs apart and the man places himself between her thighs and inserts his penis into her vagina. He may grip her breasts or, more usually, when nearingorgasm,he puts his armsunder the woman's back and lies on top of her, his full weight against her body. She clasps her arms around him and moves her vulva to assist him to orgasm.The man uses the side of the bed with his feet to support his thrusting backwards and forwards. A man will, however, not do like this when having intercoursewith a very young and smallwife lest his weight be too greatfor her, although he does not bother when with adult women. Thus a man, in cursinghis son, will speak of his limbs, strikingthem as he does so, which he pressedagainst the side of the bed when begettinghim. When the act is over, they release themselves from their embrace and go to sleep. A woman who knows the business of a wife well will first get off the bed, take a little warm water from the fire and, while her husbandstands up or sits on the edge of the bed, will wash his penis and dry it with a piece of old barkcloth. She may then oil her husband's penis with termite-oil. If a woman does not wash his penis, the man knows that

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she has no experienceof men and he will say to her "ako gude mo ini ngapa akumbate," "o child, you do not know about men." She rejoins her husbandon the bed after having washed his penis and, lying by his side, places her left arm under his body, where it remains for the rest of the night. The man cushioned on her arm, which does not seem to tire, sleeps facing her, and sometimes turning over, faces the fire with his back toward her, she not changing her position. I was told that sometimes they would start intercourseagain at once; sometimes renew it when the man wakesup, and then sleep until morning. It is, I was told, common to copulate at dawn before both go out to defecate. Unbelievable though it seems to me, I was told that a man in his prime may have as many as four orgasmsa night, and generally at least two. He does not, however, copulate every night, for he sometimes does not feel like it, althoughby all accounts such periods of abstention are infrequent.A young man with only one wife will have to refrain from intercourse for some seven days a month, his wife being in her periods;but a man with severalwives is not bothered by this difficulty. He knows more or less when the periods of each wife commence, and he arranges his sleeping plans accordingly so that he will be able to sleep with a wife with whom he can have congress.Moreover,in polygamous homes it may be supposedthat wives are alwaysready for attention when their husband shares their beds. I have been told (I keep on saying this-obviously I have no other way of knowing) that even if a man has no erection and does not show himself at all inclinedfor intercourse, the woman may take his penis in her hand, pressing and pulling it until it ceases to be zezele, soft; and then comes an erection, when she puts it into her vagina and gives her what she wants. Some women have a reputation among the young men (bachelors)who have enjoyed their company of being insatiable,keepingthem all night in play. Tired after a sleepless night they bear away her reputation among friends who sit around the fire on an evening. Women,men

tell me, can be very demanding in their desires. It is surprising how long old Azande remain potent. One sees men who must be over seventy who are still able to satisfy their wives and to marry quite young girls. Many of them are said to have medicines which ensure potency. As a man advancesin years he may find it difficult to satisfy his wives. Since he may have no hut of his own, he must sleep in the hut of one of his wives and cannot therefore avoid intercourse. However,an old man may adopt the custom of princes of buildinga hut for himself and sleep there by himself, summoning a wife when he wants company, even though he does not want intercourse.That pleasure(as I have earlier said) is only one of those of sleeping with a woman-she gives a man a feeling of comfort and companionship.She washes him; she gets up in the night to place more wood on the fire; she heats water for his morningablutions;she gives him beer to drink in the night, and it is said of good wives that they press their husbands' stomachs as they lie with them and can tell at once if they are hungry, finding which they get up and cook food for them. All this counts as much as intercourse, and as the yearsgo on, the more so. Very old men almost entirely cease to have intercoursewith their wives. They may sleep alone under the shelter of a granary, retiringearly and sleepinglate. The ordinary adult Zande with one wife sleeps always in her hut. He shares there the single bed, save when she has her menstrualperiods and lies on a mat on the ground.Small childrenshare the same hut, sleeping around the fire on leaves or on the bare earth. A man with several wives will sleep with each in turn. Some men spend ten or more days with one wife and then with another. Others go to each wife for shorter periods. It is up to the man to decide, but it is thought to be more conducive to domestic peace if a husband with several wives does not sleep with any one of them for more than a few nights together. If a man chooses to be for a longer period in the hut of one wife than in the

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huts of the others, the favored woman should be his first wife. The richer commoners and the princes please themselves in this matter since they are less bound by rules and custom and less subject to their sanctions. With princes, sexual play of one kind or another takes up much of their time. They have many wives, and they have choice of the finest girls in the country. Apart from settling cases in court and seeing to affairs in kingdom or province and in their households, they have little else to do. A prince does not hunt or work in his gardens, so he spends much of his time talking to his wives and drinking beer. And his young wives have little to do but make themselves attractive to him and give him pleasure-they stroke his feet, rub his legs, cut his moustache. Princes, unlike most commoners, have huts of their

own, as distinct from those of their wives, and summon whichever of their wives they wish to bed with, playing with her and fondling her, drinking beer, and copulating. A prince will send for his wives to come to his hut, and not he go to theirs; and if he is merry he may send for more than one girl on the same night. From all accounts-what Azande say-princes have much sexual intercourse, even in the daytime, unlike commoners, with their favorites. They are not subject to any restraints. NOTE 1These notes were written more than forty years ago. It would have been unwise to have altered a word (save for clarity), and I have not done so. I think that what I then wrote should be on record.