Talk:Hausa animism

Disputed Homosexuality section

I think lack of understanding of other people's religious cultures especially by those from the west maybe at play here. In their western eyes, what they may view as homosexuality actually is not, but has a more deeper religious symbolism. The article mention about the being "Mother of us all." This tells us that there is a deeper matrilineality and respect and honour of women in this religion prior to the advent of Islam among these people. In the Guardian article provided, it reads: "Ameera is known as a yan daudu, shorthand for "men who act like women" in northern Nigeria's Hausa language. The phrase means "sons of Daudu," a fun-loving, gambling spirit worshipped in the Muslim Bori practice, whose trance and dancing rituals are traditionally associated with marginalised poor women, sex workers and disabled people."[1] As someone who actually studied Traditional African religions rather than using western eyes to interpret a culture that is foreign and with no knowledge of, this indicates a high degree of religious symbolism. Since a female entity is regarded as the "Mother of us all" and highly esteemed in this culture, it would be against custom to marginalise or denegrade women. It puts women at the centre of this culture and the men dressing up as women is an attempt to spiritually connect with this feminine entity. In its core essence, I do not believe that this has anything at all to do with homosexuality, and lack of deeper understanding of other people's religious practices maybe at play here. I would therefore like to see more people who actually practice and/or understand this religious practice to help edit this article. Senegambianamestudy (talk) 15:29, 26 September 2017 (UTC)