Overview

Gender, Sexuality, and Traditional Aphrodisiacs: Kayan Mata and Intimate Relationships in Nigeria explores how Nigerian women use traditional aphrodisiacs, known as kayan mata, to navigate intimacy, power, and survival in a rapidly evolving society. From Northern Nigeria's aphrodisiac markets to Instagram's digital culture, the study explores how kayan mata products are used to negotiate love, autonomy, and material security within cultural, religious, and economic constraints. Drawing on participants' lived experiences and African feminist theories, such as nego-feminism, this book highlights the complex and adaptive nature of women's sexual agency. It challenges readers to rethink agency by showing how everyday acts of desire, beauty, and spirituality may also serve as strategies of resistance and self-determination within intimate domains. Gender, Sexuality, and Traditional Aphrodisiacs: Kayan Mata and Intimate Relationships in Nigeria will be of interest to both students and scholars of gender studies, anthropology, African studies, feminist theory, and cultural sociology.

Full Product Details

Author:   Oluwatobi Joseph Alabi
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.480kg
ISBN:  

9781032819624

ISBN 10:   1032819626
Pages:   166
Publication Date:   28 November 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: Desire, power, and the politics of intimacy in Nigeria 1. Traditional aphrodisiacs, intimacy, and empowerment in Nigeria 2. Navigating complexity: Evolving family structures and intimate relationship dynamics in Nigeria 3. Negotiating feminism: Eultural dynamics, sexual agency, and empowerment 4. Exploring the evolution and cultural significance of aphrodisiacs 5. Empowerment and Agency 6. Beyond Kayan Mata: Gender and Morality in Intimate Relationships 7. Sexuality, agency, and intimate politics 8. Theorizing sexual agency and empowerment 9. Family and marriage in 21st century Nigeria: An examination of social change and institutional influences 10. Critical Reflection on Sexuality Research in Nigeria: Epistemology, Fieldwork and Researcher's Positionality Conclusion

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Author Information

Oluwatobi Joseph Alabi is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

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