On Monday’s edition of Amanpour and Company CNN International and PBS both found time to report on a topic almost no one cares about, the sexual lives of African women. This segment was not just about shoving anti-Semitism into the news, but also covered how to make it more interesting.Dobbs Comment, but polygamy can also be a valid type of relationship.
Guest host Sara Sidner introduced the segment, “The rollback of women’s reproductive rights in America has dominated headlines after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade. But a new taboo-busting book is focusing our attention on the rights and freedoms of women across the continent of Africa.”
That book was written by “The Ghanaian feminist author, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah” who “traveled the continent to celebrate their stories of love, desire, and liberation. This is the result. African Women and their Sex Lives and Christiane sat down with Nana to discuss her fascinating investigation of women owning their sexuality and self-discovery.”
Amanpour, who was expressing concern about stereotyping the topic, filmed a short clip from her Netflix documentary and then rebuffed it. Christiane Amanpour, Sex and Love Around the World One woman, who was shown declaring in her country that love sometimes has to be shared with men who have more than one wives, was displayed.
Back in studio, Amanpour asked, “So, on the one hand, love is love and all of us all over the world feel the same way. Amanpour brought up, you know, a characteristic of Africa that you write about. There are two types of polygamy: polyamory. How much of those kinds of stories were people willing to share, because you have a very patriarchal society, obviously?”
Sekyiamah replied by declaring polygamy to be perfectly acceptable, “Yes, people are actually really willing to talk about different types of relationship structures including polygamy, including polyamory, as well as, obviously, monogamy, you know. And I think, actually for me, it was really helpful is for us to recognize that there are several valid forms of relationship structures.”
Not only is polygamy acceptable, for Sekyiamah it is preferable, “I don’t really believe in privilege and, you know, monogamy over polyamory, for instance. Because it allows people to have more options, and more choice, I personally favor polyamory. But that’s my personal bias, you know.”
If one were to follow Amanpour’s logic, is it now racist or culturally insensitive to believe in commitment to one person?
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This transcript is for the show on July 18.
PBS Amanpour and Company
7/19/2022
11:44 ET
SARA SIDNER – The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the rollback in women’s reproductive rights. This has dominated news headlines Roe V. Wade. However, a controversial new book is drawing our attention to the rights and liberties of African women. Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah from Ghana, was a feminist author who traveled to Africa in order to share their stories of freedom, love and desire. It is now African Women and their Sex LivesChristiane and Nana sat down to talk about Christiane’s fascinating research on women understanding their sexuality, and how they can self-discover it. You can see their conversation.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR – So on one side, love is love, and everyone around the globe feels the same. However, you mentioned, you know, a characteristic of Africa that she also writes about. There are two types of polygamy: polyamory. What number of these kinds of stories did people share? You have a patriarchal society.
NANA DARKOA SEKYIAMAH (Yes, there are many types of relationships, and people will talk about them, like polygamy or polyamory. But, they also want to speak openly about monogamy. For me it was actually very helpful to realize that there are many acceptable forms of relationship structure.
Personally, I do not believe in privilege. Because it allows people to choose more, polyamory is more appealing. That’s just me. False monogamy is what I dislike about falnogamy. My friend, (INAUDIBLE), called it that. Many people believe they are monogamous, when in fact they don’t. I find this dangerous in terms of sexual health and general well-being.
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