On the sexuality of "town women" in Kampala

"Town women" emerged in Uganda as a product of colonial urbanization and ca pitalist development in Kampala. The negative stereotyping of "town women" in Kampala, by scholars, colonial officials, medical officers and Ugandans alike, proceeds through a process of double liminalization. The identity of "town women" is constructed by means of a dual process of "othering," enga ging two sets of binary oppositions: married woman/prostitute and town/coun try. Although two types of rural single women existed in precolonial Bugand a, both representing a liminal category in contrast to the married woman, n either was subject to the degree of negative stereotyping that "town women" experienced. In colonial Kampala, "town women" were the objects of a doubl e liminality. Regarding the binary town/country, the liminality lies in the naming itself and refers to the capitalist center of Kampala. As independe nt female householders whose livelihoods were based on selling domestic ser vices to male migrant laborers (cooking food, brewing beer and providing se x), "town women" were exclusively identified with the "prostitute" half of the binary married woman/prostitute. In postcolonial Kampala, the negative stereotyping of "town women" continues in spite of vast changes in the econ omy and labor opportunities for women. The current generation of "town wome n" may achieve even greater economic and sexual independence, which perpetu ates their liminality as "prostitutes" rather than "proper women." The curr ent generation of "town women" have had the stigma of HIV-AIDS added to the ir identity and, as "prostitutes," are labeled as the main carriers. Strate gies of "town women" to produce healthy and educated children, including th eir adoption of HIV-AIDS orphans, may effectively counteract this negative stereotyping. To the extent that earnings from trading activities allow the m to be better mothers, "town women" in Kampala may be evaluated closer to the "married woman" in the near future.