Waungwana na Wanawake: Muslim ethnicity and sexual segregation In Coastal Kenya

The purpose of this paper is to highlight a growing body of research showing that a different configuration of cultural attributes has evolved for males and females in Swahili‐speaking Islamic communities on the Kenya Coast such that the men's ‘culture’ follows the dictates of conservative Southern Arabian Islam while that of the women, in the absence of in situ Shafi‐ite female role models yet in constant association with each other, has evolved as a dynamic system of expressive culture within Islamic institutions—especially within the secularised institution and celebration of marriage. This point is made with reference to a number of recent studies of Swahili expressive culture (e.g. Parker, 1974; Russell, 1981; Campbell, 1983) and of Swahili society and social structure (e.g. Strobel, 1979; Swartz 1982a) that point out the importance of women's associations in Kenyan Coastal culture. The effect of Islam and sexual segregation on ethnicity is looked at in the context of the Swahili‐speaking co...