Abstract
The desire to enhance sexual pleasure and satisfaction, ensure fidelity in relationships and treat sexual dysfunctions are some of the common factors attributed to the use of traditional aphrodisiacs in Nigeria. However, its connection to women’s sexual agency and empowerment in intimate relationships has become a very popular and fundamental issue debated within the sociology of intimate relationships. Against this background, this study investigated women’s sexual agency and the use of traditional aphrodisiacs (kayan mata) in Ilorin, Kwara State, North Central Nigeria. The study adopted a qualitative design to understand why women use traditional aphrodisiacs, to identify the most popularly used aphrodisiacs, to understand how women’s use of these traditional aphrodisiacs influences their sexual agency and familial relationships, and to gain a deeper insight into men’s perceptions of women’s use of traditional aphrodisiacs. Drawing from the arguments of selected African feminists on sexuality and family/relationship dynamics, this study advances arguments that African women across history and cultures use various strategies and initiatives for circumventing and negotiating subjugating patriarchal strictures of gender and thus gain a position of significance within familial and intimate terrains. In this research, the theoretical arguments of the social exchange theory provide a framework to examine the nature of sex as transactional in the use of traditional aphrodisiacs and how it is negotiated within intimate relationships...
D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)