“‘Male Barbies’: Trans Identities, Body Politics, and Social Media in Africa”

This talk explores the representations of trans women in various social media outlets and how African expressive cultures, specifically fashion rituals—such as clothing practices and beauty rituals—shape transgender identities in West Africa. I investigate transgender social media influencers, dubbed ‘male Barbies,’ including Bobrisky in Nigeria; Martin Hughes, popularly known as Ohemartin in Ghana; and Cameroonian Njeukam Loic Mildred, known as Shakiro to highlight how they use beauty practices to promote transgender visibility and navigate a precarious life in unhospitable environments for LGBTI people. Given several incidents of state-sanctioned violence against transgender individuals in West Africa, my talk highlights the importance of addressing the rights and agency of sexual and gender minorities globally. Critics have scarcely addressed the roles of bodily rituals and politics in mediating transgender prominence in West Africa, although they shape the identities of many gender minorities in Africa and globally.

Nneoma Onwuegbuchi is a doctoral candidate in the Department of African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on gender and sexuality in West African media cultures including films, novels, and social media. Through her transnational work, she aims to explore the connections between gendered body politics in West Africa and broader global issues such as neoliberalism and consumerism all within the context of diverse media capitalism. Various awards from institutions such as the UW-Madison African Studies Program, the West African Research Association, and the CUNY Graduate Center have provided research support for her work. Onwuegbuchi holds a bachelor of arts degree in literary studies from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and a master of arts degree in African cultural studies with a minor in gender and women’s studies from UW-Madison. Onwuegbuchi’s dissertation advisor is Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué.