Condom Semiotics-Meaning and Condom Use in Rural Malawi - Swidler

Condom Semiotics: Meaning and Condom Use in Rural Malawi
Author(s): Iddo Tavory and Ann Swidler

Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 74, No. 2 (Apr., 2009), pp. 171-189
Published by: American Sociological Association
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Condom
Semiotics: Meaning
and Condom
Use inRural Malawi
AnnSwidler
IddoTavory
University ofCalifornia-Los Angeles
This
examines
article
use. These
and
partners,
thatframing
rational
assessments
attempts
that organize
the "sweetness
of risk and danger.

of condoms
one
toprotect
how people
"
s health
use. Semiotic
condom
use
Condom
choice
that condom
believe
statement
constraints
use
use makes
that condom
a more
We call for
meanings.
agents
navigate
axes
semiotic
are
is appropriate,
to bear
less
meanings,
communities around the globe

(Dowsett 1999; Epstein 1996; Green 2003), but
the situation in sub-Saharan Africa is far less
high-risk
encouraging (Hearst and Chen 2004; Shelton

2006). When used consistently, condoms are
The
first author was
NICHD
HD044228,
supported
by grants
from
(R01HD/MH41713, P.I.:Watkins, andR01

P.I. K?hler,
Hans-Peter)
and the second
author by the Canadian Institute forAdvanced
Research
and
on Research
the Committee
of the
Susan Watkins,
of California,
Berkeley.
University
offered intel
and Kim Yi Dionne
Reniers,
Georges
lectual support and practical help at every stage of

and Kim
the research and writing. Philip Anglewicz
Yi Dionne
prepared Figure 1.Robert Bellah, Claude
Fischer,
Richard
Madsen,
Tom
Pessah,
William
Sullivan, and Steven Tipton provided valuable

we would
back on an earlier draft. InMalawi,
feed
like to
thank the interviewers McDaphton

Bellos, Richards
Bossom, Fanizo George, Esnat Sanudi, and Rosemary
Sapangwa. We also want to thank Mara Grynaviski,
reviewers whose
Jonathan Vespa, and the anonymous
the article.
comments greatly strengthened
American
Sociological
Review,
rural
related
Even
to
when people
usually
trumps all other
one
the
to the
that is attentive
that demonstrates
interactional
introduction of condoms has success

fully reduced AIDS prevalence in some
axes
of life and death,
and
and
at the level of relationships.
of culture,
inparticular
that record
a matter
relationship
show
that
space
the semiotic
intimate partner.
or even
analysis
contested
multiple,
brought
and
wise,
about
nuanced
diaries
sexual
we
risky behavior
semiotic
by
and
love between
between
most powerfully
operate
Africa
condoms
rural Malawi,
the complex
ignores
a risky, less serious,
signifies
talk about
data from
Using
as a simple
in sub-Saharan
trust and
of sex,
on data from more

Based
than 600
navigate.
'
our
charts
conversations,
everyday
analysis
Malawians
The
include
the meaning
Malawians
ways
axes
use
to condom
resistance
axes
semiotic
the major
describing
condom
the widespread
University ofCalifornia-Berkeley
how
specific
contexts.
about 80 to 90 percent effective in preventing

heterosexual transmission of HIV (Hearst and
Chen 2004; Weiler and Davis 2003). As Hearst
and Chen (2004) note, however, condom use in
sub-Saharan Africa is low and inconsistent,
in "regular"
especially
relationships.1
and
anthropologists have tried to
Sociologists
understand resistance to condom use in terms
of beliefs and attitudes (Bledsoe 1990; Chimbiri
2007; Johnson-Hanks 2006; Kaler 2004;
Kalipeni 1999; McPhail and Campbell 2001;
Obbo 1995; Smith 2000,2004a), andmany sit
uate choices about sexual behavior in a larger
context of social meanings (Beisel 1990,1997;
Gagnon 2004; Laqueur 1990; Schalet 2000).
This article contributes to the general sociolo
1
Cost
mentioned
Malawi,
limit condom
use,
may
availability
In our
in very poor countries likeMalawi.
and the diaries, however, cost was never
and
especially
interviews
as a reason
Chisango
In
for not using condoms.
are heavily subsidized
condoms
andwidely available (Kalipeni andMbugua 2005),

costing
two kwacha
pensive
even by Malawian
2009, Vol.
each
74 (April:l71-189)

1.4 cents),
(about
standards.
inex
172
AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
gy of culture,as well as thebroader issue of con

dom use for protection against HIV in sub
sanaran
Africa.
interested in culture have

Sociologists
enhanced therichness and subtletyof theirinter
pretive readings of culturalmaterials and their
understanding of systems of culture produc
tion.But theyhave made less progress indevel
opingmodels of how meanings influenceaction
(Swidler 2001). Here we explore a problem of
meaning thathas very clear consequences for
action?whether
ticular
sexual
use
people
interaction. We
a condom
examine
in a par
the mean
ingsof condom use from a semiotic perspective,

showing how semiotic codes allow individuals
to actively and creatively negotiate theways
theirown behavior isunderstood by others (see
Dern? 1994). We also explore how semiotic
codes determine themeanings of a particular
action (in this case using a condom) and thus
how they constrain behavior. Using data from

more than 600 diaries that record rural
Malawians'
everyday
conversations,
we
chart
three semiotic axes that create possible mean

ings of condom use: the sensuality or "sweet
ness" of sex, thequestion of trustand love, and
theassessment ofAIDS risk asmeasured against
the perceived dangers of condom use. These
axes delineate the semiotic space inwhich peo
ple understand condom use in theirsexual rela
tions.
A semiotic perspective provides an explana

tion for an otherwise strikinganomaly: even as
awareness ofHIV infectionhas become nearly
universal in sub-Saharan Africa and attitudes

toward condom use have changed (Thomsen et
al. 2003), the use of condoms in "love" rela
tionships?marriages,
but also
some
short-term
miniscule (Chimbiri
partnerships?remains
2007; Varga 2000). Without a semiotic per
spective on culture, this gap between attitudes
and behavior with respect to condom use
remains opaque. Cultural constraintson condom
use
are
real. They
do not derive
from
stubborn
cultural beliefs thatrefuse to acknowledge the

dangers ofAIDS, rather,theyderive from semi
otic codes. These codes shape themeanings of
condom use for actors' identities (Johnson
Hanks 2002; Smith 2000); they shape the sig
nals thatpeople send about themselves and their
sexual partners, andmost important,they shape
what
acter
the use
of a condom
of a sexual
says
relationship.
about
the char
We define "semiotic axis" as a dimension

thatdelineates one arrayof possible meanings?
for example, fromrisky and dangerous to pro
tective and safe?within which condom use is
understood. A focus on the semiotic aspects of
meaning implies a focus on signs "organized
around key oppositions and equations" thatare
"aligned with a cluster of symbolic attributes"
(Silverman 1983:36). Any cultural object, such
as a condom, has multiple possible connections
to other cultural meanings. The possible
metaphors and meanings may be contradictory
or competing, but thismultiplicity ofmeanings
allows creative interpretationand renegotiation
of an object's significance (Sewell 1992).2
We use "semiotic" not as a synonym for
"meaning," but to convey three importantideas:
First, particular terms, symbols, and objects
have meaning only with reference to a wider
code of relationally-defined
possibilities
(Saussure [1916] 1986) (e.g., what one wears
conveys meaning along the formal-informal
dimension). Second, the term "semiotic" con
veys the idea that a shared social code consti
tutes the array of likelymeanings ofwords and
actions (Sewell 1999), independent ofwhat an
individualmay actually intend to signify (e.g.,
wearing ragged jeans to a wedding may connote
contempt for theproceedings, no matter a per
son's intentions) (Caplow 1984).3 Analyzing
themultiple axes thatdefine the semiotic space
(Lotman 1990) of the condom shows how indi
viduals can code and decode a gesture, object,
or statement.
Conceptualizing
condom
use with
2
the wide range
The polysemy of language?and
of metaphors
for sexual organs and activities?cre
ates specialdifficulties
forthiskindof article.Almost
about
every metaphor
dimensional
"semiotic
such matters,
such as three
suggests
space," immediately
and makes writing a per
double-entendres
multiple
ilous, albeit entertaining, adventure.
3
differs from theories of "frames"
Our approach
and "framing." Framing
theories suggest that indi
to practi
subordinate meanings
viduals consciously
cal ends. That is, actors are consciously
"mobilizing
ideas and meanings"
and countermobilizing
(Benford
and Snow 2000:613). We suggest that although agents
can navigate within a semiotic
constrain action by defining
actions
for others. A
the situated
location
agents have
of others'
semiotic
of action
space, semiotic codes

the meanings
of our
space thus constitutes
and the expectations
expectations.

CONDOM SEMIOTICS
in such a semiotic space recognizes that the
condom does not have a fixed meaning, but
rather serves as a gesture or statementwithin a
largersystemof signification?a systemencom
passing the self, the other, thenature of a rela
tionship, and concerning danger, disease, and
desire.4 Moreover, a semiotic space suggests
thatmeanings can shiftwithin thatspace, so the
meaning of condom use can change registersor
locations even within a particular interaction
(Sewell 1992,1996). Third, the image ofmean
ings as enactedwithin amultidimensional semi
otic space allows fordiscontinuities?discordant

semiotic framings that create conflicting
motives, identities, and experiences. These dis
continuities also allow individuals touse open
ings between one register of significance and
another toquite suddenly shiftthemeanings of
an
interaction.
The three-dimensional semiotic space we

describe here does notmap all the significations
connoted by condom use. Much likeMauss's
([1923-24] 1990) "total social facts," the con
dom's meanings are polysemically placed with
inmultiple and intersecting structures of
meaning, or semiotic axes (Sewell 1992), touch
ingalmost every aspect ofMalawian social life.
We focus on sensuality, love and trust,and risk
because these are thecentral themes thatemerge
from our data. Although controversy in the
United States and elsewhere revolves around
moral and religious objections to condoms
(Dietrich 2007; Gamson 1990), these are not the
common
most
sources
of resistance
to condoms
in ruralMalawi.5
SETTING AND METHOD

Situated in southeastAfrica, Malawi is a small,
densely-populated country of 118,484 square
kilometers with a population of about 13mil

lion (Government ofMalawi 2007). The coun
try is divided into three regions (northern,
central, and southern) and 27 districts. It is
home tomany ethnic groups, the largest of
which are theChewa, Tumbuka, Lomwe, Tonga,
rate is extremely high;
and Yao. The AIDS
12
percent (Government of
approximately
Malawi 2004; UNAIDS 2006) ofMalawi's adult
is now the
population is HIV positive. AIDS
cause
of
death
for
leading
people ages 15 to49
(Doctor 2002).
This study was conducted as part of the
Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project
(MDICP), the core of which is a longitudinal
survey exploring the role of social networks in
shapingAIDS and fertility-relatedattitudes and
behavior. Semistructured interviewswith sub
samples of respondents supplement thisproject
(Watkins et al. 2003). The surveybegan in 1998,
with subsequentwaves in2001,2004, and 2006.
The MDICP
studywas conducted in threerural
research sites: Mchinji in the central region,
Rumphi in the north, and Balaka in the south.
The initial 1998 sample consists of approxi
mately 1,500 ever-married women and their
husbands. This sample was interviewedagain in
2001, 2004, and 2006, with thenew husbands
of widowed or divorced women added to the
sample. In 2004, a younger sample of 1,500
men and women ages 15 to 24 (married and
unmarried) was added to the survey.6
Our analysis isbased onmore than 600 jour
nals written by local assistants. The MDICP
researchers found itdifficulttodiscover through
surveys how people actually talk to one anoth
er about condoms and AIDS. They thus asked
a few local assistants, who had worked as part
time interviewers for the survey project,7 to
6Furtherdetails about theMDICP
from the surveys are available

that
In this sense, the interactional meanings
are "second
order"
(Barthes
symbols
interest us
1987).
5
We
do not address
religious
prohibitions
of con
to con
objections
(Smith 2004a), political
as products of malevolent
government or white
identities slowly
aid (Kaler 2003), or the "modern"
dom use
doms
rural Malawi
2002).
(Johnson-Hanks
in diaries and
these axes appear sporadically
the three axes we describe were much
interviews,
penetrating
Although
more
views.
prevalent
in everyday
conversations
and inter
173
and thedata
at: http://www.malawi.
pop.upenn.edu.
7
MDICP
recruited
interviewers by posting notices

in local trading centers near the rural survey sites, ask
to come the next morning
ing high school graduates
Often as many as 200 peo
to fill out an application.
at each site.
for the 40 or so positions
ple applied
candidates had to be fluent in the local lan
Successful
is required in
in English, which
guage and proficient
school
schools.
Malawi's
graduates
High
public
inMalawi's
British-style
(those with Form 4 diplomas
can rarely find work
system) in rural Malawi
so most
live in the villages,
formal economy,

in the
prac
174
keep Journalsof conversations aboutAIDS that

they overheard or participated in during their
daily lives.8 The project paid journalists $30
for an 80-page school notebook, each about
7,500 words and typically covering several dif
ferentconversationswith multiple participants.
The project hired 22 journalists (nine women,
13men) between 1999 and 2006: three jour
nalists (twomen, one woman) contributed, on
average, more than 30 journals a year (13 con
tributedmore than five journals per year; the
other sixwrote less frequently).All journalists
are high school graduates with no additional
education, young (20s or early 30s), and relyon
subsistence agriculture supplemented by casu
al labor or small-scale retail (as well as inter
mittentMDICP
activities). The journalistswere
no
training except instructions to listen,
given
to remember
what
was
said as close
to word-for
word as possible, and towrite. Nor did the

researchers define what theymeant by "con
versations aboutAIDS." As a result, the content
of the journals reflects the journalists' assump
tions about what is relevant toAIDS. The jour
nalists recorded conversations in local languages
butwrote the journals inEnglish (entrieswere
often hastily written, so the grammar is some
times poor and words are omitted).We retain
most of the idiosyncrasies in grammar and
spelling, as well as locutions that reflect local
adaptations of English9 (we insertwords in
brackets when necessary for clarity).
trad
and small-scale
agriculture
ticing subsistence
one
rare opportunity
to
work
for
the
have
Some
ing.
or a project
or two months with an NGO
like the
MDICP.
about
ment.
8
Interviewingfor theMDICP
two months;
For
a fuller
methodological
it did not provide
lasted only
regular employ
as a
of the journals
and a form of social
inquiry,
discussion
tool
seeWatkins and Swidler (2008).Watkins recruited
the journal methodol

and developed
the journalists
a
in the field, so we
of
time
deal
We
ogy.
spent
good
and are familiar with
know many of the journalists
the context the journals
tions about themeaning
the translation
describe. When
we had ques
in the journals,
of a passage
of a word, or other matters relevant to
the journals, we asked the journalist
understanding
and conferred with other local informants.
9
Malawian
public schools teach English from the
with
formal English starting in Standard
grades,
early
5 (equivalent to 5th grade in theUnited States).
English
is widespread
and has become
indigenized
These Journals, collected between 1999 and

2006, produced more than 5,000 single-spaced
pages, recording everything frompublic scan
dals in themarketplace and chief-court pro
ceedings to casual conversations on local
minibuses and at bars. Although there are few
journalists, they capture a large population.
Each journalist had a small number of friends,
relatives, and neighbors who all knew each
other and interactedfairlyfrequently.The jour
nalists also interactedwith or overheard amore
heterogeneous group of strangersand acquain
tances, providing a diversity of conversational
settingsand participants.We changed all names,
and we cite journal excerpts using the journal
ist'spseudonym and thedate of thejournal (fol
lowing a month/day/year format).
We coded thediaries using NVivo7, which is

designed to facilitate grounded theory coding
and analysis. Although we let the concepts and
categories emerge from the data (Strauss and
Corbin 1990), we differ from grounded theory
in startingwith a focused question:What codes,
metaphors, andmeanings governed how people
talked about condoms and condom use? This
kind of analysis allows us to construct a polyph
onous account of how people negotiate and
reproduce culture in a given context (Bakhtin
1984). The journals are polyphonous in two
senses. First, theycapture amultiplicity of local
voices and concerns thatothermethods tend to
overlook.10 Second, diaries from 22 journalists
over a period of seven years reflect a polypho
ny of local writing voices fromdifferentregions
and periods.11
to be sexually promis
in some ways. For example,
and one who has multiple
is to be "movious,"
an
to be "moving
is said
around,"
partners
cuous
of a chiChewa
woyen
expression,
Anglicization
of multiple
from an association
derived
dayenda,
labor.
partners with migrant
10
are a delegated
observational
The journals
account(Milner2004;Newman 1999). Such accounts
access
to a much
the advantage
of allowing
and
of
conversational
range
partici
settings
pants than a researcher might otherwise be able to
enter.
11
the double polyphony
This analysis crystallizes
observers
of the diaries?multiple
recording multi
have
wider
ple voices.
This
is a step further than what many

and
achieve
(Clifford
tried to conserve both lev
at multivocality
attempts
Marcus
1986), and we have
els of polyphony.

CONDOM SEMIOTICS
We first coded the diaries for sections per
taining to condom use. These sections include
approximately 1,600 excerptsfrom 304 journals
(650 single-spaced pages, more than 1,000 con
versations),with many journals containingmul
tiple conversational episodes thatmention
condoms and condom use. In the second phase,
we employed a more fine-grained
coding
process, looking for recurring themes in the

discussion of condom use. In this round,we
coded only those excerpts inwhich conversa
tions revolved around condom use and theprob
lems associated with it.This second round of
coding brought to the fore the semiotic axes
thatwe present in this article, as well as resid
ual themes that appear more rarely, including
religious considerations and conspiracy theo
ries.12 These excerpts are typical of how
Malawians use these threeaxes in interactions.
This methodology?like any other?has both
advantages and drawbacks. One advantage is
that the journals present ideas, concepts, and
beliefs in the very process of circulation, away
from the artificial structures of an interview
situation.
We learnnot onlywhat people may say
when asked, butwhat they say inordinary con
versation. The journals are free from interview
effects, including respondents' tendency to give
answers they believe the interviewerwants to
hear.
Furthermore,
because
there
are
no
set
response categories, thismethod opens up new

lines of inquiry. Indeed, the journalists record
ed many conversations containing ideas and
images thatwould never occur to an outside
interviewer. In these conversational interac
tions,we also see how individuals deploymean
ings in arguments and sexual negotiations?
their pragmatic functioning rather than their
status
as abstract
ideas.
On the other hand, one disadvantage is that

the data's accuracy depends on the journalists'
memories?what
they retained as significant
andwhat they thoughtmight be of interesttous.
We followWatkins and Swidler (2008) inargu
ing that remembered conversations may pro
vide better access to public culture thanwould
a complete rendering of what people actually
said to each other.There is also thepossibility
12
Religious
prohibitions on condom use, for exam

ple, usually appeared when diarists reported sermons
they had attended, not in everyday conversations.
175
that journalists fabricated incidents and con

versations. We are confident, though, that the
diaries are genuine, considering the variety of
voices and incidents and our ability to triangu
latewhen journalists lived in the same area and
wrote about similar people and events. In the
rare cases when diarists "cheated," they did so
clumsily, often copying AIDS pamphlets from
local health centers or religious tractsfrom their
churches.While we did not discourage lengthy
reports of village AIDS meetings or sermons
about fidelity and AIDS, we did not use the
diary of one journalist who tried passing off
pamphletmaterials as conversations overheard.
To supplement thediaries,we asked two local
interviewersto conduct 20 interviewswith men
=
=
(N
10) and women (N
10) between the ages
of 15 and 35. Interviewers selected a conven
ience sample fittingthe age and gender criteria
from people sitting in themarket, washing
clothes at theborehole, walking along the roads,
and doing the other tedious and time-consum
ing chores that structure daily life in rural
Malawi. Approximately 80 percent of those
invited to participate agreed to an interview.
The interviewswere semistructured; the inter
viewer recorded and then translated and tran
scribed them.The interviewersasked bothmen
and women whether theyuse condoms, and if
not, why; whether their friends use condoms
(and why or why not); and theirgeneral views
on condom use. They also asked for examples
of specific situations inwhich the respondents
or theirfriendshad accepted or rejected condom
use. Male interviewers spoke tomen; a woman
interviewed
women.
Interviews
were
conduct
ed in the southern district of Balaka, a mostly

rural area, triangulatedby the towns of Liwonde
and Balaka and theUlongwe trading center,
where many of the conversations recorded in the
journals took place. To get stories and opinions
of both villagers and townspeople, interviewers
conducted half of the interviews in the towns of
Liwonde and Balaka and in theUlongwe trad
ing center; they conducted the other 10 inter
views in villages.
The interviews were
conducted in chiYao or chiChewa, the twomost
commonly spoken languages in the district.
Finally, we use data from the 1998, 2001,
and 2004 MDICP
survey waves to assess the
degree of condom acceptance inmarriage and
to trace changes in condom acceptability over
time. The journals come from the same dis

176
trictsandmany of the same villages covered by

the survey. They thus represent roughly the
same population. The journals provide impor
tant insights into the persistent resistance to
condoms thatwas revealed in the survey data.
he use
in a
Sweets
The Axis of Sensuality
"One Does
Not
Wrapper":
Eat
use
conversa
too. These
this metaphor
tions vary from the occasional remark that sex

is "very sweet," to elaborate descriptions of
how men and women feel sweetness while hav
ing intercourse.As the following excerpt shows,
the sensation of sweetness is important in some
people's decisions not to use condoms:
that I
said, "I have said already, I believe,
I don't even think of using the condom
Dili
can't and
I am having
when
sex because
see
I don't
the
importance [the point] of using [a condom]

when
because
real
with
having sex Imean to feel sweet. Her

sex
not that I should be having
sweetness,
a condom.
turbation
a woman
It's better
to continue
with mas
than acting like you are having sex with

while you are sexing yourself and the rub
ber!" (Simon 6/13/2002)
This language of sweetness is closely tied to

as well
men's,
as some women's,
unwillingness
touse a condom. Many diaries record people in

both local languages saying, "It is the same as
sweets
eating
Whyte
one
in the wrappers"
(see
also
Preston
1999). In otherwords, theybelieve that
cannot
experience
a condom.
using
Condom
the sweetness
sexual
metaphor.
One
when
pleasure
inMalawi
manufacturers
new,
a condom:
he was
going to the lady after having made

in the tip of the condom when the lady was
sex [as usual, with a
absent. They were having
the
while
condom] usually
lady took it for grant
Then
Sensuality is the first semiotic axis that struc

tures themeanings of condom use. The most
common metaphor for the sexual act inMalawi,
as well as in other parts of south and southeast
Africa, is thatof "sweetness" (forSouthAfrica,
seeHunter [2002]; forKenya, see Dilger [2003],
Thomsen et al. [2003], and Varga [1997a]; for
see Emanatian
Tanzania,
[1995]; and for
Zambia, see Bond and Dover [1997]). This
metaphor refers to semen and the contactwith
sexual fluids during sex, as well as thepleasure
of the sexual actmore generally. It ismostly men
that talk about the sweetness of sex, but some
women
sex to increase the condom's appeal. This lan

guage sometimes becomes a resource for the
negotiation of condom use. One journalist
reported overhearing a storyof aman using the
name "Manyuchi" to tricka woman intohaving
"sweet" sex, even though she had demanded
also
popular
use
a hole
ed that this is safe sex. So one of the days the lady

got surprised. Then she asked theman, "I feel like
you are releasing
sperms and I am feeling sweet."
Then theman said that "oh! Don't you know that
these
latest Manyuchi
are sweet,
condoms
that is
why theyare calledManyuchi." (Achea 7/01/2005)

The axis of sweetness describes not only sex
ual interactions,but also men and women who
are conceived as sexually competent and desir
able. This might seem deceptively similar to
theEnglish use of sweetness to refer to sexual
partnership.However, while inEnglish "sweet
heart" refers to a loved partner, the language of
sweetness inMalawi provides a criterion for
evaluating sex itself.For example, inone diary,
a wife finds out thather husband has another
partner, instigating a fight between thewife
and the lover inwhich the lovermocks thewife
using the language of sweetness:
are also a stupid woman. Your husband
is fed
are
no
sweet.
is
This
with
you,
you
up
why
longer
he has come and proposed me. I did not propose
to him but he was
the one who came alone pro
You
posing
tome
and I am sure that he can't
leave me,
he is satisfiedofme. (Simon 6/25/2003)
The metaphors of sexuality and sensuality in

Malawi seem similar to those used inAmerican
English to describe the trade-offbetween sen
sual pleasure and thebenefits of condoms. There
is an important structural difference between
Malawian andWestern semiotics of sensuality,
reluc
however, thathelps explain Malawians'
to use
tance
condoms.
For
rural Malawians,
sweetness refers not only to the sexual act in

general, but specifically to the release of
semen.13 Contact with semen and vaginal flu
ids is the essence of sexual pleasure itself. So
local
brand of condoms is actually calledManyuchi

name
and
connotes
This
sweetness,
(honey).
are chocolate-scented
and tinted,
the condoms
using local understandings of the sweetness of
13
In both chiChewa
and
ubenga,
sperm and semen.
(umuna
and chiYao,
respectively)

the same word

refers
to both
CONDOM SEMIOTICS
theuse of condoms does not just dull sexual sen
sation, it eliminates its essential element. A
local physiological understanding liesbehind the
Malawian understanding of sexual pleasure.
Different cultures use metaphors of both heat
and taste to describe sex, as Emanatian (1995)
shows in the case of the Chagga inTanzania.
Emanatian claims thatalthough there is cross
cultural similarity between theAfrican and
English metaphors for sexual pleasure, English
speakers tend to use metaphors of heat, force,
and friction,rather than taste.These metaphors
can be traced back to Renaissance England,
where Shakespeare's comedies played with the
idea of frictiongenerating "heat" tomake sex
ual unions fruitful (Greenblatt 1986). In the
African context, however, there seems to be a
differentethno-physiologyat play.Both men and
women view the release of semen as theheight
of sexual sweetness.The sweetness of the semen
as shown in the fol
is also related to fertility,14
lowing diary excerpt:
say
laughing at her husband,
people were
ing that his wife has revealed that he is a useless
man
in terms of sex. He does not produce
live
Some
sperm. He is not sweet. He is barren. He causes his

wife to suffer from chammimba
[abdominal
pain
by either a recent birth or a long time with
out bearing children] because
of his dead sperm.
caused
(Alice 10/29/2004)
Although thehusband can have sexwith his
wife, the act is flawed. Being barren, his semen
lacks the sweetness of fertility;the sexual act is
"not sweet." The idea of the sweetness of the
semen itself is also seen in the following inter
view excerpt, inwhich a 22-year-old married
man claims he wouldn't mind using condoms,

but he thinkshis partner feels the difference:
R: Aaah!
a con
dom
a part
Sleeping with a partner without

cannot be similar to having sex with
ner with
a condom.
It's different.
I:What is thedifference?
R: The differenceis thataaah! [slightlaugh] It's
differentforher to be satisfiedand believe that
indeed
I have
things
[sperms]
slept with a man,

have the stoppage
because
14Swidler andWatkins
(2007) note the ties of
unequal
"wealth
societies.
that make
interdependence
in people"
critically
and
fertility
in African
important
In theWest, where individuals focus on fric

tion and movement leading to orgasm, the dis
advantage of condoms is thattheyreduce sexual
sensation (Crosby et al. 2005). InMalawi, the
understanding of sweetness has very different
implications. If sexual pleasure depends on the
release of semen into thewoman, condom use
becomes much more problematic than in cul
tureswhere sensuality is tied to the frictionand
build-up leading to orgasm. While condoms
only diminish the sensuality of friction in the
Western context, theycompletely obliterate sen
suality in theMalawian context by preventing
both men and women from experiencing "the
sweet."
Cancer,
Danger,
As
Sores, and AIDS:

and the Condom
elsewhere,
Risk,
see condoms
Malawians
as a way
to protect against sexually transmitted infec

tions and avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Knowledge and fear ofAIDS is nearly univer
sal,with AIDS sometimes referredto inMalawi
as Mulili, a plague of biblical proportions.15
The calculation of risk seems clear, particular
ly because both government and nongovern
mental
organizations
promote
condoms
as
an
obvious way to avoid risk. In our journals, how

ever, and inAfrica more generally,many believe
that condoms pose a health risk. Stories of the
pernicious effectsof condoms are frequent top
ics of conversation and circulate among neigh
bors and kin.16
journals, Kaler (2004)
Using theMDICP
shows how, inMalawi, condoms are sometimes
thought to be part of aWestern or government
plot to reduce population numbers. She argues
that condoms
are
seen
as a malevolent
threat
coming from above and are resistedfrom below.

In a similar vein, Varga (1997b) and Preston
Whyte (1999) describe a "condom conundrum"
in South Africa: a weighing of the advantages
those
block.
177
15
and Health
In theMalawi
Survey
Demographic
ofMalawi
2004), 99.5 percent ofmen
(Government
and 98.6 percent of women
sampled knew of AIDS.
16
in other parts of Africa,
For related phenomena
see
Johnson-Hanks
Watkins
(1997);
(2002,
Watkins,
and
Rutenberg
Green
and
Rutenberg,
2006);
(1995); andWatkins, Rutenberg, andWilkinson

(1997).

178
of condom use against thevalue of fertility(see

also Smith [2004b] for Nigeria). Although
Malawians discuss these issues too, thejournals
suggest thatcondoms' possible health risks are
amore pressing concern. The following excerpt
shows theworry over condoms' health risks as
well as a grim assessment of the alternatives:
Robert
said "No,
it brings
cancer, both you and a
wife/womanbecause of theliquidoil found inside

theChisango (condom) so cancer is likeAIDS
has no medicine.
So
it's better
to be doing plain
I can't use. And
[having sex without a condom].

Sarah always tells me that Chisango
brings vagi
nal sores and she says when used most of the times
...
barren.
and one becomes
[it] brings diseases
is so clever, after seeing that
Yes, the government
thepopulation is so high thattheyhave introduced
with the aim of lessening the population,

it catches cancer dying and
for everyone using
those using plain [i.e., not using a condom]
dying
as well. No escape."
(Simon 2/28/2001)
condoms
In this excerpt, the "cleverness" of the govern

ment is seen as an attempt to kill off the popu
lation using condoms. There is also a valiant
attempt to balance risks and benefits, but with
the bleak conclusion that there is "no escape"
because condoms kill but "going plain" leads to
AIDS, which kills as well.
In the past few years, people have spoken
less about condoms as a population control
"plot," but they stilldo not see condoms as safe.
often use medical
Malawians
language to
describe the dangers and risks of condom use.
They discuss condoms leading to "sores" and
"cancer," as well as the possibility of a con
dom tearing and "sticking to thewomb," caus
or death.Malawians may disagree
ing infertility
about thegravity of thediseases caused by con
dom use, butmost take theperils of condom use
for granted:
He
said are
in the condoms
the oils which
the way
really destroys
geni
fertility and as the result he develops
tal sores and these genital sores ifnot treated early
one can die of them. A lot of people refused [reject
man's
ed]
this statement
and
said that the one who was
that to him was
[mis
completely
cheating
course he heard that
leading him]. He said that of
causes
the genital
the oils found in the condoms
saying
some disease
cause
to
especially
put them on. They cause some sores on
on the foreskin.
the penis's skin and some wounds
She continued by saying that she doesn't see about
The
condoms
men who
the importance of using the condoms because

they
cause other diseases
and it sometimes
happens
that one uses
sores as well
die of that.We
as vagina sores but not that one can

that oil
all agreed and concluded
found in the condoms

in the penis
really develops
of the man and vaginal
sores
genital
sores in the
partsofwomen/girls.(Simon 1/04/2003)
the condoms
and
she
is safe from
AIDS but she [is] foundsickfromanotherdisease

and goes
to the hospital
especially
the private ones,
where she is injectedusing theunsterilizedneedle

which theDoctor had used for injectingsomeone
who
had AIDS.
In so doing
she also
gets AIDS.
(Alice 10/25/2002)
This excerpt shows thatpublic health informa
tion disseminated about AIDS can itself dis
courage condom use. Learning thatunsterilized
needles and transfusions can transmitAIDS is
an educational success from the point of view
ofAIDS programs. However, when Malawians
with other stories they
combine this information
hear about condoms, such as condoms leading
to diseases and "sores," some come to believe
that condoms may indirectly increase their
chances of contracting AIDS.18 On the other
hand, sometimes suchweighing of risksmakes
people more willing to use condoms:
She also
said that the use of condoms
are very good

sex unnec
in doing
though they encourage people

essary and no matter they are causing problems
like
Mr Njalale
thesoresour father[respectedspeaker]
has
said.
It is better
to suffer from sores
than die
If you use the condom and have sores,

can
to explain and you can
go to the hospital
you
of AIDS.
17
The
"sores"
said that the oil found
he heard,
Malawians must weigh the risk of AIDS

against the perceived risks of condom use,
including the idea that condom use can cause
diseases that lead toAIDS:17
frequency with which Malawians

associated with condom use may
high prevalence
of lesions
from sexually
infections(STIs).When theMDICP
mention
indicate
transmitted
testedforSTIs
was
low. Gonorrhea
however, prevalence
women
was
and .3 percent
5.4
for
percent
prevalence
.5 percent for women and. 1
formen; chlamydia was
in 2004,
was
2.4 per
and trichomoniasis
percent for men;
=
cent forwomen
1,303 men and 1,497 women).
(N
18
about
raise another question
These
findings
whether scientific information allows agents tomas
are
ter problems
in their everyday world. Malawians
bombarded
with
scientific
information
about AIDS
but this welter of different explana

transmission,
and confuse their
tions and dangers might complicate
Hovorka
and
actions
2007).
(Houston
everyday

CONDOM SEMIOTICS
be helped by theDoctorswhile ifyou justhave sex
withoutanyprotectionlikecondomsand be infect
ed toAIDS, just know thatthehospital can help
you but you
cannot
get recovered
until you die.
(Alice 10/25/2002)
These conflicting assessments of condom
riskmean that the semiotic coding of condom
use is ambiguous. In theWest, a refusal to use
condoms invokes a distinction between those

who are rational and responsible and thosewho
are reckless and irresponsible. ForMalawians,
however, the semiotics of condom use with
respect torisk and danger aremuch less straight
forward.Even if individuals calculate that they

personally would be saferusing condoms, they
cannot assume that a rational person with rea
sonable regard for his own health would insist
on condom use. Despite the pervasive fear of

AIDS, the ambiguity surrounding condoms'
risks and benefits does not settle the semiotic
status
of condom
The Inversions
use.
of Trust
Although trustand love are not the same, we

analyze them together because they are inter
related. The data show an inverse relationship
between the semiotic logic of trustand thatof

love, such thatthe logic of love overturnsthedif
ferentiatedsemiotic categorization thattheprob
lem of trustrequires.
The question of trustderives from a practi
cal need to gauge the safety of potential part
ners (Chimbiri 2007; Donovan 2000). Almost
all the interviewees and thepeople recorded by
the journalists agreed thatcondoms are needed
when a sexual partner cannot be fully trusted.
one might
use
a condom
when
partner has additional sexual partners or leads

a "promiscuous" lifestyle:
/:With
R:
I use
do you use these condoms?

...
it to sexual partners.
whom
partners?
I don't know exactly how she moves.
with a 23-year-old married man)
Although somemen say theywould never use

a condom,
our data,
as well
as previous
studies
(e.g., Varga 2000), show thatmany men and

women consider it reasonable to use condoms
with untrustworthypartners. Indeed,many stud
ies show thatmen are increasinglywilling touse
condoms
with
"non-regular
partners,"
such
as
bar-girls and prostitutes (Preston-Whyte 1999).

Women also believe that condoms may be
appropriate with men who are "movious" (i.e.,
men who sleep with many women).
The problem confrontingMalawians, how

ever, is how to define the other side of this
semiotic opposition. Outside of the suspect cat
egories, who is trustworthy?One possibility is
to rely on a partner's social characteristics to
determine if theperson is "safe." For example,
if the partner is a member of one's religious
congregation and does not leave the village, or
enced,
and love (Chimbiri 2007). Indeed, the role of the

condom as a signifier of trustand intimacy is
probably the central influence on decisions
about whether and when to use a condom.
example,
(Interview
sexual
is young and presumably sexually inexperi
and Love
A complete mapping of the structure of

Malawian intimate relationships is beyond the
scope of thisarticle (see Poulin 2006); nonethe
less, condom use plays amajor semiotic role in
signifyingwhether a relationship is one of trust
For
/: To which
R: To whom
179
one might
see condoms
as unnecessary.
Indeed, the journals record many discussions

about safe sex that revolve around a folk soci
ology of who is a "safe partner."Many men
consider young schoolgirls to be "ideal" safe

partners due to their limited sexual experience.
The safety of this social category, however, is

open to debate:
Imet a man
in a minibus,
and when we
there was a
High School
passing Mwemba
group of girls on the roadway at this school. The
man said tome, "You see those school girls, they
are on the road to be entertaining men with sex,
One
day
were
most of thepeople have sexwith school girlsplain

(withoutusing condoms) because theythinkthat
they are young and safe. In doing that these school
cause of the rapid spread of
girls can be a major
sex."
because
AIDS,
they are used to unprotected
He concluded by saying that it is betterto avoid

theminorder tobe safe. (Diston 9/08/1999)
The categorization of groups according to
this folk epidemiology is open to debate, with
people using slightly different categories and
contesting the common wisdom with theirown
analyses. Many journals reportconversations in
which schoolgirls are viewed as unsafe, and
men voice a series of grievances, tingedperhaps
with erotic fantasy, about schoolgirls' suppos
edly loose morals and sexual dangers.

180
It is the association of condoms with unsafe

partners, however, thatoperates semiotically to
discourage condom use. The request to use a
condom implies either thatone does not trust
one's
or that the
requesting
partner,
not be trusted (Sobo 1995):

Women
sexual
cover
partner
can
live in the villages don't like having

a condom and if they dis
that you have put on they push you back
who
intercourse with
and they tell to leave

sexual
doing
intercourse with them because
they say that you
wards
suspectthemselvesofhavingmaybeHIV/AIDS or
transmitted disease
any other sexually
that's why
you have put on a condom. (Chunga 4/04/2003)

Proposing touse a condom with a spouse or
steady partner signals through action that one
of thepartners isunsafe. This does notmean that
condom use necessarily signalsmistrust, but if
a partner
wants
to use
one,
issues
of trust must
be brought to the surface, rather than remain

ing comfortably unspoken. In the following
interview excerpt, a single young man explains
thathe always uses condoms.When asked what
his partners thinkabout this,he said:
I do
and
tell them openly of using condoms
some partners tend to wonder
and ask, "The way
I am you say that you want to use a condom? What
R:
have you
suspected
inmy body or what have you

answer
is just to say,
yourself?" My
to how dangerous
theworld is nowadays,
suspected
according
there is need
to protect your life and mine too and

if the girl or partner is understanding
she under
I
stands and three quarters of the partners whom
with don't
have been
get surprised
sleeping
because
they know
that the world
is dangerous.
So far, the implications of condom use seem

straightforward: to use a condom is to place
yourself or your partner in theunsafe category.
However, questions of trustand risk do not cap
ture the complexity Malawians
many
Malawians
are
reluctant
face. Indeed,
to use
a condom
with a loved partner or spouse even if they sus

pect the partner is HIV positive, a suspicion
thatsurelyrelegates thepartner to theunsafe cat
egory. Why, even when risk is great, do
Malawians find the semiotics of intimateattach
ment in conflictwith attempts to protect them
selves against AIDS?
In surveys of attitudes, opposition to using
condoms inmarriage is stillhigh, but it isdeclin
survey respon
ing fairlydramatically.MDICP
dents were asked about condom use with a
in
spouse, first to protect against HIV/AIDS
general, and thenmore specifically, if they sus

pect or know that theirpartner has HIV/AIDS.
Figure 1 summarizes the resultsfor the threesur
vey waves of 1998,2001, and 2004. The graph
shows a striking change in attitudes. While
majorities of men and women still consider
condom use with a spouse unacceptable, from
1998 to 2004 the proportion of women who
consider itunacceptable fell steadily (from 85
percent in 1998 to 58 percent in2004). Similar
changes also occurred among men, although
they have been more modest. In 2004, the
MDICP
added a new cohort of young men and
women ages 15 to 24. This new cohort shows a
higher acceptance of condom use (42.8 percent
forwomen and 29.3 percent formen) than do
the original panel study participants. It is thus
unlikely thatthechange inattitudes resultsfrom
an aging effect;rather,it is a notable educational
success (Kalipeni 1999).
Even more striking is the absence of changes
in behavior. Another survey (Government of

Malawi
1992, 2000, 2004) asked Malawian
women whether theyuse a condom with their
spouse.
These
numbers
are miniscule,
with
1.6
percent of women using condoms with their

spouse in 1992 and 2000, and 1.8 percent in
2004 (a statistically insignificant change). This
patternof responses is interestingbecause in the
2004 and 2006 MDICP
surveywaves, 12.5 and
12.2 percent of married women, respectively,
reported having a medium to strong suspicion
that their spouse is currentlyHIV positive.19
Understanding the semiotic significance of
condom use indefining a relationship provides
a key to thediscrepancies between changing atti
tudes about condom use within marriage, the
stable rates of spouses' reported suspicions, and
the tinyproportion of people who are actually
willing to use condoms. This is not a matter of
changing one's assessment of a partner'srisk, but
19
The 2006 MDICP
to use a number
of beans
survey asked married women

(from 1 to 10) to assess the
of different assertions
accuracy
viewers. Of themarried women,
five or more
"your spouse
2004 MDICP
answered
presented by inter
12.2 percent placed
to the assertion
that
in response
is infected with HIV/AIDS
beans
now."
In the
survey, 12.5 percent of married women

"In
or "High"
to the question:
"Medium"
your opinion, what
is the likelihood
(chance)
with HIV/AID S now?"

husband is infected

that your
CONDOM SEMIOTICS
181
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Figure 1. Percent ofMalawian Respondents Who Say They Think it isUnacceptable or

Acceptable toUse a Condom with a Spouse to Protect against HIV/AIDS
Source:
Note:
MDICP
Panel
N = 947 women
1998,
Surveys
and 568 men.
2001,
Figure
and
2004.
excludes
of employing the condom as a semiotic vehicle

forestablishing or affirming the status of a rela
tionship. This logic applies tomarriages, the
chibwenzi relationship of boyfriend and girl
friend (Poulin 2006), or indeed any relation
ship thatthepartnerswish to signal as loving or
intimate.
Condom use thusoperates as a semiotic code,

constituting the meaning of a relationship.
Suggesting the use of a condom relegates a
relationship to an inferior status. The use of
condoms to signal thata relationship isnot seri
ous emerges in the following diary excerpt in
which a journalist reports a local scandal. A
woman discovered thather husband had a sex
ual relationship with a young relative (the
"grand daughter") and, enraged, confronted her
husband:
His wife became veryfuriousand she toldhim that
she was
"Don't
Know"
of accepting [acknowledging]thatitwas truethat
he was
sleeping with the girl, but he was not hav

sex
with
her plain without the condom. He was
ing
always using the condom with the girl, therefore
his wife
never had
The husband's attempt to appease his wife

employs the symbolic meaning of condom use
to say thattheaffair"didn'tmean anything."The
use of a condom says thatthisrelationship isnot
intimate and does not threaten the privileged
relationship with thewife. In fact,many rela
tionshipsdescribed in the interviewsgo through
phases: thepartners use condoms at first,only
to stop later (without taking an HIV test)when
the relationship becomes more serious and
involves love. The follpwing diary entry shows
thispattern:
Isaac was
doms.
very serious because
condoms
reached
the point
not get furious about

that. He
sex with her without the use of the con
should
dom. (Alice 4/07/2004)
going back to her home to stay with her

parents. He should stay with his grand daughter and
sex with her. The case became
continue having
Mr. Rashid
responses.
not short of words
as he further elabo
ratedthatpeople have [a] poormindset about con

He
said
but
if you are in love you at first use

later you change to show your love.

182
This latterleads to spreadofHIV/AIDS sinceyou

know not if one of you isHIV
positive
or negative.
(Chihana 9/13/2005)
Malawians
consider this shift?from con
dom use in the beginning of a relationship to
"plain" sex when the relationship has solidi
fied?not only in symbolic termsbut also as a
As with the sweetness of sex,
sensual reality.20
a set of bodily metaphors
govern how
Malawians show emotion and interpretphysi
cal experiences. Reporting a conversation in
which he asked a friend about love, a journal
ist recorded that "love is blood." Several jour

nalists and interviewees used themetaphor of
"flesh toflesh," inwhich fullphysical contact,
with co-mingling bodily fluids, embodies the
statusof a relationship.Using a condom not only
connotes distrust or lack of love, but it actual
lyfeels like a loveless interaction(Holland et al.
1991; Ingham,Woodcock, and Stenner 1991).
When asked ifhe would use a condom with his
one man
wife,
said:
aim is to have your bloods mix, showing each

other that you love each other indeed. So if there
The
is no mixture
you two, then even

really that you don't love
her. The way I see it,my partner can divorce me
(Diston
right away, the day I say I am using.
of blood
comes
the wife
between
to know
initial sexual relationship to a love relationship

the logic of trust is inverted. In a love relation
ship, trust is not based on a partner's social or
personal characteristics; rather,you express and

enact love of a partner by trusting?for which
discontinuing condom use is the semiotic
code.21
These navigations of the semiotics of trust

and lovehighlightthe intricate
ways inwhich con
dom use signalsmeanings about self,other, and
thenature of a relationship. In the initialassess
ment of trust,theother is categorized on a dimen
sion of safeness and risk, and the enacted self is
the calculating and knowing agent. However,
when a relationship becomes a love relation, the
self is simultaneously transformed:any attempt
to calculate and categorize the othermust be
suspended; thecalculating self isno longercoded
as rational and safe,but as heartless and nonlov
ing. To
to use
a condom
on
an
assessment
of a
potential partner's attributes. In contrast, in the

semiotic logic of love, being in a love relation
ship precludes using a condom even if one
knows or strongly suspects thata partner poses
a high risk of HIV In the progression from an
20
The
sexual
between
connection
relationship
and condom
love in a
perceived
use is seen in the
United States as well. Sobo (1995) shows how dis
women
in Cleveland
advantaged African American
to signal that a relationship
is
avoid using condoms
use, on the other hand, signifies
serious; condom
In Africa,
it is likely that condom pro
promiscuity.
motion
and
association
education
between
has
condom
generated
use and
some
of the
lack of trust.
often differentiate between "reg

Promotion messages
the
ular" and "nonregular"
partners and emphasize
for protecting
role of condoms
against dangerous,
high risk,and unhealthypartners(Chimbiri2007).
relationship,
one must
over
So far,we have focused on each semiotic dimen

sion separately. Yet in action, these axes are
21
rests
NAVIGATING THE SEMIOTIC SPACE

OF CONDOM USE
6/13/2002)
With respect to condom use, the semiotic
logic of love operates as an inversion of the
logic of trust. In the logic of trust,thedecision
sustain
come the caution dictating condom use.
This
leads
to an alternative
interpretation
of
Luke's (2005) finding that themonetary value of

gifts to their female sex partners is neg
correlated
with condom use. Luke's findings
atively
hold for both commercial
prostitution and noncom
Kenyan
mercial
a man
men's
sexual
to give
relationships, where
gifts to the woman.
it is common
Luke
for
that
posits
always prefer not to use condoms, while women
to have
try to lower their risks, so men pay more
women not use condoms. Luke hypothesizes
that the
men
a woman
she will be to
is, the more willing
accept this bargain (see also Poulin 2006). The semi
otics of love and trust, however, suggest a different
use implies a less intimate
Condom
explanation.
poorer
one not based on love. But love rela

relationship,
are
also
those inwhich men are likely to give
tionships
more money
and gifts to their partners. In commer
cial sexual encounters, women may negotiate HIV
risks and men may pay more money to "go plain." But
and noncom
the homology
between
commercial
of
mercial
condom use is deceptive.
Relationships
love and trust demand an intimacy incompatible with
use. A man
in a more
intimate relationship
to give the woman
gifts com
love for her and they enact the
use.
intimacy of the relationship by forgoing condom
condom
a responsibility
mensurate
with his
has

CONDOM SEMIOTICS
intertwined as people navigate the different
dimensions. The simplest navigation among
these dimensions is additive, with thedifferent
semiotic axes reinforcingeach other.For exam
ple, the following diary excerpt shows how
sweetness, calculations of risk, and issues of
trustall play a part in the decision not to use a
condom:
I had neverused and thosewhom I had sleptwith

I had never used
them because
Iwant
to feel sweet
sex so using a condom

I can't feel
sweet....
And I also heard, Jauleni saying, I was
causes can
told that the oil found in the condoms
I need
when
cer disease so using the condom and get cancer and

die or not using the condoms
and get AIDS
and
eventually die, it's the same and some condoms are
porous
formany
think you are protected
by wear
ingthemyet itgets leaked [so]you benefitednoth
ing. It's better to use plain
than getting
cancer;
or
ifyou feel thatthegirlhas AIDS itsbetternot to

propose her. (Diston 8/01/2000)
The different axes are not only additive.
Rather, people can switch semiotic possibilities
within one interaction.This switching is often
strategic; for example, when one partnerwants
to persuade
to use,
the other
or not use,
a con
dom. Even then, the semiotic possibilities pro

vide thematerials out ofwhich people construct
an interactionand itsmeanings.
An extended vignettefrom a diarywritten by
Simon on July 8th and 10th, 2001, illustrates
how differentsemiotic axes are intertwined:the
diary tells the story of thebeginning of a rela
tionship between the diarist's friend, Richard,
and a new sexual partner,Grace. After buying
fish forGrace, with money borrowed from the
diarist, Richard brags that she agreed tomeet
him the following day. Richard boasts thathe
never uses a condom, but particularly in this
case, itwould be out of the question. "I can't
even take condoms," he said, "then itwill mean
Iwasn't serious forher. For Iwant her tobe my
real girlfriend." Even before the relationship
begins, Richard is anticipating the relational
use
meaning
of condom
a nice
girl, not one who
for Grace.
Two days later, the diarist asked Richard

about hismeeting with Grace. Boasting, Richard
said, "that Grace kept the appointment and
indeed he had sexwith Grace and said Grace is
is so dry, she was
total
lywilling tohave sex."Not having a place of his

own, and with Grace being inhigh school, they
decided to go to the school, having sex in a
classroom "without even laying a cloth."Before
183
theybegan, Richard said, "Grace, I am going to

have sex with you with a condom." Grace
refused to use a condom, saying "that she can't
feel anything, and if it is so itcould have been
better if she could not come and meet with
him."
Grace invoked sensuality topressure Richard

not to use a condom. Not giving up quite yet,
Richard told her he proposed using a condom
forher sake, so that shewould not get pregnant
and have todrop out of school. Shifting to a dif
ferent discourse,
that of the modern self
(Johnson-Hanks 2002, 2006), Grace told him
that "she had just finished hermonthly period
yesterday, so how can she become pregnant?"
She also said that"she knows biology and said
that she is sure she can't be impregnated.And
she said it'sbetter if I didn't use a condom." In
theface of such opposition, Richard changed his
tone. "I was just cheating you," he said, "I can't
have sex with you using a condom, you are so
beautiful and I need to feel real sweetness, you
can't eat a sweetwhile it'swrapped in itsplas
ticpaper, you can't feel sweet." Bantering after
intercourse, and perhaps trying to scare him a
little,Grace "stood up and said 'You have made

me pregnant.' And I said 'How? You said you
'
can't?! and she said T was cheating you, I just
wanted you to impregnateme and marry me.'
And I said, 'Iwill, since you are beautiful.'"
This seemingly frivolous exchange did not
preclude broaching the subject of AIDS. Yet
Richard and Grace strategicallyused therisk of
AIDS as part of theirflirtatiousbanter.Richard
said, "I even told the girl [Grace], saying that
'Look, if it isAIDS, even the radio says one can
only get it throughwhat we have done and the
result is dying. So ifyou have AIDS you have

given it tome and if I have it I have also given
it to you. So it'sbetter thatour love should not
end.' And we promised that if everything goes
well we aremeeting today as well."
Richard admitted that"indeed, friend,ifGrace
has AIDS, she has given ittome, I couldn't resist
her attractions."As a good friend,thediarist then
offeredRichard reassurance in the form of his
own folk sociology, saying, "She doesn't have
[AIDS], she is so young for that." Richard
agreed
because
of her
age
and
"moreover,
her
body is fat and healthy. Had it been she had

AIDS I would have noticed thather body had
become thin,but she is fat. So we aremeeting
any day,
even
tomorrow...

for I feel married."
184
This vignette exemplifies theways inwhich

the semiotic space of condom use both con
strains and enables moments of humor and
romance. The symbolism of sexual sweetness,
AIDS, and, above all, condom use semi
fertility,
otically define the anticipation, the actual

encounter, and the retrospective understanding
of the new relationship. Even before the first
encounter, Richard offered his unwillingness
to use a condom as a sign both of his mas
culinity and his desire to have Grace as a "real
girlfriend."Within the interaction (or at least in
describing itafter the fact), shiftingamong the

different semiotic axes of condom use allowed
the couple to playfully heighten the serious
ness of the relationship. By invoking therisk of
AIDS, Richard enhanced the intimacy signaled

by not using a condom, cementing his connec
tion toGrace, with whom he "feelfs]married."
As Richard described it, the semiotics of con
dom use constituted themeanings and mean
ingfulness of the encounter.
DISCUSSION
Three different axes of meaning frame rural
Malawians' willingness or reluctance to use
condoms. First, local understandings of sensu
al pleasure as dependent on the "sweetness" of
bodily fluids shape sexual experience differ
ently than do Western sexual metaphors. For
use
condom
Malawians,
is a more
radical
obsta
cle to sensual pleasure than it is in cultures

where sexualmetaphors focus primarily on fric
tion and heat (Emanatian 1995). Second, taken
for-granted knowledge of the dangers of
condom
use
(e.g.,
sores or cancer)
confounds
the
contrast between rational self-protection and

irrational self-indulgence. Malawians must
weigh the risks of contractingAIDS against the
risks associated with condom use. Finally, ques
tions of trustinvoke two intertwinedand poten
tially opposed meanings. On the one hand,
people may seek partnersbelieved tobe safe and
either
avoid
or use
condoms
with
those
con
sidered unsafe (Watkins 2004). However, if a

relationship becomes defined as love, the con
nection
between
ed, as condom
condom
use
use
signifies
and
trust is invert
the absence
of love,
trust,and intimacy.The practical semiotics of

the transitionfrom a casual relationship to a love
relationshipmake theassessment ofrisk and the
use of condoms inappropriate, a sign of a love

less relationship.
These three semiotic axes compose the pri
in which rural
mary space of meaning
Malawians, andmany otherAfricans, navigate
condom use, therisk ofAIDS, and themeanings
of the social-sexual world inwhich they live.
Within this semiotic space, ruralMalawians are
farfrom passive agents, locked ina staticworld
of "traditional" meanings. Rather, these semi
otic
axes
serve
as pragmatic
of knowl
tools
edge and deliberation "ready to hand" that

Malawians use toperform the social navigation
of everyday life.Sweetness, risk, trust,and love
are all modes of signification that shape sub
jects' decisions and interactions.To understand
variations inMalawians' willingness touse con
doms, one must first understand how these
social semiotics frame everyday decisions.
Current understandings of condoms are not
natural or immutable. Over the course of the
AIDS epidemic, different
meanings have gained
prominence indifferentplaces and times. Issues
such as masculinity, religious prohibitions, and
distrustof governmentwere central to theunder
standing of condoms in the late 1990s but are
less important today. Our interviews suggest
that for some younger Malawians, using con
doms even with regular partners is becoming
acceptable, perhaps as a marker of rational
modernity (Johnson-Hanks 2002). A new semi
otic strategy seems to be emerging inwhich
using a condom every timewith every partner
avoids the association of condoms with partic
ular sortsof partners or relationships. The semi
otic mapping we offerhere is synchronie, but
semiotic
are
structures
The
ever-changing.
idea
of "structure" should be understood more as a

point of reference for establishing meaning
within a dynamic and diachronic process, rather
thanas a fixedframework ofmeaning (Bourdieu
1977; Garfinkel 2002; Sewell 1999).
Mapping these semiotic axes has implica
tions forbothAIDS studies inAfrica and poli
cy deliberations. More general sociological
implications also emerge from our findings.
While there is a growing sophistication in talk
of discourses and practices?rather than simply
and
"culture,"
"beliefs,"
resistance
to condom
con
"norms"?when
frontedwith a phenomenon like the continuing

use
inAfrica,
culture
ana
lysts tend either to assume thatAfricans hold a

set of "irrational"
beliefs

that, once
corrected,
CONDOM SEMIOTICS
will produce differentbehavior or, in an all too
similar inversion, to explain thisresistance sim
plistically as part of local "culture."We argue
that semiotic framings define themeanings of
particular actions (Swidler 2001). By paying
attentionto these differentsemiotic axes,we can
seewhy people do not necessarily act differently
in lightof new information,and why changes,
when theydo come,may takeunexpected direc
tions.
Our approach to the study of culture has

implications beyond the case of condom use in
Malawi. Since the "cultural turn,"sociologists
have
to view
tended
culture
as a broad,
overar
ching sphere of semiotically coded meanings

(Alexander 1988; Alexander and Smith 1993;
Geertz 1973). Cultural sociologists have paid lit
tle attention to specific interactional contexts
(with some notable exceptions, e.g., Eliasoph
and Lichterman 2003; Emirbayer and Goodwin
1994). On the other hand, studies that explore
interactional contexts most thoroughly often
treat the very
notion
of "culture"
as an analyt
ic category with deep suspicion (Garfinkel

2002). Our approach attempts to bridge this
gap, viewing interaction as a key arena where
semiotically charged objects and actions have
powerful effects. Expanding upon Caplow
(1984), we show that culture constrains and
shapes action not simply because all actors,
institutions, and actions instantiate cultural
codes. Rather, within siruational contexts, indi
viduals find actions tobe semiotically charged
a priori; these a priorimeanings shape all future
actions.
Viewed semiotically, most cultural expres

sions and actions are pragmatic, not because
they are directed toward material ends, but
because they enact definitions of self, others,

and relationships.We join scholars like Jennifer
Johnson-Hanks, Steve Dern?, and Elise Sobo in
emphasizing how semiotic codes constrainpeo
ple bymaking certain practices markers of val
ued identities.At the risk of contractingAIDS,
a man
may
masculinity,
to assert
reject condoms
or to communicate
and
a claim
enact
to
bod
ily thata relationship is serious. Semiotic codes

are powerful because they shape theways we
read thebehavior of others (and, reciprocally,the
ways we know otherswill read our own behav
ior).A woman who knows that condoms are
appropriate for bar-girls and sex workers may
refuse condoms, even if she fears AIDS and
185
wishes toprotect her health. She enacts unsafe

sex to signal that she is not associated with an
unsafe social category or to assert theprimacy
of her claim on her partner.
Semiotic constraint operates most powerful
lyat the level of relationships. Even when peo
ple believe that condom use is appropriate, or
even a matter of life and death, the statement it
makes about the relationshipfrequently trumps
all othermeanings. As long as condoms signal
mistrust, fear,and a relationship that isnot seri
ous and will not lead tomarriage, thenusing a
condom will threatenor destroy a relationship.
Data onmarried women's attitudes suggest that
even as women find itmore acceptable, in the
abstract, formarried people to use condoms if
they suspect their spouses might be HIV posi
tive,almost none arewilling tomake that state
ment in theirown relationships,despite thevery
real dangers they face.
In exploring the semiotics of the condom,
we have suggested a three-dimensional space of
action. Social navigation within this space is
complex: the number of placement options is
almost infiniteand social agents can creative
ly shiftamong semiotic axes. Yet positions on
each semiotic axis are relatively independent of
those on other axes. In otherwords, although one
canmove from seeing condoms' health risks as
paramount to seeing them as almost nonexist
ent,movement on the axis of risk does not nec
essarily implya change inunderstandings of the
"sweetness"
of "plain"
sex,
nor
the meanings
thatmight be signaled by using a condom with

a loved one. Each semiotic axis has itsown dis
tinctive logic that interactswith, but does not
automatically transform,the other dimensions.
A close connection also exists between these
semiotic aspects and thepragmatics of interac
tion, as individuals use semiotic tools in delib
eration and action (Dern? 1994). In theprocess
of social navigation, the use of a tool changes
the tool itself (Laclau andMouffe 1985; Sewell
1996; Swidler 2001). As with theman who
used a play on words to trickhis partner into
believing thatthe"sweetness" she feltduring sex
was from the "sweetness" of theManyuchi con
dom,metaphors andmeanings can be stretched
to fitpragmatic interests.Each semiotic axis we
chart refersnot only to condom use, but also to
other realms of social life.One way inwhich
agents
have
power
to use
and
change
the semi
otics of condom use isby transposingmetaphors

186
from one social realm to another (Sewell 1992),

creating moments of humor and possibilities
for change.
Our focus on how culture is brought to bear

in specific interactional contexts highlights the
importance of methods. The journals capture
conversations and actions ina variety of settings.
While interviewswith individuals, or even the
analysis of public texts such as newspaper arti
cles or sermons, might capture some of the
ideaswe find,thesewould be cast as general cul
tural "beliefs" or individual "opinions," to be
changed by assiduous education efforts.The
conversational journals, on theotherhand, cap
turehow individuals deploy meanings in inter
actions (Watkins and Swidler 2008). In this
regard, the journals' strengths are similar to
those of ethnography, which captures many

moments of semiotically coded interaction(e.g.,
the gift exchanges Bourdieu [1977] analyzes). -.
Ethnography, however, is less likely to capture
the intimateexchanges and settingswhere some
of themeanings are deployed. The conversa
tional journals are currentlya unique resource,
but such methods have the potential tomake
more specific linksbetween culture and action
thanmost currentmethods of cultural analysis
allow.
Although sociologists usually do not make

policy recommendations, our semiotic approach
suggests some new directions. Public health
interventions in general should consider both
accurate health informationand semiotic fram
ing. InMalawi, promoting condoms to prevent
HIV and associating condoms with untrust
worthy partnersmay backfire.Alternative strate

gies might frame condom use as a way to show
love to a trustedpartner; education campaigns
might tackle local concerns about the dangers
of condom use; and, as local entrepreneurs did
with theManyuchi condom, publicity might

locate condom use squarely within the domain
of "the sweet." Rethinking condom promotion
would allowMalawians toposition condom use
in interactionallypermissible ways?where the
decision to use a condom could denote care
Ann Swidler isProfessor of Sociology at Berkeley

and
author
of, among
Talk
other works,
of Love:
How CultureMatters (Chicago 2001).
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Condom Semiotics: Meaning and Condom Use in Rural Malawi

Author(s): Iddo Tavory and Ann Swidler

This content downloaded from 169.226.11.193 on Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:09 PM

Use inRural Malawi

University ofCalifornia-Los Angeles

of risk and danger.

communities around the globe

encouraging (Hearst and Chen 2004; Shelton

first author was

(R01HD/MH41713, P.I.:Watkins, andR01

and the second

author by the Canadian Institute forAdvanced

lectual support and practical help at every stage of

Sullivan, and Steven Tipton provided valuable

thank the interviewers McDaphton

trumps all other

introduction of condoms has success

of life and death,

at the level of relationships.

a risky, less serious,

on data from more

about 80 to 90 percent effective in preventing

andwidely available (Kalipeni andMbugua 2005),

This content downloaded from 169.226.11.193 on Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:09 PM

AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW

gy of culture,as well as thebroader issue of con

interested in culture have

ingsof condom use from a semiotic perspective,

how they constrain behavior. Using data from

three semiotic axes that create possible mean

A semiotic perspective provides an explana

universal in sub-Saharan Africa and attitudes

cultural beliefs thatrefuse to acknowledge the

We define "semiotic axis" as a dimension

space, semiotic codes

This content downloaded from 169.226.11.193 on Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:09 PM

otic space allows fordiscontinuities?discordant

The three-dimensional semiotic space we

SETTING AND METHOD

kilometers with a population of about 13mil

from the surveys are available

interviewers by posting notices

This content downloaded from 169.226.11.193 on Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:09 PM

AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW

keep Journalsof conversations aboutAIDS that

word as possible, and towrite. Nor did the

it did not provide

seeWatkins and Swidler (2008).Watkins recruited

the journal methodol

5 (equivalent to 5th grade in theUnited States).

and has become

These Journals, collected between 1999 and

We coded thediaries using NVivo7, which is

account(Milner2004;Newman 1999). Such accounts

is a step further than what many

This content downloaded from 169.226.11.193 on Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:09 PM

process, looking for recurring themes in the

response categories, thismethod opens up new

On the other hand, one disadvantage is that

prohibitions on condom use, for exam

that journalists fabricated incidents and con

ed in the southern district of Balaka, a mostly

This content downloaded from 169.226.11.193 on Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:57:09 PM