Race, Gender and Global Love: Non-Ghanaian Wives, Insiders or Outsiders in Ghana?

Abstract

Research on inter-racial/inter-ethnic relationships focuses heavily on relationships I the global north with limited references to those in the global south except for relationships that develop in the context of transactional, especially tourist-oriented sex. Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, this article seeks to redress that imbalance. Based on nineteen conversations with non-Ghanaian women married to Ghanaian men and living in Ghana, the article highlights the importance of context specificity in our analyses of the ways in which individuals live their lives as raced and gendered beings. In Ghana, we argue, race is not constructed primarily on the basis of phenotypical difference but, more importantly, on national origin and cultural difference. As such, perceptions of black and white wives do not differ in many ways. However, we also find that the fact of whiteness allows white women far more room to maneuver gender roles in terms of the ways in which they choose to enact their roles as wives.