Paper short abstract:

new shape of social and economic cohesion emerging in Africa now must be understood within the context of the consumer culture and trends moderated by technology based on commodities rather than physical ventures.

Paper long abstract:

The youth sexual relationships in urban Africa are being socially constructed as an appropriate expression of intimacy, but also as a statement about a particular kind of modern identity. Kenya burgeoning commercial and the public sector have been embraced by global changes and today have reached the highest point of capitalism and has became a preserve or marketplace of sexual information, enticing eager audiences with expert radio programs, newspaper gossip columns, foreign romance novels.

Western pornographic films and bikini-clad cover girls staring the soap operas on television and smuggled DVDs tend to expand the sexual marketplace which in turn serves to further codify the category of youth, as development agents and commercial advertisement seek to appeal and to shape its young audience. I argue that the new shape of social and economic cohesion emerging in Africa now must be understood within the context of the consumer culture and trends moderated by technology based on commodities rather than physical ventures.

By reviewing literature from multiple works, this paper intends to delve into what it means to be male and female in modern Kenyan contexts; assess different ways in which sexualities have been constructed, performed, and resisted by the youth.