Cameroon: The Honeymoon Is Over for Cross-dressing Comedians

It's been all love and laughs for cross-dressing comedians until recently. And a progressive surge in online attacks, directed not at their ability to draw laughs but at their alleged homosexuality. Or rather interestingly, the collusion between their art and a homosexual agenda. Which agenda, few can say for sure. The sad thing about these attacks is they are initiated and sustained by a potent crowd of influential people. And your average Jack. And Jill. Blaming these attacks on entrenched homophobia would be the easy way to go but this would be a mistake as this situation is not that linear. This situation is a hail of ignorance, jealousy, fear and of course the elephant in the room: homophobia (scare).

The Story, not History, of Cross-dressing Comedy in Cameroon

Cross-dressing comedy is a recent phenomenon in Cameroon. As a genre, comedy in Cameroon is barely thirty to thirty-five years old, taking shape and gaining popularity in the late 80s with Jean-Miché Kankan generally considered the father of comedy in Cameroon. It has over the years been characterized by clown comedy with the likes of Kegué Kegué International, 'blackface' comedy with the likes of Ntou Mfinga, stand-up comedy with the likes of Kouakam Narcisse, and theatre/character comedy with the likes of Fingon. Cross-dressing comics are way more recent and came into the limelight through Big Mami, a cross-dresser character representing an old lady. We are talking here about the early 2000s and the popularization of FM radios in Cameroon.

Big Mami

It has been widely popularized by the current generation of comics such as Moustik Karismatique who shot to fame sometime in 2009. Among the current crop of criticized cross-dressing comics, he pushed cross-dressing comedy further when he presented to much acclaim the eccentric character of Super Obamla Bikutsi: an outlandish France-based Cameroon Bikutsi artist who speaks French with a heavy local accent, wears caricatural makeup and has the self-confidence of 50 Victoria's Secret models. This means that cross-dressing comedy in Cameroon is barely a teenager, quite embryonic and could be strange, incomprehensible to the average Cameroonian watching. Its subtleties and norms are a maze, difficult to navigate beyond the mere recognition that this is a man posing as a woman.

Good old jealousy

Don't discount the corruptive power of lady jealousy. Good old jealousy. In a country beset by high youth unemployment, you shouldn't be surprised that the blood of jealousy is what courses through the veins of those shouting "gay" at the sight of some of these cross-dressing comics. Mind you, in what some of these critics consider "less than no time," the popularity of some of these cross-dressing comedians has spilled from smartphone screens to giant billboards at busy roundabouts. People who used to mint laughs are now laughing their way to the bank while some people in their audience think they are stuck swiping, sharing, commenting and liking. Prompted by their jealousy, these people hurl anything they can lay their hands or fingers on. One of the things they easily lay their fingers on is the word "gay," which they can post as many times as possible with the growing affordability of internet data bundles. This group cannot and should not be considered homophobes. They are just jealous. Bandwagoning.

Fear and the Usual Suspect(s)

As these rumours and accusations are floated, some fans are gripped by fear. Fear that their laughter will be considered validation of unconventional behaviour. Fear that their fanship will be seen as heartfelt applause for strange sexuality. Humans respond to fear in different and strange ways. Some respond to this fear by joining the virtual army that marches on the social media pages and reputation of these cross-dressers. They join in the rumour fest. They borrow the terminology of this army and "gay" is a regular in this terminology base.

One of the cross-dressing comics who has borne the brunt of these gay accusations is Dorcas No Bobi. Speaking to this writer on phone recently, he admitted the homosexuality accusations thrown at him: "…The highest backlash I have is the fact that they say 'we are promoting homosexuality. We are homosexuals, and so on.' If I were a homosexual like they say, will I put myself out in the public and say 'I'm a homosexual?' Do they want to say that all homosexuals are cross-dressers? Or that all homosexuals want to dress like women?…" He also blamed these accusations on lazy bloggers who refuse to investigate stories before sharing, agenda setting, hypocrisy among Cameroonian fans and the novelty of the artform.

His "agenda setting" argument echoes social media comments made by singer-producer Abz-Trumental on Facebook on 6 January 2022. In one of these comments, the singer-producer stated: "Don't get me wrong, the comedians promoting cross dressing may not necessarily be gay but the Agenda they are pushing is going to last longer than their Careers put together and of course do more damage than good after they are gone and nobody wants to hear about them." This statement captures how some critics generally feel about cross-dressers and provides a glimpse into what drives the anti-cross-dressing comedian movement both online and offline.

The backlash… offline

The backlash, suspicion and accusations have also flourished offline, attesting to the depth of the malaise created by this new breed of comedians. In an op-ed piece published in the 5 January 2022 issue of a youth-focused newspaper, Jeunesse Actu, the author scapegoats Maa Jacky, one of the most popular Cameroonian cross-dressing comics. Titled peremptorily, "Maa Jacky, the New Poster Child for Moral Decadence in Cameroon," the article sets the stage with a series of rhetorical questions that draw groundless parallels between cross-dressing comedy and homosexuality and trans-sexuality. It then charges the comic ruthlessly and clumsily: "Using the character of a quarrelsome neighbourhood lady as cover, '…Ma'a Jacky portrays a housewife quite brilliantly for him to be your average normal male…'" Brandishing the moral decadence in Cameroon, the article goes ahead to indirectly label the comedian a homosexual when it wonders whether "…a young homosexual is supposed to be a model and influencer…"

Let's be clear…

Every society has the right to protect its way of life, belief system and values. But the pillars of such protection cannot be suspicion, rumour mongering and attacks even if these attacks are only virtual – supposedly. We must acknowledge that none of these comedians set out to promote homosexuality or its corresponding lifestyles. Their sole goal is entertainment. Productive use of their creative genius. They are simply performers. Actors. Rather than rate the authenticity of their portrayals, many have chosen to do the easy thing: accuse without evidence, peddle without restraint and monger without shame.

It is important that we not only refrain from these accusations but condemn them, otherwise we will be sacrificing the creative talent and hard work of these comedians on the altar of suspicion. Now that would be unfortunate for a society like ours that claims to be youth oriented.