Amudoko dako (also known asmudoko daka[1] ordano mulokere[2]) is aneffeminate male who is considered byLangi society to be a different gender, though were mostly treated as woman among the Langi inUganda.Mudoko dako also could be found among theTeso and theKaramojan people.[1] Recognition of themudoko dako can be traced back prior tocolonialism in Africa.[3]
Mudoko dako was considered an "alternative gender status" and were able to marry men with no social sanctions.[1] The word,dako, in theLango language means "woman".[4] In his work,The Lango: A Nilotic Tribe of Uganda (1923), anthropologistJack Herbert Driberg describes themudoko dako people among the Langi. Driberg describes how men, known asJo Apele orJo Aboich, go on to becomemudoko dako, dressing in the manner of women and taking on women's traditional roles.[5] Driberg even observedmudoko dako simulatingmenstruation.[5]
