Tropical Cowboys

During the 1950s and 60s in the Congo city of Kinshasa, there emerged young urban male gangs known as "e;Bills"e; or "e;Yankees."e; Modeling themselves on the images of the iconic American cowboy from Hollywood film, the "e;Bills"e; sought to negotiate lives lived under oppressive economic, social, and political conditions. They developed their own style, subculture, and slang and as Ch. Didier Gondola shows, engaged in a quest for manhood through bodybuilding, marijuana, violent sexual behavior, and other transgressive acts. Gondola argues that this street culture became a backdrop for Congo-Zaire's emergence as an independent nation and continues to exert powerful influence on the country's urban youth culture today.