- Title
- Umemulo and Zulu girlhood: From preservation to variations of ukuhlonipha nokufihla (respect and secrecy)
- Creator
- Mntambo, Londiwe Nompilo
- ThesisAdvisor
- Magadla, Siphokazi
- Subject
- Virginity
- Subject
- Zulu (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies
- Subject
- Zulu (African people) -- Social life and customs
- Subject
- Virginity -- Social aspects
- Subject
- Women, Zulu -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Social conditions
- Subject
- Women -- Social and moral questions
- Date
- 2021-04
- Type
- thesis
- Type
- text
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178352
- Identifier
- vital:42932
- Description
- This study examines evolving definitions of ukuziphatha kahle that historically relied on the preservation of virginity for Zulu girls, who participate in the umemulo ceremony that marks the transition from girlhood to womanhood. It examines notions of Zulu girlhood as understood through preservation - ukugcina isibaya sikaBaba - and through respectability and secrecy - ukuhlonipha nokufihla. The study analyses how conceptions of ukuziphatha kahle (good behavior) have evolved in the context of sexual rights in the performance of Zulu girlhood. It is located in the interdisciplinary literature of global girlhood studies, and African feminist lenses of womanhood and rites of passages. The study draws from 26 interviews with Zulu women who have gone through umemulo, elder women who facilitate virginity testing and umemulo; and female relatives of women who have gone through umemulo in Estcourt, Wembezi, Paapkalius Fountain, Ntabamhlophe and Cornfields in KwaZulu-Natal. This thesis contextualises umemulo and ukuziphatha kahle (good behaviour) in democratic South Africa. Umemulo is a ritual done for a Zulu girl whose behaviour is deemed to be good. While this is clear, what constitutes ukuziphatha kahle (good behaviour) is contested. On stricter terms, ukuziphatha kahle means to be intombi nto (a virgin). The interviews with women who went through umemulo show that most of them were not virgins at the time of the ritual. The elder and younger women expressed that ukuziphatha kahle for them goes beyond the girl’s virginity. Instead, they understand it as a girl who does not have a child, and who has shown respect and obedience to her parents and elders. Strikingly, the study shows an inter-generational collusion between the younger and elder women, who maintain the outward appearance of virginity of the girls who participate in umemulo. The study argues that there are variations of ukuhlonipha (respect), which in the rights context of democratic South Africa overlap into ukufihla (secrecy). Importantly, it is clear that the concept of being a good Zulu womanhood holds and remains important for Zulu girls and women. However, the ways in which Zulu women experience and perform this is complex. The findings show that while many Zulu girls want to be seen as performing accepted good Zulu womanhood, they do so in ways that allow them to enjoy their sexual rights and pleasure. This is not a tension.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Politial and International Studies, 2021
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (143 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Politial and International Studies
- Language
- English, Zulu
- Rights
- Mntambo, Londiwe Nompilo
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
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Gender Action Forum (GENACT)
RU Department of Political and International Studies
SDG 05. Gender Equality
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | MNTHAMBO-MA-TR21-134.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |