Showing items 1 - 3 of 3

Your selections:

Umemulo and Zulu girlhood: From preservation to variations of ukuhlonipha nokufihla (respect and secrecy)

  • Authors: Mntambo, Londiwe Nompilo
  • Date: 2021-04
  • Subjects: Virginity , Zulu (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Zulu (African people) -- Social life and customs , Virginity -- Social aspects , Women, Zulu -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Social conditions , Women -- Social and moral questions
  • Language: English , Zulu
  • Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178352 , 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. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Politial and International Studies, 2021
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2021-04

An exploration of constructions of masculinity : a narrative study of young Zulu men's stories of 'being a man'

  • Authors: Maxwell, Justin Kennedy
  • Date: 2005
  • Subjects: Masculinity -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Men -- South Africa -- Psychology , Discourse analysis, Narrative -- Psychological aspects , Zulu (African people) -- Social life and customs , Men -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: vital:3251 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015763
  • Description: Previously understood as a fixed and universal set of behaviours social constructionists are now arguing that masculinity is contextual and fluid, reflecting a multiplicity of different understandings. Within any 'cultural environment' the discourse of masculinity, culturally and historically bound, expresses attitudes and behaviours that shape the understanding of what it means to be a man. Adopting a narrative approach and analysis this research explores the stories of six Zulu men in seeking to elicit the aspects of their masculinity and show how these men negotiate an identity 'position' from the social narratives available to them. It was found that while the ideal Adult (responsible) man contrasts with the Young man's ('isoka' ) position there is a consistently hegemonic and patriarchal notion of masculinity.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2005

Zulu dancing troupe performing at All Saints: All Saints, 1973

  • 1
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Contact