Post by Islamic Revival on Sept 12, 2005 2:06:56 GMT -5
Swaziland's spectacular Reed Dance sets ritual against rampant HIV and the subjugation of women
Andrew Meldrum in Ludzidzini, Swaziland
Tuesday August 30, 2005
The Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,7369,1558898,00.html
Zanele Dube flashed a gleaming smile as she led 30 girls in a rhythmic song and a hip-swaying dance. Wearing little more than wide, beaded belts, brightly coloured sashes and a few feathers, the young women all beamed with happiness.
"This is our big day, the Reed Dance," said Ms Dube, 24, as she shepherded the younger girls into a line. "This is a celebration of our culture and we are very proud. We girls are encouraged to take care of ourselves. We are encouraged to stay girls and not to let others pressure us into sex."
Having performed in dances since the age of 15, she blew a whistle, and led the younger girls towards the stadium where they would dance before Swaziland's King Mswati III.
This sight of thousands of bare-breasted virgins dancing before their king and his warriors is one of Africa's great traditional spectacles. But the Reed Dance is also a chance for the 37-year-old king to take a wife from more than 20,000 dancers, as he has done every year since 1999.
Critics say the ceremony has degenerated into little more than a beauty pageant, and does little to address the status of women in a country with the world's highest rate of HIV infection.
"The Reed Dance has been abused for one man's personal satisfaction," Mario Masuku, the leader of a banned opposition party, told Reuters. "The king has a passion for young women and opulence."
There is little sign of King Mswati moderating the practice. Last year he chose the winner of Miss Teen Swaziland for his wife, and he is expected to announce his new selection this week.
As absolute monarch of a country where women have few legal rights, he cannot be refused. In 2002 when the king chose a teenager for a wife, his emissaries abducted her from her school. The girl's mother began a lawsuit alleging kidnap, but royal representatives argued successfully in court that the king by tradition has the right to select wives at his pleasure.
Women are minors under the law, and cannot have bank accounts or sign binding legal contracts, so the opportunity to become a royal wife with one's own palace and BMW is attractive to many.
The country is stuck in poverty with 66% of the 1.1 million population living on less than a dollar a day. A third are dependent on international food aid.
Last week, unaccountably, the king decreed the end of the umchwasho, a ban on sex with teenage girls. He initiated the rule in 2001, stating that all teenage girls had to wear large woollen tassels around their heads to signify their virginity.
The tassels were said by some girls to protect them from unwanted sexual advances. But the king was among those who broke the ban and had to pay cows as penalties for having sex with teenage girls.
Tradition counts for a lot in Swaziland and the previous king, Sobhuza, had more than 70 wives and 400 children. King Mswati is following in his father's footsteps and has taken 14 wives since he came to power in 1986.
The 20,000-plus "national flowers", as the young women are called, have participated in an eight-day ritual in which they hiked through the night before cutting and bundling reeds they presented to the Queen Mother, ostensibly to help her repair her house after the Swazi winter. The climax was yesterday's dance.
Sporting a boyish grin, the king was loudly cheered by the assembled dancers. He presents an affable image and is generally popular. But trade unions and civic groups criticise him for entrenching his absolute power, barring political parties and splashing out on jets, cars and palaces while his subjects remain in poverty.
The mass event also highlights how Swaziland is struggling to cope with Aids. Nearly 40% of Swaziland's adults are infected with HIV, according the United Nations. Most public education is carried out by non-governmental organisations, such as the Aids Information and Support Centre, whose counsellor, Jester Khumalo, was at the dance preaching a message of abstinence to the youngsters using a loudspeaker.
"I've been with the girls all week and I've been telling them to protect themselves until they get married, she says. "That way they can stay safe from Aids. The Reed Dance is a very good place to send that message because all the girls are here. Traditions like the Reed Dance can be used to fight Aids.
Andrew Meldrum in Ludzidzini, Swaziland
Tuesday August 30, 2005
The Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,7369,1558898,00.html
Zanele Dube flashed a gleaming smile as she led 30 girls in a rhythmic song and a hip-swaying dance. Wearing little more than wide, beaded belts, brightly coloured sashes and a few feathers, the young women all beamed with happiness.
"This is our big day, the Reed Dance," said Ms Dube, 24, as she shepherded the younger girls into a line. "This is a celebration of our culture and we are very proud. We girls are encouraged to take care of ourselves. We are encouraged to stay girls and not to let others pressure us into sex."
Having performed in dances since the age of 15, she blew a whistle, and led the younger girls towards the stadium where they would dance before Swaziland's King Mswati III.
This sight of thousands of bare-breasted virgins dancing before their king and his warriors is one of Africa's great traditional spectacles. But the Reed Dance is also a chance for the 37-year-old king to take a wife from more than 20,000 dancers, as he has done every year since 1999.
Critics say the ceremony has degenerated into little more than a beauty pageant, and does little to address the status of women in a country with the world's highest rate of HIV infection.
"The Reed Dance has been abused for one man's personal satisfaction," Mario Masuku, the leader of a banned opposition party, told Reuters. "The king has a passion for young women and opulence."
There is little sign of King Mswati moderating the practice. Last year he chose the winner of Miss Teen Swaziland for his wife, and he is expected to announce his new selection this week.
As absolute monarch of a country where women have few legal rights, he cannot be refused. In 2002 when the king chose a teenager for a wife, his emissaries abducted her from her school. The girl's mother began a lawsuit alleging kidnap, but royal representatives argued successfully in court that the king by tradition has the right to select wives at his pleasure.
Women are minors under the law, and cannot have bank accounts or sign binding legal contracts, so the opportunity to become a royal wife with one's own palace and BMW is attractive to many.
The country is stuck in poverty with 66% of the 1.1 million population living on less than a dollar a day. A third are dependent on international food aid.
Last week, unaccountably, the king decreed the end of the umchwasho, a ban on sex with teenage girls. He initiated the rule in 2001, stating that all teenage girls had to wear large woollen tassels around their heads to signify their virginity.
The tassels were said by some girls to protect them from unwanted sexual advances. But the king was among those who broke the ban and had to pay cows as penalties for having sex with teenage girls.
Tradition counts for a lot in Swaziland and the previous king, Sobhuza, had more than 70 wives and 400 children. King Mswati is following in his father's footsteps and has taken 14 wives since he came to power in 1986.
The 20,000-plus "national flowers", as the young women are called, have participated in an eight-day ritual in which they hiked through the night before cutting and bundling reeds they presented to the Queen Mother, ostensibly to help her repair her house after the Swazi winter. The climax was yesterday's dance.
Sporting a boyish grin, the king was loudly cheered by the assembled dancers. He presents an affable image and is generally popular. But trade unions and civic groups criticise him for entrenching his absolute power, barring political parties and splashing out on jets, cars and palaces while his subjects remain in poverty.
The mass event also highlights how Swaziland is struggling to cope with Aids. Nearly 40% of Swaziland's adults are infected with HIV, according the United Nations. Most public education is carried out by non-governmental organisations, such as the Aids Information and Support Centre, whose counsellor, Jester Khumalo, was at the dance preaching a message of abstinence to the youngsters using a loudspeaker.
"I've been with the girls all week and I've been telling them to protect themselves until they get married, she says. "That way they can stay safe from Aids. The Reed Dance is a very good place to send that message because all the girls are here. Traditions like the Reed Dance can be used to fight Aids.