Yindaba kabani uba'ndilahlumlenze?

This contemporary music video is by South African artist Thandiswa Mazwai. It's titled "lahlu'lenze" which can be translated as "throw your leg up". The song basically says "whose issue is it if I throw my leg up and be myself?". Thandiswa Mazwai is a modern Xhosa woman who through music explores many issues around culture and the way in which live through culture.   The differnt cultural expressions that are demostrated in the video are also very interesting in that she has taken women from different walks of life and made a relevant statement about woman as a whole.

Conclusion

What I've come to lean the most out of the intervention is how grateful we should be to be able to be our own selves, to be individuals in a world where so many people are being silently stripped of their ability to be who they want to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying ukuhlonipha is wrong or right, I'm just saying that as a practice, it's just too clear as to what the intentions of it are. It is done to decrease attractiveness. Cultures and races all over the world have some form of rule or hold of women. It is done, I've come to learn because of man's fear of the power of a woman's beauty and how that power makes the man loose control. Beauty is known to make men weak. That's one of the many reasons men cheat, due to lack of self control.

Is the way a woman looks used to help men curb their own feelings and thoughts that may make them look weak and uncontrollable? It has been said that woman have so much power but they do not realise it. The day that they do, the world's ideologies, beliefs and perceptions of woman will seem ireleveant and worthless.

The Body Uncomfortable project had really taught me alot about the way in which I see myself and how others see me. I can not judge those who do not know any better but to conform to their practices, I can only shed light to those who do not know that practices such as these exist.

Day 10 - Imini yesishumi

Today is the last day and I must say, I'm extremely relieved and proud of myself. That I actually stuck it out till the very end. Today I actually forgot that it's actually the last day of the intervention so I'm not as exited as I thought I would be. As I walked to school today, I stopped and looked at all the women who are'nt doing this to be uncomfortable for 10 days, they do for a living. It is who they are. I respect them so much for that!  It's been real

Day 9 - Imini yesithoba

Today is the second last day. Today is the second last day. I feel like I'm holding on for dear life! I can not wait to express myself again through my clothes. It really is frustrating. It feels like I have been silenced. This morning when I opened my closet, I just stared at my clothes with such lust and longing, longing to feel good again. That's what clothing is about right? I just want this day to end already. On the other side, I've gotten used to myself looking the way I look. Even though I feel terrible, I'm getting used to the way I look. This really does change one's mind and the way in which you look at yourself.

Second last day, my smile can not possibly be more fake then this.

The borrowed skirt.  Wearing it for the last time.

Day 8 - Imini yesibozo

Monday morning and I'm feeling fresh and enthaustatic because Wednesday is getting nearer! I have a lot to do today but I won't let the skirt get in my way ( I step on the skirt quite often ). It turns out to be quite a normal day with just my one friend from school stating how she really misses me. I told her that I have'nt gone anywhere, but clearly she felt as though I was no longer who she had gotten used to. This is exactly the kind of reactions that make interventions like this one worthwhile. Thanks Naja!

Day 7 - Imini yesixenxe

Today I went to a friend's place for Sunday lunch. It was great being with them because they understand exactly what I'm doing and where I'm coming from with it. This is'nt because we're all from the Eastern Cape or anything (giggle). So we sat around and shared our personal stories and expriences of watching our mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters practising "ukuhlonipha". We realised how many similarilties there was in our expriences. We all had sat on the bed as our mothers covered themselves up before our grandmother came or we all had rushed to get the head wrap when the in-laws arrived at home unexpectedly. Talking to my friends made me realise how important it is as the decedants of the Xhosa people to still understand and acknowledge the liittle things that Xhosa people still do, centuries later. Being around my friends the entire day made me feel comfortable and it made me realise that what I am currently doing is important, not just to me, but to other people as well. Great Sunday spent talking about where we come from!

The Past and the Present

Over time the way in which Xhosa women dress has changed but what has remained is how women have rmantained the respectful and humble look. Bourdieu (1984) observed that the body is used as a bearer of status, of power and of distinctive symbolic forms that are critical to the acquisition of resources. I believe that this is extremely true in that when a women was dressed in a respectful manner (practising ukuhlonipha), it was after she got married, thus changing her status as an individual. She was now expected to use her body to bear this status "upgrade" by dressing differently to the way she used to dress as an unmarried girl. As seen below, Xhosa women dressed in this way every day of their lives, this was before modernisation and the wearing of western clothing. In modern times, a majority of women only dress this way on special occasions and depending on how traditional and cultural a backround they come from.



Xhosa women dressed in traditional attire smoking pipes known as Inqawe in Xhosa. This is how Xhosa women used to dress originally. Everyday, not just ocassionally.



Image sourced from Google Images. Keyword : Traditional Xhosa women 

http://gtpculturesoftheworld.pbworks.com/f/CW2+Xhosa1.jpg

A modern Xhosa woman who has adapted ukuhlonipha (giving respect through the way in which you are dressed) to western clothing

Image taken by me