gook makanga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Virgin brides are dinosaurs from a dead culture
By Sylvia Tamale
Oct 16, 2003
The Buganda Kingdom�s Minister of Health, Mr Nelson Kawalya, has resurrected the controversial issue of �virgin brides� (The Monitor October 14).
Reminiscing about �the original norms and values of Buganda,� Kawalya said that virginity is highly valued in Buganda and that the Buganda government is in the process of publishing a book on the subject to revive this custom.
Traditionally among the Baganda, the bride�s Ssenga (paternal aunt) would be stationed in the bridal chamber on the wedding night to ensure that the young bride passes the virginity test.
The litmus test for virginity was a bloodstained sheet after the bride had been �deflowered.�
The following morning, when the Ssenga displayed this �proof� to the family elders, a huge he-goat would be presented as a reward to the young bride.
I wish to challenge this latest representation of �cultural fundamentalism� on human rights grounds.
Culture is not a fixed entity; it is dynamic and ever changing. But African men tend to have a very selective idea about culture.
They will not hasten to strike culture down as outmoded and archaic when it suits them to do so (e.g. abandoning the cultural norm that required husbands to take full responsibility for their wives and children).
However, the same men will jealously guard those cultural practices that entrench their control and domination over women.
We are told that the reason behind the revival of customs like �virgin brides� is to restore moral values and curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/Aids.
But does it really make sense to subject the test only to the bride and not the groom? A cultural practice that endorses male promiscuity, while emphasising female sexual purity and chastity, executes unjustifiable double standards that are unacceptable in this day and age.
It undermines the constitutional principles of equality and freedom, institutionalising the control of women�s sexuality. Essentially, it violates women�s right to sexual pleasure and bodily integrity, not to mention their right to privacy.
The virginity test itself, which is based on penile vaginal penetration, is constructed by a culture that prioritises the penis in human sexuality.
This penis is supposed to pierce the membrane called a hymen in the vagina, letting off large, visible bloodstains.
If it fails in this �drill test� guilt is shifted to the woman. Many women reading this know very well that �intact hymens� and �virginity� are not necessarily related.
Let us unearth some basic facts about the hymen. Hymens come in all shapes and sizes: some are so elastic that they can withstand penal penetration without bleeding; others are so delicate that they can rapture when a girl exercises, uses a tampon, climbs a tree, rides a bicycle or engages in any other innocuous childhood activity.
Yet some are so thick and resilient that no amount of pushing would draw blood from it. In fact, some baby girls are not born with a hymen at all. A broken hymen may even be the result of sexual child abuse.
Hymens can also be reconstructed through surgery. So-called virginity tests therefore prove nothing, least of all that the woman is a virgin.
The spread of Aids will not be curbed by patronizing, conservative moral values.What we need is an effective sex education programme that enlightens youngsters about safe sex, contraception techniques, and so forth.
Kawalya and all those behind the revival of this old custom should, therefore, wake up from their slumber and realize that there is no room, no tolerance for gender discrimination or women�s oppression in today�s Uganda.
Virgin brides may have been a cultural norm in days gone by. They have now been overtaken by events and become a cultural dinosaur.
Ms Tamale is a lecturer at Makerere University Law School.
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
Gook"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X
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