AN IC PUBLICATION


issue 6


Lifestyle magazine


HOT ISSUE STORM-PROOF YOUR


MARRIAGE


AFRICAN RECIPES GALORE


FAMILY & PARENTING “MUMMY, BLACK DOLLS ARE NOT PRETTY!”


SPECIAL FOCUS BLACK WOMEN’S HEALTH


AFRICA FASHION WEEK 2010


THWaris Dirie  UK £2.50 


 Switzerland SFr 5.00   Ethiopia R 20   Kenya KShs 200   Nigeria N 250   Sweden SKr 25 


USA $4  Canada $4  Egypt E£ 10  Jamaica $150 


Sierra Leone LE 4,000 Tanzania TShs 4,000 


Liberia US$ 3.00  Euro Zone € 3  Gambia Da 50  Mauritius MR 100


CFA Zone F.CFA 2000 Ghana GH¢ 2


Norway NOK 45


South Africa R19.95 Uganda USh 5,000 


Zambia K 12,500 Waris Dirie puts FGM under the spotlight in New African Woman


classify labia stretching as a type of FGM. This practice is common where I come from (Buganda) and I feel that it should not be classified as FGM. I would like to suggest you read an article on the feministafrica website which has this excerpt: “Women in diverse


cultures have always ‘fixed’ or otherwise transformed their bodies (through dieting, plastic surgery, waxing, piercing, tattooing and various forms of grooming) to fit their cultural norms. One of the ways that Baganda women ‘fix’ their bodies is through an elaborate routine of ‘packaging the vagina’ for men’s maximum pleasure. Such ‘packaging’ takes many forms and may be divided into two stages: pre-pubertal and marital... “Between the age of


nine and twelve, before experiencing menarche


“ female circumcision is cruel and pointless” E SURVIVOR 07/07/2010 17:45


(first menstruation), a Muganda girl would be guided by her Ssenga to prepare her genitals for future sex. This was done through a procedure that involved elongating the labia minora. Known as okukyalira ensiko (visiting the bush)… pubescent girls would ‘visit the bush’ for a few hours every day over a period of about two weeks. The Ssenga would persuade them to comply by advising them that if they did not, no man would ever ask for their hand in marriage. Worse still, if a man discovered that his bride had not ‘visited the bush’, he would send her back home for the Ssenga to ‘fulfil her duty’. Nevertheless, a great many younger urban women[these days] have chosen to opt out of this cultural practice, dismissing it as ‘useless and primitive’.” But the findings of


For the discerning woman ALICIA KEYS:


EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW


On her pregnancy, global injustices, Robert Mugabe and her love for Africa


the study on this website contrast sharply with the definition put forward by the WHO, which lumps this procedure together with FGM procedures that pose health hazards to women. It completely disregards


the ways in which this practice, encoded within the Ssenga institution, has enhanced sexual pleasure for women, and expanded their perceptions of themselves as active sexual beings. Personally I feel


westerners are hypocritical when they come to this issue: first of all they condemn forms of FGM yet they engage/condone similar practices like labia plasty and breast augmentation surgery and other harmful cosmetic surgery procedures.


Billy By email, from Uganda


Editor’s Note: We would like to hear your comments on the above; write to r.malanda@africasia.com


I am an African woman, black and proud! I firstly need to thank you and your staff profusely for the wonderful work you do. It looks like my ongoing struggle with the lack of interesting magazines we’re subjected to has finally come to an end. I’d stopped reading all magazines until I ran into your publication at King Shaka International Airport. I immediately appreciated that your cover star, Waris Dirie, wasn’t just put on the cover because, she’s gorgeous and famous but because she’s got an important message to spread.


As a communicator and


a 25-year-old woman in post- apartheid South Africa, I hold dearly the message of


WINTER 2011 | NEW AFRICAN WOMAN | 7


being AFRICAN and PROUD although not enough of it gets around. I believe being proud of who we are as a continent and African people is the answer to the devastating poverty, pathetic leadership, HIV/Aids pandemic, senseless wars and teenage pregnancy. I believe once Africans


identify with this message, we’ll be empowered and inspired to make better choices that will help us grow and help us make better choices including the leaders we choose. I proudly live by the message of a United Africa on a daily basis – whether by supporting African fashion designers, speaking to young Africans about becoming pilots in the South African Air Force, writing about African Tales and by becoming the best that I can be, as a writer, a musician, a soldier, a mother, a sister, a daughter and a friend. I therefore love how


your fashion editors don’t just swallow and regurgitate western trends, but feature designers whose clothes scream, “I’M AFRICAN AND I’M PROUD!”. Your wonderful work will change Africa and I hope you are ready. You’ve been called not only to tell stories but to re-instil pride in being African and I can’t wait to see what next you’ve got in store for us.


Mpho Makhetha By email, from South Africa


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