Newsday 7 June 2014

THE CENTRE SPREAD
12 NEWSDAY SATURDAY JUNE 7, 2014 13
When feminists pontificate to reject fellow women
Yvonne Gasura
WHEN world acclaimed feminists
label other women and self-proclaimed
feminists “terrorists” it
only goes to show that women are
fighting a losing battle. Legendary
feminist scholar Gloria Jean
Watkins, known as Bell Hooks, attacked
artiste Beyonce Knowles
during a panel discussion in New
York, branding her “anti-feminist”
and a “terrorist” because of
her impact on young girls.
Under attack was the sexualised
image of Be-
David Beckham poses
in his underwear
yonce, her posing for Time Magazine
in her delicates, her lyrics and
videos.
She explained: “Wealth is what
so many young people fantasise,
dream about, sexualise, eroticise. . .
and one could argue even more than
her body is what that body stands
for . . . wealth, fame, celebrity — all
the things that so many people in
our culture are lusting for, wanting.
Let’s say if Beyonce was a homeless
woman who looked the same way,
or a poor, down-and-out woman
who looked the same way — would
people be enchanted by her? Or
is it the combination of all of those
things that are at the heart of imperialist,
white supremacist, capitalist
patriarchy?”
Looking at Beyonce, she is a selfmade
artiste and a
powerhouse in
her own right
— that you
cannot take
away from
her. She began
her musical
career at a tender
age, singing at talent
shows until she
and her cousin Kelly
Rowland and
Michelle
Williams
formed
Destiny’s
Child
which
propelled
her to a
solo musical
career
and acting.
Her
music
celebrates
life (I
was
here;
love(Xo), motherhood(Blue; Heaven),
marriage (Cater to you), financial
independence (Upgrade U
(feat. Jay-Z); Independent woman),
female liberation (Run The World
(Girls); Flawless) if one cares to listen
to her lyrics. She is a woman
who has embraced her sexuality
(Partition; Rocket; Drunk in Love).
In the song Flawless (featuring
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)she
brings out how women have the
world at their feet, but choose to
engage in cat-fights instead of propping
each other up. She urges women
to fight for equality – the right to
education, compete for employment
opportunities and actively engage in
civic matters. She is a role model for
women - she fought for recognition
from a tender age and proved that if
you work hard, keep your eye on the
mark you are bound to succeed. She
has earned her fame and her riches,
so why shouldn’t young black girls
look up to her.
Despite her fame and riches she
got married on her own terms and
fights to keep her marriage intact.
She is not just a feminist, but human
— we thrive on companionship,
we are social beings. Whoever created
humanity knew that they need
the comfort of company and family.
Women are nurturing by nature,
why should one deprive oneself of
that for the sake of radical feminism?
Beyonce and other female artistes
like Madonna and Victoria Beckham
chose to be wives and mothers on
their own terms. Women keep the
world rolling.
Her choreography and costumes
show a woman who has embraced
her femininity, and sexuality and is
not bound by the norms of a conservative
society, a woman who
“owns her body” [Janet Mock]. Her
lyrics have changed with her marital
status. This also determines her target
audience — the mature audience.
When men dance bare-chested,
hug their crotches, pose provocatively
in their boxer shorts it
is “sexy”, when the opposite sex
does the same there is an uproar
the world-over. When Demi Moore
posed in the nude celebrating oncoming
motherhood, she was attacked
by all and sundry, but when
David Beckham modelled his underwear
and posed provocatively
in each and every short praises
were showered upon him. He also
stripped for his perfume advert, but
Bev and the Sexy Angels performing on stage
all people saw was Beckham the
muscular, well-endowed superstar
and loving father. What was the impact
on the impressionable minds of
his young fans? I wonder!
All this is hypocrisy coming from
a society that claims to be democratic,
a society that frolics naked
on beaches and celebrates nudity as
proven by the growing number of
nudists or naturalists in their midst,
a society that crowned Rihanna,
who turned up pretty naked at the
annual Council of Fashion Designers
of America gala in a Swarovski crystal-embellished
see-through gown,
a fashion icon.
As parents, we should educate
our children on the influence of media
on their impressionable minds
and not let the media take the parenting
role.
From time immemorial women’s
bodies were revered and their
beauty celebrated. In Africa women
were the embodiment of spirituality,
fertility and sexuality. That to me is
wielding power and not exploitation.
Society, in Africa, celebrated all this
through dance, which colonialists
viewed as savage and women as too
sexualised. We, as Africans only became
ashamed of our bodies, music,
dance and dressing after colonisation.
We were stripped of our identity.
Women became more oppressed
as the “civilised and Christian” society
assimilated Western ways.
In modern day society female
artistes who are fighting for recognition,
financial freedom and have
embraced their sexuality and are
not afraid to express themselves find
themselves at the centre of criticism
from both men and women.
Locally, innovative artistes like
Sandra Ndebele came under attack
for her seemingly unconventional
costumes and her vigorous dance
moves. Ndebele had found an untapped
market and exploited it and
that is innovation. If we go back in
history her beaded and revealing
costumes came from her roots — the
Ndebele culture. Some Ndebele people
in South Africa still adorn the
same costumes during traditional
marriage rites and weddings. They
are not ashamed of their culture, but
still identify with it, which is liberating.
Sandy is still an internationally
recognised artiste and a self-made
businesswoman.
Zoey and Beverly “Bev” Sibanda
also carved their niche in the entertainment
world — adult entertainment.
The ladies can dance, that we
cannot take away from them. They
have been given all sorts of names
and some pastors also tried to convert
them, free them from their
“lives of sin”. What sin? They are
working women and responsible
employers who do not want handouts,
but seek to earn a decent living
from their sweat. They are women
who have embraced their sexuality,
turned it into art and have chosen
to earn a living from it. They are
not being exploited, but CHOSE that
path. They are artistes, just like Oliver
Mtukudzi, Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave,
Beyonce, Shakira
and the Samba-dancing Brazilian
women.
They are not different from yesteryear
Jerusarema/Mbende performers.
We take pride in Jerusarema,
but what was the context of the
dance? It was a fertility dance rich
with sexual connotations. Young
men and women expended their
pent-up desires through that dance.
We appreciate one sexual move and
choose to despise another. If the
defence against attacks on sexually
explicit dances such as Jerusarema
is that they are traditional, then we
can equally argue that we are our
great, great grandchildren’s ancestors
and we should not be stuck in
time, but make our own history.
Since dance evolves, the Zoeys
and Bevs of this world help people
vent those frustrations. They are
not immoral, but are moving
and evolving with time.
No one should be trying
to extricate them from the
shackles of art by labelling
them “sinners”.
They should set targets for
themselves and their crew and
achieve them, polish their act,
go to business school and learn
how they can earn more from
their talent.
When the police harass and
arrest these women, it is victimisation
of all womankind.
Why aren’t the patrons of those
night clubs arrested together with
these artistes? If Beverly breaches
her contract and allows a patron to
touch her, both Bev and the said patron
are guilty of the same offence
and should both be arrested.
We are so bent on being righteous
that we fail to enjoy art and life as it
comes. As women and feminists,
let us positively compete with each
other and the male species. Let’s
not pull each other down, but see
the positive in what each and every
one of us is trying to achieve or has
achieved. And where are the righteous
feminist groups in all this? Are
they also, like the male chauvinists
who arrest Bev, silently
pontificating?
Leaving nothing to the
imagination: Rihanna opted
for just a sheer embellished
backless halter dress which
showed off every inch of her
body as she was honoured
at the CFDA awards
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