Polygyny and Chasity As Shown During The Reed Dance Festival
Polgyny is a word used to described when a man has more than one wife. There are several cultures that practice polgynist, but it proves to be a very important part of African culture.
The ability to have multiple wives is, and was, a practice that ensured social and political success. It also insured population growth, social expansion, and the overall success for people of Africa econimically.
Polgyny can also be a symbol of high status and wealth. For example, Socrates Mbamalu reported, on the AllAfrica website, that after the Reed Dance festival, Swaziland king, Mswati III, married his 14th wife who is quite younger than he is.
The current king has made a name for himself by being highly criticized for his excessive spending, expensive cars, and large homes, while many Swaziland citizen are living in poverty. The article also reported that his father, King Sobhuza II had 70 wives over the course of his life. Taking a 14th wife not only is a part of the polgynist culture, but it is also a status symbol in that he is showing his ability to be a "big man" or rather a man of wealth and enough class to support his new wife as well as the many other women he is married to.
While polygyny is also important and can be interpreted as the emphasis society places on sex and marriage, virginity is also important in the larger African culture.
The Reed Dance Festival is said to be a celebration of virgins. These women, who range in age gather to celebrate their purity. They wear bright colorful clothing, as well as dance, sing and speak in their native tongues. The women's bodies are exposed and they do so without shame, but rather pride and honor.
The celebration proves to place an importance on the social implications of purity and life for women, and speaks to a larger conversation about perhaps the different exceptions for women and men in Swaziland. Furthermore, it also speaks to the relationship that the current king has with wealth and status and polgyny.
The ability to have multiple wives is, and was, a practice that ensured social and political success. It also insured population growth, social expansion, and the overall success for people of Africa econimically.
Polgyny can also be a symbol of high status and wealth. For example, Socrates Mbamalu reported, on the AllAfrica website, that after the Reed Dance festival, Swaziland king, Mswati III, married his 14th wife who is quite younger than he is.
The current king has made a name for himself by being highly criticized for his excessive spending, expensive cars, and large homes, while many Swaziland citizen are living in poverty. The article also reported that his father, King Sobhuza II had 70 wives over the course of his life. Taking a 14th wife not only is a part of the polgynist culture, but it is also a status symbol in that he is showing his ability to be a "big man" or rather a man of wealth and enough class to support his new wife as well as the many other women he is married to.
While polygyny is also important and can be interpreted as the emphasis society places on sex and marriage, virginity is also important in the larger African culture.
The Reed Dance Festival is said to be a celebration of virgins. These women, who range in age gather to celebrate their purity. They wear bright colorful clothing, as well as dance, sing and speak in their native tongues. The women's bodies are exposed and they do so without shame, but rather pride and honor.
The celebration proves to place an importance on the social implications of purity and life for women, and speaks to a larger conversation about perhaps the different exceptions for women and men in Swaziland. Furthermore, it also speaks to the relationship that the current king has with wealth and status and polgyny.
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