ABSTRACT

This article explores how izintombi (virgins) in the Zulu culture make sense of being young, Zulu and woman in contemporary South Africa; a country where human rights are protected through the Bill of rights within the Constitution, and watched by human rights activists. The resurgence of ubuntombi (virginity) in-between the mid 1980s and the mid 1990s was accompanied by the revival of virginity testing. This aroused discontentment from some scholars, human rights advocates and gender activists who regard it as a violation of girls’ human rights. Representations from practitioners of ubuntombi (virginity), however, were not among the critics, yet they consider this cultural practice their cultural heritage and identity.

The article is based on empirical research conducted on ubuntombi (virginity) through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) in KwaZulu-Natal province. Through a postcolonial feminist theoretical lens, the article demonstrates that the tested young Zulu women, included in the research, re-narrate and re-claim ubuntombi and virginity testing as cultural practices that inform their young womanhood in the Zulu context. Even though some izintombi object to virginity testing, they similarly enjoy their status of being izintombi since they regard it as their indigenous practice.

摘要

本文探讨了祖鲁文化中的izintombi（处女）如何理解当代南非的年轻、祖鲁和女性；一个通过宪法中的权利法案保护人权并受到人权活动家关注的国家。ubuntombi （童贞）在 80 年代中期和 90 年代中期之间的复兴伴随着童贞测试的复兴。这引起了一些学者、人权倡导者和性别活动家的不满，认为这是对女童人权的侵犯。然而，来自ubuntombi （处女）从业者的代表并不在批评之列，但他们认为这种文化习俗是他们的文化遗产和身份。

本文基于在夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省通过半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论 (FGD) 对ubuntombi（童贞）进行的实证研究。通过后殖民女权主义理论视角，本文表明，研究中包括的受测年轻祖鲁女性重新叙述并宣称ubuntombi和童贞测试是在祖鲁背景下告知她们年轻女性身份的文化实践。尽管一些izintombi反对童贞测试，但他们同样享有izintombi的地位，因为他们认为这是他们的土著习俗。