Masculinities in Contemporary Africa

Chapter 12 - ‘Lifting the Cloak on Manhood’: Coverage of Xhosa Male Circumcision in the South African Press

12 ‘Lifting the Cloak on Manhood’ Coverage of Xhosa Male Circumcision in the South African Press Lilian N. Ndangam Introduction In South Africa’s liberal and non-racial society, black Africans need to decide whether black traditional customs, such as circumcision – and cultural practices as a whole – remain a critical hallmark to being African. Sicelo Fayo, The Herald, 12 January 2005 Periods of change such as the post-apartheid dispensation in South Africa offer the possibility of marginalized discourses to gain influence (Epstein 1998). For Epstein (1998), the formation of new versions of masculinity is a key part of reshaping post-apartheid South Africa. However, as the above quotation illustrates, the initiation rite performed by some black ethnic groups is not only evidence of how marginalized masculinities in South Africa have been and are being (re)constituted. Aspects of Black African masculinities have emerged as a site where the anxieties, insecurities and uncertainties about the post-apartheid sociopolitical transformation in South Africa are projected, negotiated and defended.1 As a source of information for many people, media coverage of this ritual serves as a useful site where particular cultural definition of masculinity (Craig 1992) in contemporary South Africa can be understood and analysed. As part of the 2004 National Arts Festival (NAF) in Grahamstown, South Africa, an exhibition called ‘Initiation as a Rite of Passage’ by artists Thembinkosi Goniwe and Churchill Madikida used photographs, video and songs to explore the subject of male circumcision and initiation ceremonies. The exhibition displayed photographs of young initiates wrapped in white blankets, with their faces painted 210 Masculinities in Contemporary Africa , in white clay and standing next to an initiation hut. A more graphic illustration at the exhibition included a portrait of a naked man with blood around his genitalia. Other aspects of the exhibition included outfits worn by initiates during and after the ceremony, objects used during initiation ceremonies, and artefacts from different parts of Africa where male initiation is practised. This public display of a rite of passage often shrouded in secrecy became a source of controversy during the festival, provoking media coverage and intense public debate about the initiation ritual for young Xhosa boys. For some, public display of the practice broke a taboo on the secrecy of the ritual, which is not supposed to be seen by women and children. Xhosa traditional leaders felt the exhibition undermined the secrecy and symbolic meaning of the rite, while some parents thought it could potentially scare children from undergoing the rite. Interestingly, Thembinkosi Goniwe has recently defended his work as a critical reflection of media intrusion into the private and sacred aspects of the ritual, which has turned these into both a spectacle and a consumable (Goniwe 2005). In addition to the comments pages of the guest book accompanying the exhibition, varied opinions about the exhibition were expressed in the local, provincial and national media. Subsequent media coverage of initiation – what columnist Jimmy Matyu describes as ‘a sensitive “annual debate” on circumcision’ – has variously reported on deaths in initiation schools, forced and botched circumcisions, and efforts to regulate the practice. Both the debate over the NAF exhibition and subsequent coverage are indicative of an ongoing public debate about the practice of initiation by some of South Africa’s ethnic groups. The discursive representation of this ritual in the South African media offers an interesting opportunity to explore the constitution and reinterpretations of masculinity within popular discourse. As significant sources of information and knowledge, newspapers are epistemological sites where, among other things, insights on gender, gender identities and gender relations can be garnered (Taylor and Sunderland 2003). Scholarship on masculinity and the media has documented how men are represented in sports (Sabo and Jansen 1992; Trujillo, 1991), advertising (Barthel 1992; Strate 1992), crime (Consalvo 2003) and lifestyle magazines.2 While these studies provide valuable insight and contribute to theoretical discussion on the links between media representation and cultural meaningsof masculinity,theylargelyfocusonmasculinity in America and Europe, with little systematic attention paid to representations of black African masculinity in the media. Based on coverage in two regional daily publications, this study outlines the media story of Xhosa initiation ceremonies so far. Within that analysis, it discusses the representation of masculinity that emanates from this mediated gaze on the black African male body. This study argues that the public discourse on initiation is one arena where the complexities of change and transformation in post- 211...