Pendragons Princess

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2380466,00.html

I find this article to be tremendously sad. Poor Nobhule Khumalo died from being beaten to death by four other females. Why? Because Nobhule was a virgin and had personal ambitions of her own. Living in South Africa, however, makes it difficult for one to be a female. Their society considers women to be little more than chattel and child bearers. Remaining a virgin even on a lifetime basis is obviously not an option in this part of the world. This is in light of the fact that just last year, Oprah Winfrey established and opened a school in Meyerton, South Africa, targeted towards female children and teens who showed promise in academics and leadership. But hey, females don’t need education or leadership training, not per South African standards. Personally, I think the worst part of this crime case is that it was female-on-female violence. No, this time we simply cannot blame it on male oppression of females. It simply is not there. This is not an isolated case of where women oppress their own gender. By forcing Nobhule to follow the same route the other women did, they did their own gender a grave disservice. The women who tortured poor Nobhule need to be made an example of.

The one statement from the article that disturbed me the most was the following:

“It made the other girls, who already have children, look bad.”

As in, other girls who were also seventeen years old and have been making babies since they started their menses? Maybe this would appear to be the norm in South Africa but here in the United States, that sort of behavior is still considered to be socially unacceptable. But then, maybe in the United States education and ambitions for girls are valued, maybe not as highly as they should be, but they are valued. But I digress here. Nobhule has been martyred for being a virgin at a young age, which is a shame. This girl wanted to be an achiever but that was promptly taken away from her. Had she waited to marry and have children in her twenties, that may have been too much for other girls in South Africa who were used to the status quo. Nobhule’s teacher Chiliza said that there was rising jealousy of her student from other girls. Jealousy would explain much of why the beating happened. Being free from looking after children warrants a more peaceful life, private time to oneself, and lower blood pressure. If girls as young as seventeen are having babies, of course they are going to be jealous of girls who do not have kids to take care of and look after.

Maybe it is time for their values system to change. Africa is one of the few continents to still practice female genital mutilation, men carrying HIV even believe that they will eliminate the disease if they knowingly spread it to a virgin female, and on the whole, treat females like second-class citizens. Education is the key to real freedom here, and while Nobhule broke the rules, hopefully other young girls will consider her a role model and not an enemy.