Fẹ́mi Adédèjì[1]
1. Introduction
This paper highlights
the changes in societal values attached to virginity and its music and the
causes of such changes among the African people. It does not criticize the
present day moral decadence even as evidenced in some African pop music. But,
as implied by increase in pre-marital sex, pre-marital pregnancies and
abortions, there is no denying the fact that more people lose their virginity
before marriage. How dọ African people feel about virginity today; the ladies
themselves, husbands, parents and the societies at large?
In the process of
writing this paper, vital information was received through personal interviews
which I had with ladies of secondary and post-secondary institutions, married
women (young and old), various men and few known ‘prostitutes’.
2. Virginity and the Attached Value
The concept of
virginity is a universal one. It is the value attached to it that differs. The
state of females being sexually ’untouched’ is described as virginity and such
an ‘untouched’ lady is described as a virgin. In most African traditional
societies, virginity at marriage received a high honour. Thus, females in those
societies knew little or nothing about sex before marriage. The following song
sung by a newly married lady shows this clearly.
Ọkọ ní n tẹ́ní My husband said, ‘Spread
the mat’
Mo lémi ò tẹ́rú ẹ̀ rí I said, ‘I never spread mat this
way before’
Nlé bàbá mi In my father’s house
Ọkọ ní n sùn My husband said, ‘Lie
down’
Mo lémi ò sunrú ẹ̀ rí I said, ‘I never lay down like that’
Nlé bàbá mi In my father’s house’
Ọkọ ní n túsọ My husband
said, ‘Remove your wrapper’
Mo lémi ò sunrú ẹ̀ rí I said, ‘I never lay down like that’
Nlé bàbá mi In my father’s house’
Ọkọ ní n yatan My husband said, ‘Spread
your thighs’
Mo lémi ò sunrú ẹ̀ rí I said, ‘I never lay down like that’
Nlé bàbá mi In my father’s house’
(Ọládèjì
1988: 133)
Music which praises
the bride, her family and congratulates the bridegroom was also played to
celebrate the virginity. This is because it was a pride for the lady, her
parents, bridegroom, his parents and the community at large. It was common to
hear songs such as the one below being sung for a successfully wedded lady
among the Yorùbá.
O yege You are successful
Olúrẹ̀mí, o yege Oluremi, you
are successful
Sẹ̀san rí ẹ ló.mo.ge Sesan sees you as a fresh lady
Ó sì gbé ẹ níyàwó And he takes you as a wife
Olúrẹ̀mí, o yege Oluremi, you are successful
Olúrẹ̀mí pegedé Oluremi has won
Ó fi gbọ̀rọ̀ jẹkà She has passed the test
On the other hand, a
lady who had lost her virginity was shamefully treated. This may also be
accompanied by satirical music. The Yorùbá song-text below is an example of such satirical songs.
Aya tí a fẹ́ The newly wedded wife
Àṣé kọ̀ǹdẹ̀ ni Is a waste product
Àṣálòkù ni She is no more new
Ó ti di kòròfo She is empty
Ó ti lùǹtẹ̀ She is finished
Àwa ò fẹ́ ẹ mọ́ We are not marrying her any more
In such a situation,
items symbolising the debasement of the bride would be sent to her parents. An
empty match-box and a half-full keg of palm-wine would be sent. The parents
would be so ashamed and might exercise the fear that their daughter might be
sent back to them and the marriage gifts already taken (including the dowry)
returned to the bridegroom’s family.
Mbiti (1969: 127)
seems to conclude that most African societies retain 'virginity’ till the initiation and
puberty rites. According to him, 'it is very dishonouring if any female is
found to have
lost her virginity without being married among the Akamba’. And as a part of
the Nandi female initiation rites, Mbiti (1969: 127) states that ‘the Nandi
people examine the virginity of females after been allowed to be tempted by
males in a place called Sikiroino’. There, the females were taught to control
their sexual desires. The most critical period during the initiation rite was when the news about virginity and loss of
virginity are announced by spectators to the parents at home. The virgin would receive gifts of cows and sheep apart from
panegyric music sung in her honour.
The parents would be honoured and they themselves would be proud of their
daughters. The parents and relatives
of deflowered girls would be so much ashamed and would feel so humiliated and
disgraced that they might threaten
to kill themselves or put the girl to death. To the Nandi, the female sex organ
is the symbol of life. When it is cut
during the initiation rite, it is like unlocking the issues of life' (Mbiti 1969: 127) . Thus, thereafter, there may
be an unblocked flow of life. Losing one's virginity before marriage was
a great offence to the entire Nandi society. Such action was believed to be capable of ruining their nation.
Among the Batoro,
Mbiti (1969:141) also states that
the stains of virginity presented to
the mother at marriage are the greatest
credit to the mother and the family of the bride. This episode is accompanied by
music. The blood of virginity
is the symbol that life has been preserved, that the spring of life has not been flowing wastefully, and that both the
girl and her relatives have preserved
the sanctity of human reproduction
'Young women of Serea must be virgin
brides at wedding' (Caplan 1987: 398). In the past, the bride's vagina was
checked on her wedding day when the village members asked for the condition of her hymen. If pure
and intact, her blood was smeared on a bark-cloth and held up for all to witness' (ibid).
Music then burst out. In Eastern Fiji, if a bride had been deflowered, she
would be sent back to her
parents in shame accompanied by satirical music. To prevent hostilities, they
must reply with an appropriate substitute
consisting of an earth-baked pig, lacerated about its head and with a banana thrust into its anus'
(Caplan 1987:198).
In Kano, there was also a strong emphasis
on virginity before the 'first marriage'. In many other parts of Africa, virginity was an important determinant of marriage
stability. In some societies, the
marriage would break down completely if the bride was not a virgin at the time
of the wedding’ (Mbiti 1969: 145). This is not to say that there
were no exceptions. Few societies expected
the couple to have 'met' before the wedding took place. Whatever the case might
be, an average African traditional man,
in the past, would prefer to marry a virgin at 'first marriage'.
Many traditional
African societies had musical practices, the participation of which was limited
to virgins only. Such musical practices were, in most cases, linked with one
festival or the other. Arnong African societies that had special music
reserved for virgins are the Vendas of South Africa (Blacking 1973:58-68), some parts of
Yorubaland, the Ebira and the Ogori of Nigeria. It is interesting to know
that where music by virgins exist, the virgins, while playing it, in most
cases, appear
naked or cover their private parts only.
3. Evidence of Change in the Societal Value on Virginity
Hennques (1968: 338) was of the
opinion that there is no real adequate sociological analysis of the phenomenon
of virginity. Victoria Goddard in Caplan (1987: 177) identifies pregnancy and lack of
hymen as the only proof of loss of virginity. A careful look into our societies
will
reveal other proofs, although, not necessarily direct. In many African
societies today, young males and females are involved in sexual practices at an
alarming rate. This, thus, implies that the girls involved are already no more virgins.
According to my findings, pre-marital pregnancy, abortion, prostitution, sexual diseases, doctors' reports and
confessions by females are all other evidence of increased pre-marital sexual experiences today. Judging from the
prevalence of the above mentioned practices, it is evident that the traditional value attached to
virginity and its music has changed drastically.
The song-text quoted below attests to the above facts.
Bèbí jẹ́ ká lọ sílé, ara mi ti wà
lọ́nà Baby let’s go
home, I am in the mood
Má jẹ́ kí n dánìkàn sùn, òtútù mú Don’t let me sleep alone, it is
cold
Pèmí wale (2ce), ká rọ̀ bí òjò
wẹliwẹli Call me in (2ce), let’s be
partners like the rain
Today, situations have changed and are still
changing as regard the value of virginity and its music in Africa. According to Mbiti (1969: 132),
'Changes are rapidly taking place in Africa'.
Initiation rites are affected by
these changes. Songs accompanying virginity are today, in most cases, reduced if not totally cancelled. Adams (1980:
34) says that sexual behaviour of young people and the climate
of opinion is changing. This is shown by the fact that 95% of the girls
interviewed, both in the church and educational institutions in Nigeria
confessed to have lost their virginity and that they do not feel any remorse for it.
The girls interviewed ranges between 18 and 25 years old. I was told by most of them that no girl would like to remain
a virgin. One of them says that 'it is a sign of bad luck if a lady of twenty is still a virgin'.The
boys too have seduced many virgins and, consequently, they no longer demand for virginity at marriage. The
parents and the community at large
refuse to demand for virginity at marriage again since they are aware of the
current trend. This accounts for pre-marital
pregnancy (without shame), even at the Court or Church's "white-wedding'.
The man does not seem to care, even, when he is not sure of the ownership of
the pregnancy.
4. Why
the Change?
Many reasons are
accountable for the change in the societal value placed on virginity. Mbiti (1969: 216-228) attributes the change to
influences from Christianity, education and civilisation. All these could be described as western
influences. The original values attached to virginity, among the African traditional societies, was to be found
during the pre-colonial periods. In African traditional religion, there are taboos against anti-social and
anti-ancestral behaviour. One dares not
break them for the fear of the ancestors and the gods. But the 'Western
God" of Christianity is believed
to be a loving, merciful and a forgiving God, There is no amount of sins
committed that he cannot forgive. He
does not inflict 'magun' (a Yoruba charm which kills a man who has sex with another person's wife) on people. This is why some
Christian priests are even involved in deflowering virgins and gradually,
many societies have become liberal and permissive in this matter.
Western education has
civilised African societies but then, much damage has been done to their cultural
patterns. In African traditional societies, close movement of girls with boys
or vice-versa
were controlled to avoid a premature discovery of the secret of adulthood'.
Western education ignores such things.
It puts both males and females together in the same classroom and gives prototype of sexual
education to young people who later want to want to experiment with what they
have been taught.
As a result of Western influence, the initiation/puberty rites have been discontinued
in many African societies
today. In other places, where they are still retained, they are no more
intensified as in the pre-colonial period. Consequently, the music accompanying
the rites is also affected.
Western civilisation
media such as pop music, TV, films, love--magazine and pornographic literature have lured
young African females into losing their virginity, in the sense that they want
to appear
sophisticated and flamboyant in physical appearance. They want to practise what
they
have heard, seen, read and sung. They, therefore, do not count virginity to be
of any value once they enjoy themselves.
Inter-cultural
marriage has also been a factor as regards the change in the value attached to virginity. Today, an
African may marry outside his society and if virginity is not much valued in such a society, the
couple will prefer to consider more important marriage issues other than virginity.
Economic reasons also constitute another
factor that is responsible for change in the values attached to virginity in Africa. People sell out their virginity for
monetary purposes when there are no
alternatives. Very many people turn to prostitution prematurely and sometimes
unaware, when they have no bread-winner. The virgins are made to
disregard their virginity before they are seduced. Survival is presented as more valuable than virginity in the
twentieth century. As far as the females
are concerned, 'give the parents money and you will be blameless’.
5. Conclusion
Virginity is today
seen as a disturbance and an hindering factor to a life of sexual freedom for ladies. This is
implied in many contemporary African pop songs, the cancellation of music which used to
accompany virginity in those days and the indifferent attitudes of the African
societies to both.
It is now becoming a
shame for an African lady that is ripe for marriage to be a virgin. Thus the
value attached to virginity and its music in African traditional societies has
changed almost
in the direct opposite direction; from that of glory to shame and from that of
honour to ridicule. But this should not be so because the present day venereal
and killer diseases such as AIDS call on, even men, to abstain from illicit sex just
as Ládélé and Fáníyì (1979:21) have warned that
Okó rẹ ò níí kú mọ́ ọ lábẹ́ You
will not be sexually impotent
Àtọ̀ rẹ ò níí jò dànù Your sperm will not be wasted
Àrùn kan, àwọn àrùn kàn Some
terrible diseases
Tí wọ́n ń pè lálùbá, tí n jẹ́
tọ́rọ́-fọ́nkálé Generally known as venereal
diseases
Orí ò níí jẹ́ o
kárùn lọ́dọ̀ oge May
your head prevent you from contacting such diseases from ladies
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[1] This
paper was published as Adedeji, Fẹmi (1998), ‘Change in Society Values:
‘Virginity’ and its Music among African Society as a Case Study’ in Journal of Nigerian Languages and
Literatures (edited by L.O. Adewole): 6: 7-11.
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