The King’s speech: Focusing on the role of men
Kim Johnson
27 September 2011
In his speech delivered at the weekend’s heritage day celebrations, Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini took an uncharacteristic and more welcome approach to HIV prevention messaging, focusing on men’s role in the epidemic.
The Sowetan covered the Shaka Day celebrations in Johannesburg and quoted Zwelithini as saying that HIV-positive men needed to stop spreading the virus. The king also advised that men should be faithful to one partner at a time.
Aside from the latter statement seeming hypocritical coming from the mouth of a man who practices polygamy, the former statement might signal a move away from a mindset which has packed all the responsibility for safe sex (which includes the ever important prevention of HIV) onto the shoulders of women.
Critics have pointed out that cultural groups (like the Zulu) who practice the Reed dance ceremony have focused exclusively on the abstinence and ‘purity’ of young girls, effectively setting a double standard for the two sexes.
As a result safe sex messaging for boys and men has been neglected, effectively leaving HIV prevention half addressed and the population partially protected.
The king’s statement illustrates that people are becoming aware of the need for gender neutral and therefore more comprehensive approaches to safe sex messaging.
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