Virgin Zulu Dancers Told to Cover

(Ulundi, South Africa) The centuries-old Zulu Royal Reed Dance is held annually for the benefit of the king. Thousands of young virgin Zulu girls wear only short skirts and dance around to display their intimate purity.

The Reed Dance is a solemn occasion for the teenage girls but it is also an opportunity to show off their singing, dancing and beadwork - the fruits of many months of excitement and preparation.

Beadwork abounds and it is often the only clothing the maidens wear. The girls are for the most part bare breasted and they wear the traditional beaded belt and frontal apron worn by virgins - the isigege. The beadwork is in a range of intricate patterns and vivid colours, differing from region to region.

The Reed Dance gets its name from reeds carried by the teenage maidens in a procession several kilometers long and presented to the king in the Royal Enclosure.




Virgin Zulu Reed Dancers

Unfortunately, the teen girls have historically been so exposed that European tourists, using high-tech photography equipment, have lasciviously been taking pictures of the bare bottoms and denigrating the ceremony.

Therefore, King Goodwill Zwelithini has told the thousands of girls to put on some underwear.

Photography at the traditional dances, performed by thousands of virgin girls in Nongoma, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is strictly regulated. All camera-men are supposed to be bona fide members of the press.

But checks in recent years have shown some photographers were just ordinary tourists taking pictures without approval. The tradition is carried out to pay homage to the King, who chooses his wives from among the dancers.

The dancers usually do not wear underwear because the routine is designed to be a proud display of their innocence.

Zulu girls are said to be angry at being told to cover up because they are losing the chance to show off their virginity in the customary way.

Therefore, teen virgins are being denied the right to show their precious flowers to the king because of lascivious European picture-takers.

On a different note, it seems fairly remarkable that it's possible to congregate 10,000 virgins at one place at one time anywhere on the planet Earth. Also, one has to wonder how anyone can tell if a girl is virginal by simply viewing the crotch from some distance.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.