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By Pandu
Hailonga-van Dijk
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| An
older woman counsels a young girl. Photocredit
© R. Zurba/USAID Photo Gallery |
Introduction
Sometimes they want to treat us the way they
were treated long time ago, but the world is changing.
Look around you - everything is changing, but haha
they do not want to change what they were told by
their parents: what they were advised by their great
grandparents then they expect us to do so...
They do not understand that at the time they
grew up condoms were not so famous, and the virus
AIDS did not exist and sex was not taught in most
schools, but now it is everywhere. ...[T]hey used
to live in a different world, and their parents
were poor and they did not use to live in an independent
country. They could not afford [deodorant] roll-on;
they could not go to school. Us, we are different,
we are in an independent country. (FGD 3a female
16-year-old urban)
Discourses on sexuality in Africa have evolved
from procreation and marriage to pleasure and enjoyment
(made easier by the availability of condoms). These
current discourses are creating conflict between
different generations. The majority of adolescents
see themselves as more 'modern' than their parents.
They see their sexual expression as being independent,
and they see themselves as people who have outgrown
tradition and who are embracing the global culture:
'The difference is the change of development,
new technology; the world of our parents was different.
Our parents should change with the new developments,
and they also have to change with new technology.
Our parents were using the approach of abstaining.
Now the world has changed: people are developed.'
(FGD 3b girl, 17-year-old, urban)
'Our parents are primitive. They follow the
way they used to be. Nowadays, the technology is
improving minute by minute and we are jumping onto
every bandwagon. They need to let us on our own,
we are responsible and they need to let us be on
our own.' (FGD3c, boy 17-year-old urban)
'The way the kids look at us, they look down
at us. We seem to be below them because we do not
have [a formal] education.' (Mrs K, 55-year-old,
rural)
Intergenerational Conflicts
Adolescents perceive themselves as being enlightened
because most of them are more educated than their
parents, and they (adolescents) stress that they
are different from their parents. This is reinforced
by the fact that they speak English2, are more familiar
with computers, and know about condoms and the events
in the world. They are demanding autonomy. Some
adults believe that the concept of children's rights3,
especially their right to self-expression, is in
contradiction with the Namibian culture, which until
recently, viewed children as listeners and not as
people who have anything to say. This has contributed
to the conflict between parents and their children:
'Today's children have not understood their
rights properly. They do not know where it starts
and where it ends. Even when they walk with their
boyfriend, then they think it is their right, while
they are supposed to be under the supervision and
the care of an adult member.4' (Mrs PT 46-year-old
urban)
In a globalised, industrialised world, each generation
experiences its adolescence phase differently. Their
experience is time and context specific.5 As adolescents
come in contact with outside influences and new
technologies, their sexual mores and values are
redefined (Altman 2001). In this generation, there
appears to be a move toward a more permissive set
of attitudes on matters of sexuality. It has been
argued that adolescents view sex as a way of expressing
intimacy, romantic love, and their modern identity
(see [1] which refers to the southeastern Nigeria
context).
This adolescent discourse on sex contradicts adult
norms and values. For instance, whenever the question
was asked: 'Why are adolescents behaving differently
from the way the adults did when they were young?'
the adult response has been: Mbera Oshinanena,
which literally translated means 'It is, maybe,
today's ways'. Parents associate changes which do
not conform to their social expectations as Oshinanena,
a discourse influenced by globalisation and responsible
for taking their adolescents away from them. As
different cultures mingle, parents lose their hold,
leading to different choices for individuals and
a hybrid context:
In a situation where tradition has lost its hold
and no longer guarantees the reliability or trustworthiness
of individuals or institutions, each person is faced
with a series of open choices about how to live
her or his life. Self-actualisation, realising one's
own identity through personal and social encounters,
precisely because tradition and custom no longer
guarantee who we are, is a basic condition of modern
social life. It is a condition that promotes personal
autonomy from socially embedded expectations and
opens up the world to exploration and personal experimentation.'
[2]
Perceptions About the Mass Media
Because the print and electronic media support the
discourses of pleasure and enjoyment, adults often
oppose kykbooks6 (photo novels) and television,
seeing in them the dangers of exposure to sexual
activity (or so-called 'adult' activities) that
corrupt the minds of young people. The content of
kykbooks and television programmes challenge the
adults' discourses on sex, and adults see young
people as vulnerable to kykbooks and television,
which expose them to Western culture. Both kykbooks
and television are explicit, something which has
created discomfort in the adults:
It is television. At the beginning they started
with those kykbooks, where people were kissing and
doing all sort of things. Regarding those books,
I had a law in my house that nobody was allowed
to bring them in my house. The kids decided to bring
them in the house secretly, and put them under the
pillows. Than I used to get them and burn them.
Because they were a disturbance as the kids were
just focusing on looking at the kykbooks; they did
not want to go to church. It was just KYKBOOK. Then
comes the TV and misbehaving and disobedience then
took over, and the kids started trying out what
they saw on television. (Mr FL 82-year-old,
urban)
The President of the Republic of Namibia echoed
the same opinion when (on 1 October 2002) he told
the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation to stop broadcasting
foreign films (that show violence and sex), as he
was of the opinion that it had a bad influence on
Namibian youth [3].7 Despite adult attitudes towards
photo novels and television, young people have not
been deterred from using them as resources.
Television's importance among teenagers has also
influenced the broadcast of a different sort of
advertising about sexuality. In their attempts to
address the consequences of unwanted pregnancy,
governmental institutions and non-govern-mental
organisations have aggressively used the television
and other media to broadcast messages about preventing
AIDS and teenage pregnancies.
The messages confirm some parts of the adult discourses
on adolescent sexuality ('Children are out of control')
and challenges them ('It is too explicit'). Neither
promotes a positive feeling, and most adults have
expressed (formally or informally) their distaste
for the messages:
The chat show of Namibia Broadcasting Corporation
in the morning is worth listening in to. Talking
is a vital component in the African culture. The
chat show is interrupted frequently by adverts,
which lecture in a straight way to use a condom.
It does not give moral messages like 'do not sleep
around, wait for the right partner', 'stick to one
partner', 'report teachers who misuse and infect
their pupils' etc. This message is just to 'condomise'
the nation'. [4]
When we throw such a person a condom, we are
encouraging her to 'go with the flow', much to the
potential detriment of that individual. Isn't it
better to teach our children to learn self-control,
to not be enslaved to our fleshly desires, but rather
to put them under our control? [5]
Challenges
Adults are aware of the sexual experimentation by
adolescents, and doing the best they can to prevent
their adolescents' exposure to what they think will
influence their sexual behaviour. At the same time,
they also seem to have difficulties in providing
the necessary support during these trying times.
Consequently, some adults take a victim blaming
approach, asking questions such as: 'Why should
she, at the age of 12, be pregnant?' Thus, they
fail to question the environment of coercion or
experimentation that surrounds the 12-year-old.
In addition, adults try to find legitimacy in tradition
as a way of resisting the current notions of sexuality.
Adults want to challenge the influence of globalisation,
but lack the authority and legitimacy parents had
in the past:
We young people refuse to listen to our parents
and other parents give up and others continue, because
we are [contemporary] ... children and our parents
are old-fashioned. I do not know why. We just think
our parents are telling us things of the old times.
I do not think our parents understand. We are teenagers,
and we need to enjoy our lives. Those parents were
already here; they did what they wanted; this is
now our time to do what we want. I know that parents
enjoyed their time; now they want to prevent us
from enjoying ourselves. (FGD 3a, girl, urban)
We are out of fashion; we, the old people are
out of fashion. Now when the young people get boyfriends
they just say 'yes'. They do not tell their parents.
They just tell you that they are married and arrive
with their husband. They do what they want, and
do not take our views into consideration. (Mrs
H 52-year-old, urban)
The culture, norms and values that the parents
hope to pass on to their adolescents are perceived
as outdated and irrelevant by the young people.
Adolescents resist the information because they
are embracing 'modern' values, which adults see
as a threat to the moral integrity of society, redefining
both the traditional and the modern culture and
creating hybridised cultural norms, values and behaviours.
As a consequence, adults feel powerless and helpless
with regard to the changes occurring around them.
Notes
1. This paper is part of a PhD thesis that was defended
in 2005 at the Institute of Social studies. The
study seeks to analyze the socio historical aspects
of adolescent sexuality and reproductive behaviour
in Namibia. The study primarily used qualitative
research i.e. in-depth interviews and focus group
discussions. More than 40 people between the ages
of 12 - 82 years, in both urban and rural areas,
were interviewed
2. The adult informants in this study have an average
of seven years of formal schooling. Adolescents
are, in most cases, the first generation to be educated
using English, which is the official language.
3. 'Children have heard about rights and freedom.
It is like they can do what they want and no parent
can tellthem.' (Mrs H, 52-year-old, urban).
4. Original expression in Otjiherero: Ousemba wavo
kaveuzu nawa, ousemba kutja wu uta pi noku wanda
pi. Nai tjimakaondja no boyfriend, okutja manangasi
ousemba. Ngunda uuhupa kehi yo mundu, wa so kukala
kehi yo mundu ngo (Mrs PT, 46-year-old).
5. 'Today, children are in charge. If you go in
the house you would not find young people at home.
At sunset they are preparing to leave the house
while the parents are preparing themselves to go
back home. It is not only the church that is of
concern, but also the government. But the problems
of today, there are too many things. Independence
created a lot of problems, people misunderstood
independence. Wrongly they assume that with independence
they have freedom, even in the house, that nobody
can tell them what they want.' (Mr K, 70-year-old,
rural).
6. Kykbooks are pictures books (originally from
South Africa, and were popular in the 1970s and
1980s and was available in both English and Afrikaans).
These books focused on relationships and sexuality,
especially depicting kissing, sleeping together
and people who were partly naked. This did not go
well with the adults, but since sex was a taboo
subject (except when one was married), young people
were attracted to these books, which in many ways
became their sexuality education.
7. This comment applies here but was directed towards
violent programmes because violence is increasing
in the country. In search of a root cause, television
was seen as one of the scapegoats.
References
1. Smith, D. J. (2000) "These Girls Today Na
War-P" Premarital Sexuality and Modern Identity
in Southeastern Nigeria, Africa Today 47
(3-4):98-120
2. O' Brien, M. (1998) 'The Sociology of Anthony
Giddens: An Introduction, ' in A Giddens and C Person,
Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Makings
Sense of Modernity. London: Polity. P.23
3. The Namibian (October 1, 2002) 'Nujoma
orders purge of NBC schedule'. Windhoek. http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/october/national/0289DAA126.html
4. Van Wyk, J. (March 28, 2002) "Condomise
the Nation" in Letters to the Editor column,
The Namibian. Windhoek.
5. Rev. Victor (April 14, 2003) "No Sex is
Safe" in Letters to the Editor column, The
Namibian. Windhoek
* Pandu Hailonga-van Dijk (Ph.D) works
at the Baobab Research and Training Institute, Windhoek
in the Republic of Namibia.
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