Role models for the modern woman

 "no, it is YOUR fault! Because you’re a man and men are rubbish and shouldn’t have a place in society") I should, all screws being in their right places, be a fan of all the great women to have ever walked the earth. The usual suspects: Boadicea, Cleopatra, *Constance Simelane, Marie Curie, Winnie Mandela, Queen Sibonelo. Maybe Margaret Thatcher, but then, also, obviously, maybe not. Certainly not on my list, because I absolutely loathe Margaret Thatcher.

Only because she’s a woman and you’d think, as society rightly depicts, that she would have been a bit sensitive about apartheid, and not be as inhumane as she acted. If, for instance, Churchill had done that, I wouldn’t have cared.

Hell, I probably wouldn’t have known about it. I’m one of those people who still struggle to remember what exactly the man called Hitler did so badly to humanity that everyone I know should refer to him with such disdain. Or Mgabhi even.　

But you know what? As I get older I can finally admit a big, and possibly shameful, truth: not one of those inspiring ladies has inspired me. Gelane Simelane, Lomawa Ndwandwe, Elizabeth I,　Dr Phetsile, Medicine Woman — nah. Eleanor Roosevelt — nope! Lydia Makhubu – nah! That chick who helped with finding DNA — not bothered! But don’t get me wrong. This is not some anti-leader sour grape-y stance.

In fact, I totally insist that we should honour these women for as long as we can. Besides, I did go berserk, and rightly so, when Benezir Bhutto, the female president of Pakistan, was assassinated a couple of years ago. There could never be anything more inspiring than a woman leading a Muslim country.

I could say the same for Princess Ncengencenge – I loved her waaaay before she became a Senate seat holding a fully baptising pastor. See, you don’t need to be a silly-hat-wearing first iron lady to rule a whole First World country to impress me. I’m a simple creature.　

However, as a teenager, I was looking for something entirely different from my role models. Looking at the list, none of them are good at international diplomacy or simultaneous equations but, instead, without exception, they are all: a) funny, b) drunk, c) don’t refer to anyone as ‘boss’.

Angelina Jolie, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, ‘Phoebe’ from Friends, Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, Elana Afrika, Virginia Woolf, Nomahlubi Matiwane. Now, in my mid-twenties, I still look up to these women, although there are things they do that I don’t and perhaps never will do. Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse have ‘the habit’, but I don’t spend most of my free time leaning on the cistern, chopping about with my credit card and finally snorting cocaine in pub loos, (probably because I can barely afford to pay for a decent haircut at the salon).　

I suspect, however, that it’s possible, with brain scans, to prove that the biggest influence on my life has been Brenda Fassie. I know. Brenda Fassie. She’s dead now, of course, but I loved her then, and still do, because when Brenda came along I had just been born, but grew up very quickly to realise that people in this world are very quick to judge, and what I really needed — and what I am eternally grateful to her for being — was a woman who just didn’t give a s***. I needed a hero who’d repeatedly done incredibly embarrassing things, yet had signally failed to die of mortification.　

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May 5, 2011, 7:42 AM, Audi palm beach (roni.seren@gmail.com)

I am scared of what this lady imported from the UK.This character how ever cool she may think it is,it is what has destroyed the youth in the UK. If we promote rebellion and paste it as cool this country is gearing for the worst. Unlike the UK we don’t have the funds and facilities to take care of this rebellious, self centred and self destroying young people who glorify the wrong kind of characters. If as Swazis we will promote this kind of writings,I shudder to say we will regret. We already have too much rebellious and way ward young people for this country,so we don’t need people who pose as well informed journalist just because they have lived in the UK a country that prides itself of having more pregnancies than any country in Europe. A country that has just declared they have the most drunken youth if not in the whole world.The same youth take people like Jordan,Kate Moss.Karry Katona and all the wasted characters as role models because they claim its cool. The countries television is always with this people showing their rebellion and wayward lives,day in and day out. So how can someone be allowed to deceive our children and make them assume that to be self centred and,rebellious and wasted will make them heros. The UK has money to pay for rehabilitation of this kids and have houses where they keep them.They have all the facilities.Does Swaziland have what it takes to assume those self distractive first world status? No. So why do we allow this lady to poison the youth and glorify rebellion? I can say a lot about the destruction cause by rebellion to the youth and their families and nothing is cool and nothing was cool by being Brenda.She may have appeared cool but I know that her kind is always crying out for help inside because they know well they are cutting their lives short while people like Single Lilly are clapping hands saying she is cool. Repack your imported rebellious character and stop spilling it on our kids please.You can as well take it back to the UK and tell them Swazis say this is not what they ordered.Thank you.
May 5, 2011, 7:42 AM, Stones (stones.m68@hotmail.co.uk)

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