Manjuzu : “A dark tale of partial Socialization…”
If you have never heard of an ancient story of mermaids then you might not have had an interesting childhood. When we were young , our grandmothers would tell us how people were not suppose to cry when someone is taken by a mermaid. Usually a big traditional event known as “Bira” would happen to bring back the person. In most cases , the person would come back as a doctor or a traditional healer. Well to me that sounded like just a myth or maybe just an ancient story ….. but that might not be the case in Zimbabwe, the manjuzu story has proven to be more than just a story and has skyrocketed to another level of reality.
Men, women, boys and girls ….we all want to live a great and satisfying life . A life that is comfortable and a life that we all can take pride in . But such a life comes with a great cost and normally it is hard-working and we call it a hard-earned life.
Manjuzu aka spirit of mermaids is believed to be endowing its worshippers with wealth and a good life, has grown popular mostly among young women desperate for good fortunes from rich men. It is also believed to be a ritual performed by ladies to appease the mermaid spirits to get the charms of luring rich men. So they get identified by “machembere” who usually tell them about this spirit . Some are born with this spirit but most of them are going out to seek them.
So unlike that traditional bira, they do fancy dinners (might be an all white or black party, they dress in fancy garments , they either bath or drink in milk or wine. The left overs are usually used for the awakening ceremony and appeasement of the spirits. In this case the young women will then have the power to lure rich men who are mostly married men. These young women are often referred to as “slay queens” on social media because they drive porshe cars and live a lavish lifestlye on instagram.
Partial Socialization
When l was reading more about this , l was asking myself about the etiology of this obsession of “rich men”. Why specificially rich men? ….. This so called concept is feeding into the reality of what young women have been socialized to believe. We raise boys to be thinkers , innovaters and problem solvers but we raise women to be beautiful, aspire for marriage and live a lavish life which will be provided by men. The pyschology of poverty has paved way for such opportunistic spirits and ideas to corrupt the mind of young women. The extreme need of rich men to cater for a life that is beyond normalcy has led young women to sell their soul to the devil.
What makes it more interesting is the use of fancy stuff during the initiation and the awakening process… the use of rice, milk, wine , dinners, gold and white garmets … it sounds cool right and if l didnt know better l would say it is harmless unless the usual scary horns, eggs and mirrors but effects are devastating and can lead to death.
Not the trash of the society : it can be a killer
The conversation around this concept goes beyond the psychology of poverty, a multisectoral approach can be skillfully employed when addressing this. The need for social inclusion has led so many souls astray. Social exclusion is a killer , everyone need to belong to a certain level of acceptance and the over emphasis of the gospel of money and desperation has tainted our innocence.
The “mbinga” syndrome has led to peer pressure that has corrupted even the last sense of needed critical thinking . Young women has been used as pawns in a chest game as ticket to castles in the air. In my society when you have money you are the beast “mbinga” , you then have a say in decision making … As l look deep into this supposedly “power to lure men” it respond to how we have socialized our girls. Why not power to be intelligent in school, power to hold executive positions, power to have power female presidents or CEO but out of everything in this world, the emphasis on power to lure men in obscure.
it is a reflection of how dsyfunctional our socialization is .
then the bigger question is on HIV/AIDS, negotiation of safer sex and prevention of STIs. Since most of these rich men are usually “married men” is the circle of transmission of infections controlled by having the self agency to say No to unprotected sex? But l doubt since these men are lured into transitional relationships.
it is clear that there is more to this concept that what the eye can meet. Is the manjuzu notion a fairytale, a religious cult , a result of peer pressure and psychology of poverty or a reflection of a dysfunctional society that has socialized girls to think that they deserve a certain life that will be provided by someone else?
