"For whose pleasure is it anyway?": an ethnographic exposition on the gendered dynamics that shape the vaginal practices of women in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The treatment and care of the vagina and genital areas by women can potentially expose them to the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexual and reproductive morbidities. The logic and merit of this relation is nonetheless debated as cohort studies have yielded inconsistent outcomes. Anterior inquries charge an association between intravaginal practices to augmented vulnerability to HIV and bacterial vaginosis but little is known about the potential gendered dynamics that shape the adoption and use of vaginal practices, especially in the Global South. Guided by social constructivism and African feminist theories, this study explored the views, perceptions, and lived experiences of rural women who use vaginal practices in Tshitatshawa village of Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North Province, Zimbabwe.Using an ethnographic qualitative approach, data were collected using key participant interviews, observations, and in-depth interviews with women and men. It emanated from these engagements that vaginal practices are a product of Indigenous Knowledge and that they play a crucial role in the creation of women’s identity,womanhood, sexual desirability, attending to women’s health needs, spiritual cleansing, and sexual pleasure, and they also contribute to the cultural creation of the female body. The women’s narratives highlighted the active nature of women as users of these practices, who have agency and autonomy of their bodies when it comes to vaginal practices. The incentives for vaginal practices use are associated with personal hygiene, cultural identity, health, and sexuality. Women’s practices of hygiene include external washing, douching, and the insertion of herbal preparations. Anecdotes revealed familiarity, easy access, and low cost of the vaginal practices as some of the factors that have perpetuated the use of these practices by women over time. The women, particularly the younger women, revealed the importance of vaginal practices for their sexual pleasure. It also emanated from the deliberations that vaginal practices aim to enhance eroticism and that health and hygiene are articulations of femininity closely linked to sexuality although they are not commonly specifically articulated as such. An improved appreciation and comprehension of the socio-cultural conditions in which these practices are ingained could potentially ehnace educational plans and stategiesaimed at addressing these likely adaptable behaviours which could ameliorate future HIV prevention interventions that use vaginal methods.