CULTURE: Malawians Pursue the “Bootylicious”

By Pilirani Semu-Banda Reprint | | Print |

Pilirani Semu-Banda

BLANTYRE, Oct 21 2005 (IPS) - On a cool evening, a young woman who identifies herself as Yasmin swings her hips as she walks confidently from her living quarters at the University of Malawi campus, towards a hall where a disco is being held.

A group of youngsters whistle in approval as she approaches. However, Yasmin (23) ignores them as she joins three other young women leaning against a wall inside.

All four are clad in short, tight, skirts and midriff-baring blouses: disciples of a recent trend that celebrates voluptuous figures, rather than the lean physiques of runway models.

Often, this trend requires more than what Mother Nature has bestowed.

But, Malawians have a solution to the problems posed by lack of cleavage, or an insubstantial derriere. Inspired by television programmes on extreme makeovers, which beam across the continent via satellite television, both men and women are taking action to change their appearance.

“Why should we lag behind?” Yasmin asks with a smile. “A lot of people across the world are changing their looks for the better and so are we.”

Her friend, Phindu (19), agrees. “Ample cleavage for women is the rage. So are heavy hips, a flat stomach and a scar-free body. As for men, it is all about having a sizable manhood,” she says. “A few come by all these naturally but for most of us, we look for help.”

In reality television shows from the United States such as ‘Extreme Makeover’ and ‘The Swan’, as well as the South African production ‘Star Maker Story’, participants are transformed by hair-dressers, make-up artists, stylists and even plastic surgeons.

This high-priced expertise is beyond the reach of most people in Malawi however, where the average person still earns less than a dollar a day. Instead, makeover fans have resorted to using untested herbal products.

The media is filled with advertisements touting miracle cures for flat breasts, short penises, stretch marks and small hips. And, these medicines come in every form imaginable: capsules, syrups, gels, tablets and creams.

According to one supplier, Jeffrey Kenzo of Kenzo Products Shop in the capital, Lilongwe, the products are becoming more popular by the day. Kenzo says his shop stocks slimming and weight gain remedies, scar removing creams for men and women, breast firming gels, virginity soaps that are used to tighten women’s private parts – and a wildly popular penis enlarger gel.

Supplier Randy Mbedza told IPS that he buys his products at wholesale prices from shops in Dubai – then markets them with tact. “It is discreet,” he adds. “Nobody wants to be seen to be using such products.”

Mbedza claims to deliver by order to clients who include prominent people, such as politicians: “Sometimes we are asked to drop wrapped parcels at the reception of different offices.”

But, while these mysterious parcels may be sought after, the chief technical adviser to the Ministry of Health, Wesley Sangala, warns that those who use untested products could be at risk of dangerous side effects.

“No proper tests have been conducted on these and they come with no approval from government. They come with no doctor’s recommendation,” he told IPS. Typically, the products include instructions – but no indication of where they were made.

Sangala admits that government cannot do much to regulate this miracle cure industry because “there are some loopholes in the laws which have to be tied up first.” Authorities are in the process of drafting a health bill, he adds, which will ensure that no one exploits consumers of any health product – while also regulating traditional healers.

At the very least, the products may simply not be effective.

The registrar of the Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board, Wynn Chalira, told IPS that this organisation had seen samples of the products, and that their ingredients showed they were just ordinary soaps, creams and lotions.

“The ingredients in those products are like every other soap or cream which could be found on the shelves of any shop. There is a great element of cheating,” he said.

Nonetheless, while the idea of beauty as a passport to a better life persists, there will be those who are prepared to save for months in order to buy these products – some of which sell for up to 100 dollars.

“We have all been baptised in the name of the American showbiz term ‘bootylicious’, which means girls with sexy, full and attractive bodies,” says Phindu.

American musicians Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Lopez are seen as icons of the trend to voluptuousness, changing perceptions of what constitutes female beauty – and constructing business empires in the process.

Of course, Jeffrey Kenzo has just the product to bring the ideal they represent a little closer to home.

“If you see some girls that suddenly become all curvy, don’t be surprised. It could be the work of hip and breast boosters,” he says.

Kenzo claims that three weeks on these boosters should produce satisfactory results; but Phindu and Yasmin say they have used hip boosters for three months, and have yet to see a change.

So, time for something new? Not at all. “I am not giving up yet,” says Phindu.