How Purity Culture Took Root in Africa, and What It’s Costing Girls

A blend of western religion and African patriarchy created the monster we now know as purity culture in Africa

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I can’t remember the first time I felt shame, but I know it came early. Maybe it was when a grown man told me I was “developing fast and would soon be ripe” at 11, and everyone around just… laughed. Maybe it was when I started learning to slouch, not because I had bad posture, but because my breasts were starting to show, and that suddenly felt like a threat.

It creeps up on you, doesn’t it? That quiet, choking thing that teaches you, without words, that your body isn’t really yours. That it’s too much. Too visible. Too distracting. Too female.

Let me tell you something that deeply unsettles me:

In parts of Africa — and yes, even now — young girls have their breasts flattened with hot stones or spatulas. Mothers do it. Aunties do it. They call it protection. The idea is, if a girl doesn’t look “developed,” maybe she won’t get raped. Maybe she won’t be forced into marriage. Maybe men won’t notice her.