A Critical Exploration of Women’s views about Indigenous Aphrodisiacs: The Case of Mpesu in Venda, South Africa

A Critical Exploration of Women’s views about Indigenous Aphrodisiacs: The Case of Mpesu in Venda, South Africa

Mohammed Ntshangase , Michael Mbongiseni Buthelezi & Habasisa Molise

Issue: Vol.5 No.13 Issue Article 13 pp. 2163-2176
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451313 | Published online 17th October, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

Mpesu is an indigenous Venda aphrodisiac, originating in the area of Thohoyandou in South Africa (Limpopo province). Mpesu helps empower penile erection for men, and it is commonly available in informal market stalls around Venda. Surprisingly, women know much more about Mpesu than men, who buy it for use at home and to combat erectile dysfunction during intimacy with their sexual partners. This paper explored women’s views on the use of Mpesu to empower penile erection as they advertise and sell it to both men and women. An analytical theoretical framework was used as the lens to academically investigate the women’s understanding and their perspectives on the use of Mpesu in this explorative study. A purposive sample of four women who sell Mpesu in Tshakuma was observed as they advertised and sold Mpesu at their stalls. Data were collected using observations. In addition to Analytic Theory, thematic analysis was adopted in this study to adequately assess women’s perspectives on the use of Mpesu by men as the indigenous South African aphrodisiac. Additionally, three YouTube videos of interviews about Mpesu were used during the conceptualization of this study. This study adopted the observation method for data collection, and the researchers found that the use of Mpesu is more known and welcomed by women than by men in Venda, South Africa. Additionally, this study contributes empirical evidence to the existing body of literature, providing practical recommendations on the use of indigenous aphrodisiacs in Venda and similar settings globally.

Keywords: Traditional Aphrodisiac, Mpesu Medicine, Penile Erection, Women’s Support, Indigenous Medicine

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ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Mohammed Xolile Ntshangase is a Lecturer in Philosophy and Psychology of Education at the Department of Education Studies, University of Limpopo, South Africa. His research focuses on African Philosophy, Philosophy of Education, and Psychoanalysis.

Michael Mbongiseni Buthelezi is a lecturer in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Limpopo. He has also served as National Evaluator for 9 years in Evaluation & Accreditation Unit at UMALUSI before he became an Accreditation Council Committee (ACC) member at UMALUSI. His research includes student development, inclusive education, sustainable learning, psychosocial support, and rural development. He has published more than ten articles and two book chapters. He has presented his articles at national and international conferences.

Habasisa Vincent Molise (PhD Student) is a Lecturer at the School of Education, Department of Education Studies at the University of Limpopo, South Africa. He holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Studies. His research interests focus on Commerce Education.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Mohammed Ntshangase, Michael Mbongiseni Buthelezi & Molise, Habasisa. “A Critical Exploration of Women’s views about Indigenous Aphrodisiacs: The Case of Mpesu in Venda, South Africa,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.13 (2024): 2163-2176. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451313