ALWAYS ready to start a heated debate or thought-provoking conversation is published author Rodney Roskruge from Wentworth. Proud of his Xhosa background, Rodney spent most of his young years with his maternal side of the family in Libode, a small town in the Eastern Cape which has had a great impact on the man he is today, from the key lessons taught by his elders to the seemingly innocent games he played with his childhood friends.
It is his cultural and colourful upbringing that forms the foundation of his insights and opinions highlighted in the recently released book, titled, Dickolonizing the Vagina, which seeks to unpack and normalise discussions around sexual education in the modern society. “The topic started on Facebook and I wanted to start a conversation about openly discussing how the human body and our different body parts work. I rant a lot on the topic in the book and also about issues that are often disregarded or swept under the carpet,” he said.
The book has received some criticism from its cover, title and overall topic. Rodney shared that a number of females, in particular, have questioned the title and unbalanced focus on the female reproductive organs in the book. “It’s easy to be attacked by people who don’t take the time to understand what it is that you are doing. I think that is an unfair criticism which has no grounds because many of them haven’t actually read the book. However, there is a demand for it by those who have read it, were impressed by it and are actually getting me customers. ‘Game changer, educational, compelling and mind shifting’ are just some of the words used to describe the book by those who have looked beyond the title and divulged in the text,” he shared.
One of the topics that Rodney writes about is the need to re-adapt past values and lessons taught in the past generation, like those he learnt back in the Eastern Cape, regarding relationships and interactions within those relationships, as he believes that there is a certain discipline that comes with those values that would be relevant in today’s society, which has stripped women of their personal freedom, dignity, their right to be respected and further made it so easy to be a victim of rape and different forms of abuse. These values include elders talking to children about puberty and changes to their bodies, abstaining, building relationships of substance, respecting one another, consent, humanising sex education and protecting safe sex. “In this day and age, we have somehow made a shift and lost so much substance from then to now, from simple things such as actually learning to enjoy each other’s company. I think these conversations need to start at home and moreover, schools need to have meaningful conversations that are relevant to our youth who have become exposed to so much,” he said.
The author now looks forward to the second phase of his work which will see a stage play in September based on the book. Rodney first came out of the writing closet in 2013 with his debut titled, A Fork, Arrow, Red Tight Costume and Cupid, which is a compilation of love poems. Topics that spark the 29 year old’s interest the most include, love, colonialism, sex education, behaviours in the current society and language. He seeks to share his notions and research with other inquiring minds. To get your hands on his latest intriguing book, contact Rodney Roskruge on 072-700-8862.
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