Traditional Ceremonies

This past weekend I attended a traditional ceremony for one of the girls in my girls club-the star pupil really. In Ndebele culture, there is a process and ceremony to become a man or women. For the men, about every 3 or 4 years a group of boys will go up and live in the mountains for two months. When they come down, there is a huge ceremony/party and they are officially men. The process is very secretive, despite my constant nagging and indirect questioning, I can't get anyone to actually tell me what happens up there--besides that they kill snakes and sleep on the ground. But the girl-to-woman ceremony happens much more frequently. Typically a girl or her family can choose when they want her to "do her culture", and she spends two months living inside the house, wearing only a blanket around her waist, cooking and cleaning. She isn't allowed to talk to anybody of the opposite sex, and nobody outside of her family. I actually went to visit a family once, unaware that the girl was "doing her culture", and was kind of offended at the fact that she wouldn't respond to my questions or even greet me, until somebody finally noted to me that she wasn't allowed to. After she finishes the two months of good womanly training, her family will host a big party as well, kind of like a debutante ball. 'The girl and all family members shave their heads to honor the debutante and signify growing up and moving forward. People bring presents (you've never seen true functional presents until you've lived in SA...people give money, food, beds, blankets, pots and pans...just what every 16 year old dreams for). Other girls who have either done their or are about to do their culture will come and assist in the ceremony, dressing up in traditional outfits and performing dances (that are, in my opinion, extremellllly boring). People eat, cheer, congratulate the family, and peace out. My host family dressed me up in one of the traditional outfits like the girls above (don't worry, I was wearing a shirt), and I was so surprised at how heavy they are. I mean, I couldn't even walk and was constantly complaining about how the heave beaded blocks were digging into my feet. So it is quite impressive that these girls can wear them for hours at a time, and even dance in them. Maybe that's why the dances are so lame, because they can barely move ;) In the old days, the young girls (virgins) would wear these outfits exposing their chests so that the Chief/King could see the goods and choose who he wanted to be his next wife. In my area anyway, the outfit is more symbolic and the Chief no longer has those powers. I'm not sure if in the more traditional areas, like Zululand, this still occurs.
I have mixed feelings about these cultural practices...girls often have to miss at least a month of school in order to fulfill the 2 month period, and the process of solely cooking and cleaning unclothed for two months seems extremely disempowering. Gogos will spend long days beading and sewing to make these expensive outfits. However it appears to be more of a symbol now than hard held belief, and most girls get to choose if they even want to participate. And maybe I will never understand, because I'm not Ndebele. The only justification I can seem to get from anyone is, "I can't explain it, it's culture". And that's gotta be good enough.