Simphiwe Dana recently came out as being in love with a woman, and not just that. But that the woman is coming to live with her and that they were set to get married.
The news did not shake the country, nor did she experience as much backlash for her revelation as we believe she thought she was going to experience too. In the past, coming out was scary and threatened to end your career. This is the generation that the legendary musician comes from. However, by the time that the “Bamako” musician came out, the country already had female examples like Brenda Fassie and Thandiswa Mazwai that showcased in lived experience what sexual fluidity and being queer is.
So this might be the reason that even when Simphiwe posted the latest image of her fiancé, she was met with messages of appreciation and acceptance. Or the reason for the warm reception could be because tweeps know that the musician is always ready to fire back. However, in the latest post, we get to see the unnamed woman that has capture Simphiwe’s heart taking a young skinny dip in the family pool. Of course, Simphiwe managed to keep it PG, but the real question is what her situation behind the lens was?
Simphiwe has of late focused on refurbishing as a form of therapy and has taken her social media followers on the journey. Her latest project is refurbishing her two couches that have been ravaged by her family cats. The couches are just the latest of a string of do-it-yourself projects that Simphiwe has posted about that have received the thumbs up from her followers.
After seeing the traction her posts were getting, the singer detailed the reasoning for taking up the hobby by writing;
“This hobby of refurbishing, making things anew, started as a form of therapy. With our lives being disrupted by COVID, with our futures seeming interrupted - I needed a bigger escape than the sum of the daily escapes that keep me going under less peculiar circumstances.
The outcome of being the eldest of four girls is that I was chosen to be the one that fixes everything at home. I had to be creative and intuitive as I had no experience whatsoever. I have thus been a fixer of everything for as long as I can remember. Finding peace and an escape in fixing and beautifying things has brought such a sense of nostalgia as to remind me of the parts of myself I may have forgotten.
I’m absolutely enthralled by this sense of joy and accomplishment. So I bought upholstery materials today, and tomorrow I tackle those raggedy arm chairs that have been giving me a headache. It is almost like meditation.”
