The Minicultural Revolution

Miniskirts may be popular with the women who wear them, but in the past few months they have been denounced by ex-President Eisenhower, condemned by Designer Coco Chanel, blasted by King Hassan II of Morocco, banned in Tunisia, prohibited in Rumania, and ridiculed at Ascot. Nowhere, however, has the reaction been as cutting as in the populous copper-belt towns of northern Zambia. There, thigh-high skirts have become the objects of a fanatic "culture campaign" directed by local members of President Kenneth Kaunda's United National Independence Party (U.N.I.P.).

U.N.I.P. officials have decided that brief hemlines are "immoral, un-Zambian" and "sex-ridden flaunted fripperies" of the white world. Determined to do away with such dangers to their native culture, young U.N.I.P. militants and grim, middle-aged female vigilantes armed with straight razors have stationed themselves as "morality guards" in public places. They stand ready to slash stitches and drop offending hems at the least excuse. Just as if miniskirts were difficult to spot, Zambian girls are often stopped and ordered to pick up a penny thrown on the sidewalk--if the man from U.N.I.P. sees too much leg, out comes the razor. To go with their altered clothes, the girls are handed a printed pamphlet of Kaunda's thoughts on Humanism, which is considered enlightening, even though it never mentions miniskirts.

The campaign has already reached beyond hemlines. Style-conscious mobs have ripped off wigs and lopped off artificially straightened hair when they have cornered Zambian girls who have tried to Westernize their locks. Users of skin-lightening creams have had their faces plastered with mud; bright lipstick has been forcibly removed with sandpaper. "We are determined to wipe out this sort of thing," explains one U.N.I.P. youth official.

More zealous U.N.I.P. members are talking of extending the campaign to the rest of the country; they also say that they will soon start restyling white, Asian and half-caste girls as well. But among top party leaders, cooler heads seem likely to prevail. "Women want to look as attractive as possible," says one government minister, who insists that the back of the knee is a particularly unattractive part of the female anatomy. "These miniskirts and things are bound to pass with time."

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