Twerk star drives men away, says she is only in business
A 29-year-old Ramotswa woman, Porsche Motsumi warns her male followers, not to perceive her as a sex machine.
Motsumi is a professional twerker and does not want people to judge her on the basis of her choice of clothes.
She often posts photos of herself half-naked with buttocks uncovered on popular networking platforms like Facebook.
But don’t be fooled, this is just a marketing strategy to attract more business and bookings. Twerking is a sexually provocative dance that involves thrusting hip movements and squatting low.
It is traced from Ivory Coast in West Africa, where a similar style of dance, known as Mapouka dance originated. The dance has existed for centuries and consists of a series of movements around the buttocks.
While twerking, the butt radiates vigorously thus eliciting a sexual sensation in men.
Asked about the legal status of twerking in Botswana, President of the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) Phemelo ‘Fresh Les’ Lesokwane said he views it as a dance.
“I do not know about this thing of twerking, I view it as a dance. I am not sure whether it is allowed or not,” Lesokwane said.
Motsumi told The Midweek Sun that she is often judged for what she wears and more often men see her as a sex machine. She has had to abandon some bookings before due to men demanding sex from her.
The twerk star added that she will not giving up on her career due to negative judgement and criticism.
"I am a fairly intelligent woman and very principled, not a sex machine," she said.
Passionate Motsumi has been dancing from a very tender age. She established herself as a rapper and began twerking in 2014. "Twerking is much easier and I make money out of it. I am surviving," Motsumi said.
The challenges she experiences include men making sexual advances at her instead of booking her to perform. She describes twerking as a sport for men, as majority of her followers are men.
Motsumi has developed coping mechanisms by not dating men she meets on social media as the relationships never last, due to pre-conceived ideas about her.
Efforts to contact the Botswaja National Arts Council to find out the legal status of this dance genre were futile at the time of writing.
"I often receive criticism, people thinking I am doing something out of this world. I am not embarrassed because I twerk," she said.
She is now in a relationship with a partner that supports and assists her to find business. She gets booked for private events such as stag parties.
When asked about the support she gets from women, she said that women often remain silent in the public eye and often approach her in private to teach them twerking and sex styles such as woman on top.
Motsumi is a mother who works hard to fend for her daughter and herself as she is an orphan.
"Times have changed now women can work hard and be on top and stop being dependent on men," she advised.