I’ve witnessed modern beauty standards hurt women in Ghana

One of the interesting things that comes with living in two very culturally distinct countries at different points in the year is seeing the differences in perception about various issues. One of these is the varying societal standards of beauty and body image.

Growing up, my grandmother’s view of what constituted beauty in women in my homeland included a sizeable woman, with wide hips and a broad backside. She emphasized her distaste for the skinny figure by always insisting that I eat a lot. It seems that these were the perceptions that were maintained back in the day, however they are drastically different from the modern African, specifically Ghanaian, woman’s perception of beauty. Coming to the US for college, I see how our traditional perceptions may have been influenced by western standards: what my generation would consider the physically ideal woman is obviously different from what my grandmother would agree with.

Unfortunately, I think that this “modernized” standard of beauty that Ghanaian women have adopted could be endangering their lives. These days, women are using lotions that would make them fairer by bleaching their skin, despite the possible health risks.

Moreover, the infiltration of western practices to “improve” beauty is growing. You cannot imagine my shock when I went to Ghana at the end of 2015 to find that waist trainers had become common talk in the country. Just one year prior when I was there, I had considered waist trainers an “American” thing because I had never heard of it in my country.

I must say that the standards of beauty and the extent we go to meet these standards in the USA are even more frightening. Anorexia and bulimia are not at alarming levels in Ghana. My closest experience is when one of my classmates in the US admitted to starving herself and becoming anorexic because she did not feel skinny enough. Mind you, this person was skinnier than I am at this moment. Time and again, I hear on the news that a woman has died because of complications during plastic surgery. Surgery not done for health reasons but for aesthetic reasons. A death that could easily have been avoided.

The thing is, societies are dynamic and standards are constantly changing. In my grandmother’s time, a “thick” woman was the ideal. But in my time, people are constantly going to the gym and drinking flat tummy concoctions to reduce their weights in order to “seize bae.” Again, not too long ago, a black woman, both in Ghana and the US, was considered unkempt for keeping her hair natural in an afro. That mindset has not been totally eradicated but it has drastically declined because natural hair has suddenly become a trend. I, myself, am a proud “naturalista.” Which is funny because as recently as 2013, I regularly and dedicatedly relaxed my hair.

The point is, standards are constantly fluctuating. If I was striving to fit all the standards of beauty as they fluctuated, I would be moving between eating lots of food to gain weight and then perhaps starving myself to lose it (because I am not someone who exercises religiously).

Having said that, I am not implying that exercising to lose weight or eating foods to maintain one’s figure is a bad thing. My issue is with whom we seek to satisfy when we try to “fix” our images. Ghana is continuously picking up what we consider as western beauty trends but to what advantage? An increase in cases of anorexia?

The lesson here is that self-acceptance is key. No matter the country, no matter the culture, it is what you, as a woman, desire that is important. Make yourself into who you want to be and not who society expects you to be. Whatever you do as a woman, you come first. Lose weight because you want to look good for yourself not because your boyfriend prefers a skinnier girl. Do not strive to satisfy the demands of society and in turn, hurt yourself tremendously through surgery complications, anorexia, among other extreme measures.

It is obvious from constant changing trends that society will never make up its mind, so it is time to define your own beauty. As women we must do what is best for ourselves but whatever that choice is, let it be by your own standards, standards that will not endanger your life or your health.

We own our own bodies. No one else does and no one ever will.