Last week the subject was on African women. “Is African woman in danger of extinction? “
Let me brief you a little on the subject: “African women in danger of extinction”
Nowadays we see lot of African women who look like “black Barbie”. They have those long extensions, lighten their skin, wear a lot of makeup and dress like women from the Western World. Basically it seems that they want to look like everything but African. And the question was “are African women in danger of extinction” because they want to detach themselves from the image of the African women with natural hair, dark skin, and wearing African attire.
The questions in my opinion are:
• Who are those African women?
• Where those African women live?
• Do they know who they are (meaning cultural knowledge)?
• What are their ambitions?
• What are their struggles?
• Instead of asking: “is African woman in danger of extinction” should not we ask “is African woman re creating their new image”?
We cannot be in danger of extinction because we are still here, and we will always be here, either we look like what most are used to see or not.
THE IMAGE OF THE AFRICAN WOMEN
What does an African woman look like?
Most of the time African women are portrayed as fat, very dark, poor, filthy, dress in African attire with cornrows, and not pretty.
This image is what most people who have never met African women would think/say based on what they have seen on TV, in magazines…
This image has nothing to do with those of women from other part of the world. Asian women are shown very graceful, reserve with a charming beauty, India are shown with a bewitching beauty, polish, Caucasian women are publicized as beautiful, vibrant, smart and attractive. Those women that I have just described make other wants to be around them, because they represent beauty, grace, charm, and attraction. Compare to the African women who represent darkness, poverty, filthiness, ugliness.
Who wants to be in the dark when you know that the light is the way?
If you are being told the same thing over and over, you tend to believe it. African women are being told over and over that they are less than, that they tend to believe it. They see themselves as filthy because that's what they see and hear about themselves every day. They want to detach themselves from this dogma and be seen as beautiful, graceful, and vibrant. They want to attract good vibes (energy, people, and opportunities) around themselves.
If you can’t beat them join them
What do we learn in life? If you want to succeed find someone who has succeeded in your field of interest and learn about this person. By learning how others were able to succeed, it will give you the impulse to do the same. But what exactly do we take from our role models? And should we walk on their path to the point where we lose our own track and become someone else?
Identity
Know who you are in order to know where to go.
Identity has been a real issue in the African community all around the World. In Africa, we are so remove from our culture. We live in the city and reject everything that has to do with the village. Our parents do no longer teach us the great values of our culture because they are either too scared (scare of what I don’t know) or they do not know themselves. For those African who went to live in Europe or the USA or was born and lived in Europe or the USA are disconnected from Africa and turn their back on their origin because they have to acclimate themselves to the new culture they now live in.
You do not know your own culture and now you have to learn someone's else culture.
This is the struggle of some (maybe most) African women who live on the continent or abroad. Those who live on the continent copy most of what they see in the media, which is mainly what the Europeans or Americans do.
So, you look at yourself in the mirror, and you do not see the long and silky hair. You do not see the shiny skin, you do not see the grace and you feel stupid, worthless but deep inside, you know, you have what those other women have but no one sees it in you.
Now you have to decide; do I follow the path of others or do I follow my own path and get to know who I am, love and appreciate myself.
Some choose to follow the path travelled by many; which is in this case:
• Have the hair extension
• Dress like someone they are not (in order to be accepted)
• Change the tone of their skin
Life is a choice and only us can make the choice and assume it
Some choose to know who they are and love themselves and make other accept and love them for whom they are (it is all about love either we want to accept it or not)
Some choose to have the hair extension just for their own desire; it makes them feel beautiful and confident.
Why some people think because African women want to look different from “our mama” it means that African women are in “danger of extinction”? Our mama even change the way they look way before coming into contact with the Western World.
They came up with a way to braid their hair, to mix some flowers together to make perfume…As we grow we change and the change is due to the environment we live in.
African women are changing (in both ways good and bad, it depends on who sees it). They want to be seen differently, they want to be known differently and we can see that in the way they look, they talk, they dress.
Some may think that African women want to look like Western women, maybe it is true, maybe it is not, at least Afrcan Women are evolving and are not stagnant. In order to stretch and know your true identity you have to go through some steps, the steps that you will take may not be the right one but at least you took the risk and try to be someone else before becoming you.
No matter what, you always return to the source, which is the true you, the you that no one can judge, no one can duplicate, no one can criticize, not even you.
I am an African Woman and I am not going in extinction but in re-creation
It is about being positive and attracting good in your life.
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