“EZIGBO AGWA AMAKA” AN AFRICAN (IGBO) DEFINITION OF BEAUTY
This write up is more specifically about Igbo culture of Nigeria, Africa.
During the late eighteenth century, anthropologist compared women of different cultures and their interest was focused on the sexual traits a woman possessed. A woman’s feminine beauty was characterized by the redness of lips, length of her hair, the size of her breasts, her fertility, and ultimately the shape of her pelvis. The pelvis was associated with the procreative qualities and was a measure of “womanliness”. This justified the belief that slave women could be order to work during their pregnancy and still be sent out to the field to work again a few days after giving birth.
In popular eighteenth century beliefs, a woman should be “delicate, pure, and passionless, a bastion of moral and spiritual virtue” The African female was understood as never being able to capture these qualities. African beauty was undermined and transformed into being regarded as beastly and savage-like.
Contrary, the word “Ezigbo Agwa Amaka” Igbo words which define the African notion of beauty as embedded on character formation-good character is, good, beauty and represent a well groomed person. It covers both moral and ethical behaviour toward each other in the society.
The word beauty however, depends on the lens through which it is perceived. Beauty comes as something that is solely based on individual preference. We often reject the idea of ranking of beauty-that everyone is beautiful in their own. In fact, it is quite common to hear people throwing around sentiments such as ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder' and ‘ beauty is skin deep', but these hold no real meaning in today’s world; a world where beauty centers around Eurocentric features(centered on Europeans world).
Most modern Africans find themselves struggling to change their skin to meet the popular concept of beauty ( skin colour). Many have accepted fairness as beauty-standard of our time and we see the effect of this on the activities many African women who continue to bleach their skin. It is pathetic to hear that the World Health Organisation has reported that Nigerians are the most highest users of such products: 77% of Nigerian women use the product on a regular basis. So far, only two African countries have banned the use of bleaching creams; Cote do lvoire and Ghana.
This confronts us with a question of whose beauty standard are we upholding if the average African woman is excluded from the mainstream representation. Many African celebrities have joined the bandwagon of skin bleaching. To them, being lighter means more visibility and more proximity to fame. In a society dominated by western values, it is not surprising that we view beauty with a western gaze. We are reluctant to affirm our African definition of beauty.
Notwithstanding, the true African definition of beauty is based on “Ezigbo Agwa Amaka” ( good character is beauty) a term from Igbo language depicting the cultural values, ethics and moral behaviour which define us as Africans.
The African definition of beauty do not so much depend on outward appearances such as; the shape of the woman, colour, size of the nose, for Africans these does not matter in judgment of choice of spouse. A woman can have all these qualities but if her character is not good, she will be regarded as not beautiful, thus, not fit for any man as a wife.
The beauty of a woman must be embedded in her characters, for African woman to be beautiful inside and outside, she must possess more than a pretty shell. One must possess things such as; kindness, intelligent, respect, humility, honestly and love.
All these qualities show a character that is desirable for the Africans in their judgement of beauty. This is not to undermine the fact that Africans also appreciate the physical beauty but in matter of life term commitment (marriage) character takes precedence.
As a woman, how you treat, think about, and speaks to others comes from how well you have been groomed at home and this shows a sign of kindness and beauty every man likes. Again, in the African understanding of beauty, a woman is considered beautiful if she is intelligent not so much in the academic parlance, but through the way she is aware of her emotional patterns and is endowed with flexibility to handle challenges and changes. And such a woman any responsible man will desire. No man who does not long for respect from his wife and every respectful woman is at attractable to the society at large. So, respects is a very important quality a woman should endeavor to have. Because she could easily capture the heart of her husband with this.
Humility is another virtue that defines the character of a woman if she will be consider beautiful in Africa context; working hard and allowing her success speaks for itself. Honestly is also very important as a criterion for beauty within the African context. This is because everyman wants a truthful woman as a wife and no man can stands the annoyance of being lied to by his own wife.
The African woman is also known to be warm hearted towards others and loving. There is nothing she would not do to help and this loving approach is taken into every area of her life from career to parenting.
Finally, in African, and especially in the Igbo culture of Nigeria, the three feminine principle include; love, care and intuitive. These should define a woman’s character and of course her beauty. Intuitive enable woman to understand her husband and those around her. These qualities indeed embody the Igbo term “Ezigbo Agwa Amaka”- good behaviour is beauty. To be truly beautiful, it is the above qualities of beauty which are sustaining in African definition of beauty.
