Africa is a continent with 54 states, and each country has its own standard of beauty. Therefore, some standards mentioned here may not be true or present in other individual regions. It's important to understand that Africa is not a single entity but a diverse continent with varying cultures and ideals.
Map of East Africa
Africa is divided into Eastern, Western, Central, Northern, and Southern regions, as well as island countries in the African coast. Beauty standards range from one extreme to another, especially since Africa is not entirely made up of only ‘Black people’ (in terms of dark skin).
General African Beauty Standards
In general, the African beauty standard places a woman with curvy features, meat on her bones, wide hips, and an attractive face on a pedestal. While for men, their handsome gauge emphasizes a fit athletic body or a muscled physique. Additionally, African women tend to admire the proverbial dark, tall, and handsome African man.
When it comes to skin tone, dark-skinned men are often favored compared to light skin tone. However, for women, both light and dark-skinned women receive attention. Many believe it all depends on preference, and that opposites attract.
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Concerning women’s body size, being skinny may make friends or family (especially mothers and aunts) think you are either sick or not financially fit. Furthermore, mothers in Africa are fond of telling their children to eat and add meat to their frames to not get sick and to fit into clothes. In the same way, women (even without the influence of society or media) prefer curvy body shape and see it as an ideal body type.
An attractive feminine face, according to present society, includes thick lips, beautiful eyes, medium-sized nose (not too big, not too small). The facial structure of African women doesn’t matter to men like in other parts of the world.
Rural vs. Urban Beauty Standards
Often than not, communities that live in rural areas hardly have a standard beauty for their women. Plus, their women rarely wear make-up or use beauty products. This is because rural women spend most of their time on farms and in markets running errands to feed their children or family. Thus, it is safe to say (for rural men) beauty does lie in the eye of the beholder.
On the other hand, urban areas move in a different direction when it comes to how beauty for women should be. The influence of Western music, film, and culture has tremendously shaped the standards of beauty and made towns and cities a melting pot of everything common and unique. As you walk along Nairobi streets or University estates, you’ll notice the girls or women in these areas have a common look.
Secondly, you won’t miss groups of ladies with thick thighs, curvaceous bodies, and extravagant fashion. Then, there are these types of women you won’t even notice. They are simple and don’t try to fit into these beauty standards.
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The young men also have changing standards. There’s the one who fits the tall-dark-handsome category. Then some lighter-skinned men use fashion and urban hairstyles to grab their position in the niche. Lastly, there those who don’t care about where they belong in the beauty pyramid. They are just there.
As you can see, Africa has a variety of standards for beauty. The urban youths (females) tend to swing more towards Eurocentric beauty of thin body, narrow nose, light skin, straight or curly (mixed type hair), and thin lips. Then again, women who can’t naturally achieve Eurocentric standards stick to the African ideal of beauty; that is Curvy bums, full busts, thick lips, wide hips, wide nose, and intricate hairstyles that look good on kinky hair.
All in all, I can say the Beauty standard in Africa adopts mainly the traditional looks other than Eurocentric features. However, the effects of western beauty are still being seen by the increasing number of men and women who lighten their skin to feel beautiful. Likewise, the need to have straight hair and the negative view towards natural African hair is evidence of how much western beauty is slowly chipping away the blocks of traditional beauty in African society.
It is no secret how some secretly self-hating African women do crazy stuff to their hair to achieve the straight and flowy look of Asian and Caucasian hair. Others who can’t bend over backward to change their looks go the extra mile to worship mixed descend women because of their non-African features (however, not mixed kids all have European features or curly hair). Due to their misguided and distorted adoration of everything foreign, this group of African women doesn’t think twice as they jump into the bandwagon of marrying non-African foreigners.
One of the reasons fuelling these self-hating decisions is wanting mixed kids with good hair and non-black features. What a pity! Each child receives a fifty-fifty portion of genetic matter from their parents. Despite the half-and-half arrangement, certain traits can break the rule and be expressed dominantly rather than equally. So, if you, as an African man or woman, expect an obvious chance that your child will come out in-between or look more white/Asian /Hispanic than black, then you are a fool.
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Genetics can go to the extremes. Besides, it’s not obvious that your child will have the non-black traits you desire. Yes, this is possible! That dark skin and wide nose you hate- or kinky hair you dislike -has a chance of being dominantly expressed in your child despite the fifty-fifty inheritance rule. All those negative words and statements you said about dark-skinned women or African features can come back to you rolled up in one offspring regardless of the interracial marriage.
My point is, learn to love the unlovable. The flaws or what you think deserves the label should be appreciated despite what standards dictate. Besides, all features -African, Asian, Caucasian, Oceanic, Aboriginal, and Mixed- are beautiful. There is a reason why nature doesn’t have one type of fauna and flora. A lion, cheetah, leopard, tiger, domestic cat, lynx are all felines but their species are different. And these divergences are what makes animals beautiful.
Their variations and differences are beautiful in themselves. Therefore, why should a lion feel less of a feline just because it doesn’t have the stripes of a tiger? Likewise, why should you feel inferior or ugly just because your skin isn’t as white, tanned, dark, or light as that of the other person? If you haven’t noticed, it is our imperfections and differences that make us stunning.
Beauty in African Art
Westerners have collected African art for centuries. But do they really understand it? Who determines what is beautiful and what is ugly in African art? Can viewers judge art solely by the standards of beauty in their own culture?
That’s the question a recent exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago sought to answer. The collection was massive, taking up six or so rooms, filled with over 250 works of art from dozens of cultures across Sub-Saharan Africa. The idea is to put art in its cultural context.
How did the local communities view these works of art? “For some African cultures, scarification, including on the face, is a way to enhance someone’s beauty - especially that of a woman. There’s often a religious aspect to these works.
“So the art is not made just to be art,” says Constantine Petridis, chair and curator of arts of Africa at the Art Institute. “It’s art that serves a purpose, serves a function and has a meaning.
Masculinity is depicted with youthful, muscular bodies and large hands and feet. In many African cultures, the ideal male figure is tall and lean, with long limbs, an elongated neck and muscular calves.
The feminine ideal is voluptuous - big belly, rounded hips, a large butt - and sometimes sports a long neck. The ideal female figure has been a subject of fascination and inspiration for artists throughout history, and African art is no exception. In African sculpture, the ideal female figure is often depicted as having a curvaceous body with wide hips and full breasts.
While the exact proportions of the ideal female figure vary between African cultures, there are some common elements frequently seen across the continent.
Scarification is considered beautiful. This particular aspect of beauty is probably the most difficult for Westerners to grasp. (Then again, look at our obsession with tattoos.) Scarification, a form of body modification that involves creating designs or patterns on skin by cutting or branding, has been practiced for centuries.
Scarification in African culture
Morality is synonymous with beauty.In many African cultures, the concept of beauty is closely tied to morality and ethics. This is reflected in the use of a single word to describe both beauty and goodness.
Smooth skin is attractive.While scarification has been a long-standing tradition in African art, the idea of smooth skin as a standard of beauty is also prevalent. In many African cultures, smooth, flawless skin is considered attractive, healthy and a sign of good hygiene.
To achieve that look, some sculptures are polished to a bright shine using leaves or stones. But the idea of beauty extends beyond the individual.
Ugliness is tied to nature, the wilderness and animals, whereas beauty is connected to humans, the village and community. Nature spirits are thought to cause misfortune, illness and even death.
There’s a duality common throughout Africa: culture vs. nature, community vs. the wilderness. As such, idealized beauty is always presumed to be of human origin, associated with the realm of the village and society.
At the other end of the spectrum, ugliness correlates with the wild and untamed realm of the jungle outside the boundaries of the village. “Artists who intend to instill fear through their objects may represent ugliness by mimicking or referencing animals, especially powerful and fearsome ones,” Petridis says. “Additional features will be incorporated into fantastic compositions that comprise elements sourced literally from the natural world - actual animal parts: hides, horns, teeth, fur.”
Ugliness in African art has a power of its own. Some art has elements of both beauty and ugliness and is meant to astonish. Petridis refers to this as “awesome art,” what Westerners might call the sublime.
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder. When judging African art, see where there are overlaps or differences from your own preconceived notions, Petridis suggests. Always keep in mind that African art should always be viewed through the language and vocabulary of the culture it comes from.
“Beauty is essential and important and critical in the arts of Africa as well,” he concludes. “But it’s not necessarily the beauty that you as an outsider would see in it.”
To avoid imposing your own tastes and preferences on art objects, you have to be open to learn and read about the culture in which they function, and what meanings and purposes they convey. And that new understanding is a thing of beauty.
In conclusion, beauty standards in East Africa are a complex interplay of tradition, modernity, and individual interpretation. By understanding the cultural context and historical influences, we can appreciate the diverse and multifaceted nature of beauty in this region.
