This is a guest post by a Live Magazine Reader. Odwa Shumi writes to us about the Americanisation of South Africa and South African ideals; and wonders if it is to our detriment. Note, these views are of the writer , and do not reflect on Live Magzine.
Gone are the days of sharing opinions around heart-warming delicious home cooked meals on evening dinner tables, without mentioning Gwyneth Paltrow’s Grammy nomination, or reviewing last night’s episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians. It is through social networks that we were introduced to the “Facebook rapist”. It is also these networks that made a monster like him possible. Aspiring young writers discover and dilute news. The information is dispersed. The quality of an engaging conversation around dinner tables is substituted with a “blanket and popcorn” on the small screens in our living rooms.
The infiltration of these American celebrity personalities in our daily lives has influenced and altered our perceptions on general matters that were previously considered “private”, and rendered explicit content “sexy”. The advent of almost nude models who leave little to the imagination on American music videos and movies has dramatically influenced young south African girls everywhere to be convinced that it’s “cool” to rock a six inch stiletto with a skimpy tight barely-short skirt and over-the-top flaunted cleavage of squeezed breasts popping up like inflated water-filled balloons. After all “sex sells” that’s what the lucrative modelling industry would tell you.
The infiltration of these American celebrity personalities in our daily lives has influenced and altered our perceptions on general matters that were previously considered “private”, and rendered explicit content “sexy”. The advent of almost nude models who leave little to the imagination on American music videos and movies has dramatically influenced young south African girls everywhere to be convinced that it’s “cool” to rock a six inch stiletto with a skimpy tight barely-short skirt and over-the-top flaunted cleavage of squeezed breasts popping up like inflated water-filled balloons. After all “sex sells” that’s what the lucrative modelling industry would tell you.
Cultural globalisation is the impetus of this Americanisation. Our local cultural, social, economic, and political diversity is destroyed in a world in which we all watch the same television programmes, buy the same commodities, eat the same food, support the same sports cars and follow the antics of the same American celebrities.
Information, commodities and images that have been produced in one part of the world enter into a global flow that tends to flatten out cultural differences between nations. We’ve lost the uniqueness of our indigenous customs. We follow American trends and gain “inspiration” internationally. How we emulate American conduct in our traditional ceremonies and burial rituals manifests in how we are brainwashed by American culture. When I say burial rituals I refer exclusively to Africans because we have so much evolved in the conduct of our customs. To justify my reason for saying this is simple. Black attire was previously seen as a “western thing” in African burial rituals.
You wouldn’t discern any individual wearing black in funerals because of the mere reason that black attire from head to toe in African funerals was associated with “witchcraft”. Fast-forward those previous years to modern day and expensive designer black attire is proudly flaunted beside an oak-made casket worth ridiculous amounts of countless thousands, the unnecessary slaughtering of a flock of sheep to feed the bottomless pits of “guests” who’ve come to “pay their last respects”.
There is no longer dignity and simplicity in African funerals. It’s no longer seen as a ritual to “pay our last respects” but modern day family reunions of showing off wealth to family members you haven’t seen in almost a decade. We observe this culture in American movies and television series where wealth is flaunted in expensive designer black attire and unnecessary catering.
Many young students in tertiary institutions evaluate one’s mental capacity on their English accent. We have diverse accents and it is on these accents that we are utterly scrutinized. If you don’t have the “white” or “model C” accent it becomes an tool for your counterparts to undermine your knowledge. The same “Model C” accent that reeks of American slangs and jargon. It’s eveident even in the way we carry ourselves and the way we pose for that “perfect” picture. We want to make sure that we pose that “Beyoncé pose” or walk that “Jay Z walk” with baggy jeans hanging loose under our bums.
South African culture has slowly been drained from its rich authenticity. Just look at the American content on our small screens. We lack originality. We don’t even create our own local content anymore. We rely on American programmes to entertain us. Indigenous languages are fading out because our minds are preoccupied with the “universal language”. Don’t get me wrong I’m definitely not saying we shouldn’t articulate ourselves fluently in English, but not at the expense of our own roots. Yes. We should educate ourselves and our children in English but we ought to make room for our native language as well without altering our vernacular with “bombastic” English words in between. Ordinary people can’t complete a sentence anymore without incorporating English phrases somewhere in between. Probably we feel we express ourselves better in this language or we are socialised into that manner.
South African women ooze the deep desire to have long glossy hair to substitute their own natural hair with Brazilian/American hair and weave extensions, if they are not bleaching their skin to a “lighter complexion”. We are not comfortable in our own skin. What happened to black is beautiful? What happened to our beautiful authentic afros? Again this goes back and links to Americans who flaunt their expensive weave extensions, who makes it cool to shield your natural hair and substitute it with synthetic hair and “100% human hair”, according to retailers and manufacturers.
The number of South African celebrities resorting to plastic surgery has increased rapidly. Going under the knife is so popular these days because we emulate what American celebrities are doing. Botox and breast augmentation is the in thing if you haven’t noticed.
Written By Odwa Shumi
Uploaded by Abel
-So, the question is: Are we too American? Are we ashamed of being African or is this simply a result of globalisation?
