Extreme Tactics or Standing Up to the White Gaze?
#Nigeria has set a ban that will be implemented on October 1st 2022 that states that no #Non-Nigerian models will be used in #Nigerian advertisements or voice overs. Before this ban there was heavy use of European models from Britain which subtracted from the showcasing of black or afro models. It would seem the media in the motherland has fell victim to an age old situation that has been painted throughout history. Having a culture outside of their culture dictate and represent standards of beauty, self measurement, and cultural identity. The disturbing part is that the dictating culture can only view culture from their perspective which is different than Nigerian, black, or African culture.
History of Culture Vulture
There are several beauty standards and products that came from #African or #Black people and lands even when they weren't fully accepted as being a whole human person by the very people who reproduced these standards of beauty and products. The production of the products based on #African culture was making the outside cultures rich until #African or #Black people started making more moves like the #Nigerian people have made with this ban. The most notable historical example of this practice is the exploitation of #Sarah #Baartman who was an #African slave exploited for her voluptuous body. Europeans made money off of billing #Sarah as a #freak instead of the #shapely #Queen she is in a traveling #freak show. They also made money off of the bustle dress later in history which was made to make less shapely women look more like #Sarah #Baartman and very popular in #Victorian fashion. In today's climate the plastic surgeons are getting all the money to make women who weren't born looking like #Sarah #Baartman or who may not have had to live the life of a #black or #brown #woman born looking like her either. Some say in today's #culture the stripper, adult content creator, or reality tv star is the freak show. In my opinion it only becomes a freak show when a person is made to do it unwillingly or when a person degrades themselves which is a big thing for little things. So give the adult entertainers and creators a break it's not your job to serve moral justice, its your job to be happy and build a strong legacy.
Today's Generation
Within the last twenty years there has been a surge of people doing what some people thought unthinkable in the name of justice. If you look back in history most wrongs have had some type of answer in the form of cultural #movement. #Movements like women standing up for #equality in the form of #feminism. #Black brothers & sisters across the globe have been standing up against brutal treatment in the form of #blacklivesmatter against a system that was clearly put in place to police black slaves. Unfortunately some traditions masked as laws haven't changed since the time of the overseer whos title and #job sounds eerily similar to today's officer doesn't it? As far as #Nigeria goes in my opinion they are answering a history of culture vulturism which hasn't totally stopped yet, but at least some are doing their part to combat it and the long term effects that several individuals are experiencing as a result. #Banning #Non-Nigerian #models from #Nigerian #advertising may be an extreme measure, but it is hasnt or will not bring about anywhere near the amount of pain and turmoil that events leading up to the decision has placed in #Nigerian's along with several other lives all over the continent of #Africa, the United States, and the rest of the planet earth.
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