Emaciation is Not Equivalent to Beauty

One important lesson that women can learn from living in Africa is that beauty truly comes in all sizes.

My friends and the women in my village all have different body types: from those that are stick thin to those that take up half of my seat on the bus when they sit next to me.  Since I grew up in a non-diverse town, it took me by surprise when I first arrived to see women with huge behinds or huge chests – sometimes both.  I’ve also seen women with such a perfect hourglass shape that even I can’t help but staring (where are their ribs?!).

In America, a person’s weight is constantly being judged.  While I feel this is especially true for women, it affects men too.  Those that are considered “overweight” or (heaven forbid) “obese” are often followed by the connotations of “lazy,” “slob,” or “unattractive.”  Is this horribly wrong?  Absolutely, but is it the truth?  Unfortunately yes.

In Botswana (and I would wager many other African countries), larger women are considered beautiful.  Men here love nothing more than “junk in the trunk.”  One of my good friends here got teased mercilessly as a child for being too skinny.  When I first arrived, my host mother would urge me 4, 5, 6 times per meal to eat more.  She threatened to call my real mother in America and tell her that I was losing weight.  (Little did she know, I had already called my real mother to celebrate the same fact.)

This doesn’t mean that everything in Botswana is great, of course.  High blood pressure and hypertension are practically epidemics in my village, and many Batswana never eat a nutritionally-balanced meal.  Exercise is slowly becoming more common, although it generally means simply taking a lovely stroll after work.

While I wish I could say that the past year has made me less self-deprecating concerning my appearance, I still obsess over what I eat and how often I workout.  It will take time to undo what American culture has done to its females, but it is absolutely worth noting that here in Botswana, emaciation is not equivalent to beauty.

In some ways – on issues such as homosexuality, gender equality, the education system, etc. – Botswana is behind the U.S. (note: they only achieved independence in 1961).  On issues such as self-worth, materialism, and inner beauty, however, Botswana is ages ahead.

Gold star to Johannesburg Fashion Week 2011’s designer David Tlale, who showcased plus-size models!  Click here to see. (Once on the site, click on "next" to see more.)