Department of Modern Languages
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Browsing Department of Modern Languages by Subject "Mujer Africana"
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Item El Pelo Y La (De) Construcción Del Cuerpo De La Mujer Africana - Un Estudio De La Película Kbela De Yasmin Thayná(University Of Ghana, 2019-06) Siaw – Darfour, A.The concept of self-perception expounds how a person sees him/herself and the way an individual feels, perceives and thinks about his/her body. The image a person has of his or her body is a multifaceted psychological experience which does not necessarily end with the physical appearance but also personal attitudes related to the person's body, such as beliefs, thoughts, feelings and behaviors. This study will investigate hair and the "(de) construction" of the African female body. It will comparatively examine the impact of slavery and colonization on the body construction of African women. The study will be based on the analysis of Yasmin Thayná's film Kbela and interviews with Ghanaian women. Yasmin Thayná's film Kbela is a cinematic work that shows the slow and painful journey of the African woman towards self-acceptance after years of disdain, ridicule, abuse and self-hatred in Brazil. Slavery and colonialism left an indelible mark on how black women perceive beauty. Their skin was labeled "dirty", their hair "nappy" or "unruly" and their bodies "sex-crazed objects". The aim of this work is to compare the effects that Eurocentric beauty standards had on women who were colonized in Africa, specifically in Ghana and those who were enslaved in Latin America, specifically in Brazil. This comparison will help determine the degree to which colonization and slavery have affected the African identity of each group. As the film aptly depicts, there is a growing movement of self-acceptance and self-awareness, a return to African roots, people of African descent, in this case, Afro-Brazilians. The study will also discuss the reasons for this self-acceptance and if this journey is the same for Ghanaian women who were colonized (representing Africans) and Afro-Brazilian women who were enslaved (representing people in the Latin American diaspora with African ancestry).