'Ghana's Most Beautiful' Pageant and the Expressions of Culture

Abstract

This thesis discusses the socio-cultural and historical background of the ‘Ghana’s Most Beautiful’ pageant and its approach to challenging existing pageant structures, which are often believed to portray Westernised standards of beauty. TV3’s GMB pageant was established in 2007, and has since showcased the diversity of cultural practices from Ghana’s then ten, now sixteen, regions. Contestants serve as ambassadors of these regions, displaying various aspects of culture, including storytelling, narratives, music, dance, traditions, practices and material objects such as costumes, and accessories. Over its eighteen-year history, the pageant has contributed significantly to cultural education and preservation both in Ghana and the diaspora, yet there remains limited academic research on its impact within the Ghanaian socio-cultural environment. Over time, however, the pageant appears to have also adopted hybrid traditions, Western ideals of beauty and other external influences it initially campaigned against. This has raised concerns about cultural appropriation, misrepresentation, and the possible erosion of traditional practices, beliefs and customs. This study explored the use of “Asaasa” (patched pieces) as a metaphorical framework for discussing the interconnectedness between culture, beauty standards, identity and post-colonial aesthetics. The Asaasa metaphor functions as both an analytic lens and a methodological guide, which emphasises how fragmented cultural elements (historical, ethnic, modern, global) are stitched together by contestants, producers, sponsors, audience members and judges to narrate a version of "Ghanaian ness”. The study employed a qualitative approach, grounded in Interpretative Ontology, and applied a Phenomenological approach to draw insights into how beauty standards, identities, post colonial aesthetics, and cultural expressions are formed and expressed in the GMB pageant. Research methods included field observations, interviews, photography and videography. Data gathered were analysed using both the content analysis and thematic analysis approach, to gain more insight into the underlying themes, and to provide an in-depth understanding of the pageant’s socio-cultural impact. Findings showed that ‘Ghana’s Most Beautiful’ pageant is a site for cultural negotiation where traditional customs and practices are reinterpreted in modern contexts, creating a fusion of cultural identity that bridges indigenous heritage and global influences. The pageant challenges the dominance of Western beauty standards by emphasising values rooted in Ghanaian cultural ideals, expressed through costume, accessories, language, props and performance. The study further demonstrated that the GMB pageant provides a platform where indigenous cultural practices are recontextualised and hybridised to suit current social realities. Also, the study revealed an indication of the dominance of Akan cultural expressions, risking the marginalisation of other ethnic groups, leading to cultural homogenization and questions about identity politics that favour the Akan tribe over other cultures. Finally, the study underscores the importance of cultural performances and visual symbolism in ‘Ghana's Most Beauty pageant is vital in perpetuating a sense of cultural continuity and hybridity in traditions. It calls for an academic attention to Ghanaian pageantry as a repository of cultural expressions that contribute to post-colonial identity formation. It also offers nuanced thoughts into how indigenous cultural practices are negotiated within modern media contexts, validating the vital role of cultural performances in shaping Ghana's national narratives in an ongoing era of globalisation.