Which element of African aesthetic indicates good health?

1 Answer

  • Africa is a very big place occupied by different people with different languages, cultures and customs.. you cannot paint one stereo-type all over a continent with so many different diverse group of people.. in places that i have visited, countries like Tunis, Egypt and Libya, they have similar aesthetics as Europeans (the French and the Italians) on the other side of Mediterranean Sea – aesthetics that indicate good health, like having a lean muscular body, longer neck, being tall and a sizeable ҍօ.օҍs (in women)..

    in some rural areas of Kenya, obesity and being overweight, is what some men and women look for as an indication for beauty and good health.. while urban areas of Kenya where there is access to TV, magazines and images from outside world, they too see lean muscular tall body as an indication of good health..

    your question is not easy to answer and i am limited by countries that i have visited decades ago.. from my own personal experience, their standards for good health is mostly similar to my country’s standards in south-east Asia, and to the rest of the world outside Africa..you may find some stories, of having big buttock but with a small skinny body, elongated neck using metal rings, and some really bizarre things, but i have never come across such things, and those are more standards of beauty not health, found in some corners of the world.. but if we are talking about the standards of good health, it is about the same like anyone else outside Africa..

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