Mimi Machakaire
FOUNDER and chairperson of Pink Mic organisation, Seithati Mafura, recently launched the Breaking Beauty Boundaries campaign to encourage African women to embrace their beauty in the face of western stereotypes.
The campaign was in the form of a photo shoot at Katlehong in Maseru where several local ladies of varying social, academic backgrounds and body sizes participated in celebration of the African beauty.
The participants wore the world-famous Lesotho blanket which is one of the symbols of Lesotho culture.
Pink Mic is a women empowerment organisation which aims to celebrate and broaden standards of beauty.
The Lesotho-born Mafura who is based at the University of the Free State, South Africa, recently told the Weekender that she founded Pink Mic in September 2015 with the aim of instilling pride in the African ideas of beauty and culture which have increasingly been undermined by western values.
“Known as ‘Tokoloho ho moeli ea botle’ in Sesotho, Breaking Beauty Boundaries aims to help African women embrace who they are and break free from any fixed ideal of beauty by accepting their own beauty,” Mafura said.
She said American and European media have been instrumental in spreading western concepts about beauty and undermining African and other concepts from the rest of the world.
“It’s time African women reset these boundaries, redefine beauty on their own accord and re-culture it back to their roots away from this heavy western influence.
“African women must realise that it is not about fitting into the (western) media expectations, it is about understanding where they came from and rebuilding their own unique standards of beauty.”
Mafura said the campaign was inspired by her own struggles to understand the meaning of beauty and the realisation that the majority of African women are today struggling to define beauty for themselves.
She noted that it is better to glorify what one already had than chase what could be.
“As African women, we can progress with the rest of the world but still maintain that respect for our heritage. I have my imperfections but I accept those imperfections because they make me the unique individual that I am. You know you have flaws but they don’t define anything about you, least of all beauty,” Ms Mafura said.
This is Seithati’s first of many campaigns which will also be rolled out on various social media platforms.
