Afro-Identity Redemption: Decolonizing Hairstyles of Girls in Ghanaian Senior High Schools in Promotion of Cultural Sustainability

Emmanuel  Antwi; Ginn Assibey Bonsu

doi:10.4314/just.v42i3.1486

Emmanuel Antwi Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Ginn Bonsu Assibey Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/just.v42i3.1486

Keywords: Girl child, shaving, hair, ontology, symbolic, cultural

Abstract

Most girls in Ghana are largely educated and trained without their hair and thus go through a long period of training deprived of the vital part of their make, which may render them identity denial. The aim of this paper is to explore the rationale underpinning the shaving off of girls’ hair during pre-tertiary levels of education to understand the practice and its effects on womanhood from cultural identity perspective. The research employed qualitative approach and used structured open-ended questionnaires and document review protocols as tools for gathering data. The gathered data were thematically analyzed. The findings show that hair from African perspective on the ontological level is symbolic showing phases of womanhood and interspersed with external admiration from natural aesthetics endowment and cultural identity. It further shows that the policy on shaving, which has colonial attachment, disrupts cultural sustainability though it is meant to ease the burden of the girl-child from the cumbersome nature of styling of the hair supposedly. The authors recommend that to train the girl-child wholly for life, they should be allowed to explore Afro-defined natural hairstyles to develop the skills of maintaining their cultural image.

Author Biographies

Emmanuel Antwi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Dr. Emmanuel Antwi is a member of faculty in the Department of Painting and Sculpture, Faculty of Art in the College of Art and Built Environment, KNUST, Kumasi. He is a member of the College Research and Conference Committee. As a studio artist, he enjoys teaching art with research interests in explorations in the intersections of art and culture of past civilizations and contemporary art practice, harnessing the uplifting qualities, making them available for the benefit of individuals and communities through appropriate design models.

Ginn Bonsu Assibey, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Dr. Ginn Bonsu Assibey is an accomplished design educator and researcher with expertise in interventions for sustainable design, advertising design, social innovation and research methodology for design-led practices. He has a doctorate in Design Technology from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa. Currently, he is a lecturer at the Department of Communication Design at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. His research delves into sustainable design, social innovation, and cutting-edge advertising techniques. Embracing both interpretivism and pragmatism paradigms, his research approaches emphasize active learning through participation. He is also a member of Design Educators Forum of Southern Africa, Pan Africa Design Institute and International Upcycling Research Network.