FADA SERIES, EPISODE 2; WESTERNISATION OR WORSTENISATION?

Written by Daniel Arkoh Fenyi 
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Westernisation, which some scholars synonymise as modernisation and would be considered as such in this context, is the process or practice whereby the culture of the Western world is learnt and practised by an African and in my case, a Ghanaian. I must emphasize that, Western culture has become part of our culture here in Ghana that’s why we don’t see anything wrong with a young man who wears a polo t-shirt instead of our Kente or African-print clothes and a woman who works in an office instead of limiting herself to the kitchen as was the case of our forefathers. 

Worstenisation, from the word worst, is the process or practice by which a worse attitude or practice becomes worst. 

Inarguably, the identity of every nation or social group is embedded in their culture. Culture which encompasses the way of life of a group of people reflects the people’s ideologies, beliefs, language, customs, religion and their perception of life in general. An instance can be cited of a typical African and an European who besides skin colour, are distinct from each other in terms of language, appearance (dressing), food, etc. For example, if you met somebody who says he’s called Kwame Nkrumah, you would quickly know that he was born on a Saturday, he’s the ninth born of his family and belongs to the Akan group of Ghana. That is culture! Where language or names go beyond just verbal tags to meaning-carrying labels.

Despite all the sharp distinctions between the cultures of different groups of people, culture dynamism and adoptability are two important features of culture which make it possible for one culture to learn and adopt the positive aspects of another culture. That is why today, even the typical traditional Ghanaian chief would not use a gong to send information to his people but rather resort to the use of telephone and radio/television to put a piece of information across due to the speed in information transmission and the vast number of people it could reach at a time.

A close observation of some of the practices in Ghana makes me wonder whether we are Westerning or Worstening. The first of such observed practice is the changing pattern of our naming system. In Ghana today, names like Kwodwo Mensah, Kwashiwor Emefa, Akosua Nyamekye and the like are gradually fading out. Sometimes people laugh at such names tagging them as ‘local’ names and thus depict that a person is not civilized if he/she bears such names. Western names like Anastasia Annalisa, Joseph Richardson, Isabella Anita, etc are trending. It is amazing to note that some bearers of such names don’t even know the meaning and implications of them. They only consider them as “flexing or romantic names” and so they are proud to carry them around. It is to be noted that our ‘local’ names carry meaning beyond just verbal tags. For example, if someone is called Kwodwo Mensah, traditionally it implies that he was born on a Monday, he is the third born of the family and he belongs to the Akan group of Ghana. Thus, the name alone has signaled about three interpretations. In the same vein, Kwashiwor Akorfa traditionally implies she was born on a Sunday, was born as a consolation to the parents and belongs to the Ewe group of Ghana. See if you can give any such of interpretations to names like Lucia Pen, Isabella Anita and Anastasia Annalisa, and contextualize them in our cultural setting. This is Worst not West!

 Also worth mentioning is where our beautiful black Ghanaian ladies are now engrossed in the idea of bleaching their skin to look white. I think it’s just sheer ignorance on the part of our ladies who think that bleaching could make them look white. They however end up turning into some multi-coloured creatures since by nature, some parts of the body are unbleachable. Example is the knee, the joints of the fingers, etc. This definitely is not a Western character but a Worsened one. If they want to learn from them, then they must learn that the Whites don’t bleach! Black ladies, admit that this is how God created you, adore and value yourself. God created you by his definition of beauty and that definition is unquestionable. It is however funny when some of you give the flimsy excuse that the men of today are interested in fair ladies that is why you bleach. The question is, are you living for or to please a man? Your life worths more than marriage and so never listen to such men, they should accept you as natural as you are or they should back off, no compromise! This is Worst not West!

Another worse practice is seen in our religion. The area of religion has become one of the controversial subjects of discussion in our nation of late. Being dominated by Christianity as a nation, it is worth then to look at religion from that perspective. The central theme of Christianity is love. Caring and sacrificing are two other important practices that the Holy book of the Christians, the Bible, admonishes it practitioners to do. These are obviously not bad messages that the whites brought with them on their visit to the then Gold Coast, now Ghana. It came to spur us on to quit some bad traditional practices that characterised some aspects of our culture. Some of these practices included human sacrifice, trokosi system, witchcraft camps, etc. However, as time elapsed, such a good Western practice has metamorphosed into a worsened practice. Preachers of the message of love, giving and sacrificing as stipulated in the Bible have now become extortionists. They take advantage of the innocent people who follow them thinking that these preachers are the link between them and their maker, God. It is so unfortunate that some of these pastors now see the church as a business enterprise and their congregation as their clients. How cunning you are in extorting money from the people makes one a ‘sharp’ man of God. There is a funny thing they call ‘consultation fee’ and that is what one pays sometimes even for just seeing the pastor. No wonder our pastors are now riding in the most expensive cars, building universities and other profit-yielding institutions, television and radio stations, private jets, big mansions, etc all from the money they get from their congregation some of whom cannot afford a three square meal in a day. This is Worst not West!

The last item I would like to tackle is our way of dressing these days. It is sometimes funny how people would put on suit and tie in a very hot sunny afternoon. Likewise is it funny to see our ladies of today dressed in mini-skirts and other dresses that expose their private parts. You ask them and their response is that they are learning from Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, etc who are obviously Whites. Yes, it is true that these whites sometimes put on something funny, but most times, it is determined by the weather. A white man may put on a shirt and knickers on a sunny afternoon and a jacket on a cold/rainy weather just as the ladies may put on mini-skirt and sleeveless tops on a sunny weather. However in Ghana, no matter the weather condition, we put on anything we deem fit. So a ‘gentleman’ wouldn’t mind to put on a suit and tie in a hot sunny afternoon. This is not Westernisation, it is absolute Worstenisation!