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Representation of Ghanaian women under fire at IWD discussion

Acquah,a self-described male feminist held an exhibition that featured a range of women through Ghana, from a young Muslim woman at the beach, sneakily pulling the fingers at the camera, to a dancing ballerina.

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From skin bleaching to gang rape, a panel of artists, writers and activists spoke out against the darker side of Ghanaian society on International Women's Day.

Alliance Francaise Accra in partnership with the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 8, to discuss issues of representation and gender inequality in Ghana.

With the backdrop to the discussion being Ghanaian Photographer Nana Kofi Acquah's exhibition "Don’t Call Me Beautiful" the panel, moderated by writer and activist Kinna Likimani discussed Ghanaian art, advertising and society.

Acquah, a self-described male feminist's exhibition featured a range of women through Ghana, from a young Muslim woman  at the beach, sneakily pulling the fingers at the camera, to a dancing ballerina, to women collecting water.

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He named the exhibition 'Don't Call Me Beautiful' after hearing lawyers discus the Anas Aremeyaw Anas judges expose on Joy FM.

The interview was dominated by one older, male lawyer who was representing some of the judges, but when a young female lawyer is given the chance to speak, she  argues well and shows the older lawyer the errors in what he is saying, Acquah recalled.

However, the older lawyer then said  to the younger female lawyer “I heard about you, I didn't know you were this beautiful.”

This was using the word “in the worst possible way” Acquah said.

It was patronizing, “and as a culture we do that a lot to women,” he told the audience.

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He went on to discuss how women are treated in society in Ghana.

He remember growing up in Tema and hearing about 'gala' – gang rape.

“When boys talked about gala they weren't talking about football tournaments, they were talking about catching some girl and a number of them sleeping with her.

“I never heard anybody say it's a bad thing. I never heard any older boy or adult in the community say 'no you don't do that to a girl'. They used to talk to us about how if you catch a girl you have to chop her till she runs away and leaves her panties.

“These are the things in the culture we never talk about. These are the same people we meet everywhere, in suits, in ties who speak good English. They are the perpetrators of these systems.”

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The panelists also spoke about the prevalence of skin bleaching in Ghana or using light skinned or white people in advertising.

TV personality and social activist Blakofe, also on the panel has been campaigning against skin bleaching for 20 years, and fighting to get more dark-skinned women in the public eye.

She said when working at Metro TV she was not put on the billboards alongside the “beautiful light skinned straight haired” other women.

“Everyday I fight this battle,” she said.

She was currently working to create more opportunities for dark-skinned presenters “because no one else is doing it” she said.

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