My grandmother grew up in the Kunene region and always told me that the most...

Watson Marshall
@marshallwatson4117
2 days ago

My grandmother grew up in the Kunene region and always told me that the most admired women in her community were those with strong, healthy bodies. She said a taller, fuller figure meant you could handle the demands of life herding cattle and carrying water over long distances. Skin tone was less important than the smoothness of your skin, which came from daily application of otjize, a mix of butterfat and ochre. That paste protected against the harsh sun and was a sign of discipline and self care. Young women would spend hours applying it together, and it was considered beautiful to have a deep, even red glow.

In the north, where my mother's family is from, beauty was also about scarification. Women would have carefully arranged patterns on their stomachs or backs, not for pain, but to show they could endure and to mark milestones like reaching adulthood or marriage. My mother once described it as "writing your story on your skin." It wasn't something you rushed into, you had to earn it through community approval. Jewelry made from ostrich eggshell beads was another standard, and the more beads a woman wore, the more it spoke to her family's wealth and her own patience in stringing them together.

What I think is lost today is that these standards were practical, not just decorative. They connected beauty directly to survival, resilience, and community role. If you want to see a real example, look for old photographs of Himba women applying otjize.