‘I am black and beautiful’: Body-talk toward redefining the identity of black girls using Contextual Bible studies on Song of Songs 1.5

Abstract

Interpretation of a text can either justify power relations and subordination or become a tool for empowerment. While some explain that the speaker is admitting a unique quality in Song 1:5, others think it is an affirmation of identity. This paper presents the views of young Ghanaian girls in two Senior High Schools. A contextual reading of the Song of Songs 1.5–17 is used to present strategies for self-empowerment, confidence, and creativity. Drawing from Africa Agenda 2063, it proposes ways to clarify beliefs about oneself and empower young people to tell their stories about their bodies. When Africans read the Bible, they also look for ways for redefining, rethinking, and re-living in an African community so that they can express their identity better.

Keywords

Contextual Bible studies body-talk Africa Agenda 2063 internalized oppression human dignity self-affirmation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agenda 2063: The Africa we Want. Date accessed 20 October 2019. Available at https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview,

Agyemang-Duah

, Mensah CM, Anokye and Dadzie

(2019) Prevalence and Patterns of Skin Toning Practices among Female Students in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional University-Based Survey. BMC Research Notes 12 (299): 1-7.

Aidoo

(2015) Esther as a Self-Actualized Leader: A Psychosocial Analysis. Trinity Journal of Church and Theology 18(3): 43-67.

Amoah

(1996) Violence and Women’s Bodies in African Perspective. In: Mananzan

, Oduyoye

, Tamaz

, Clarkson

, Grey

and Russell

(eds) Women Resisting Violence: Spirituality for Life. Maryknoll: Orbis, p. 80-83.

Barton

(2004) I am Black and Beautiful. Black Theology: An International Journal 2(2): 167-187.

Bellis, AO

(2021) I Am Burnt but Beautiful: Translating Song 1:5a. Journal of Biblical Literature 140(1): 91-111.

Bekkenkamp, J

(2000) Into Another Scene of Choices: The Theological Value of the Song of Songs. In: Brenner

and Fontaine, CR (eds) A Song of Songs: A Feminist Companion to the Bible,. FCB 2/6. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, pp 55–89.

Braffi

(1984) The Esoteric Significance of the Asante Nation. Kumasi: Educational Press.

Calogero

(2012) Objectification theory, self-objectification, and body image. In: Encyclopedia of Body Image and Human Appearance, Volume 2 London: Elsevier, pp. 574-580.

10.

Cannon

(2011) Intellectual Faith Practitioners: African American Theological Education in the Twentieth-First Century. Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center. 37 (1&2):17-24.

11.

Clay

, Vignoles

and Dittmar

(2005) Body Image and Self-Esteem among Adolescent Girls: Testing the Influence of Sociocultural Factors. Journal of Research on Adolescence 15(4): 451-477.

12.

Curtis

(2013) Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. Teach the Text Commentary Series; Grand Rapids: Baker Books.

13.

Dobbs-Allsopp

(2005) The Delight of Beauty and Song of Songs 4:1-7. Interpretation 59(3): 260-277.

14.

Dobbs-Allsopp

(2006) I am Black and Beautiful: The Song, Cixous, and Ecriture Feminine. In: Day

and Pressler

(eds) Engaging the Bible in a Gendered World: An Introduction to Feminist Biblical Interpretation in Honor of Katherine Doob Sakenfeld. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, pp.128-140.

15.

Dobbs-Allsopp

(2009) Song of Songs. In:

Katharine Doob

Sakenfeld

(gen ed), The New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible S-Z volume 5. Nashville: Abingdon Press, pp. 348-354.

16.

Duda

et al, (2007) Assessment of the Ideal Body Image of Women in Accra, Ghana. Tropical Doctor 37: 241-244.

17.

Exum

(2005) Song of Songs: A Commentary. OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

18.

Fokuo

(2009) The Lighter Side of Marriage: Skin Bleaching in Post-Colonial Ghana. African & Asian Studies 8(1): 125-146.

19.

Fredrickson

and Roberts

(1997) Objectification theory: toward understanding women’s lived experience and mental health risks. Psychol. Women Q 21: 173–206.

20.

Gordis

(1974) The Song of Songs and Lamentations. New York: KTAV.

21.

Gwartney

(2014) Societal Stereotypes Affecting One’s Body Image. MA Thesis, Rowan University, New Jersey.

22.

Hildebrand-Nilshon

, Motzkau

and Papadopoulos

(2001) Reintegrating sense into subjectification. In: Morss

, Stephenson

and van Rappard

(eds) Theoretical issues in psychology. Boston, USA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 289–300.

23.

Johnson

, McCreary

, and Mills

(2007) Effects of Exposure to Objectified Male and Female Media Images on Men’s Psychological Well-being. Psychol. Men Masc 8: 95–102.

24.

Kanyoro

(2001) Engendered Communal Theology: African Women’s Contribution to Theology in the Twenty First Century’, Feminist Theology 27: 36-56.

25.

Kinlaw

(1991) Song of Songs. In:

Gaebelein

(gen ed) The Expositor’s Bible Commentary with the New International Version – Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Volume 5; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, pp. 1201-1245.

26.

Kyeremanteng

(1969) The Royal Stools of Ashanti. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 39(1): 1-10.

27.

Lyons

(1994) Subjecthood and Subjectivity. In:

Yaguello

(ed) Subjecthood and Subjectivity: The Status of the Subject in Linguistic Theory. Paris: Ophrys/London: Institut Français du Royaume-Uni., pp. 9-17.

28.

MacKinnon

(1987) Feminism Unmodified. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

29.

Mariotinin

(2010) Black and Beautiful or Black but Beautiful. accessed 10 May 2021

30.

Masenya

(2003) Trapped between two Canons: African-South African Christian Women in the HIV/AIDS Era. In: Phiri

, Haddad

and Masenya

(ngwana‘ Mphahlele) (eds) African Women, HIV/AIDS and Faith Communities. Pitermaritzburg: Cluster Publications. p. 113-127.

31.

McNair

, Tuoyire

and Duda

(2018) Social Determinants of Ideal Body Image: Comparing the Impact for Men and Women. Archives of Women Health and Care 1(3): 1–8. DOI: 10.31038/AWHC.2018133

32.

Meissner

(1997) The Self and the Body – 1: The Body Self and the Body Image. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought 20(4): 419-448.

33.

Miller-McLemore

(2013) Embodied Knowing, Embodied Theology: What Happened to the Body. Pastoral Psychology 62(5): 743-758.

34.

Notte

(2016) A Politics of the Female Body: Reading Susanna (LXX Additions to Daniel) in a Brutalized South African Society. Biblische Notizen, 168:147-162.

35.

Nussbaum

(1995) Objectification. Philosophy and Public Affairs 24(4): 249–291.

36.

Oduyoye

(1995) Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

37.

Oduyoye

(2001) Introducing African Women’s Theology. London: Sheffield Academic Press.

38.

Oduyoye

(2019) Re-Membering Me: Memoirs of Mercy Amba Oduyoye. Ibadan: Sefer.

39.

Origen (1957) The Song of Songs: Commentary and Homilies. Trans.

R P

Lawson

; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

40.

Osei

, Ali

, Owusu

and Baiden

(2018) Skin-Lightening Practices among Female High School Students in Ghana. Public Health 155: 81-87.

41.

Parent

, and Moradi

(2011) His Biceps become Him: A Test of Objectification Theory’s Application to drive for Muscularity and Propensity for Steroid use in College Men. J. Couns. Psychol. 58: 246–256.

42.

Patton

(1979) The Stool and Asante Chieftaincy. African Arts 13(1): 74-77.

43.

Pope, MH

(1977) Song of Songs, AB 7c. Garden City: Doubleday & Sons.

44.

Rendtorff

(2005) The Canonical Hebrew Bible: A Theology of the Old Testament. Trans.

David E.

Orton

; Leiden: Deo Publishing.

45.

Richards

(1980) The Skeptical Feminist (RLE Feminist): A Philosophical Enquiry. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

46.

Rivera

(2010) Unsettling Bodies. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 26(2): 119-123.

47.

Roth

W-M

(2013) Activity, Subjectification, and Personality: Science Education from a Diversity-of-Life Perspective. In: Mansour

& Wegerif

(eds) Science Education for Diversity in Knowledge Society. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, pp.41-64.

48.

Sarpong

(1971) The Sacred Stool of the Akan. Tema: Ghana Publishing Press.

49.

Schraub

(2016) Racism as Subjectification. Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy 17(1):3-46.

50.

Spencer

(2019) Feeling the Burn: Angry Brothers, Adamant Sister, and Affective Relations in the Song of Songs (1:5-6; 8:8-12). Catholic Bible Quarterly 81(3): 405-428.

51.

Spencer, FS

(2017) Song of Songs, Wisdom Commentary 25. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

52.

Tanner, P

(1997) The History of Interpretation of the Song of Song. Bibliotheca Sacra 154 (613): 23-46.

53.

Traugott

(2010) Revisiting Subjectification and Inter-subjectification. In: Davidse

, Vandelanotte

, and Cuyckens

(eds)Subjectification, Intersubjectification and Grammaticalization. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 29-70.

54.

Tuoyire

, Kumi-Kyereme

, Doku

and Amo-Adjei

(2018) Perceived Ideal Body Size of Ghanaian Women – Not Too Skinny but Not Too Fat. Women and Health 58(5): 583-597.

55.

Walker

(1983) In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

56.

West

(2011) Do two walk together? Walking with the other through contextual Bible study. Anglican Theological Review 93(3): 431-449.

57.

West

(2003) Reading the Bible in the light of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The Ecumenical Review 55(4): 335-344.

58.

West

(2006) Contextual Bible reading: A South African case study. Analecta Bruxellensia 131-148.

59.

Williams

(1993) Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

60.

Zuck

(1991) A Theology of the Wisdom books and the Song of Songs.

In Zuck

(ed) A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament. DTS; Chicago: Moody Press, pp. 207-255.

‘I am black and beautiful’: Body-talk toward redefining the identity of black girls using Contextual Bible studies on Song of Songs 1.5–17

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References