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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Troubling views: a review of african postage stamps
| Panel |
33. Visualizing Africa, from there to here, between now and then.
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| Paper ID | 519 |
| Author(s) |
Adedze, Agbenyega
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Postage stamps were originally construed as pre-payment for the service of transporting letters and packages. However, images on stamps have become mediums for transmitting propagandist messages about the country of issue to its citizens and the rest of the world. Postage stamps are public art and public art in general embodies the beliefs and aspirations of its patron, which in this case are governments. Stamps are handy because as cultural productions, they are politically expedient and very cheap – they satisfy current political and social needs. Commemorative stamps especially venerate special events, occasions, or personalities and hence are subject to political and social pressure from special interest groups.
This paper examines postage stamps depicting African women from the colonial period to the present. Whereas the colonial postal artists depicted negative stereotypical images of the African woman from their imaginations that feeds the public's expectations, I argue that the post independence stamps are not any better since they perpetuate stereotypes of gender superiority and inferiority, and outright objectification of the African woman. Given the fact that postage stamps are circulated all over the world, through letters, collectors, and dealers, if these images are internalized without critical analysis one would assume that these representations are a true reflection of African women. Thus, my paper exhorts African governments and postal advisory boards to consider the full spectrum of the African woman's experience in designing postage stamps.
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