I’m Afrikaans, and I’m tired of my culture. 🙄
(Disclaimer: If you genuinely enjoy any of the things I'm about to criticise, please don't take it personally. I'm glad you've found community and belonging in the things you enjoy. This is my personal opinion and experience. I'm not saying every Afrikaans person is like this, and I'm genuinely interested in hearing perspectives that disagree with me.)
I don't know if it's just me, but I've never really related to Afrikaans culture.
Genuinely, the older I get, the more frustrated I become with it. I've always felt like it lacks variety, experimentation and, frankly, a bit of actual imagination. Particularly when it comes to traditional Afrikaans masculinity.
It feels like we've somehow managed to build an enormous cultural identity around braai, rugby, boeremusiek, Christianity and kaki shorts and then just stopped there.
That's it.
That's the culture.
And yes, obviously there's more to Afrikaans culture than those things. But tell me I'm wrong when those are the things that are constantly shoved to the front whenever someone talks about being Afrikaans.
Braai. Rugby. Boere. Beer. Khaki shorts.
And I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the obsession.
Braai isn't some uniquely Afrikaans invention btw. It's chucking a hunk of meat over fire. Humans have been doing that for thousands of years. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, and obviously the social aspect can be wonderful, but I find it bizarre that something so universal has become one of the primary symbols of our cultural identity.
Then there's rugby.
I don't like sports in general, but rugby might be the one I understand the least. It's a bunch of muscular men with cauliflower ears chasing an egg-shaped ball while repeatedly throwing themselves into each other.
And apparently I'm supposed to give a shit. If you love rugby, great. Seriously. Have fun. But why does it sometimes feel like you need to enjoy rugby to be considered a normal Afrikaans man?
I've never been able to relate to the whole "rugby = masculinity = belonging" equation. I don't want to sit around pretending I care about a game I couldn't give less of a shit about just because everyone else is watching it.
And then there's Afrikaans music.
Oh boy.
I know this is subjective, but so much mainstream Afrikaans music sounds exactly the same to me.
Same sounds. Same themes. Same lyrical clichés. Same handful of artists being played everywhere. And yes, there are exceptions. Obviously there are talented Afrikaans musicians. But if I have to hear Boerepompie one more fucking time, I might spontaneously leave the country.
Where's the experimentation?
Where's all the weird stuff?
Where are the Afrikaans punk bands? The alternative musicians? The experimental electronic artists? The people mixing Afrikaans with completely unexpected influences? Why does it so often feel like we're terrified of making something that doesn't fit the established mould?
Afrikaans cinema is another one.
I'll give filmmakers some slack because obviously we don't have Hollywood's budget. But even then, sometimes I watch our biggest Afrikaans productions and think: "That's it?"
I went to film school. I've met actors, directors, writers, animators and other creatives who are insanely talented. Some of them are far more interesting and capable than people who get handed major roles in our biggest productions. And yet we keep recycling the same types of stories, characters and personalities. There is so much creative talent in this country. Why the hell aren't we doing more with it?
Then there's the khaki shorts.
Look, I know they're just shorts. I'm not angry at a piece of clothing. But they represent something to me.
There's a particular kind of Afrikaans masculinity that I've always found exhausting. Men constantly trying to prove themselves to other men.
One guy wears shorts in the middle of winter because he wants everyone to know he isn't cold. Another guy suddenly drops his voice three octaves because another man with a slightly deeper voice walked into the room.
Like actually. Why are we constantly competing with each other over who can be the most masculine?
It feels like duh duh caveman behaviour.
And another thing permeating through everything is the persistence of patriarchy.
Traditional Afrikaans culture can still be incredibly rigid about what men and women are supposed to be. Men are seen as the gods of the family. Women and children are the slaves and serve their respective purposes.
Obviously, not every Afrikaans family operates like this. Plenty don't. But I've seen it in most, and I find it incredibly frustrating that so many people defend it simply because it's "how things have always been." Tell me, since when is tradition automatically a good thing?
If a tradition is harmful, why the hell should we preserve it?
Then there's Christianity.
Again, I'm not saying Christianity is inherently bad, nor am I saying every Christian Afrikaans person is close-minded.
But Afrikaans culture has historically been so deeply intertwined with Christianity that the two can be almost impossible to separate in some communities. And with that sometimes comes an attitude that I find incredibly frustrating: questioning things is bad, curiosity is suspicious, and anyone who doesn't conform is some misguided heretic. There's often this weird combination of performative morality, conformity and holier-than-thou behaviour.
That's literally the exact opposite of what culture should encourage.
Culture should make you curious, it should make you want to explore, it should make you want to create, it should expose you to things you've never seen before.
Another thing that drives me insane is our attitude toward other cultures. Mannn...
There are still so many stereotypes about Eastern cultures, African cultures and other communities that are treated as completely normal. And I really haven't seen much curiosity for it. People don't know anything about another culture, don't particularly want to learn about it, and yet somehow feel completely comfortable making assumptions about it.
We don't even seem particularly interested in learning about other South African cultures.
How is that not embarrassing? XD
We're living in one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth, and yet some people seem perfectly happy staying inside their little cultural bubble.
I don't want to pretend I love Afrikaans culture anymore.
I want it to evolve. I know I can love it.
Maybe I'm completely wrong. Maybe I've just had a particularly shitty experience with Afrikaans culture. Maybe there's an entire side of it that I've never been exposed to.
If you love Afrikaans culture, tell me why.
Seriously.
Tell me what I'm missing.
But don't just tell me "you're wrong because braai and rugby are lekker."