Mauritania: Where Being FAT is Beautiful!!!

When I first heard about a Country that ENCOURAGES its women to be FAT, i thought 'Gee, I wonder if I can move there! And its not just being a bit chubby or having a muffin top. 'To men here, fat is sexy. And in this patriarchal region, many Mauritanian women do everything possible - and have everything possible done to them - to put on pounds'. The men in this country LOVE women with chunks and chunks of fat-its the absolute opposite of the western notion of what is beautiful. Being OBESE is revered in this Country but there is a horrific story of whats expected of Mauritanian women.

Girls as young as 7 years old are force fed ('gavage') (all day) high fat foods (Such as dates, cous cous and camels milk) so they begin the process of being fattened up.There are even 'farms' you can send your children to, like a fat farm-for them to gain weight. A lady that runs a 'farm' said: "I make them do this all morning. Then they have a rest. In the afternoon we start again. We do this three times a day - the morning, the afternoon and the evening." .Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 have to drink up to five gallons of fat-rich camel’s or cow’s milk daily, aiming for silvery stretch marks on their upper arms. If a girl refused or vomited, the village weight-gain specialist might squeeze her foot between sticks, pull her ear, pinch her inner thigh, bend her finger backward or force her to drink her own vomit'. Drugs are also sold (many of them for animals) for women to gain weight.

There are several factors that influence the cultural construct of what is beautiful. Traditionally, the people lived in the desert so having a plump daughter or wife was a sign of status, wealth and kindness. Also, once a girl starts the fattening up process she will often get her period sooner which means she can be married off.

Although there is a huge push to educate people in the country that force feeding is a form of abuse, its a long and slow road to changing these cultural perceptions of beauty.Many women can now be seen (often with their veils hiding their face for fear that someone would see them....our version of being caught at an all you can eat buffet perhaps????) exercising around the local stadium.

Intro to the Abaya: Fashion & Islam

Saudi Arabia is a land of paradoxes and a land of contradictions!


Before I arrived I was honestly more than a little scared. Every time I researched the country it just confirmed my fears that the whole population were religious extremists who hated the west-the images of the women dressed in black depressed me (even though I was curious about wearing the niquaab/face covering).
And I am not exactly what you would call 'uneducated'!

I now think that Saudi's isolationist mentality and the western stereotypes of saudi do nothing to dispel these misconceptions.

Anyway I have been here a few months and have settled in. Although I still miss my country and at times saudi is just plain WEIRD to me, i am getting used to the difference in culture.

What i didnt expect was how saudi people have introduced concepts of status and class into aspects of the religion. Now what I mean with this is specific to the issue of wearing the hijab and islamic dress for women. I have noticed that the upper class and upper middle class do not wear hijab or they wear the scarf but not as strictly. They don't mind if their hair shows etc. They are also less likely to wear the niquaab. Also, the way a woman wears her scarf and her abaya also reflects the social status/class of that woman.

A great advantage about living in Jeddah is that it is more 'free' than Riyadh (the capital). More women are wearing abayas that show their personality while still adhering to the Islamic standards of dress. They are no longer wearing the plain black abayas. They have crystal designs and beautiful colourful fabric that is under a sheer black cloth. They often are reversible so you can wear the colourful abayas when your with family or with friends at social gatherings. Many young women wear these abayas and you can often see a pair of converse all stars (cons) peaking from under their abayas! Muslim women take A LOT of care in what abaya they wear and items such as shoes and bags are used inject personality and again, status. I was very surprised to find uni students clutching ther louis vuittons etc and it really frustrated me because they hardly ever had anything larger than a small notepad for taking notes for class because they didnt want to either hold their books or risk damaging their bags!