THE LABIAL PLATES OF MURSI WOMEN: TRADITION OR MUTILATION?

The Mursi people are one of the last groups in Africa among which it is still customary, among women only, to wear lip plates capable of enormously enlarging the diameter of the lower and upper lip. The shape of the lip thus deformed has become the main distinctive feature of the Mursi, which makes them among the most interesting anthropological singularities of Ethiopia.

To obtain this cosmetic modification, a girl's lower lip is cut by her mother or another woman from the village when she reaches about 15 or 16 years. The wound is kept open with a wooden plug until complete healing, which takes up to 3 months. It is then the girl who chooses the size of the "final" target, passing through progressive steps that slowly widen the circumference of the hole.

Although it is not known exactly how this custom was born, one of the theories sees the lip plate as an intentional scar designed to make girls less attractive to slave traders. To date, many anthropologists have described how the size of the plate is also an index of the social importance of the person who wears it, and consequently of his wealth within the tribe.

What everyone seems to agree on is that the practice is an indication of social maturity and having reached reproductive age, thus indicating the suitability of a girl to become a wife.

In addition to the Mursi people, who apply the lip disc only to women, there are several peoples who use this aesthetic modification of their face. There are the Sara, in Chad, and the Makonde between the states of Tanzania and Mozambique and then the Mobali, in the Congo, where the Belgian domination forced the local populations to any expedient to seek survival.

Comments

RAPE OF IGBO MEN DURING SLAVERY SEASON

RAPE OF IGBO MEN DURING SLAVERY SEASON Did you know that during slavery slave owners would buy slaves to engage in forced sexual acts? These male slaves were bought entirely on the prerequisite to owning a big penis. Igbo men were also routinely raped by their slave owners as forms of punishment for their insurgency. The process was known as "breaking the buck or buck breaking." Involves an African Igbo slave who was challenged and then whipped in front of his entire congregation of slaves. Once the slave was worn out the master would have the other Igbo slaves make him walk over the trunk where the pants would be removed and the slave owner would have the slave sodomize in front of his wife , family , friends and kids Slave owner would make sure the slaves wife and children watched front row and center, so they could witness the death and sexual humiliation of her husband and father. Buck Breaking was the slave master's most effective tool to keep all young Igbo black ...

Cartel forces woman to strip n@ked and make a confession before killing her

Cartel forces woman to strip n@ked and make a confession before killing her A woman has been found dead after she was interrogated topless and at gunpoint by Mexican cartel thugs. Laura Karen Rodríguez Moreno was held up by members of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and forced to confess she was a member of a rival drug cartel and had been working with local police. She was forced to confess to being part of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and to an alleged relationship between the CJNG and the Municipal Police of Salamanca, Guanajuato. Footage of the interrogation was shared across social media. In the disturbing video, Laura stands in front of a white car at night, topless but wearing shorts. She is flanked by masked men holding large guns, while her interrogator off camera asks her questions. In Spanish, the interrogator asks Laura her name, to which she replies “Laura Karen Rodriguez Moreno”. Her interrogator then asks where Laura lives. “In the...

The Good Man of Nanking

The Good Man of Nanking Taiwan, as known as Republic of China (ROC), the country where I was born and raised, is currently in a difficult situation both internally and internationally due to the complex relations between Taiwan, People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Japan. To understand the formation of the current situation and look for possible solution to the future, it is crucial to know the history between the three countries, especially the past hundred years. Besides, out of my curiosity for my well-respected grandfather, who was previously a general in Republic of China while it still represented the entire China, I want to learn the truth of the second Sino-Japanese war during WWII, which lasted eight years and caused millions of deaths. During the war, the most disputed tragedy was the “Nanking Massacre” and it is still a unresolved dilemma between Chinese and Japanese people as well as the government. From Wikipedia: “Nanking Massacre was an episode of mass murder and...

History, Events And Facts

Search This Blog