Force fed to find a husband: How Mauritanian women are fattened up!
- Big is believed to be beautiful in the West African country!
- Obesity in a wife is a sign of wealth and prestige.
We know of the time, when women usually avoid eating much. But here in some places in Mauritania, women are supposed to eat, eat and eat until they become fat. We know of people who expect their wives to be of zero size, with a perfect figure, but in this place, Mauritania, people will feel comfortable to marry a woman only if she is not of zero size, but rather over weighted. They have a belief that an over weighted would bring loads of fortune into the family. This will make the family prosper with goodwill and happiness.
With this belief, being a trustworthy practice over there, women are always expected to be fat. Therefore, during marriages, girls are force fed, so that they gain weight very quickly. Here, women check calories for each and everything they eat, so that they would not gain weight. With the intention of maintaining their fitness, women opt for green tea, fitness exercises, balanced diet and so on and so forth.
Being exposed to such a setting, it is quite funny to know about this force feeding, and also makes us feel that it would be pleasure to let us eat as much as we can, but their life with force feeding practicing has made life miserable for the women there. They become obese which is obviously not a sign for a good health. Stuffing food into our mouth is not what anyone would wish for in their life and this force feeding has been a torture to the women in Mauritania.
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About the author: This article is written by our intern, Sherly Hephzibah.