In Mali, they called it yansanfari–the African equivalent of baby got back. Yes, plus size women of the western world, take heart. Men in Africa, and presumably in other countries, too, prefer big women. And when someone called you fat, it was a compliment. And because of my yansanfari, not to mention my pasty white skin, I was a goddess among women in Africa.
But is it possible to have too much back? In France, they call it gavage, the process by which the French force feed geese in order to obtain foie gras. In Mauritania, they call it dieting, and women are pickling their livers รก l’oie:
Mauritania seeks to reverse ‘fat is beautiful’ ethos
Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 were forced to drink up to 18 liters, or 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. In extreme cases, girls died.
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Insert your favorite cultural relativism/eating disorder comment here.
1 response so far ↓
1 Alexandre // Jul 9, 2007 at 11:28 am
It can be quite tricky to talk about such cases. And some forms of cultural relativism may be helpful here. Not necessarily moral relativism but the kind of cultural relativism which has to do with holism: how does this make sense in context?
You mention eating disorder which does make sense in some contexts. As we keep noticing, eating disorders often have to do with perception of self, attitude toward the body. In fact, this might be part of what my friend Yara saw as a connection between Steinbeck and terror attacks. In different parts of the world people, especially women, don’t perceive their bodies in a very positive way.
Fascinating stuff.
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