Strange customs in Mauritania, Africa

Mauritania, in the west of the Sahara Desert in Africa, is located at the junction of the Arab world and West Africa. It has a long history and its residents belong to several different tribes. Its customs and habits not only preserve the traditions of Arab nomads, but also leave the imprint of African tribes. In this tribe, the fatter women are, the more favored they are, and divorce is the most glorious.

Mauritania is a very interesting name. This name contains the meaning of "the country of the Moors" and "the land of the Moors" because the main ethnic group in this country is the Moors, accounting for about 3/5 of the country's population.

The Moors are a typical nomadic people. They mainly live in the relatively flat open areas of the Sahara Desert. The Moors 'weddings naturally reflect the unique rough atmosphere of the desert. The country's interesting customs and weddings can also be seen from its colorful cultural characteristics.

For a long time, there has been a strange practice among the Moors. The mother decides the daughter's marriage, and the father is not allowed to interfere. When a young man fell in love with a girl, his mother took gifts and went to the girl's mother to propose marriage. If the girl's mother agreed, the marriage was confirmed on the spot and a specific date for the wedding was agreed upon.

In the eyes of the Moors, the measure of whether a bride is beautiful is not divided by appearance and height. It is not differentiated by jewelry and clothing. It is judged by whether the muscles of various parts of the girl's body are developed. Any bride who has a thick waist, a short neck, prominent buttocks, and tall breasts is recognized as a "beauty". Needless to say, the groom is proud, but her family feels that it is a great honor, and people of the same race also feel proud.

Those thin and tall men always long for a fat wife. In their view, a fat wife is a symbol of wealth. If a young man marries a very fat wife, the wedding in this family will be extremely grand, and many people will come tirelessly to congratulate and see the bride.

In order to allow her daughter to become the "new bride" of Guangzong Yaozu, mothers are always competing to study the way to obesity. Girls from wealthy families have been trained by their parents to fatten since the age of seven or eight. Female servants rub them with grease every day. They eat goat's milk and oily food rich in fat. They never participate in outdoor labor or do strenuous exercise.

In order to bring her body shape to the standard of beauty, the daughter of an ordinary herdsman has been arranged by her parents since she was a few years old to drink a large amount of camel milk every day. After a long period of time, the girl's body has developed significantly.

This concept of beauty in obesity has also penetrated into the lives of urban residents. Many urban people sent their daughter to pastoral areas the year before her marriage, asking her to eat more meat and dairy products, and through mandatory eating habits, girls have a thick figure.

In addition to working hard on food, the girls strip off their clothes almost regularly every day and roll on the soft sand to smooth out the uneven areas on their bodies. After a long period of strict training, when they entered adulthood, they became fat girls whose flesh was not visible to the bones, becoming the best targets for men to pursue their spouses.

In addition, it is easy for a Mauritania woman to remarry after divorce, which is also regarded as a sign of a woman's charm. According to official figures released by Mauritania, the divorce rate in the country was once as high as 20%, and 18% of divorced women remarry more than six times.

Divorced women believe that divorce is not a curse as it is in other countries, and even say they are prepared to marry more times because it does not violate the doctrine. At the same time, religious figures in Mauritania have also made an exception to the phenomenon of divorce, believing that divorce and remarriage are normal and natural events.

However, officials in Mauritania do not think so and are strengthening education among women. The Ministry of Women is launching an education campaign for women, trying to make women aware of what they should abide by in marriage and what responsibilities they should bear for marriage through universal education, especially to make them aware of the dangers of divorce, so as to maintain their marriages.