From Rawnaq, to the world: Mauritania: Morbidly Obese is Beautiful

In a society that has labelled thin as attractive, it's refreshing to know that there are places where big is considered beautiful.

Mauritania, a sparsely populated country in West Africa, might be seen as a sanctuary for all big women around the world.
But for young local girls who are force fed to make them more attractive, it is more like a prison cell.
Girls as young as the age of 7 years old go through an ancient practice known as gavage.
They are forced to drink bowls of high-fat camel's milk and eat large amounts cos cos for months on end until they are significantly over-weight.

Twigs are used to pinch the girls when they are about to vomit to distract them of the urge. If vomiting occurs, it is force fed back to the girl.

This practice is seen by outsiders as torturous and inhumane, but to the locals it is a common tradition.

Why is it done? A big woman has eaten well as a child, this means her family was wealthy enough to support her. So in Mauritania, fat reflects wealth.

Many girls want to do this to increase their eligibility for marriage, but with globalization on the rise, girls are resorting to other methods to plump themselves up.

Many women resort to buying black market appetite-enhancing drugs on the street, most of which are designed for camels and cows.

So although Oprah Winfrey might have featured Mauritania as a place where all plump women should go, she really did sugar coat the tradition of gavage.

Sadly, it still seems like the world is still thriving for beauty in extremities.
What ever happened to 'just be healthy'?

Signed,