There is such a strange tradition in this rural area that perhaps many have never heard of before. The fact that such a tradition exists in the African region struggling with hunger makes the situation even more surprising. Women who bear the burden of all traditions, unfortunately, in Africa as well as in our country; They even exist all over the world.
In the country where these girls, who were put on weight to get married at an early age, are in, people can show that the more they eat, the more wealthy they are. What diet is this, what sauerkraut is this?
The principle of “weakness is beauty”, which is valid almost everywhere in the world, does not work in this country.
We all know how much pressure the perception of weakness puts on women, especially these days when the Barbie movie is on the agenda. On top of that, a tradition continues in Mauritania where women were considered ugly when they were actually weak. According to this tradition, which has continued since the past, weak women are the representation of poverty.
It is even such a representation that it gives the impression that they may be too poor to buy bread. In this country, girls of marriageable age cannot get married if they are under 60 kilos. Therefore, they have to be fed with high-calorie foods such as camel milk, goat milk, and olive oil bread.
Moreover, families apply a weight-gain diet to their girls from childhood.
Aside from how unhealthy the situation is; girls say that they are exposed to this situation from a very young age. This tradition is called “leblouh”. Leblouh is a tradition that covers the process of gaining weight by feeding little girls from the age of 5. The strange thing is that this practice has never been banned in the country, and it doesn’t look like it will be.
Young girls who are victims of this cruel tradition have to consume 16,000 calories every day. Yes, we didn’t mistype or you misread. While the amount of calories that a normal person has to take daily is around 2,400, this is a very abnormal value. This time, many different diseases occur in girls who are fattened against their will, forced to eat and sent to camps just for this.
Weight is applied by tying sticks to the girls’ toes to maintain discipline.
It’s kind of torture actually. The toes of girls who do not accept this situation and do not eat are pinched, perhaps even going to the point of breaking. Violence is also reported. Girls who consume 4 meals a day and vomit as a result of the food they eat, are forced to eat what they vomit.
They feed them until their bodies burst like balloons.
Weight gain camps have been set up just for this. Young girls are sent to camps for a few weeks so that they get the expected calories and are thus ready for marriage. This tradition is also called “gavage”. Gavage is the name normally given to the process of overfeeding geese before they are eaten. It is very meaningful to give this name to this tradition.
Despite the negative consequences of consuming more calories than necessary, the fight against Leblouh is almost non-existent even today. Looking at the statistics, in Mauritanian society, men prefer overweight women. It was concluded that 55% of men consider being thin as a deficiency. Being overweight as a sign of wealth in a poverty-stricken country is not surprising.
The irony of life, while some wish to be a size zero like a Victoria’s Secret model; Others argue that weakness is a deficiency and a flaw. We hope that we can create societies all over the world where women who are at peace with their bodies are not molded.
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