Photo by Joost de Raeymaeker
Image Source: http://www.marieclaire.com/
Hello fellow beauty lovers.
What do you guys think of when you hear the term „Fat Camp“? Well, I for one associate this term with a summer camp, in which adolescents get help to lose some weight. In Mauritania, a little state in the Western part of North Africa, they have a slightly different meaning to that because the beauty ideal of this little country, which has the size of Texas, is completely different from ours. Big women and stretch marks are seen as extremely desirable and sexy over there. Why you may ask. Well, fat wives let their husbands appear extremely wealthy in this poor country because he has the means and money to feed his wife properly. Makes sense, huh? That is precisely why little girls from the age of 7 or 8 have to be properly fattened up to secure a good husband. Hm… that doesn’t sound as bad when you think about the girls over here. Some have to stick to a daily meal consisting of only 3 almonds and a celery stick to fit into size zero.
Image Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
But those Mauritanian women don’t sit around and consume crisps and chocolate to slowly gain a pound or two, no. They go to Fat Camp to consume 15,000 – 16,000 calories A DAY. The little girls have to consume the meals they’re given, if not they have to endure painful beatings or other measures. One established method is to squeeze and crush the fingers and toes between two wooden sticks to put pressure on the poor girl. A day consists of about 4 meals including gallons of camel milk, oil and fats. 16,000 calories are daily fed to the 7 to 12 year old girls on a duration of 3 months in professional Fat Camps.
The worst thing about this kind of “force feeding” is that it is highly recommended and brings enormous results. This ideal of a beautiful woman is so deeply rooted that an obese woman is seen as healthy and beautiful. At a certain weight she can get whoever and whatever she wants, meaning her social status is as high as the number on the scale. Well, at least, she is just supposed to appear wealthy. Poor families can’t afford a professional fat camp. But to marry their daughters off as fast as possible at a young age, girls get fed animal hormones in the worst cases to get fat as quick as possible. Of course, the parents know that this method is far from healthy. But food is expensive. It really seems that being fat and beautiful is the only way to secure your future if you are a woman in Mauritania. If parents can’t invest in their daughter’s education because there simply aren’t any cheap schools available, then they have to invest in her beauty so that she can find a man who secures her future.
We can only phantom the physical consequences of such a behaviour ranging from diseases like Diabetes to the failure of your organs. But of course, these women also suffer from psychological damages. They probably will never have a healthy relationship with food.
It’s both interesting and extremely terrifying what people from all over the world think is beautiful.
Yours truly,
Lana Hoang
Copyright and Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2364060/ and http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/forcefeeding-in-mauritania
