Beauty standards are diverse across different cultures and backgrounds. When it comes to weddings, many grooms would be concerned about how their brides are presented. Whether tall, short, plump, or lanky, we all have our preferences. For some men, a fit and skinny bride accounts for their dream lovers. Well, Mauritania’s Leblouh wedding tradition is contrary to that. In Mauritania, women who carry layers of fat are a symbol of attractiveness. A fat woman is an ideal bride.
Leblouh is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five to nineteen. The origins of force-feeding in Mauritania are quite unclear. Nevertheless, the practice is centuries old and could be traced back to the time Mauritanians were nomads. In nomadic societies, obesity was classed as a sign of beauty in women. The wives of rich men at the time were really voluptuous that they couldn’t do any house chores. Instead, their slaves did all the work Leblouh Wedding Tradition
The leblouh ritual is an intended practice of forcefully feeding young girls to fatten them and them more attractive to their eligible suitors. Mauritanian mothers start fattening their daughters during the feeding or rainy season as early as age four and continue until marriage. You might be wondering why feeding is done during the rainy season. The rainy season is marked as the reason for feeding because that is when milk and wheat are plentiful. The girls spend two months in an enclosure where they must consume over 5000 calories a day. Foods like couscous, corn mixed with milk and porridge, and fermented milk diluted in water and sugar.
An interesting fact about Leblouh is that Mauritanian girls consume four times the amount of calories as an adult male bodybuilder who consumes on average 4,000 calories daily. Leblouh is forcefully imbibed on these girls. If they refuse the 20 litres of milk a day that they are given to drink, they are subjected to “toe squeezing” which involves the crushing of the toes using a contraption made of sticks, pinching on the skin, or even hitting. The objective of the girl’s family is that she weighs at least 100 kilograms (or 220 pounds) by the time she reaches 18 or a marriageable age.
Why Leblouh?
The most common reason why families invest in Leblouh is to ensure their daughter’s financial security and good marriage prospects. Force-feeding young girls is an agenda to gain prestige and stature in their communities and make them attractive in the eyes of eligible men. In Mauritanian society, “heavier girls and women” are believed to be beautiful and wealthy, while their “slimmer counterparts” are not only considered inferior but also a source of shame to their families.
