HASSAN NASIBA MIJINYAWA
U14MM1148
This is a culture found in Ethiopia. It is has hard to believe that in the 21st century such a culture still exist. A culture where maturity is indicated by a lip plate and also the bride price of a woman is determined by the size of the lip plate. Other people may see the lip plate as a destruction of the body but to the Mursi or Suri women it is a sign of maturity. The lip plates are usually made up of clay or wood and range between 4 to 25 centimetres. The lip plate is done by their mothers or another kinswoman by removing four of the female children front lower teeth and also cutting off their lower lips. Then a ceramic disc is placed after the cut and would remain there until the cut is healed, then a larger disc would be placed. This tradition is normally performed from about six months to a year before a girl gets marry, usually around the age of sixteen.
It is said that beauty lies in the hands of the beholder as the Mursi women do not only use the lip plate as a sign of maturity but also determine their bride price, as the larger their mouth, the higher the bride price. Forty cattle are given to the bride family with smaller lip plate, and about sixty cattle are given to the bride’s family with larger lip plate. Usually only wealthy men can marry from the women of Mursi. The use of lip plate makes it difficult for the women to eat or talk, as such there only wear it in the company of men and remove it when they are about to eat or sleep. Apart from decorating themselves with lip plates, the women also wear body and face paint and also wear ear rings made of fruit on their cut earlobes.
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