Bibliography Page

Bloch, Marianne, Josephine A. Beoku-Betts, and B. R. Tabachinick, eds. Women and the Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner, 1998. Print.

Adler, Leonore L., ed. Women in Cross- Cultural Perspective. New York, NY: Praeger, 1991. Print.

Kulick, Don, and Anne Menely, eds. Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession. New York, New York: The Penguin Group, 2005. Print.

Akak, Elder Prince O. "Tradition: The Fattening Room, An Efik Tradition." Culture. Maobong Oku, 2006. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. .

Simmons, Anne M. "Where Fat is a Mark of Beauty." Annual Editions: Anthropology 7.8 (2007): 129-30. Print.

Interview Reveals Ignorance

As I continued on with my research, I was presented with a source that could help answer some of my questions about Nigerian women’s body image. A few weeks ago, I was talking with my friend Kacie about my blog in Anthropology and how I was struggling a little to piece everything together. She said she had a friend in one of her classes that was from Nigeria and who could probably help me. She sent me her email, and it went from there. I told her about what I was doing in class and the topic I decided to explore. I asked her if she would be comfortable answering a few of my questions that was about body image and Nigerian women. I’ve decided to include the interview in my blog. (the green bold words are hers) Her name is Domilola and with her help I was able to make some observations that were CRUCIAL to my overall perception. Thanks Domi!

Hey,

I don't mind answering any questions you have, you can email them to me anytime. I’m not entirely sure I could help because I'm from one of the like 450 tribes in Nigeria but i could also get you in touch with the other Nigerians who are from two other tribes in Nigeria.

Oh that's awesome! What part of Nigeria are you from and what's your tribe's name? For my project I'm mostly concentrating on women's roles in Nigeria and their body image. Does Nigeria have an ideal body image or body standards for Nigerian women? I know here TV and magazine show that "being thin" is the ideal body. I was wondering if it was the same or somehow different?

My tribe is Ijebu-remo but the overall denomination (long story) is Yoruba.

Nigeria doesn’t have a set body image for women this is because women look very different depending on where they are from. If you are from the west for example (Yoruba region) they believe that women should be voluptuous. So the bigger the better. No magazines would ever suggest that being thin is the ideal body because Nigerians especially in the west and the east are not thin (I don’t think i have met up to 20 thin people in my whole life and I have lived there all my life). By thin I mean American version of thin. Most people are normal body size.

I don’t know if you know Bello? He is one of the other Nigerians; He said he wouldn't mind meeting you in the library. He said he would be there for a while today so you can come anytime.
He is from the side of the country with thinner women.

Oh thanks! If I have time I'll definitely contact him. I have a few more questions if you don't mind answering.
Do you think Nigeria is more accepting of different body types?
Do you think having a different body image has anything to do with different eating habits or cultures of food?
Have you ever heard of "fattening rooms?"
If you have, what would you describe them as?

I think I know what you mean? It is people from Calabar? If it is it is a ceremony right before a woman gets married. Like i said being voluptuous is a lot of tribes idea as Ideal beauty.. It doesn't go on so much anymore though.

I think Nigeria is very accepting of all kind of body types. There is no real pressure to be anything in particular. Nigerians in general are quite err arrogant lol everyone thinks they are the hot. Not a joke. You can’t add this to your work I'm sure but you could just say that because of the various kinds of ethnic groups and cultures people tend to find a niche in which their body shape is accepted and considered beautiful.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions you can email them to me.

Oh hahaha thanks for your honest opinion. Do you think different eating habits affect body image at all? Like American's eating habits and Nigerian eating habits?

The food from the west for example has a lot of starch and is very fattening in general but traditionally we do not really eat in between meals and have a set breakfast lunch and dinner. As for the ideal body image I don’t really know why it is the ideal body image. There is no such thing as a Nigerian eating habit or ideal body shape because the cultures are very different and they vary from place to place.

Ok thanks for your answers! I can't think of any more questions for right now but if I think of any I'll be sure to email you. Thank you so much for your help! Maybe I'll see you around campus sometime!

____________________________________________________________________________

My interview with Domi addressed so many things that at first I felt very overwhelmed. Where should I start? Well the fact that she told me there were as many as 450 different tribes in Nigeria astonished me. I can’t believe I was so ignorant in the fact I just assumed that fattening rooms were apart of all tribes in Nigeria! I had actually thought there were only a few tribes scattered across that particular region and the rest of the population was in similarity to the United States. Boy was I wrong! As the interview went on, she started talking about her denomination being classified as Yoruba. I had no idea what she was talking about. The fact that I didn’t consider the different cultures and peoples WITHIN Nigeria was out of pure stupidity. I felt embarrassed. However, I tried to brush past it and continue asking her questions. I was really surprised she specifically said the western region considered being voluptuous as beautiful and that the food was really starchy. I was also intrigued by the fact she said she hadn’t met more than 20 people who were thin! To me, that’s incredible. And she had lived there her whole life! One of her statements had made the interview into something extremely valuable. “Because of the various kinds of ethnic groups and cultures people tend to find a niche in which their body shape is accepted and considered beautiful.” In only a few emails she had already showed me so much! The interview revealed how ignorant I was of certain aspects of their culture subconsciously. I learned that there are tremendous amounts of tribes all over Nigeria and that in each particular one, they have different values, customs and beliefs. Domi then said because of this there wouldn’t be one specific Nigerian body image. This whole time I had been saying Nigerian women and their “body image.” By stating body image as a singular, I was saying there was only one image in the entire country! I had let my own perspectives and values get in the way of my anthropological digging.

“Nigeria is a country of diverse tribal groups, with marked differences in cultural and historical traditions.” (Adler) If I had only found this quote at the beginning of my research! From reading articles, digging through books, and holding interviews, I have uncovered a lot not only about Nigerian women but also about myself. First off, there is no ONE body image that Nigerian women believe to be ideal. On the western side, they might believe in being voluptuous as being beautiful where another region might believe different. My second finding including that place is crucial when investigating body image. Not only was place crucial through fattening rooms for women of the Efik people, but also through women across Nigeria. Different places represented different body image beliefs! Because of their place, women had to be bigger in order to defeat malnutrition and maintain healthy pregnancies. The placement of their country or environment determined what their values consisted of. My third and last finding was based upon myself. Throughout the project, I was trying to understand and accept fattening rooms and other body images of Nigeria but I wasn’t letting go of my own beliefs. I thought I was but the outcome of the interview showed me different. I had held on to certain stereotypes or previous beliefs that interfered with my work! Once I acknowledged I was ignorant to some extent, my research proved to be more valid. Overall, I was able to use the concept of fattening rooms to further explore Nigerian women’s body IMAGES (emphasis on the plural.)

Rites of Passage

Now that I’ve dug into my topic a little more, I became intrigued with the use of the fattening rooms as a way to reach womanhood.

“The fattening room is at the center of a centuries- old rite of passage from maidenhood to womanhood.”

“They say that unless you have passed through this, you will not be a full- grown woman.” (Simmons)

As I pondered these quotes, I decided to use Van Gennep’s theory of rites de passage. There are three main components: 1. Rites of separation 2. Liminality 3. Rites of reaggregation. The rites of separation can certainly translate into the use of fattening rooms. The young girls are removed from their everyday lives with their families and placed in the fattening room. They have to learn to nurture and not be nurtured. They learn to cook, clean, tell stories, have proper etiquette, dance and perform for their husbands. The liminal period can be expressed when the girls are let out of the fattening rooms over a period of time and return to the outside world, but not fully. They are not young girls anymore but aren’t complete women because they haven’t married yet. As the saying goes, they are “betwixt and between.” The last stage of reaggregation can be expressed when the girls become women as they marry their husbands and perform the traditional dance, ekombi, on their wedding day. By applying something that made sense to me like Van Gennep’s theory, to something that didn’t make sense like the use of fattening rooms, I was able to connect better with my topic. You can see that the use of fattening rooms can be a vehicle to promote womanhood in a positive manner or it can be a vehicle to succumb to society’s issues of malnourishment and ideal body image.

The Process and Brief Overview of “Fattening Rooms”

Now most of you are probably wondering what actually is a fattening room or how is it used in Nigerian Society. By providing you with this brief overview on the matter it will allow you to gain more knowledge and understanding of a culture that is so diverse and unique. A fattening room is usually a small room or hut made of grass and mud where young girls or brides to be go as a rite of passage. The hut is usually owned by a patriarch of some sort, usually the girl’s father. In this room, young girls are forced to eat excessive amounts of food such as a variety of beans, rice, porridge ( gari) and herbal supplements so that they can gain weight as much as possible. The process usually lasts several months depending on whether the family can afford to have their daughter in seclusion for such a long period of time without working and just eating. Although eating and napping takes up the majority of the girls’ time, elder women teach and tell stories of how to take care of their future husband and family. Although most girls remain lethargic and inactive during these few months, they do engage in some light activity. A traditional dance, the ekombi, is taught to the girls by the elder women. This is the dance that they will perform on the day of their weddings as a sign of transitioning back into society as female adults. Although the process was practiced more in the earlier years of the Nigerian culture, it still remains to be a tradition that is considered crucial in order to become a woman or get married in some parts of Nigeria. Based off my sources, Anne Simmons (writer of article) travels to the location of Akpabuyo, Nigeria where she encounters the use of fattening rooms. She encounters the traditions and customs of the Efik people specifically through individuals such as a teenager named Margaret Ene who is embarking on the journey to womanhood through the fattening rooms.

When I first discovered this information, I was quite unsure of what to do or where to start. How can I understand something so vastly different from my own culture? So in order to try and help myself comprehend this culture, I started to use different components from our Anthropology class. I had to start somewhere, so I tried to see Nigerian women and their body images through a cultural relativism approach. Even though I don’t agree with some aspects of this culture, I have to recognize that there is some internal logic that must make sense to the people within the community otherwise they wouldn’t be engaged in it in the first place; I have to accept it for what it is. My next step was to try and reread different definitions of culture that I could possibly apply to the Nigerian society. I came across Abu- Lughod’s definition of culture. “Culture is an account of a particular process practiced by particular people in a particular setting.” That’s a lot of particulars in one sentence! But by applying his definition of culture to my findings about fattening rooms and Nigerian women, some light was shed on the situation. Of course there opinion of body image is going to be different than mine! They are a different people, practicing different things in an entire different country! So if American society and Nigerian society look at the same account, (fattening rooms) we can understand specifically why opinions differentiate through the use of the three points. (people, practices, place.) Thanks Abu-Lughod!

After exploring different definitions of culture, it triggered the inner anthropologist in me. I started to think about more issues in class we discussed including the element of space. Space can be broken down into two parts: the experience of space and the physicality of it. So I started to think about what goes on in the fattening room as activities and then what it physically looked like. Okay, so I was on the right track. Then I started to think about our discussion in lab about space. Does space affect culture? Or does culture affect space? When does a space become a place? Referring to James Fernandez’s theory, space acquires meaning only through practice. For example if I’m not going to a fattening room, it isn’t a place to me. But what about to the Nigerian people? How do they transform this space into place? So the main reasons why women—or rather girls—go into the fattening rooms is to gain weight. They want to gain weight not out of pure motivation for themselves but because of the pressures from their society and men. “The months spent in pursuit of poundage are supplemented by daily visits from elderly matrons who impart tips on how to be a successful mother.” (Simmons) I also came another interesting quote in Loeb Andler’s book, Women in Cross Cultural Perspective. “Being a mother is the crown of life for the Nigerian woman. To be barren in the worst curse that can befall her. Having many children constitutes a great social insurance and guarantees protection against dependency in old age.” (135 Andler) Basically, having the ability to get married and produce children is crucial to women in Nigerian. In order for a man to consider a woman for marriage, he must see that she is able to bear children and carry out his family name and its lineage. If the woman has a child outside of marriage, she is shunned.

“They advise me to keep calm and quiet, eat the gari, and not to have many boyfriends so that I avoid unwanted pregnancy,” Margaret said of her matron teachers. “(Simmons)

So let’s recap. Girls go into fattening rooms so they gain weight which will lead them to find a husband. They want a husband so they can produce children since that’s the “crown of life” for Nigerian women and can’t do so outside of wedlock. But why does gaining weight have to lead to all of these events? Women in the United States who want to find a potential mate just make sure their physical appearance is neat and beautiful through clothes and makeup. Why can’t women in Nigerian do that instead of getting involved with health problems and complications? (I must say while thinking this I let my ignorance get the best of me. ) And then it hit me. Well of course they are going to want to gain weight when most parts of Africa have issues of malnutrition and starvation involved! I’m so used to thinking that gaining weight is a form of lack of control and laziness that it blurred my ability to see the real reasons. In the United States, for the white American middle class, being malnourished or dying of starvation isn’t a problem! We see that the thinner you are the more beautiful you are which will land you a husband! I let my own culture and its internal logic gets in the way of trying to understand another culture. Men in Nigeria want women who are full figured, have big hips to give birth and enough fat on their bodies to nourish their babies.

“Malnutrition of young children has been a more intransigent problem in Africa than in another other region of the world. On a regional level, Latin American, the Near East, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific have enjoyed significant declines in the past two decades in proportion of young children classified as chronically undernourished. In contrast, Africa’s proportion has remained constant, at about one- third of children.” (Bloch 73) Women in these areas need to be bigger and gain weight before pregnancy in order to sustain the lives of their babies while they are pregnant and when the babies are born. So after much investigation and self exploration involved, I’ve learned that the fattening room is an essential place for women because of their country’s conditions, history and traditions. I guess space really can only be considered a placed when there is meaning behind it.

American movie...Nigerian values?

While thinking more about my topic, one movie in particular popped into my mind. I remember, maybe a few years ago, clicking through TV channels in my living room, not watching anything specific. Suddenly, I came across this movie called Phat Girlz. The protagonist was an African American woman named Jazmin, played by the famous actress Monique, who was overweight and unhappy. She wanted to become thin and be considered “beautiful”- according to American societal norms- by taking diet pills and doing crash diets. The story follows her and her two friends; Stacy is also overweight and very self conscious while Mia, Jazmin’s cousin, is incredibly thin. Her life drastically changes when she wins a trip to Palm Springs with her friends. There, she meets a Nigerian doctor named Tunde who shows her that by being a bigger woman, she can be herself and still be beautiful. In some of the scenes they discuss how in Nigeria, the bigger you are, the more wealthy and beautiful you are perceived to be.

In one particular scene, the movie shows a Nigerian festival where everyone is dressed in traditional garb and eating customary food. All the women depicted were bigger than the American standard yet none of them were self conscious or saddened by their weight. Instead, they were dancing and rejoicing with a lot of confidence and femininity. In another scene, the protagonist’s cousin actually starts to gorge herself at the dinner table with food in hopes of meeting a handsome, rich Nigerian doctor. My first reaction to the movie was I wish a culture like this actually existed. How nice it would be to not worry how much I’m eating or whether I should work out more! It was very comforting to think like this while watching the movie. However, I honestly didn’t think that this body image existed in the world! I though the director or writer had just made up a world or culture where fat was beautiful. A mere story! Come to find out, this concept of beauty is true. Looking back at my thoughts and reactions to the movie, I can see how naïve I was about body image around the world. I never have really taken the time to explore different cultures and how they view ideal body types. Hopefully, after researching more about Nigerian women and their body images I can rewatch the movie and see if my perception is changed at all by the new knowledge I’ve retained.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5cUAdhOwYs&feature=PlayList&p=3860BA1129A3DD5C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=62Here is a trailer from the movie. It is a comedy with a lot of sarcastic undertones but the references to both Nigerian body image and American body image is important.

Let's Play Question and Answer

Before starting on my endeavor to learn more about Nigerian women and their ideal body type, I figure I would ask other people questions on the matter. Before researching and reading different resources, I really had no idea about Nigerian society’s views of women. Since most of my research will be on women of Nigeria and how they use their bodies to establish themselves, I decided to only interview women. Their perception on the subject is most crucial as I will be using some of their answers to further my exploration of Nigerian Women. I will also use their answers to help compare body image from Nigerian society and compare it to our own. The following three questions were asked to ten different girls that were unaware of my research project.

-Have you ever heard or learned about Nigerian women and their use of “fattening rooms?”

-Based on your knowledge of the subject or if you have never heard of it before, can you define or explain the culture’s use of fattening rooms in your own words? If you had to guess?

-Although it is outside of American culture, what’s your personal view on the matter?

The questions I asked were quite simple and only require a few moments of each woman’s time. However, their answers helped me delve into my project with much more curiosity and vigor to learn.

Interviewee #1

“No.”

“Women go into these fattening rooms and probably eat lots of food.”

“In my culture, it’s the opposite and is praised. The thinner you are, the more beauty you have. I don’t think I would like the culture because I feel gross when I gain weight.”

Interviewee #2

“Yes.”

“A place where women go to get fat before marriage. I understand it because it’s a sign of wealth.”

“I don’t agree with it because it’s unhealthy.”

Interviewee #3

“No.”

“A dining room or kitchen where you can get fat.”

“Women gaining weight is a great idea! Women are supposed to look that way. They are trying to look healthy so they can probably bear children [in that particular society.] More power to em!”

Interviewee #4

“No.”

“Make them eat a lot….forcefully?”

“ If they are making them eat forcefully I don’t think it should be allowed. But if it’s a good thing like they are providing food for women who don’t have it, then I don’t know.”

Interviewee #5

“No.”

“Make people fat?”

“ Unless they are suffering from eating disorders, why do they have to sit and eat in their room?”

Interviewee #6

“No.”

“A room where people eat?”

“It’s a part of their culture, so I guess it’s fine with me.

Interviewee #7

“Never.”

“A place where women who are pregnant can go to nourish their babies.”

“ It’s a poor country so I could see how they want to make their babies healthy but make there are better ways.”

Interviewee #8

“Yes.”

“Rooms used to supply nourishment for people who are malnourished..but forcefully?”

“It could be good as long as it is catering to a person’s need and isn’t malicious.”

Interviewee #9

“No.”

“Initially, I thought of a place where people would take fat from an animal and make soap from it.”

“ I don’t eat meat so I wouldn’t want fat or condone it.”

Interviewee #10

“No.”

“ A room that a bunch of girls gather in who would eat a lot.”

“ I’m sure it’s bad whatever it really is.”

The responses I received really helped me think more about my topic. Eighty percent of the girls I questioned had never heard of fattening rooms and their use in Nigeria; a mere twenty percent actually knew something about it. Fifty percent of the girls didn’t really like the idea of fattening rooms from what they thought it was and twenty percent of them didn’t even really know how they felt about it. These percentages aided in my hypothesis that most people, (women in this case) are unaware of other cultures’ body images, especially in Nigeria. Because some of the girls lacked knowledge of the matter, many didn’t condone of it. The few that did know about my topic didn’t condone it either because they didn’t look at fattening rooms from a non objective perspective. Some thought it was unhealthy or didn’t find the idea of gaining weight to be attractive. These responses ultimately showed me how our culture imposes certain views on its people. Because of our own cultural views on body image, it is hard to accept or understand another culture’s perception of body image that is so different from our own. I can relate to how some of these girls answered my questions because before learning much about Nigerian women I would have answered similarly.

Nigerian Women 's Body Image: Discovering the "Fattening Room"

In today's American society, being "thin" is what is considered beautiful and valuable to most people. But what is the "ideal" body frame in other cultures? What are the stereotypes of body images in different cultures? What aspect of a culture makes a person think about his or her body the way they do? Is it religion? Media? Government? Ever since I can remember, body image and awareness has been a huge influence in my life as well as in my friends' lives. I must admit as an American I'm very ignorant in the sense that I think everyone shares the same ideas or concepts about body image as the United States do. Because of my sheltered views of body image, I've decided to research the women of Nigeria and their use of fattening rooms. When I first heard the term "fattening rooms" I was agape! I had never heard of such a thing in my life and was quite intrigued to learn more. I don't understand why a culture would admire overweight or obese women when it is so unhealthy. Does there body image have anything to do with their roles in society? Their food? Their places?The history of Nigeria?I've never really taken the time to explore this topic but it seems very interesting and hopefully will help broaden my views on different body types and images and why a certain image is held higher or more ideal to the people of Nigeria. By using the concept of fattening rooms as an subplot, I will try to uncover why Nigerian women have a certain body image and if it pertains to history, food, places or their roles in society.