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!
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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.)
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