libyanprimadonna:virtual-artifacts:bevetho:virtual-artifacts:virtual-artifacts:Wooden lip plate worn
libyanprimadonna:virtual-artifacts:bevetho:virtual-artifacts:virtual-artifacts:Wooden lip plate worn by women in the pierced lower lip. Typical custom of the Mursi and Suri in Ethiopia and the Baale (Kachipo) in Sudan. Today, wooden plates are less frequently used, most women wearing the round earthenware version. Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Suri culture. Bottom picture comes from Ezakwantu Gallery.firasbk - We can ask the same question to other cultures I think. For example: why women wear high heels? According to Mursi and Suri - let me quote Ezakwantu Gallery because I personally don’t know the reason: “The original purpose of lip plugs may have been to deform, affording women a sort of protection against Arab slavers. However, David Livingstone asked a chief the reason for them and in surprise the chief answered; for beauty! They are the only beautiful things women have. Men have beards, women have none. What kind of person would she be without Pelele? She would not be a woman at all.”Now it’s about beauty and tradition probably. What was at the beginning? Who knows?You have to admit, though, these traditions are extremely harmful to and objectifying of women. It’s right there in the chief’s quote; the immense pressure on girls to disfigure themselves in order to be accepted by their communities. Like, yeah, it’s fascinating that people of certain cultures have extreme body modifications. Still, respect for others’ traditions can’t be prioritised over half of the population’s rights. We scrutinise the Chinese of old for binding girls’ feet, and we condemn those who practice genital mutilation. In our own western societies, we see remnants of these traditions, as you said, in high heels, and to a lesser extent in earrings and the like. These are harmful, and a problem to deal with, but this is simply shocking. Are we afraid to call these societies out because we fear we’d be racist to? Are we so scared to appear imperialist that we daren’t discuss the slew of issues attached to some of the most blatantly misogynistic traditions I have ever seen? Being technologically and economically undeveloped is not a culture’s vaccine against scrutiny. When will we stop praising the ritual exploitation of and violence against women by marginalised tribes?First of all, thank you for such wise voice in discussion.Of course these traditions are objectifying and harmful for women. Let’s say the truth, we are/were nearly always oppressed by men/cultural acceptance. Foot binding in China, Genital mutilation are only a few extreme examples on what is/was happening and it simply cannot be accepted.What want to say is that I’m trying to be careful in judging cultures I don’t know. Simple example, not so extreme - I was always thinking that women would take off their hijabs/niqabs/burkas if they would have the possibility. I was shocked when I saw women in Scotland wearing niqabs. Started reading and it became obvious, that some of them are ok with that and in any case feel oppressed. In case of body modifications - I’d like to know more about concept of body in such indigenous cultures. It’d be great to hear these women talking freely about themselves. No judging, no forcing to take off their plugs. Just listening. You CANNOT compare modesty with foot binding and genital mutilation..seriously every Islamophobic comment I see baffles me every time I’m afraid genital mutilations in some cultures can be a sign of modesty too. Doesn’t matter. You just killed the discussion. Thank you. -- source link