Group Project: The Mursi Beauty Ideal

This is a body map that our group created to show and explain the components of female beauty in the Mursi tribe of Ethiopia. The poster explains the process of lip stretching, ear stretching, scarification, body painting, and ideal female body type.

Our group statement:

The body alterations of women in Mursi culture are a result of the Mursi’s view of women as domestic figures who are subordinate to men. The traditions of body modification in the Mursi tribe inhibit women from being able to do the same tasks as men and show that women’s bodies belong to the culture and the tribe. When women reach puberty, an incision is made under the bottom lip in which increasingly large discs are placed over a gradual period of time, until the lip is able to stretch around a fairly wide plate. This tradition shows a woman’s domestic role as she is supposed to wear her lip plate when she serves her husband or is looking to find a husband. In addition when women reach puberty, they also cut parts of their bodies in a pattern to highlight their role in society and the areas that are associated with fertility (like the stomach and the breast).  Body painting is another Mursi tradition in which tribe members paint each other based on how they see each other. The Mursi beauty ideal is also influenced by the fact that they do not have mirrors, so their self image is comprised of how others perceive them. This is unlike many societies in which people’s views of their own appearance influence the way they see beauty.

Skills:

Scott: drawing and writing

Sarah: marker and pastels

Dani: digital drawing and charcoal

Maria: printmaking and sewing