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Lip Plates In Mursi Culture

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heat (OBAMWONYI, 2016). They believe white paint warns off the supernatural evils. Single men cover their bodies in many different vibrant colors in order to impress a woman.
The women of Mursi are known for their lip-plate. Lip-plates is a form of body modification. The Mursi tribe is one of three of the last groups in Africa for their women to wear large pottery in their lower lips (Turton, 2005). Lip-plates is a tradition found in Mursi culture for women as shown in figure 3. The lip plates are made from clay or mud and they are traditionally called “dhebi a tugoin”. Once a girl reaches the age of 15 or 16, she has the choice of having her lower lip cut and having a disc placed in the hole. In order for a lip plate to be place, the lower …show more content…

The size of a women’s disc helps determine her worth in marriage and social importance to the village. The larger the disc the better. The size of a bride’s lip-plates helps determine how many cattle her family will receive. The size of the lip-plate can be up to 12 centimeters. Traditionally, a woman must always wear her lip-plate in the presence of men. A woman can remove her lip-plate only in the privacy in their home, while sleeping, or in the presence of other women of the village. Young girls in Mursi have the right to determine if she want to get a lip-plate or not. The practice of cutting and stretching the lower lip originated from the slave trade. The lip-plate made women less attractive to slave traders and turn away (Turton, 2005). The Lip-plate not only represents beauty but a woman’s age, transformation into womanhood, and the capability to reproduce. Often women without lip-plates are looked down on and viewed as children of the village. Once a woman has a lip-plate, she is then ready for marriage. A lip-plate can be thrown away and never be worn again once a women’s husband dies (Joseph, 2015). A lip-plate is only made again once it breaks or to go up a …show more content…

Scarification is the process of creating different scares through cutting different designs on the body (Eicher, 2015). Scarification can be compared to getting a tattoo, yet scarification is cut into the dermis. Scarification is popular for the men of Mursi, yet some women also practice scarification. The scars are symbols of strength and beauty in the tribe. Scars are worn with pride. Scarification in Mursi tribes is called kitchoga Most men go through scarification after a personal accomplishment like marriage or winning a donga. The process of scarification is painful, and men are viewed as being strong and brave to go through it (Helmes, 2016). Swirling patterns of dots are applied to the body, mainly the face, arms, and backs using a sharp knife. Scarification is a permanent body modification. Just like how lip-plates played a part in the slave trade scarification also did. Slaves with scares were viewed as having diseases and unfit for the trade (Helmes, 2016). In Mursi, once a male boy is born they receive their first scar. This is done to teach younger children to be courageous and strong. The scars also tell one another how many battles that person as won and their rank in the

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