Spotlight on Students: Social Ramifications of Lip Stretching

The following is a post written by a student, Tiffany Creer.  This post highlights her work that she completed as part of her requirements in Ant 411: Culture Areas of the World.  Students have the opportunity to explore material through their own research.  Please show your appreciation for her work through the comments.

Suri woman with lip plate (Source: Pic Fair)

By: Tiffany Creer
 

My curiosity question for this week’s reading comes from watching the videos of the Suri women stretching their lips so that they would be married and families would receive cattle / marriage price. How is lip stretching seen among other tribes like the Suri? Are there any repercussions if women do not stretch their lips?  

In doing my research I’ve learned some interesting information about another tribe called the Mursi that also partakes in women lip stretching but the reason and how it is seen is a little different from the Suri tribe. The Mursi tribe does stretch women lips for marriage but a big difference is that the Mursi tribe is that they partake in arranged marriages that also have a prearranged marriage price even before the women starts to stretch her lip. “When seen in the light the lip-plate worn by Mursi women is an expression of female social adulthood and reproductive potential. Another tribe called the Kayapo is also different from the Suri and Mursi tribe because they men stretch their lips which are extremely rare in most African cultures. “ The lip-plate worn by a Kayapo man, which marks his fully adult status, but also to the penis sheath that is ‘bestowed’ on a Kayapo boy at puberty and which ‘symbolizes’ the collective appropriation of male powers of sexual reproduction for purposes of social reproduction (Turton 2004).”  Aside from lip stretching being a cultural practice that had lasted many of years throughout history it is clear that across tribes the lip plate has a similar meaning of fertility and readiness to marry just with different variations of specific details attached. 

To be a woman and not have your lip stretched plays and important part on how you can be perceived.  “The lip-plate is a powerful visual marker of Mursi identity. For a Mursi woman, not to have a pierced lip is to run the risk of being mistaken for a Kwegu, a client group of hunters who live along the banks of the Omo, while to have a pierced but not stretched lip is to run the risk of being mistaken for a Bodi, northern neighbors of the Mursi, with whom they are frequently at war (Bodi women insert small plugs in their lower lips) (Turton 2004)”. This means that aside from stretching your lip for marriage it is seen as a type of cultural identity marker in these tribes that can play a big part in survival as well as marriage and acceptance.

                                                   Work Cited

Turton, D. (2004). Lip-plates and the people who take photographs: Uneasy encounters between Mursi and tourists in southern Ethiopia. Anthropology Today, 20(3), 3-8. doi:10.1111/j.          0268-540x.2004.00266.x

Spotlight on Students: The Effects of Colonization

The following is a post written by a student, Laurel Forbes.  This post highlights her work that she completed as part of her requirements in Ant 511: Culture Areas of the World.  Students have the opportunity to explore material through their own research.  Please show your appreciation for her work through the comments.

By: Laurel Forbes

How has colonization affected different regions and has the colonizer had an effect on this?

For most, when we think of colonization, we think Africa and the Americas, and we think colonial masters from Spain, France, England, and to a lesser extent Holland and Portugal. We think of slavery, mining, sugar, tea, and trading. When the Western hemisphere, more particularly the Americas, saw the arrival of the Europeans there was great conflict and war between the indigenous populations and Europeans- as the natives fought for their culture and land while the Europeans attempted to force their Western beliefs and dominance upon them. Most of the native populations were driven out or became extinct at the hands of the Europeans. The Europeans over time brought slaves from Africa, which they were now colonizing, as well, and the West thrived under the ownership of the Europeans. Plantations were established and colonial reign flourished. Infrastructure was established throughout the Western world and trade between the colonies and Europe was common place. Some regions fought for and gained their independence, then slavery was abolished. Colonialism ended and many of these countries continued their path to development. 

African regions were treasured for their raw material and mining capabilities, but because of there being so many different tribes within even one territory they were a bit more difficult to contain for a prolonged period. There was always resistance from rebel groups referred to as guerrilla armies. The European regions, however, united in the way they would deal with African regions and it was generally a profitable venture for them. It was more difficult to subdue the people and today we still see many of them maintain significant aspects of their culture, often with many still speaking their native tongue as well as the language of the colonizing country. Significant infrastructure was also put into these territories as their produce was significant to the maintained wealth of the Europeans. Remote native regions still exist, we see of Tambutum, but this was because these territories offered little in way of profit to the Europeans or were just too far away.

In the East while the English were able to benefit from the tea and spice trade these regions were too established in their culture with significantly large populations and much untamed territories for the English influence to be able to dominate. There was always a level of hostility by the indigenous populations that did not allow the Europeans to overpower these regions and alter customs significantly. While some infrastructure was set up traditions and general way of life was not altered outside of introducing certain modern technologies. 

The Tambutum region was not as lucky as some of these Eastern or Western colonies. Their cultural practices were altered significantly but still they were not brought along economically like certain coastal African regions or American colonies. They are left like those tribes of Africa still practicing traditional beliefs but after seeing a glimpse of what the future holds but not knowing how to climb to that future. The African tribes have an advantage because this is what they know; who they are and they are not left with a yearning of things they know nothing of or do not understand. So with this we indeed wonder as to the effects of colonization on territories and how the conquering country affected this.

Reference

Bancroft A. (October 2013). Effects of Colonization on the New World.

Ehiedu E.G. Iweriobor. The colonization of Africa

Silverman E. K. (2012). From Cannibal Tours to cargo cult: On the aftermath of tourism in the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea