Friday, May 26, 2006

Road Trip?


In Wodaabe culture (a West African tribe), it’s male beauty that takes the stage. Here, in a seasonal pageant, aided by costumes, make-up, and body-painting, Wodaabe men compete for the honor of most beautiful man, and in a reversal from our own culture, it’s the women who judge.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you think the men have eating disorders there? While its nice to see a change of pace and women in charge, it seems like there is no culture where the genders are equal.

joyce said...

It's fascinating to observe myself think that these men look ugly and should go take all that paint and costume off. I just want to advise them not to start with all that- yet, we accept women dancing this dance every day all day in our culture. (though I utterly ABHORE beauty pagents.)

Teacher lady said...

I cannot even imagine what that life would be like. How much could I accomplish without the fears and concerns about looks? How much more money would I have without spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars EVERY YEAR on hair products, cuts, highlights, waxing, manicures, pedicures, $15 bottles of shampoo and $18 lip gloss? And that's not even counting the money spent on clothes. Or in the therapist's office. Road trip, indeed.