The Wodabee Male Beauty

The Wodaabe, which means “the people of the Taboo”, live in parts of Central Africa. Beauty is very important to them, particularly a focus on male beauty with male beauty contests being held where men try to impress various young women. The gender relations within the tribal group are interesting, with polygamy being practiced including the permission for married women to then live with or marry another man. Women who are unmarried are free to sleep with any men they want with no social restrictions or penalties on their promiscuity.

The taboos relate to various relationships within the tribe with strict rules and customs to be followed in many situations. Strikingly, the parents may not speak directly with their two eldest children, and these two are usually brought up by the grandparents instead. They are nomadic with tribes consisting generally of a few brothers, their wives and their children. The women carry status symbols called calabashes, which are passed down through the generations.

The male Wodaabe beauty is tall, with bright white eyes and teeth. In festivals, the men wear elaborate ornaments, and feathers and makeup of paint. They perform, singing and dancing to attract women at the age of marriage.

As the festival closes, a week of contests called gerewol begins. The main purpose of this is to attract women for marriage, and young women judge the men’s skills and beauty during these contests.

The focus on male beauty in the Wodaabe tribes might reveal some of the connections between emphases on beauty and the role and position that people hold in society.

Below: A Wodabee woman judges a contest between men at a gerewol