Like other parts of the Sahel, Mauritania is a society where larger women are considered more beautiful. Part of this is rooted in the belief that it is a status symbol of wealth to have a spouse that is larger as it means you can afford to feed them well. A man with multiple wives that are larger is peak status.

Not so fun, body shaming of skinny women occurs, and it is not uncommon for certain tribes to force feed girls from a young age to make them larger. This has had the unintended consequences that come with obesity in pediatric populations such as hypertension and early onset stage 2 diabetes.

I want to be clear, body shaming of any kind is bad, but it is interesting to be living in a culture that seems to prize beauty standards that run completely opposite of what we are used to in the U.S. and wider world. Granted, this isn’t everyone in Mauritania, and as globalism makes impacts in even the most remote parts of the world, so too do beauty standards change. On my commute to the Embassy in Nouakchott, I pass by billboards of Natalie Portman wearing western clothing and perfume. So I guess the point of this weeks post is to confirm that just about everyone in the world can agree that Natalie Portman is a beautiful woman. -Nick