essay

Sociocultural aspects of the male fattening sessions among the Massa of Northern Cameroon

Social aspects of obesityLuxembourgPublished In 1995 • Pages: 45-70

By: Garine, I. de.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document focuses on the practice by Masa men of eating large meals of porridge and milk to achieve an ideal large body size that women find sexually attractive. Such overeating is done in groups or individually, and brings prestige to lineage groups and communities. The author discusses various etic reasons for the practice.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Gratification and control of hunger
Diet
Ethnoanatomy
Sexual stimulation
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Masa
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Central Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard; 2020
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1958-1959
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1958-1959
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Mayo-Danay department, Far North region, Cameroon
NotesAdditional notes
Igor de Garine
Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-70)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
99457377
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Masa (African people)--Cameroon--Social life and customs
Cameroon--Social conditions
Body size--Cameroon--Social aspects
Overweight persons--Cameroon--Social life and customs