African culture /African Ethopian marriage

When a mature girl has reached puberty and to mark the change of identity from girl to woman ,teens begin the process of stretching their lips.They do this by cutting a centimeter long incision on their lower lip and plugging it with a wooden peg.Once the initial cut is healed,it is replaced with longer peg.Once the hole is large enough ,the first day or wooden plate(approx 4 cm across) is inserted.Over a year,plates can become progressively large from 8 to 20 centimeter.


The plates are not necessary to be worn at all times,and it is not uncommon to see women without them,however unmarried girls  wear them in public and those that do not are considered as someone who does things in a hasty or clumsy manner and her bride price may be considered lower.Wearing a lip plate defines a woman as mature,fertile and ready for marriage.Once married,the plates remind her of her ties to her culture and her husband.If her husband dies,the plate must be thrown away.Even if a woman is taken in by one of her deceased husband's brother ,it is unlikely that she will wear a lip plate unless she is very young and without children. Similarly, if a close relative dies such as a brother,a woman will not wear her lip plate for many months of until her friend go to her to discuss and  talk about the death and tell that it is the time that she stop mourning.

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