Young girls force-fed for marriage in Mauritania | Unreported World

00:22:38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM2q7XFOOgg

摘要

TLDRThis documentary explores the controversial tradition of force-feeding young girls in Mauritania, a practice intended to make them gain weight. This weight gain is culturally associated with beauty and wealth, increasing the girls' prospects for marriage. Monet and Hindu, the eleven-year-olds featured, undergo a daily regimen of consuming up to 9,000 calories, primarily derived from camel's milk and porridge. This custom is seen as essential by their parents, despite severe health risks like diabetes, heart disease, and kidney failure. Some women obtain and use illegal drugs, such as steroids and antihistamines, to gain weight rapidly, which can endanger their health even further. Throughout the video, the narrator participates by experiencing this force-feeding process to provide insight into the physical and emotional challenges the girls face. The film raises awareness of the cultural pressures these young girls endure and the dire need for societal change regarding beauty standards.

心得

  • 🌟 Traditional beauty standards pressure young girls into force-feeding practices.
  • 🍽️ The forced diet consists of 9,000 calories daily, often leading to severe health issues.
  • 💔 This custom increases risks of diseases like diabetes and heart ailments.
  • 🚨 Women resort to illegal drugs to gain weight quickly, worsening health prospects.
  • 🌍 Cultural norms in Mauritania perpetuate harmful beauty ideals.
  • 🔍 The narrator immerses in the culture to understand the impact of force-feeding.
  • 👧 Girls as young as five endure the tiring and harmful process.
  • 🏺 Parents prioritize weight as a symbol of beauty and marital attractiveness.
  • ⚠️ Despite known dangers, these practices continue due to societal beliefs.
  • 📣 The documentary sparks discussion on the need for change in beauty standards.

时间轴

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Monet and Hindu, two young girls from Mauritania, are subjected to force-feeding to make them appear wealthier and more attractive for marriage. Their families, despite the severe drought and poverty, prioritize fattening the girls, a tradition that claims fatter girls are more desirable. Both girls are currently of healthy weight, but are expected to gain seven kilos by the end of the two-month feeding season. This practice, common among Mauritanian girls, poses long-term health risks such as diabetes and heart disease. The feeding begins with 3000 calories breakfasts equivalent to 10 cheeseburgers, aiming to make them look older and better suited for early marriage.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The video discusses social perceptions of beauty and weight in Mauritania compared to Western standards. The mothers believe that gaining weight is crucial for their daughters' marriage prospects, while Western beauty standards often emphasize slimness. The documentary-maker shows local women pictures of international celebrities to understand the differences in beauty ideals. Meanwhile, the force-feeding continues, with the girls consuming massive amounts of food under their mothers' supervision. The pressure for rapid weight gain is immense, despite health concerns that include diabetes and kidney failure. Cultural beliefs strongly valorize this practice, indicating a deep social divide on body image.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Undercover footage exposes the ease of buying weight-gain drugs in Mauritania, used by force-feeders and young women alike to rapidly gain weight. These black-market drugs, including steroids and antihistamines, pose severe health threats, such as heart attacks. The documentary highlights the case of a girl who died after ingesting animal steroids. Despite awareness of these dangers, there is a persistent societal pressure for women to be fat as a symbol of beauty and power. This segment emphasizes the hazardous extremes to which some Mauritanian women go to adhere to their culture's ideals.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:22:38

    The narrator participates in the force-feeding to personally experience its effects, finding it a grueling and painful process. Despite the physical discomfort and health risks, young girls, some as young as five, endure this to comply with societal expectations. The narrator empathizes with the immense pressure on Mauritanian women to fit a cultural image of beauty that equates fatness with wealth and desirability. However, she notes that a shift towards more independent lives for women could eventually lead to a change in these oppressive standards. The video concludes by calling for more awareness and action to improve the situation for women in Mauritania.

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思维导图

Mind Map

常见问题

  • Where does this documentary take place?

    The documentary focuses on Mauritania, where force-feeding young girls is practiced to make them appear more attractive for marriage.

  • Why are girls in Mauritania force-fed?

    Parents believe extra weight makes girls look wealthier and more attractive for potential suitors.

  • What kind of diet are the girls subjected to?

    They consume up to 9,000 calories a day, including camel's milk and porridge, which can lead to severe health issues.

  • What are the health risks associated with force-feeding the girls?

    The practice increases the risk of diabetes, heart diseases, and kidney failure in young girls.

  • What drugs are used to promote weight gain and what are the risks?

    Some women illegally use steroids and antihistamines to artificially gain weight, despite associated health risks.

  • How young are girls when they start being force-fed?

    Girls as young as five or six are subjected to eating large quantities every day during their feeding season.

  • What does the narrator do to better understand the practice?

    The narrator joins the villages, experiencing force-feeding themselves to understand the practice's impact.

  • What is the target calorie intake for these girls by the end of their feeding season?

    The goal is for the girls to gain weight quickly, reaching an extra 16,000 calories a day by the end of the feeding process.

  • What cultural belief underlies the force-feeding practice?

    An extreme cultural emphasis sees weight as synonymous with beauty, leading to this harmful tradition.

  • How does society view this practice in Mauritania?

    Despite the obvious negative impacts, there is widespread societal support for maintaining these outdated beauty ideals.

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  • 00:00:05
    this is eleven-year-old Monet she's
  • 00:00:09
    about to be force-fed to make her fat
  • 00:00:12
    her friend Hindu is joining her on a
  • 00:00:15
    nine thousand calorie a day diet they're
  • 00:00:19
    growing up in a desperately poor country
  • 00:00:21
    that's going through a devastating
  • 00:00:23
    drought but their moms believe fatter
  • 00:00:26
    girls look wealthier and more beautiful
  • 00:00:28
    crucial when trying to attract a husband
  • 00:00:35
    to join one eye on Hindu we're driving
  • 00:00:38
    through Mauritania into the Sahara
  • 00:00:40
    Desert I'm soon put to work hope I do a
  • 00:00:46
    useful job they're preparing a special
  • 00:00:49
    tent to force-feed the girls during the
  • 00:00:51
    rainy season which will last two months
  • 00:00:53
    food is more plentiful than but families
  • 00:00:56
    will go without to help their fattening
  • 00:00:58
    process
  • 00:01:00
    I would make a useless nomad
  • 00:01:09
    these nomads survived by keeping camels
  • 00:01:12
    and goats a married daughter means one
  • 00:01:15
    less mouth to feed one eye is only 11
  • 00:01:18
    but a quarter of girls in poor
  • 00:01:21
    communities married before they're 15
  • 00:01:24
    the kind of man although they do this
  • 00:01:28
    mr. y-you don't think you're pretty now
  • 00:01:40
    when I an Han do agree to let me weigh
  • 00:01:43
    them take your shoes off to find out how
  • 00:01:46
    healthy they are happy in my 16.2 for
  • 00:01:51
    her age
  • 00:01:51
    that's very normal Indian stand straight
  • 00:01:56
    53 forehand she's also a healthy weight
  • 00:02:00
    so both girls are healthy weights for
  • 00:02:04
    their age and their height by the end of
  • 00:02:08
    the feeding season their parents Hotel
  • 00:02:10
    Putin over Stern over seven killers
  • 00:02:14
    Mona's mom Tahir will be in charge of
  • 00:02:17
    the feeding what are your biggest wishes
  • 00:02:21
    and dreams for your daughter RZ o sham
  • 00:02:27
    mother with Holly she had a talk how
  • 00:02:32
    would you feel if she never succeeds to
  • 00:02:36
    get fat well then her tummy that held
  • 00:02:40
    Helen have you sorry everything is ready
  • 00:02:44
    for the feeding to start the next
  • 00:02:45
    morning
  • 00:02:54
    [Music]
  • 00:03:01
    day one and Takia is preparing the first
  • 00:03:04
    meal of the day she's been a Bella ha a
  • 00:03:08
    force field for years but until now
  • 00:03:12
    she's never force-fed her own daughter
  • 00:03:15
    around the quarter of mauritania girls
  • 00:03:17
    are force-fed but in rural areas it can
  • 00:03:21
    be as high as three quarters how long do
  • 00:03:24
    they have to consume all of this is it
  • 00:03:26
    all for today and that wouldn't hurt
  • 00:03:29
    okay then I perceive the world bossy
  • 00:03:35
    you're a bull they know whether one day
  • 00:03:38
    somebody's dick what if you push her so
  • 00:03:44
    hard that she ends up getting hurt what
  • 00:03:46
    if what you want for her isn't good for
  • 00:03:49
    her the long-term health risks for the
  • 00:03:59
    girls include diabetes heart disease and
  • 00:04:02
    kidney failure
  • 00:04:08
    Takia makes Monet and hen do each drink
  • 00:04:12
    and liter of sweetened camel's milk
  • 00:04:17
    that's followed by porridge
  • 00:04:23
    and then Christmas
  • 00:04:30
    it takes the girls two hours to force
  • 00:04:32
    down all the food
  • 00:04:35
    [Music]
  • 00:04:37
    this is just breakfast but each girl has
  • 00:04:41
    already eaten about 3000 calories
  • 00:04:44
    equivalent to 10 cheeseburgers extra
  • 00:04:48
    white makes girls look older as if
  • 00:04:50
    they've reached puberty putting more
  • 00:04:53
    pressure on Monet to marry young you
  • 00:04:59
    want to get married
  • 00:05:02
    no why not but your mom says that girls
  • 00:05:11
    here should get married when they're 12
  • 00:05:12
    13 years old while lunch is cooking the
  • 00:05:23
    women introduced me to fashion
  • 00:05:25
    mauritania style
  • 00:05:45
    I've brought some magazines to find out
  • 00:05:47
    what they think of other countries ideas
  • 00:05:50
    of beauty
  • 00:05:51
    so in here they put pictures of women
  • 00:05:55
    that everybody wants to look like and
  • 00:05:58
    dress like what do you think about her
  • 00:06:00
    body mm-hmm do you think that where I
  • 00:06:08
    come from women starve themselves and go
  • 00:06:11
    on diets and make themselves throw up to
  • 00:06:14
    lose weight no geek Kim Kardashian she's
  • 00:06:28
    meant to be she's very beautiful and
  • 00:06:30
    she's very care but she's actually big
  • 00:06:36
    so you like to in Kardashian Kim
  • 00:06:46
    Kardashian is an exception so how about
  • 00:06:49
    this woman right now
  • 00:06:53
    she's considered one of the most
  • 00:06:55
    beautiful woman on the planet right now
  • 00:07:07
    the women here insist a man think fat is
  • 00:07:10
    beautiful
  • 00:07:11
    I wonder if that's true Abu battery is
  • 00:07:15
    one of the group's leaders partying
  • 00:07:22
    about even FC and then the mahogany
  • 00:07:24
    lemaître fish Randy Newman open airlock
  • 00:07:27
    vs ramany vs ramany a la Hache it neener
  • 00:07:33
    neener socio is she a muna contra la
  • 00:07:37
    rochelle eternity could Marilla
  • 00:07:40
    what personal question though am I am I
  • 00:07:43
    am i fat or am i skinny like what do I
  • 00:07:46
    have to do to look better than her
  • 00:07:48
    yourself inside your condition and I was
  • 00:07:50
    taught about the word in her business
  • 00:07:52
    videos of our generation and a very
  • 00:07:55
    condensed without format - were you
  • 00:07:57
    Monday yesterday it's lunchtime
  • 00:08:03
    Mona and her friend Hindu are made to
  • 00:08:06
    force down another 4,000 calories each
  • 00:08:15
    cow has now eaten the equivalent of more
  • 00:08:18
    than 20 cheeseburgers Henry's mom Fatima
  • 00:08:25
    to uses her stick to make sure that
  • 00:08:28
    girls keep going
  • 00:08:29
    how do you convince her to carry on
  • 00:08:32
    vastly critical Zionists have it
  • 00:08:38
    rockball honey
  • 00:08:43
    do you not feel bad when you do this
  • 00:08:49
    Annamarie monoface monoface is energy Oh
  • 00:08:54
    to interfere dr. Shimada tell her about
  • 00:08:58
    negative things
  • 00:09:02
    [Music]
  • 00:09:05
    when a an hindus evening meal brings
  • 00:09:08
    today's calorie count to a massive nine
  • 00:09:10
    thousand almost twice what a heavyweight
  • 00:09:13
    boxer and nearly five times the World
  • 00:09:17
    Health Organization's recommendation for
  • 00:09:19
    girls their age by the end of the
  • 00:09:22
    feeding season they'll be eating sixteen
  • 00:09:25
    thousand calories a day suddenly the
  • 00:09:33
    food has to be cleared away
  • 00:09:35
    there's a massive sunstroke coming this
  • 00:09:37
    way and we have to take cover we have
  • 00:09:39
    we've had to pack everything up
  • 00:09:46
    [Music]
  • 00:10:07
    [Music]
  • 00:10:11
    early the next morning I discover a
  • 00:10:14
    group of younger girls being force-fed
  • 00:10:16
    in a camp nearby sure smack zeynep ooh
  • 00:10:25
    and aha
  • 00:10:27
    Fatima to praha and Zara's are all under
  • 00:10:31
    10 years old the feeder cider is
  • 00:10:35
    expanding their stomachs with milk and
  • 00:10:37
    couscous to permanently increase their
  • 00:10:40
    appetites is this for each each girl or
  • 00:10:44
    do they share this that our toughness of
  • 00:10:49
    dating so do Shara they were shot
  • 00:10:56
    when the girls feel unwell the feeder
  • 00:10:58
    tells them to make themselves sick so
  • 00:11:00
    they can keep eating
  • 00:11:20
    watching the girls eat I can see why
  • 00:11:23
    this is often referred to as gavage the
  • 00:11:25
    term used for force-feeding geese to
  • 00:11:27
    make foie gras
  • 00:11:30
    [Music]
  • 00:11:37
    you care what's wrong Fred who
  • 00:11:46
    show me where it hurts
  • 00:11:48
    [Music]
  • 00:11:51
    have you been sick surely a good loss
  • 00:11:56
    will you go are you still gonna make her
  • 00:11:59
    to kibosh if I do is this normal
  • 00:12:04
    is she gonna be okay the Beluga enough
  • 00:12:06
    unmarriable
  • 00:12:07
    yeah please tell Sharon imagine what a
  • 00:12:09
    bummer this looks like child abuse but
  • 00:12:13
    no law specifically forbids it
  • 00:12:17
    Fatima to stat Abdullah he tells me
  • 00:12:21
    force feeding is good for her hand in
  • 00:12:26
    hand engineer in the quiescent Hydra
  • 00:12:29
    near horribly mutilated lockup keep the
  • 00:12:33
    prepare her it's not the accident the
  • 00:12:36
    Machine being willing putting pressure
  • 00:12:40
    on your body to look a certain way
  • 00:12:42
    especially for us women is nothing new
  • 00:12:45
    I've done it my girlfriend's have done
  • 00:12:48
    it but what makes this quite different
  • 00:12:53
    and a bit shocking is that these are
  • 00:12:57
    little girls and this pain and torture
  • 00:13:01
    which could potentially have quite
  • 00:13:05
    serious health issues is being put on
  • 00:13:08
    these girls by their parents
  • 00:13:14
    I rejoined takia who is preparing more
  • 00:13:21
    food for her daughter Mona and her
  • 00:13:23
    friend Hindu but Tahir has a question
  • 00:13:31
    for me the feeder just asked if we have
  • 00:13:35
    any medication that could help her
  • 00:13:37
    daughter gain more weight she says these
  • 00:13:48
    empty bottles contain drugs that help
  • 00:13:50
    girls get baptized so she's even used
  • 00:13:52
    them herself to put on extra weight to
  • 00:13:55
    keep attractive where did you hear about
  • 00:13:57
    this who told you about this
  • 00:14:02
    [Music]
  • 00:14:12
    Ricky's words were funny the drugs come
  • 00:14:19
    from the capital whack shot I had there
  • 00:14:24
    I want to find out more about this
  • 00:14:27
    dangerous trade I go straight to one of
  • 00:14:30
    the largest hospitals in the city
  • 00:14:34
    this the doctors won't talk on camera
  • 00:14:37
    but tell me that drugs are easy to buy I
  • 00:14:42
    found a couple of girls who are willing
  • 00:14:45
    to help me find the drugs and dressing
  • 00:14:48
    me up so I look like a local how can we
  • 00:14:52
    go undercover they explained the drugs
  • 00:14:57
    aren't only bought by force feeders many
  • 00:14:59
    of their friends buy them to put on
  • 00:15:01
    weight and look glamorous they guide me
  • 00:15:09
    to a major market and I filmed them with
  • 00:15:11
    a hidden camera it's illegal for anyone
  • 00:15:18
    but licensed pharmacists to sell
  • 00:15:19
    medication but I can see at least 10
  • 00:15:22
    stalls selling medicines we approach the
  • 00:15:26
    first of them
  • 00:15:34
    they buy a steroid dexamethasone which
  • 00:15:38
    affects the body's metabolism and an
  • 00:15:45
    antihistamine cyproheptadine which has
  • 00:15:49
    the side effect of increasing weight
  • 00:15:58
    with the drugs left foot a woman can
  • 00:16:00
    pile on weight very quickly risking
  • 00:16:03
    problems like a heart attack or kidney
  • 00:16:05
    failure that was too easy
  • 00:16:17
    I was told it was easy but this was just
  • 00:16:22
    I mean they weren't even trying to hide
  • 00:16:24
    it they are openly displaying these
  • 00:16:27
    drugs on top of all these other
  • 00:16:29
    day-to-day things that they're selling
  • 00:16:31
    like necklaces and I don't know
  • 00:16:33
    lipsticks it was that easy
  • 00:16:41
    [Music]
  • 00:16:45
    the next morning I meet the iveco family
  • 00:16:49
    they know how dangerous these drugs are
  • 00:16:55
    Miriam says her daughter aza - just Eric
  • 00:16:58
    meant for animals
  • 00:17:11
    her skin began to turn black could you
  • 00:17:14
    know oh this the world I know that she
  • 00:17:19
    really didn't
  • 00:17:20
    with onions in intrud and
  • 00:17:27
    the next day is a died
  • 00:17:30
    [Music]
  • 00:17:38
    despite what's happened a minute who
  • 00:17:40
    tells me she now takes the same drug
  • 00:17:42
    that killed her sister how do you think
  • 00:17:47
    your mom would feel especially after
  • 00:17:50
    what happened to your sister if she did
  • 00:17:52
    find out that you're taking these pills
  • 00:17:53
    to kid
  • 00:17:56
    there wasn't a moon hunter funny thing
  • 00:18:00
    was a hundred meters I mean she meant to
  • 00:18:03
    walk up said oh my god AHA tantum she
  • 00:18:06
    really wasn't alone there are no figures
  • 00:18:11
    on how many women are using these drugs
  • 00:18:13
    to put our weight or how many are dying
  • 00:18:16
    but everyone I spoke to said the use of
  • 00:18:19
    these drugs is widespread this is a
  • 00:18:22
    society where a woman's biggest power is
  • 00:18:26
    to be beautiful and to be beautiful you
  • 00:18:29
    have to be fat that's it and that really
  • 00:18:33
    sets the priority for what these women
  • 00:18:35
    do and the lengths they're willing to go
  • 00:18:38
    to achieve that ideal
  • 00:18:44
    in the desert Monet and hen duo are
  • 00:18:46
    still in the feeding tent is their
  • 00:18:50
    fourth day being force-fed they tell me
  • 00:18:53
    they're feeling nauseous and tired when
  • 00:18:57
    you're a mummy and your daughter says
  • 00:18:59
    mommy I don't want to do garage I don't
  • 00:19:03
    want to be fat what would you tell her
  • 00:19:09
    and if she says I don't think that is
  • 00:19:12
    pretty
  • 00:19:20
    [Music]
  • 00:19:28
    the best way for me to really understand
  • 00:19:31
    gavage and what it feels like and get a
  • 00:19:34
    more realistic idea about it we're gonna
  • 00:19:38
    have to try it myself
  • 00:19:47
    it's the same huge breakfast as before
  • 00:19:51
    which in calories carbs and sugar it
  • 00:19:56
    takes us three hours to force down all
  • 00:19:58
    the food it's not even lunchtime and
  • 00:20:07
    with each consumed a thousand calories
  • 00:20:10
    more than I normally eat in a day
  • 00:20:16
    I really need to go masala I'm so full
  • 00:20:25
    and I've been instructed to go out for a
  • 00:20:28
    little walk to help the food settle
  • 00:20:29
    before lunch it really is like a
  • 00:20:34
    marathon it's really filling and dry and
  • 00:20:39
    you have to keep drinking it putting it
  • 00:20:41
    out with water and it's just like not
  • 00:20:44
    very nice it's like a really weird
  • 00:20:46
    texture and my tummy tell me it really
  • 00:20:48
    hurts and it's quick look at that it's
  • 00:20:52
    quite swollen after barely half an hour
  • 00:21:01
    it's time for a calorie rich lunch
  • 00:21:04
    greasy white rice vegetables nuts and
  • 00:21:07
    chicken
  • 00:21:13
    I can't take it anymore and have to stop
  • 00:21:25
    but Monet is forced to continue my tummy
  • 00:21:31
    hurts
  • 00:21:32
    I feel really bloated I feel sleepy I
  • 00:21:35
    can't really think I'm constantly
  • 00:21:38
    thirsty but I just can't it's it's
  • 00:21:41
    horrible it's like everything I eat it
  • 00:21:43
    just stays right here just builds up its
  • 00:21:46
    I can't believe girls as young as five
  • 00:21:54
    six years old have to consume a similar
  • 00:21:58
    amount day in day out
  • 00:22:04
    Monet and I both feel pressure to look a
  • 00:22:07
    certain way but I at least have the
  • 00:22:10
    freedom to choose only when more women
  • 00:22:14
    in mauritania have the chance of an
  • 00:22:16
    independent life will they also have
  • 00:22:20
    that freedom
  • 00:22:25
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标签
  • Mauritania
  • force-feeding
  • cultural practices
  • beauty standards
  • health risks
  • marriage
  • dietetics
  • illegal drugs
  • youth
  • girlhood