Have you seen a tribe so conceited and particular about their looks, gestures, and charming qualities like the Woodabe? I’m talking not just about the females but also the males. It’s not something we come by so often, is it? The Woodabe are a tribe of the Fulani nation found across Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Senegal. They are quite popular because of their fascinating courtship rite and beauty contest called the Guérewol. Let’s learn more about this, shall we?
Guérewol
Some people call it “the wife-stealing festival,” but that’s not all there is to it. It is a week-long festival of pageantry and courtship. Once a year, the nomadic tribe of Woodabe gathers to choose the finest and most eligible bachelor. Apart from the pageant, young women also get to choose husbands, and married women can choose a new man for themselves. The celebration is one of beauty and love.
Beauty appeal
The wodaabe women fancy themselves some fine-looking young men with effortless charm and grace. What do they consider fine anyway? For you to catch a young lady’s eyes as a man, you should be a tall, slender man with a narrow nose and slender hands. Great dentition, white teeth, and white eye balls are to die for. Women look out for the elegance in men, and if you have a great voice, it’s an added advantage.
Wodaabe Makeup
Women do it all the time; they sit for hours with their glam team, laying the edges and baking the face. But it’s more intriguing with the Wodaabe men, who sit for hours painting their faces to accentuate their features. Using red or yellow clay, they paint their faces to make them look longer, with a contour on the nose to make them look slimmer. They darken their lips and their eyelids with a black substance to enhance the brightness of the eyeballs and the whiteness of the teeth. Ornaments and accessories are very essential to their full glam. They wear them on their feet, neck, and head.
Yaake
The contest and choosing ceremony entail the men performing a synchronised dance called the Yaake. This is a chance for the Woodabe men to catch the attention of their desired partners and to call the attention of the judges. The dance could go on for hours while the female judges narrow down their choices. The Yaake is done on top toes to showcase agility and gracefulness and to emphasise height. While doing the dance, the men make facial gestures to show their teeth and roll their eyeballs—anything to be the centre of attention.
Picking the Winner
After a long and exhausting performance by the men, the duty of selecting the winner is often left to the older women. After they have been watched and made their cuts, they send two young women to choose the man who will be the fairest of them all. Creating a painful suspense, the young ladies go round and eventually pick the winner. It is also a time for women who have come of age to pick men whom they would like to be with. Stay up to date on the newest in the world of Fashion, Arts, Beauty and Lifestyle; Follow FAB on socials.
