Pygmies
So today while I was in class, we watched a video on the Pygmies from Africa. It was pretty horrible, and part of it make me very skittish and to a point, disgusted.
They have a tradition of sharpening young boy’s teeth when they get to a “mature” age so that they are attractive to the girls. If you don’t sharpen your teeth, you will be laughed at. It was really hard to watch. Part of me wonders if it’s my ethnocentric psyche that’s makes me shudder at the sight of it. When there is part of me that also wonders if it is because they young children were acting like they were in real pain. That they were truly suffering.
Obviously in our culture doing things like piercing your nose and putting plugs in your ears is almost normal. But when you see someone who is doing it, or if you are engaging in it yourself, the person isn’t struggling, or screaming. Way back in the day I got my eyebrow pierced. I remember sitting there, with my eyes closed, and Irene holding my hand. Then I sat there as still as possible and it was over in a few minutes with barely any talking. So watching someone struggle and scream in utter pain is horrible. The young boys who were getting their teeth sharpened had to be held down by numerous people. After much deliberation on my part I believe that is the reason why I was so disturbed by it. “If they can do it, then you should be able to watch.” I prefer not to see people suffer, no matter what is happening.
Posted in Patti by Patti 3 months ago at 8:52 pm.
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