Fauzi Wants To Be Fat

Fauzia does not and will not exercise. She used to while in secondary school, but now she has not one bit of interest in it. Why? She wants to be fat.

Fauzia is my host brother’s wife (my host-sister-in-law), is 25, and as of now has given birth to just one baby boy. I would describe her frame as “stocky but athletic”, and in no way fat. When I probed her on the question, she said, “Fat is good! My mother was fat, and I want to be fat.” Plain and simple as that.

The urge to be large is also partially explained by the preferences of Kenyan men. They like big women, a girl with some meat on her bones. I suppose our cultural norm of enjoying stick figures with huge breasts hasn’t quite made it here. There are a few ads for slimming, including a huge billboard advertising the fat-trimming benefits of drinking low-fat milk. People don’t seem to believe in or have any interest in low-fat milk. They enjoy their tasty whole milk.

Accordingly, being skinny is NOT a good thing. Michelle’s host-brother is a ridiculously skinny adolescent. She mentioned how skinny he was at dinner one night, not trying to be offensive, just observant. Apparently, that offended the family. Yesterday I was talking to a co-worker who had recently given birth but showed no signs of it. I told her, “You’re lucky that you’re so skinny!” And she replied, “I’m not skinny! Definitely NOT skinny.” She wasn’t being modest, she was being defensive. I corrected myself and said she was “healthy,” which she heartily agreed to.

Part of the reason for all the above sentiments have remained unchanged is that this is not in the capital Nairobi. Nairobi is notorious for having a more fast-paced, westernized society. There are many many more mzungus (white people) and consequently a bigger market for western style and attitude. Mombasa is a big city, but the coastal people have maintained the larger part of their relaxed, slow moving culture. Apparently even the insane matatus (public transport that always has you feeling death is imminent) apparently drive less crazy here in Mombasa.

All in all, fat being bad is still a purely Western phenomenon. Most of the world that hasn’t taken to the West’s cultural hegemony remains sane. They don’t eat too much, because they don’t have too much to eat. When a person is fat, that means they are healthy and likely wealthy. When someone is skinny, either they don’t have enough to eat or their parents are not taking care of them well. But, the fat people are not obese, just round. They either know when to stop or their food is much less processed. I think it has to do with processing and food quality.