Rubutu

I have always been plump, as a baby, I had the soft roundness all babies tend to have, my sister likened me to a ball. Supposedly, she could sometimes barely resist the urge to roll me on the floor. My plumpness as a baby lead my parents to give me the nickname ‘rubutu’ which if my interpretation is correct means, ‘round’.

As I grew up, I went through the usual skinny, fat, skinny, fat stage, until I stopped growing and ended on the ‘fat’ phase. I have not lost the excess weight I have on my frame which some see as puppy fat, but since I stopped being a puppy some time ago we might as well call it ‘dog’ fat.

The reason I start with this story is that it’s similar to the passage of many young Nigerian girls and women. I have a problem with my weight, or rather, others have a problem with my weight and they try to make it my problem. As young women, we are either too fat or too skinny, our faces would be prettier if we lost some weight from it, or added some fat to it, but what has brought about this overriding concern for weight in the Nigerian subconscious.

At one time, the sight of some extra weight on a Nigerian woman was seen as a good thing, she was a woman who knew how to cook, and most probably came from a background of stature (in more ways than one). After all only a woman whose family can afford it can produce a well fed woman. As time has gone by and certain ideologies have changed, a well fleshed woman for the longest time was still seen as a positive, but in recent history, a change has occurred. The sight of Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede and many others has brought about a change in what we call weight and this change has introduced scales into our bathrooms. Scales that at one time were used only as a tool to make sure you were not carrying more than your travel luggage allowance, now rule how we view ourselves and what we eat.

Some would mention the health risks that being heavier causes, and others the reluctance of men to have relationships with heavier women, but this has its loop holes. For instance, I am a young woman in her mid twenties, I am fit, have no indications of high blood pressure, joint aches, or high cholesterol, in fact I am as fit as a fiddle and healthy as a horse, (doctor terms for certification), I just carry a bit extra. In regards to the arguments on men and their likes and dislikes, I have found in personal encounters that men, who are interested in me, are interested in me, regardless of my weight, and those who are not, will never be even if I were a size 00.

The issue of size and weight is also fascinatingly a female problem, men get fat, with little or large pot bellies, 3 chins and swollen ankles, but such images and ideas are not acceptable for women. While both men and women can be critical about weight, women seem more likely to have a personal vendetta against it in other women. Men would say, I don’t have a problem with it or simply state their preference; women will continually pick on the issue, and make an event of it. The weighty subject of weight is one which Nigerians have issues with, on one hand the western ideology of skinny is good (you can never be too thin or too rich) is in contradiction to the Nigerian idea that if you are slim you are a Lepa or if you are big, you should not be caught with anything food like near your mouth.