The Mursi or Mun are a Surmic pastoralist ethnic group in Ethiopia. They principally reside in the close border with South Sudan, Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region.
Larger the Plates, the More Beautiful; What are your standards of Beauty?
According to the 2007 national census, there are 11,500 Mursi, 848 of whom live in urban areas; of the total number, 92.25% live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR).
The Mursi or Mun are considered the larger lip plates as the highest level of their beauty standards and their cultural trademark.
Abel Abel wrote on his facebook post regarding this:
Exploring Africa- What are your standards of Beauty?
The cultural trademark of lip-plates is seen on women of the Mursi tribe. When a girl reaches the age of 15 or 16, the mother cuts the lips of her daughter in preparation for the lip-plate. The cut is held open by a wooden plate that stays in the mouth until the cut heals. It is up to the women how much the lip is stretched by, and it is mursi-tribe-ethiopia-4progressively stretched over a period of time by putting in larger plugs. The lip-plates seen on the Mursi women are an “expression of social adulthood and reproductive potential”
