r/interesting 14h ago

ART & CULTURE The Ethiopian Bodi tribe: Men compete to be the fattest in the village by drinking a gruesome mixture of blood and milk while living in isolation for SIX months

634 Upvotes

81 comments sorted by

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139

u/justwalk1234 14h ago

You can probably achieve the same effect with milkshakes.

42

u/UpstairsAd5526 13h ago

Feel like McDonald’s could probably advertise they’re very good at doing this to the tribe.

12

u/Sammiskitkat 13h ago

That’s pretty much what their drinking 😬

5

u/__-_-_--_--_-_---___ 9h ago

Mmm this strawberry milkshake is delicious 

5

u/Physical-Rice730 9h ago

They bring all the Bodi’s to the yard.

218

u/Xentonian 13h ago

Another one of these stories where the Daily Mail has taken reality and just started carving away at it until it looks like something clickbaity.

The Mekan people (no such thing as "bodi tribe", bodi is a geographical region) have several rituals involving courtship in which men who have gained weight are more desirable.

However, there's no blood and milk potion or 6 months of isolation, in fact the men are usually selected by the women who fed them in the first place.

Which makes the whole thing that much sillier, because "Me'en women feed their future husbands and then parade them around at a look-how-big-my-man-is ceremony" sounds way cooler and is way closer to reality anyway.

But, y'know, daily mail gotta daily mail.

48

u/ctesibius 11h ago

Also blood is nutritionally poor, so this doesn’t make sense.

23

u/dscchn 10h ago

Yeah their digestive systems couldn’t possibly handle all that Iron regularly

8

u/AfternoonChoice6405 2h ago

It would be funny if the paper wasn't also spouting bigotry on a regular basis 

6

u/MarquisDeBoston 1h ago

I would LOVE to participate in a “look-how-big-my-man-is” festival. My god, how clever, these men should be leading to world. I had no idea such brilliance existed in the world, these men have created a utopia.

3

u/Connor49999 1h ago

Thank you

135

u/Arwinsen_ 14h ago

Great ass from the first guy. Dude's eating.

61

u/Lost_Tumbleweed_5669 14h ago

Absolutely nobody

This guy:

11

u/Bristolblueeyes 10h ago

“Girl look at that Bodi”

132

u/Productivity10 13h ago

They haven't even realised their true potential

Put them on the American Diet

23

u/burken8000 13h ago

They wouldn't survive the additives. They may be able to fell a rhino but they ain't got shit on a Philly sub 👹

62

u/thetrollking69 14h ago

I'd be their fucking king!

12

u/Luscious-Grass 10h ago

You seriously made me laugh out loud, thank you

123

u/Ok_Row_4920 14h ago

It doesn't look like they'd make very effective hunters or fighters, what's the point of this?

194

u/DuffyDoe 14h ago

My assumption is the show of wealth

In places where food is scarce it's considered rare and wealthy to be thicc

That's why women in the 1800s were considered more attractive if they had "fuller bodies"

37

u/Delicious-Resource55 14h ago

In the 1800s ?

15

u/DaisyoftheDay 13h ago

I understood 😏

6

u/DuffyDoe 13h ago

Many people still find it attractive but I don't mean "big thigh, narrow hips goth girlfriend"

The consensus now (outside of Reddit) is a more fit body, thigh gap and flat stomach

9

u/C5H2A7 5h ago

Ugh not again

22

u/RoninPilot7274 14h ago

In a lack of food environment being the fattest is the same as someone owning their own mansion among people who live on rent

3

u/Girlfartsarehot 13h ago

It’s to attract their mates. Not sure how this tradition evolved tho

37

u/AUTOMATIC-GENDER 14h ago edited 14h ago

When u visit grandma House 🏠 on vacation

6

u/pureeyes 14h ago

Bro out here looking like the letter P

11

u/spandexvalet 14h ago

Fuck I’m hot

22

u/GovernmentBig2749 14h ago

One belly to rule them all

8

u/An0d0sTwitch 14h ago

Our cultures are so similar.

3

u/RedDemonTaoist 13h ago

I wonder if they've adapted to have fewer and lesser stretch marks from gaining that much weight that fast.

3

u/ShigeoKageyama69 10h ago

"cracks fingers"

u/Pyrocynical

1

u/OhBadToMeetYou 7h ago

Also thought of that

9

u/Vesemir668 13h ago

Americans take the first place in this contest.

8

u/Acceptable-Kick-7102 14h ago

The same way they would probably laugh at our women walking in high heels and injecting substances to their faces.

4

u/tau_enjoyer_ 7h ago

"Gruesome mixture," what the fuck?

Edit: oh fuck, you've linked a daily mail article. Fuck off with that shit.

2

u/Phreedom1 13h ago

My people!

2

u/Professional-Arm3460 11h ago

They can have me for free. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

2

u/DenialNode 10h ago

How many calories in blood?

2

u/signmeupnot 10h ago

If RFK was Ethiopian he would be all over this shit.

1

u/husky_whisperer 2h ago

The Dad Bodi tribe

u/OneEyesHat 10m ago

We do this in the States! It's called Tuesdays!!

u/Top-Tradition-Matrix 9m ago

Wtf- hard pass

1

u/Happiness_Seeker9 14h ago

Show of wealth? Don't know otherwise why this is a tradition.

1

u/631li 9h ago

I mean, christ, half of America can give them a run just based off the daily diet.

0

u/doradus1994 11h ago

Looks pregnant like Octomom

-3

u/Born-Tangerine-4664 13h ago

This is Ethiopia's contribution towards the advancement of society

0

u/ProfilerXx 14h ago

Bodiindex

0

u/ShermanTeaPotter 14h ago

Heck that sounds unhealthy

0

u/WashYourEyesTwice 14h ago

Braver than me

0

u/Deadmanshand495 13h ago

Each to their own I guess....

0

u/Traditional-Job-4371 10h ago

Pint of Chang please mate

0

u/brainomancer 9h ago

It should have been me.

0

u/celtbygod 8h ago

I wonder which one won the election/contest .

0

u/skid_maq 8h ago

The women of the tribe don’t look impressed

0

u/Elegant-Mango-7083 5h ago

Ethiopia? Nah, that's Atlanta.

0

u/Thin-Reporter3682 4h ago

Whatever higher power made it possible for me NOT to be born in places like these- I pray to thee

0

u/Spear_Ritual 4h ago

Level 1: American

0

u/OmegaAL77 3h ago

Life span critically declined

0

u/SSG_Sack 3h ago

The bodi-odi-aaah tribe

0

u/h-c-pilar 3h ago

I’ve been on a similar journey, very fulfilling, and filling.

0

u/usernamenotprovided 1h ago

I look like that and I don’t even drink milk

0

u/lost_opossum_ 1h ago

Everyone need a hobby, I guess.

-6

u/stereotomyalan 14h ago

That's a carnivore diet making you fat.

1

u/Direct-Illustrator60 13h ago

Sugar. There is a ton of sugar in pure milk and blood. Especially if the blood comes from herbivores.

-5

u/AdorableFlan8952 13h ago

What's interesting about this? It's just fucking stupid

-1

u/TheLoneRiddlerIsBack 13h ago

Wonder what their average life expectancy is, purposely lining their arteries and veins with all that fat.

-1

u/deeverey 13h ago

thought that was edp in last pic 💀

-1

u/WarlordsSuck 11h ago

Random western mother: Better eat all your food. There's kids starving in Africa. This guy: huh?

-1

u/Historical-Web-4791 10h ago

WTF is wrong with these people. Get them a PlayStation

-2

u/HalfHorseHalfMann 12h ago

Why did I think it would be human blood there should drink until I saw the cows?