Married women most often wear them while milking the cattle and serving their husband meals, since the lip-plate creates a graceful and poised movement. For marriageable girls, lip-plates are often worn at dances. They are an indication of fertility, and may even be connected to an old folk-story. The mud lip-plates are traditionally worn by marriageable girls and child-bearing women. Lip-plates and ear-plugs: Contrary to some accounts, the Mursi women have not worn lip-plates to deter slave-raiders! Rather, ear and lip-plates instil a certain type of embodied morality, and are ways in which the Mursi teach their children to become social, moral and healthy persons. Generally, the Mursi are very sceptical of the camera and photographs, with much care being taken to destroy photographs of the dead, for example, to prevent the spirits from hanging around and harming the living. More recently, the Mursi have learned to decorate in innovative ways to attract tourists and gain money to buy important things at the market, such as cloth, medicines, soap and razors. More recently, hair-styles have become quite intricate thanks to the use of razors, but also cloth and other shop-bought items have come into use in often inventive ways. Body decoration: Traditionally, the Mursi decorated with ear and lip-plates, bracelets, and through body scarification and painting.
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