IntimacY AND FERTILITY
Many women around the world use waist beads in intimate settings to enhance their sensuality.
Waist beads may also be closely associated with fertility. Some women wear specific beads during sex
when they’re trying to conceive.
WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT GAIN
Ghanaian women will tell you that they also use their waist beads to shape their waist. It is believed that the practice of wearing multiple waist beads over time will help to keep the waist small and accentuate the hips. Since traditional waist beads are strung on cotton cord (and without a clasp/hook) they can be a good tool to measure weight gain and loss. They will not stretch; they will either break or continue to roll up the waist when weight is gained. Now if weight is lot, it is also a good indicator as they will roll down or eventually become so loose they will fall off when weight has been lost.
TRADITION
Waist Beads have been around in many African cultures for centuries. Many accept that the history starts in old Egypt where they were called “girdles” and were worn by ladies as a significant sign of style and status. In West Africa, the convention was made famous by the Yoruban clan of Nigeria. They are worn as a festival of womanhood, sexuality, gentility, fruitfulness, recuperating, other worldliness, body molding, assurance and riches. Each bead, colour, and shape relays a different message depending on the giver/receiver. Traditionally, mothers adorned their daughters with waist beads during their first menstruation as a rite of passage into womanhood. The beads symbolized a young lady’s fertility, developing body, and her sexuality.