There are so many reasons why women wear waist beads for both traditional and contemporary reasons. As indicated earlier some reasons why women wear waist beads include;
Femininity: Also known as womanliness or femaleness, women wear it for gender identification. As a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls, behaviors considered feminine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. For cultural factors, one way to identify a woman from a man is by the wearing of waist beads.
Fertility: Women also wear waist beads as a sign of fertility or to be able to conceive. Female fertility is a woman's ability to conceive a biological child. So some women who are considered to be barren in African society wear the waist beads to bring forth the luck of fertility to be able to conceive.
Sensuality: Also known as attraction, women put on waist beads to feel attracted to the opposite sex and to be more desirable by their partners.
For Spiritual Protection: Others wear waist beads for spiritual protection against bad luck and evil spirits. Some people do that against barrenness, infertility, and diseases.
Other reasons include:
Weight Awareness: Waist beads are widely used to track weight changes. People might use waist beads instead of stepping on a scale to keep track of any weight gain or decrease in the belly. Beads at the waist do not stretch. The beads will sit higher on the waist or feel snug if you gain weight. If you lose weight, though, the beads will feel loose and fall further down to your hips. Waist beads, unlike the numbers on a scale, are more in line with body positivity. Women of different sizes and shapes can wear waist beads to adorn their bodies with ease.
Maturity: Waist beads are generally connected with womanhood, maturity, and growth in places of the world where they are a cultural custom. During naming ceremonies in Ghana, babies are usually adorned with waist beads. Only girls, on the other hand, keep wearing the beads as they get older. Mothers tie a pair of waist beads onto girls after their first menstruation in various West African customs to mark their entry into womanhood. Outgrowing a pair of waist beads can also signal the start of a new chapter in one's life. For example, the beads a girl wears during adolescence will be different from the beads she wears after having her first kid.
For Pride In Cultural Heritage: Waist beads are worn by women of different races and nationalities, but they have undeniably African origins. Waist beads are a common way for Black women across the globe to connect with their ancestors and commemorate their ancestry and cultural practices. The wearing of waist beads by Black and Brown women in the West has evolved into a distinct cultural tradition that represents the diasporic experience.
Due to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, many women in the diaspora have no firsthand knowledge of their West African ancestors. Black women can reclaim the opportunity to tread in their ancestors' footsteps by reclaiming waist beads. The beads serve as a continual tactile reminder that heritage is never far away.
