Gerewol - The Wodaabe tribe (Mbororo) a branch of the Fulani tribe are nomadic pastoralists who are found predominantly in Niger and Chad, in the Sahel region of Sub Saharan Africa. They speak Fula which isn’t a written language. Once a year these nomads come together in a festival known as the Gerewol. This is a beauty pageant for the men so that they might be selected by the women if the tribe. The women are usually younger and the men are seen as fair game in a society which is polygamous and polygynous. The men adorn themselves using a diversity of facial paint colours and the whites of the eye and teeth colour are particularly important. So too their outfits which are embellished with beads, buttons and baubles in the brightest of colours. Mirrored tunics and hats add to the exuberance and adornment. The overall appearance with the paint, makeup and outfits can only be described as feminine from our cultural perspective. They dance like male peacocks or other such birds who exhibit their plumage to attract to attract females. The male beauty ideal of the Wodaabe stresses tallness, white eyes and teeth; the men will often roll their eyes and show their teeth to emphasize these characteristics. They are animists at heart and this may be why they emulate the animal kingdom. They have now, in a token way, been converted to Islam.