What better time is there for the honouring of long-held traditions than at one’s wedding? It is a time of family, celebration, and the joining together of two families.
Speaking of the wedding night and consummation of the marriage specifically, the practices of many African nations and tribes would be thought of as downright weird in the West.
After all the wedding festivities have died down in an Egyptian wedding, the bride and groom will, of course, proceed to the marital chamber to consummate their marriage. Often times, even in our modern day and age, the parents and relatives of the bride and groom will literally sit outside of their bedroom, waiting to hear if there was blood, and thus, if the bride was a virgin.
However, one version of this custom includes a midwife, who is charged with following the couple into their room and deflowering the bride herself. She will use a white handkerchief to do so, and it will then be paraded before all of the guests. The mother of the bride will sing in joy, and be joined by all of the present women, celebrating the purity of their daughter and friend. All I can think is: how awkward and unromantic
!
This make marriage traumatic for may Egyptian brides. Modern couples may forego this ritual but Egyptian women who are not virgins at marriage still besmirch their family honour. However, in the past, such a woman might have been killed by her family to expunge the dishonour, but today, the pressure for virginity still remains strong.
