The female body mask was worn as a costume during an important ritual cycle among the Makonde youth of south-eastern Tanzania. The young adolescents of this region would partake in a six month educational exercise where "everyone is taught the rules of adult behavior, about sex and about the rights and obligations of married life" (Kingdon in Phillips, 1996, p.175, pl.2.66).
The female body masks, with their large breasts and swollen stomachs were worn by male masqueraders to represent young pregnant women. They would perform a dance which dramatized the agonies of childbirth.