Throughout history, women have tortured
themselves to look beautiful. In ancient
Mayan times, the women would attach a
board to their female children’s heads and
dangle a bead in front of them, resulting in
flat heads and crossed eyes. In China, feet
were bound so that adult women walked in
tiny steps (with assistance) on five-inch
claw-feet, and in Africa the Mangbetu tribe
of Congo bound their heads so their skulls
looked extremely elongated.
Even today, people still go to extreme
measures. Women inject their faces with
botulism and plastics, insert silicon bags
all over their bodies, and break bones… all
in the name of beauty. But rarely do you
come across an ancient tradition practiced
in this day and age of computers and
globalization – which is why it is so rare
and fascinating to see the women of the
Padaung Tribe of Myanmar, whose necks
are so long they are sometimes called the
Longneck tribe or the Giraffe people.
The Padaung women start wearing brass
coils around their necks at a very young
age, increasing the number of rings as
they get older until their heads are
balanced on top of a long, thin, pole-like
neck.
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