3. THE "LONG NECK” PEOPLE
• For the Pa Dong tribe, who live along
the Thai/Burmese border, beauty is a
long, long neck. This effect is
produced by circling the neck with
brass rings, starting at the age of
6, and gradually adding more and
more. The only time they are removed
is on the girl’s wedding night.
5. BLUE TATTOO
Tattoos are common
around the world. For
Maori people in New
Zealand, the tattoos are
placed on their lips and
chins. The ultimate beauty
is to have full blue lips.
7. LIP PLATES OR “DHEBI A TUGOIN”
• Lip plates are a unique
tradition, that of inserting lip-
plates into their lower lip. In these
tribes, it is still a norm to wear
fairly large wooden or clay pottery
discs or plates that are inserted in
a girl’s lower lip.
• There reason for having these
plates is brides’ wealth, to ward
off slave traders, and beauty.
Women wear these to show
strength and fertility, in the Mursi
tribe a woman wearing this
shows the epitome of validation
and self-esteem of a woman.
8. SCARIFICATION
• Scars are considered
something to hide in the
west, but for Karo girls in
southern Ethiopia it will help
them get a husband. As young
girls, the skin on their stomach
is cut to create scars, and
when they have enough they
are considered ready for
marriage.
10. TOOTH FILLING CEREMONIES
• A tooth filing ceremony
(filling and sharpening of
teeth) is one of the ceremonies
that a Balinese must undergo.
• The ceremony helps people rid
themselves of the invisible
forces of evil - teeth are the
symbol of
lust, greed, anger, insobriety, co
nfusion and jealousy. Filing the
teeth therefore renders
someone both more physically
and more spiritually
beautiful, as well as symbolizing
the rite of passage for an
adolescent into adulthood.
12. FEET BINDING OR “LOTUS FEET”
• In China, to achieve the effect of tiny
feet, the bones were broken before
binding, thus causing the woman
lifelong pain and making it difficult for
her to walk. . The practice possibly
originated among upper-class court
dancers during the 10th century. Chinese
reformers challenged the practice but it
was not until the early 20th century that
foot binding began to die out, because
of changing social conditions
• Bound feet were once considered
intensely erotic in Chinese culture, and
a woman with perfect lotus feet was
likely to make a more prestigious
marriage
14. FATTENING TRADITIONS
In many other cultures, big is most
definitely beautiful. In many African
countries, such as Mauritania and
Nigeria, a skinny woman would be
pitied. In fact, women are fed as
much as possible to make them
more beautiful.
Women are encouraged to gain as
much weight as possible from
childhood in order to be considered
attractive. Having a fat wife is
desirable and is a sign of wealth
and prestige in the country where
food is in short supply.
16. THIN IS IN?
So, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder!
Some of these practices may seem strange, even
unattractive to us, but I wonder what the people who
do them would think of our ideas of beauty.
Would we seem ugly to them?
17. WHERE DOES OUR DEFINITION OF
BEAUTY COME FROM??
• Where do beauty standards come from?
• Are their certain universal beauty standards?
• How does media affect our perceptions of beauty?