Beauty rituals from around the world

Friday, July 05, 2013

I thought I would post something a little different today, I love all thing beauty but i also love facts and history and learning all the different ideals from around the world so i thought i would combine these things to bring you this post.

Women in all areas of the world are judged by different criteria, what some see as beautiful is far from the ideals of others, here are a few examples i have come across. (All pictures were taken from Google images)

Neck Rings

On the border of Burma and Thailand, members of the Kayan tribe practice a centuries old ritual of wearing brass rings around their necks. This beauty ritual starts for girls of the tribe as young 5. Rings are continually added as they grow older and their necks start to look elongated. For these women, the shiny brass rings are the ultimate sign of female elegance and status.
Can you even begin to imagine how heavy these things must be!

Tattooing

The Maori people of New Zealand who are of Polynesian descent practice ritual tattooing.

They believe women are more attractive when their lips and chins are tattooed. A woman with full, blue lips is considered the most beautiful and desirable.

Scaring

For the women of the Karo tribe in southern Ethiopia, beauty is literally skin deep.

The ritual starts at childhood when the elders of the tribe cut the stomaches of the young girls. It is understood that the reason they do this is to attract a male. Once a Karo girl has received the last of her scars, she's allowed to marry and have children.

Lip plates

Research shows that many independent cultures have at some point worn lip plates but there is only one remaining tribe where it is known to be actively practiced. The tradition is that 6 to 12 months before they are to be married the women of the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia make a small incision in the middle of their bottom lip and a stick is put in. Slowly over time larger disks are inserted into the incision. Many girls have their two lower teeth knocked out to accommodate the huge plate, the larger the plate the more attractive they are thought to be.

Nose plugs

The Apatani tribe lives in the district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Traditionally women in this tribe get face tattoos and distinctive nose plugs at an early age which they wear throughout their lives. according to some research, this practice was created in order to make the women unattractive to neighboring tribes to keep them from kidnapping their women!!

Indian practices

This is my favorite maybe because it is much more familiar therefore easier to relate to

On her wedding day, an Indian bride may use a mixture of turmeric, lemon and honey on her skin to achieve a glowing complexion. Brides also wear special clothing and jewelry, including a forehead chain. A dot of red powder on the face which is known as a kumkum is also thought to make a woman more attractive.

I love reading up about this stuff. Interesting or what!

So this weekend when you are getting ready to go out, putting you hair extensions in, applying your false lashes and never ending layers of makeup just think you coud be putting in nose plugs or wearing brass rings around your necks instead!

I wonder where our own beauty rituals come from and who thought them up, nose jobs, boob jobs, chemical peels, teeth whitening, piercings the list goes on. I also wonder what the women around the world think, they must look at us in the same way we look and them and consider our ways to be strange and unusual.

Research says that ideals of beauty are shared between groups of people, so the more you are with someone the more inline your ideas become. Certainly looking thorugh these images that would seem the case but what do you think?

Have you come across any interesting rituals?

Toodle-oo

Lisa xx