Kayan copper rims

Ethnic jewelry is not only delightful trinkets, you can also find examples that instead of enchanting amaze. Be that as it may, the ornaments of foreign peoples are not infrequently and completely foreign canons of beauty. And while some of them do not deviate greatly from what we are accustomed to on a daily basis, there are also such ideas that do not fit in our heads.

The Kayan people are a group living in areas of northern Burma, and more recently, as a result of the conflicts gripping the regions there, and border areas of Thailand. Probably no one would bother with this community if it were not for a certain eye-catching feature - tightly wrapped copper hoops, long women's necks. Photos of women of the Kayan people, also known as female giraffes, are widely known around the world. In Thailand, the settlements of these Burmese refugees have metamorphosed into bustling tourist centers that attract sizable crowds of tourists every year. The otherworldliness usually arouses interest. But what secrets do these peculiar ornaments hide?

Copper hoops are an adornment that has accompanied a Kayan woman almost all her life. The first circles wrapped around the neck are worn as early as five-year-old girls, then over time the number of rings increases, reaching a height of 25 cm at the time of marriage. Even more impressive, however, is the weight of these ornate rings - for a full set can reach up to 10 kg! In popular opinion, there is a belief that such decorated necks due to the pressure of copper rings unnaturally elongate. Nothing could be further from the truth! It is not the neck that is stretched - under too much weight, the clavicle is distorted and the angle of the shoulders is changed, which in effect creates the illusion that it takes on an almost giraffe-like length.

A long neck is today the canon of local beauty. However, little is known about the origins of this astonishing practice. One theory holds that hoops once served primarily a defensive function. Women thus protected their necks from tiger attack, or their virtue from the temptations of men from neighboring tribes. As for the latter, it was the strange-looking necks that were supposed to put off suitors, as a kind of anomaly that subtracted some beauty from young maidens. And, however, the inquiries do not stop there. One can also find such concepts, according to which not real ills but mythological fascinations are behind this unusual tradition. It is said that the enchantment with dragons, which are not lacking in local tales, prompted women to try to resemble these legendary creatures.

Copper hoops, in the eyes of those who came to wear them, are not so much an ornament as an integral part of their own bodies. Once worn, they never actually leave their place - they are not taken off for sleep or bathing, from time to time they disappear from the neck li only to be replaced a moment later by their larger successors. Women accustomed to their constant presence without this garment, as they themselves say, feel naked. Besides, this heavy weapon, after all, cannot just like that, disappear without a trace in an instant. Weakened muscles, when they are to take over their natural functions again, need to be exercised, and bruises and irremovable discoloration remain on the skin. The elimination of the entwining neck ring was once an expression of social ostracism - a punishment that could befall an adulteress. And the memory of this, therefore, is not without significance.

Nowadays, putting on a hoop is increasingly no longer a cultural requirement but a matter of free choice. But it is difficult to speak of sovereign decisions at a time when the former cultural imperative has been meticulously replaced by the unyielding laws of the market. The outstretched necks of Burmese women are today - both in their native country and neighboring Thailand - a tourist lure that serves its purpose well. Representatives of the Kayan people resettled in the mass-visited show villages are supposed to be kept there, like in a zoo, in order to treat visitors to a proper dose of exoticism. These peculiar decorations are therefore no longer a matter of women or tribal customs alone, but of business, and of state rank. Just one settlement can be visited by more than 400 thousand tourists each year, who are willing to pay well for such an attraction.

The appropriateness of supporting local culture in this way certainly gives food for thought. In this way, some ethnic ornaments, and even more so the way they are used, quite rightly arouse feelings far from enchantment or admiration. As it turns out, and body ornamentation can have different facets!