Long Neck Women : A Unique Culture

credit: Google Images, peoplesoftheworld

Women who wear these brass rings on their neck belong to a sub group of the Karen tribe known as Padaung. They are said to wear this as it symbolises beauty and richness and also to look for a potential husband. But there are some who said that women are ordered to wear these brass rings to make them look unappealing to avoid being captured by slaves and some even go as far as to said it is to prevent tigers from biting their heads off.

It is also said that if the women are caught having affairs during marriage, the rings will be taken off but once taken off they have to lie down all the time as the neck muscles had been severely damaged by wearing the rings for a very long time.

This culture has long fascinated everyone and it had even been publicized on televisions and newspapers. It never ceased to make me wonder how these women can survive wearing these rings on their necks. Wouldn't it be too uncomfortable for them to move around with weighing them down? Well, it is one of their famous cultures and I hope they will contonue to preserve it as it is very rare to find this kind of unique culture anymore.