References

1. Harter, P. (2004, January 26). Mauritania's 'wife-fattening' farm. Retrieved on 2014, August 16 from        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3429903.stm

2. Waterlow, L. (2014, August 23). Force fed to find a husband: How Mauritanian women are fattened up 'like foie gras geese' and take dangerous animal growth hormones to satisfy men's love for larger lady.

Retrieved on 2014, August 16 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2364060/Force-fed-husband-How-Mauretanian-women-fattened-like-foie-gras-geese-dangerous-animal-growth-hormones-satisfy-mens-love-larger-lady.html

3. Beauty secrets from around the world. (2008, November 20). The Oprah Winfrey Show. Retrieved on 2014, August 16 from http://www.oprah.com/style/Beauty-Around-the-World 

4. Maori culture. (n.d.). Retrieved on 2014, August 13 from http://www.newzealand.com/travel/en/media/features/maori-culture/maori_ta-moko-significance_feature.cfm

5. Idov, M. (2014, April). This is not a barbie doll. This is an actual human being. Retrieved on 2014, August 23 from http://www.gq.com/women/photos/201404/valeria-lukyanova-human-barbie-doll

6.Lady with bound feet. (n.d.). University of Virginia. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/clothes/lady_bound/

7. Farlander. (2003, 22 October). Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-london/plain/A1155872

8. Lim, L. (2007, 19 March). Painful memories for China’s footbinding survivors. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942

9. Innes, M. (2014, 21 April). Pictured: The 'giraffe women' of eastern Burma who wear brass rings around their necks as a sign of beauty. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2609467/Pictured-The-giraffe-women-eastern-Burma-wear-brass-rings-necks-sign-beauty.html

10. Ye Aung Thu (2014, 28 April). Agony in beauty for the ‘long-necked’ women. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?post/The-agony-of-beauty-for-Myanmar-s-long-necked-women2

11. Hays, J. (2013). Padaung long neck women. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from

http://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat66/sub417/entry-2761.html

12. Kbuenaseda.(2011, 31 October). Teeth chiseling, Indonesian tribal custom. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/resd1110fall2011/2011/10/31/teeth-chiseling-indonesian-tribal-custom/

13. Dragon, V. (2010, 17 July). 10 Incredibly Painful Rites of Initiation. Retrieved on 2014, August 15 from http://listverse.com/2010/07/17/10-incredibly-painful-rites-of-initiation/

14. African lip plugs-lip plates. (n.d.). Galerie Ezakwantu. Retrieved on 2014, August 17 from http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Lip%20Plugs%20Lip%20Plate.htm

15. Lorna. (2013, 7 January). Modification Around the World: Lip Piercings and Stretching. Retrieved on 2014, August 17 from http://blog.bodycandy.com/2013/01/07/modification-around-the-world-lip-piercings-and-stretching/

16. Beauty secrets from around the world. (2008, 20 November). The Oprah Winfrey Show.Retrieved on 2014, August 17 from http://www.oprah.com/style/Beauty-Around-the-World

17. Jenson, K.T. (n.d.). The Weirdest Beauty Rituals Throughout History:Tapeworm diet. Retrieved on 2014, August 17 from http://mom.me/mind-body/7471-weirdest-beauty-rituals-throughout-history/item/tapeworm-diet/

18. Tapeworm diet. (n.d.). Healthy Weight Forum. Retrieved on 2014, August 17 from http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/diets/tapeworm-diet/

19. Freeman, S. (n.d.). Geisha facials. Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/skin-treatments/geisha-facial3.htm

20. Connell, C. (2014, 28 May). The most cringe inducing facial ever: The good news - it beats Botox. The bad news - it's made from birds' mess. Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2641957/The-cringe-inducing-facial-The-good-news-beats-Botox-The-bad-news-birds-mess.html

21. Bushak, L. (2014, 5 August). The Newest Real-Life Ken Doll: Brazilian Model Celso Santebanes Spends $40K To Be Barbie’s Boyfriend. Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://www.medicaldaily.com/newest-real-life-ken-doll-brazilian-model-celso-santebanes-spends-40k-be-barbies-boyfriend-296550

22. Schenek, D. (2012, 11 December). 'Human Ken Doll' says his look is 'an art form'. Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/12/10/human-ken-doll-says-look-art-form

23. Meet the real-life Ken doll: Man spends $100,000 on nearly 100 plastic surgery operations to reach his goal of 'ideal beauty'.(2012, 17 December). Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249213/Real-life-Ken-doll-Justin-Jedlica-spends-100k-nearly-100-plastic-surgery-operations.html

24. Botox. (n.d.). Beauty Resources. Retrieved on 2014, August 22 from http://www.urbanhealth.com.my/beauty/side-effects-and-dangers-of-botox/

25. How Far Would You Go To Get Taller. (n.d.). Retrieved on 2014, August 19 from http://www.details.comculture-trendscritical-eye200805the-painful-leg-lengthening-surgerycurrentPage=3

26. A Painful Way To Grow Taller (February 13, 2007). A Moment of  Science Staff. Retrieved on 2014, August 19 from http://indianapublicmedia.orgamomentofsciencea-painful-way-to-grow-taller

27. K. Thor Jensen (xde). The Weirdest Beauty Rituals Throughout History: Portugese urine mouthwash. Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://mom.me/mind-body/7471-weirdest-beauty-rituals-throughout-history/item/portugese-urine-mouthwash/

28. Oneill, T. (2013, April 25). Fatal Attraction 7 Terrifying Beauty Practices from History. Retrieved on 2014, August 19 from http://mentalfloss.comarticle50259fatal-attraction-7-terrifying-beauty-practices-history

29. Amerowolf (Dec 11, 2013). Beauty is Pain - Horrifying Beauty Practices Throughout History. Retrieved on 2014, August 18 from http://www.infobarrel.comHorrifying_Beauty_Practices_Throughout_History

30. Jordan, S. (2012, October 10). British student achieves 15.7 inch waist by wearing a corset for 23 hours every day. Retrieved on 2014, August 22 from http://www.handbag.comgym-bagnewsa429626british-student-achieves-157-inch-waist-by-wearing-a-corset-for-23-hours-every-day.html

31. Brail, S. (2008, February 25). Death by Botox The Hidden Toll of the Quest for Beauty. Retrieved on 2014, August 22 from http://www.naturalnews.com022720_botox_death_doctor.html#

32. Side effects and dangers of Botox. (2011, August 7). Retrieved on 2014, August 22 from http://www.urbanhealth.com.mybeautyside-effects-and-dangers-of-botox

Bye-bye for now

Hi, guys...so have you been reading all of my entries? Whether you have or you haven't, I guess it's been a great adventure to explore various unique yet painful beauty practice all around the world, right? Frankly speaking (read: writing), apart from you all, it's me who have learnt lots of new things while writing all the entries. This blog assignment is an eye-opener task, I must say :)

Here comes the confession part. I'm really a newbie to blogging world, so having come this far in my attempt to make this blog as lively as possible is such a blessing to me. Alhamdulillah. It ain't easy for me you know, but it's worth it :') 

"I'm a happy girl~~~" Alhamdulillah :)
Courtesy to Google Image

As usual, lots of thanks to those who have helped me throughout these few weeks- my lecturer Madam Hawinda Hj Karmon, for her  constructive comments; my brother, for his guidance and blog tutorials in helping me give life to this blog; my parents, for their endless encouragement for everything I do (especially assignments, lol ); my lovely friends, Haz and Husna, for their useful tips on blogging and last but not least, to all my fellow classmates who have been helping while struggling together in completing this blog assignment.

So, for now, should I say 'Bye-bye'? I guess so. Have a nice day everyone :D

Hazardous Botox

I've shared with you guys about beauty practice in many different cultures around the world, some of them might be frowned upon by urban people. However, it's a different story with Botox, a modern beauty treatment that practised by many women in almost every part of the world, especially those in developed countries.

I've always heard about Botox. "Celebrity A is using Botox, just look at her glowing skin. Oh, you know, she's of my grandma's age! How can her skin seem so young?" , yada, yada. Yet, I've never cared to really learn about Botox, until it's time to write this entry. Hehe, so thanks to you blog, I learnt something new!

Botox is actually a trade name for a substance injected into the skin which is known to inhibit muscle movement and prevent wrinkles developing or worsening. Well, to put it simpler, Botox is like an anti-ageing treatment. Get some Botox, and kick off some years of your skin.The name Botox or Botulinum toxin usually comes from the word "botulus" meaning sausage. This is because the substance is actually to a naturally occuring poison, occassionally found at dangerous levels in bad meat products, and it can paralyze and kill. (Whoaa...even the definition sounds dangerous). 

Appropriate amounts of Botox injections in units needed by the patients to erase wrinkles from various parts of the face. This treatment is carried out at Bella Luce Medispa, a skin care and spa service company in California, US
Photo taken from http://www.bellalucespa.com

Botox is a quick way of being beautiful (when beauty is associated with wrinkles-free face), so people get this treatment focusing on the safe side of it. However, there are actually lots of reported negative side effects of using Botox.

Public Citizen, a national non-profit public interest organization in US analyzed US Food and Drug Administration analyzed data on Botox from 1997 to 2006. Among the findings, 180 patients developed life-threatening conditions after being injected with Botox, with 16 deaths and 87 hospitalizations. Some Botox users suffered paralysis of the respiratory muscles and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), leading to pneumonia and fluid in the lungs. Common mistakes are the frozen forehead and drooping eyelids. The frozen forehead makes a person look like a robot, where the face remains stiff and immobile. This makes me remember an English detective movie I used to watch years ago (sorry, can't remember the title though), in which one of the characters (a suspect of a homicide case) shows totally no emotions on her 'lines-on-skin-somewhat' test, where in the story it's mentioned that through the test, every normal human being should have her or his emotions seen by the movement of the lines. But this woman, she clearly has no emotions, meaning she has no line movements on her face, and later it's found out she's taken Botox injections.

One of the famous Botox mistakes. Jocelyn Wildenstein has allegedly spent USD 4,000,000 on cosmetic surgeries over the years
Photo taken from www.oddee.com

Just anything for a taller body

Pursuit for beauty is like an insatiable aim. I wonder how some people are willing to suffer just to look beautiful in the eyes of others (they claim, it's for their own eyes, though). For me, it's like an inner insecurity that leads to many unimaginable sufferings.

Here in this entry, I'll let you discover a new type of gruesome plastic surgery people do to become taller. Unbelievable? This is real, really. It's called cosmetic limb lengthening or CLL. CLL is done in a few countries in the world, such as China, Egypt, Germany, Brazil and Ukraine.

CLL can make you at least two to three inches taller
Photo by indianapublicmedia.org

The details of the surgery, as you may imagine, are extremely painful. First, the doctor breaks the tibia and fibula, or the bones of the lower legs. Then, a device comprised of two metal rings are connected by extendable rods called the fixator, is screwed into both ends of the broken bone through the skin. After approximately a week, the stretching begins. The surgeon lengthen the fixator in small, 2 mm increments. This slowly pulls the broken bones apart, thus allowing new bones to grow and fill in the gap.

If nothing goes wrong, the 3 month bone-lengthening period is followed by another 3 to 6 months of bone strengthening. At this phase, the patient is confined to a wheelchair and must undergo physical therapy. Barring complications such as infection where the fixator is attached to the bones and nerve injury, you can be back up and walking around on newly lenghtened legs in about a year. Pheww...what a long way to go! 

Ps: This reminds me of the bone-breaking process of the foot binding in China, so I'm flinching.

Pps: I've stopped growing taller at the age of 13.

Obsession towards unrealistic beauty

Have you ever watched Toy Story 3? You'll find the beautiful Barbie and the handsome Ken in the story. Have you ever wondered if they really exist in real world? Hey, of course they don't. It's Toy Story, remember?

Barbie and Ken dolls in Toy Story 3

The characters are cute, somewhat inhumanly cute. I mean, it's just right because they're dolls. Aren't they? Until I read about these few people who were willing to endure the pain of going under the knife just to look like unrealistic beautiful people (read: dolls).

Celso Santebanes
Credit to Google

A Brazilian model, Celso Santebanes, 20, has undergone a few operations on his jaw, nose, chin and received silicone implants in his chest just to look like the Ken doll. For this purpose, he has spent USD 40,000. He had a dream of becoming a human puppet even from childhood, inspired by his collection of dolls as a child. And...he's now planning on opening up his own line of 'Celso' dolls :O

More is coming, guys. There's also another man, Justin Jedlica, 34, from the New York City, who also has this obsession over doll-like beauty. He has had around 90 surgeries, which began at the age of 18, and has spent more than USD 100,000 to achieve what he claimed as an 'art form'. "I've always been into plastic surgery because it's an extension of me being creative," Jedlica said during an interview on The Doctors television show.

Justin Jedlica before (left) and after (right) plastic surgeries
Credit to Google

I bet he looked handsomer before the surgeries. Agree with me? Let's hi-5! But, he thought differently I guess, so that's why he went through the whole painful operations.

A few of Jedlica's different operations: Pectoral implants (left) and nose job (right)
Photo by www.dailymail.co.uk

Let's watch a video on this real-life Ken doll:

Not only heroes, there are also quite a number of women aiming to be real-life Barbies. Here's among the most popular ones, a woman named Valeria Lukyanova. This 29-year-old Moldavian-Ukrainian model admitted having breast implants, but said no to having her ribs removed for her small waist. She wore clothes like a Barbie, and applied make-up to look like the doll.

Valeria Lukyanova follows a rigid vegetarian diet
Photo by Google

When human Ken and human Barbie meet in real life
Photo by Google

Obsession towards unrealistic doll-like beauty, no matter how they put it, for me, just boils down to one thing- ungratefulness towards God's creations. Yes, I'm Muslim, and plastic surgeries (for beauty) are forever a no-no, by whatever means.

What a painful, pathetic and wasteful way of being beautiful!

Urine mouthwash in ancient Rome

I have had a few entries on teeth and yes, this one is going to touch on the similar body part. From the ancient time, teeth have always been an important asset of beauty. Some might have them chiseled, blackened, or whitened, and in this entry, it's about the method used by ancient Romans to keep their teeth clean and beautiful. How? Well, as what the title of this entry brings to you, they use urine as mouthwash.

Before the invention of modern dental technology, (well, before there are Listerine, Sensodyne, Colgate, Darlie, Mu'min, etcetera) could you imagine how people take care of their teeth? For the ancient Romans, they had the solution- the urine of Portuguese people. So gross, isn't it?

Urine mouthwash contains ammonia that is good for disinfection
Photo by Google 

Jars of urine were shipped in from Portugal to Rome because they thought that it was a more powerful cleansing agent than home-grown Roman urine. Hehe, I myself wonder as well, how did those Romans' urine differ from the Portugueses' *winkwink*

It's said, though that the ammonia in urine is actually good for disinfection, and it continued to be used as an active ingredient in mouthwash until at least the 18th century.

Well, I guess, one wishes to do almost anything for beauty.

Ps: What if they accidentally swallow the urine while mouthwashing? Euwww.

The Geisha facial

Have you ever heard of Geisha? Geisha (or geiko in Kyoto dialect) are Japanese professional female entertainers who attend guests during meals, banquets and other occasions. They are trained in various traditional Japanese arts, such as dance, music and the art of communication.

A group of beautiful Geishas in Japan
Credit to Google

Well, just a little peek into the Geisha's world. This entry is not about Geisha, but it's related to a beauty treatment practised by traditional Geishas during the 17th century- uguisu no fun or nightingale facial. They applied nightingale droppings on their face to heal their damaged skin due to the heavy lead-based make-up they wore. Could you imagine smearing your face with a bird's poo? Euwww.

The nightingales are fed a special diet of seeds and berries so that droppings are organic and vegan
Photo by www.dailymail.co.uk

Now, the Geisha facial is popular in the West since the poo is proven to have good impacts on skin. It helps as an anti-ageing facial treatment and is said to effectively cleanse the skin, as well as reduce brown marks on skin. But...wait, as strange as it sounds, the nightingale facial treatment comes with expensive price tag. £180 for a 90-minute session, well, convert it to MYR, and tada! - MYR 950.80. To have an effective nightingale facial, do it once every month. (Like seriously?) *sigh*

The nightingale's poos used in today's spas are imported from a farm in Japan
Photo by www.dailymail.co.uk 

Well, I choose this Geisha facial to be part of painful beauty treatment because in my opinion, to bear with something as grim, smelly and gross as a bird's droppings being applied on your skin just to look beautiful is sort of painful too!

Let the tapeworms 'live' in you

I know someone who doesn't eat rice for months just to stay in shape. I know someone who has studied various types of diets ( Fat Flush diet, Atkins diet, vegetarian diet, crash diet, etcetera), and finally tried Atkins (she could just bear with it for a few months). I read about people with bulimia and anorexia, who suffer for fearing of weight gain. All wish for a thin and slim body- a typical beauty asset.

Yet, today, I've just come across a strange type (actually it's the strangest one for me so far) of diet people follow in the name of beauty. It's called tapeworm diet. By looking at its name, ermm...well, yes, tapeworms are consumed in order to lose weight.

A nine-inch-long tapeworm that came out of a cat. It was still alive when this picture was taken.
Photo by www.dogbreedinfo.com

This disgusting beauty regimen was popular in England during the 1800s. You might ask, how this weird diet works? The traditional way of becoming infected with a tapeworm is by eating raw meat, being in contact with infected faeces and other foods containing tapeworms. However, for dieting purposes, people would swallow pills containing sanitized tapeworm larvae, which would reside in their stomachs. People become a host, and tapeworms use them by attaching suckers to their stomachs and feeding on the foods they eat. It's like the food you eat is split between your own body and that of tapeworm. After being ingested, the tapeworm makes its way out of the body with bowel movements. People have been known to take drugs to reduce the lifespan of the worms, so when it's removed from the body, it's already dead. Euwww.

Not only it's disgusting, the diet is actually proven to be dangerous to one's health. Tapeworms are foreign living animals, and they are not intelligent or obedient. Tapeworms are also parasites, that can result in vitamin deficiencies. They eat not only your calories, but also the nutrients. Additionally, it's also possible for tapeworms to deviate into other parts of your body through blood system, even your brain, where of course it can have deadly results!

Letting this foreign animal reside in your body can possibly lead to death
Credit to Google

Thankfully this diet is no more in practice nowadays, since its effects to health are disastrous.

P/s: I'm amazed at how far people can go just to stay beautiful.

African body scarification

If in my previous entry, I shared with you guys about tattooing among Maori people, here in this entry, I'm going to let you discover about African scarification. Africans are dark-skinned people, so applying tattoos is not an effective way to decorate their dark-pigmented skin. Hence, they choose another way of beautifying their body- scarification. It is also a symbol of strength, fortitude and courage among both men and women.

Various patterns of body scarifications symbolize strength and courage
Courtesy of Google Image

Scarification involves the process of puncturing or cutting patterns and motifs into the skin epidermis. Different tools are used to produce different types of scars ( cutting, like seriously?). To make the scars more prominent and embellished, ash or other organic saps might be added to a wound. Of course, the whole procedure is very slow and painful. Beautiful and complex designs depend not only on the artist's skills, but also on the person's tolerance to pain. Arghh...imagine having your hand cut with sharp objects. The pain would be unbearable!

Ethiopia Omo Valley Surma tribe doing the scarification
Credit to Google

The first scars a young woman receives are those on her abdomen, as it shows the role of childbearing. As she gets older, designs will be added on her skin and this continues through adulthood. "The main reason for my scars is to attract a male that will give me joy, because I will be beautiful and hopefully get a husband," says one girl from Karo tribe in Africa, when asked in an interview.

Seriously, honestly, If I were that girl, I'd rather not get married than being cut on skin to look beautiful.

Complex designs symbolize higher tolerance to pain
Photo by www.ezakwantu.com

Here I include a video on African scarification:

Lip plates for beauty

What symbolizes beauty in other parts of the world may be something unimaginable by you. In this entry, I'm going to let you discover what beauty is for the tribes in some parts of Africa.

In Africa, lip plates are adornment for women
Photo by www.ezakwantu.com

The original purpose of lip plates, or known as lip plugs or lip discs are to make women unattractive, and they act like a protection to them from Arab slavers. But, as time elapses, this has become a beauty practice in the region. David Livingstone, a British explorer in Africa asked a tribe chief about the reason of women wearing lip plates, and here's his answer: for beauty! They are the only beautiful things women have. Men have beards, women have none. What kind of person she be without Pelele (lip plate)? She would not be a woman at all.

There are actually many types of materials used to make the lip plates such as wood, ivory, clay, bone, shiny metal, shell and sometimes crystal. They could be found in round or trapezoid shapes in various sizes. Well, ermm... I think the sizes differ because not everyone's lips would be similar in size, even after they have elongated.

A woman with a round lip plate
Photo by www.ezakwantu.com

Both upper and lower lips are inserted with lip discs
Photo by www.ezakwantu.com

Here I include a video for you guys to see how a woman with lip plate drinks water:

Girls from Mursi tribe, one of the African tribes, pierce their bottom lips which are stretched so that a clay lip plate can be inserted. They also remove their bottom teeth for esthetic enhancement. Sometimes, after birth, mothers will pierce a child's lip with a thorn (The child must be screaming, right? huhu). The holes are enlarged with stalks of grass until they are about 2 centimeters in diameter and large enough to insert a plug. Increasingly larger discs are inserted into a pierced hole in either the upper or lower lip, or both, thereby stretching it. Lip tissue will elongate and conform to the shape of the implanted objects.

I've always been afraid of being pierced (that's why I've never got my earrings), so, the idea of piercing or elongating your lips is eerily scary. And...for sure, it must be painful. Ouchh!

A Mursi tribe with decorated lip disc
Credit to Google

Corsets of Victorian women

Have you ever heard of corsets? Today, corsets are seen as a classical and quick way to look slimmer. In the 19th century they were essentially used the same way, to make the tummy look slim, the hips look big, and give the bosom a healthy lift. 

Example of corset, an attire that helps women appear slimmer. It was made by whale bones during the Victorian era. Whale? Whoaaa :O
Courtesy of Google Image

While many women used corsets properly, like any others beauty practice some women abused them to the point of disfigurement and death. They tied the corsets as tight as possible. Do you know that some women tied the corsets so tightly that they fainted frequently from only being able to take shallow breaths. That's pretty tragic I think. 

A Victorian woman tying her corset (what a tiny waist!)
Courtesy of Google Image

However, wearing corsets may not be as simple as it seems, wearing it and voila! Here comes your tiny waist. Some experts claimed that corsets might cause overlapping of rib cage. To achieve a wasp-like waist the lower sections of the rib cage have to be pushed inwards. If the waist is made small enough the two sides of the rib cage will eventually meet in the middle and overlap. Not only that, it's also said that wearing tightly laced corsets can cause compression of internal organs, complications during pregnancy, and muscle death. One thing for sure, corsets must have caused those Victorian women extreme pain.

Internal organs tend to be shrunk after wearing corsets
Courtesy of Google Image

Just in Mauritania

Having a slender slim body is what makes a woman beautiful. Perhaps that would be the case in many parts of the world. Girls (including me), have this constant worry that if you eat too much, you’ll gain more weight, you’ll become fatter, and that’s not good. Apart from that quite distorted perception of slim or thin is beautiful, however, I think it’s something just right to watch what you eat, for health purpose. Being fat may make you get tired so easily, you can’t walk or move lots without feeling extremely exhausted, but, at the same time, I’m against ill dieting as well. No rice at all, calculating calories every time you wish to munch on any food, ah wait, that’s way too much! If your BMI (Body Mass Index) is within a normal range, you actually have that healthy weight, so it's perfectly fine! Let go of that burdening supermodel's body-type aim. Just eat normally, stay healthy, and avoid obesity J

Enough with my nutritionist rambles. Here is another beauty story. It's just not easy to achieve that beauty standard effortlessly. It's somewhat amazing (yet horrifying) to see people wish to do just anything to be beautiful. In Mauritania that lies between Western Sahara and Senegal, big women (obese ones I'd say) are traditionally deemed as more beautiful and desirable. In order to find a husband, many of the women are being pushed to dangerous lengths to gain weight from being force fed to taking pills that are not fit for human consumption. Having a fat wife is desirable and is a sign of wealth and prestige in the country where food is in short supply. The girls are fattened up from the age of eight by their families in a practice referred to as 'gavage' - a French word that means force feeding and is used to describe the fattening of geese to make ‘foie gras’ (a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened).

An overweight woman of Mauritania
Photo by BBC

Once they reach a marriageable age, girls are sent to 'fat camps' in the desert where they are fed 15,000 calories a day. For breakfast, the girls have breadcrumbs soaked in olive oil washed down with camel's milk. They then have frequent meals throughout the day of goat's meat, bread, figs and couscous, all with more camel milk to drink. Morton found that many refer to the over-eating as torture and parents have been known to crush their daughters' toes with pincers if they resist.

Mauritanian girls drink lots of camel's milk to gain weight
Photo by Corbis

However, since this fattening process makes them feel sick and takes much time, the girls have also found another way to gain weight - taking pills. One local woman told Morton, a U.S journalist: 'Medication is the modern form of gavage. Women use steroids and they are taking pills made from birds. These pills are not meant to be used by humans. The women said the animal growth hormones end up giving the women who take them a disproportionate body shape with a big stomach, face and breasts but thin arms and legs. She said: 'The person now looks more like a seal than a human being. Women can't have children because of this type of gavage. The big problem is this often leads to heart failure, repeated heart attacks, rare are the ones who escape. There are consequences - diseases, malformations and insanity.

What a suffering to be beautiful!

It is said that the 'big women' tradition has now become old-fashioned in the region
Photo by BBC

Here I include a video for you guys to watch:

Teeth chiseling of Mentawai tribe

Typical image of beautiful teeth
Credit to Google

Beautiful teeth have always been an important asset of beauty all around the world. I have read about teeth whitening, dental surgeries, for example using braces to align and straighten teeth in the name of beauty, but the terms teeth chiseling is really something new to me. It's unique, yes, and it tells another story of how painful it is to be beautiful.

 Do you know that for a group of people, beautiful teeth means chiseled teeth? A tribe of people in Indonesia, which is called Mentawaian, believed that chiseled teeth makes women look more attractive and beautiful, apart from the belief that the beauty ritual of teeth chiseling maintains the balance between the soul and body.

Chiseling the teeth makes their teeth become narrow and pointy. The process is agonizingly painful. Local sharman sharpens a crude blade as best he can to make the chiseling as least painful as possible. During the chiseling, crude instruments are used and there is no anesthetic at all. Using careful strikes, the blade carves the corner of the teeth, leaving behind pointed ends similar to shark teeth.

Mentawai woman, flashing her pearly, chiseled whites
Credit to Google

Here is a video on Mentawai chiseled teeth tradition:

The longer, the more beautiful

How having long neck makes you look beautiful? Well, as a Malay, I’ve always seen a woman with long neck to be physically attractive, in which you refer her to have ‘leher jinjang’. But, what beautiful long neck is for “giraffe” tribe in eastern Burma or Myanmar, is certainly does not fit the image of being beautiful in my mind.

A Burmese woman with long neck
Credit to  Google

These women with long necks are from Padaung tribe, a subgroup of the Karenni which in turn is a subgroup of the Karen. “Padaung”, in the Shan anguage means “long neck”. The coils around their necks are actually made from brass and gold alloy. These women start wearing the coils as early as 5 years old, and as they get older, they add up more coils to their necks. It’s like spending long years of your life having something around your neck. Aarghh…I just can’t imagine if I were to be one of those women.

Girls start wearing coils around their neck at the age of 5.
Credit to Google

For them, having long neck is the symbol of wealth, position and beauty. Apart from being a beauty tradition, it is also said that many myths or histories lie behind the long-neck custom. Some said that wearing brass coils around necks in the past functioned to protect Padaung women from tigers, as they bite people’s necks. Others claim that it made them resemble the myth dragon, but it is also claimed that long necks were intended to make them look less attractive, hence they are likely to be taken as slaves in the past. Ironically, today’s Padaung women who still practise the coils wearing tradition tend to have long necks to preserve the tradition, and to look more beautiful!

However, one thing you need to know is, having long necks for this tribe is only an optical illusion. As the coils are added, they actually push the women’s collar bones and ribs down. It looks like they’re having long necks, but actually they only painfully compress their shoulders and collarbones, rather than stretching their necks. They go through the pain to achieve the standard of beauty in their tribe. These women with long necks can’t lean their head’s back, so they drink from straws. A British journalist who interviewed the 'giraffe' women, said that their voices sound as if they were speaking from the bottom of a well.

Guys, let's watch a video about these 'giraffe' women.

  

Horrifying 'Lotus Feet' in China

Foot binding is a beauty ritual practised in China for more than 1000 years before it was outlawed in 1912. For the last 1000 years, it's estimated that approximately 4.5 billion women had been subjected to this painful art.

Foot binding in China has been outlawed in 1912 since the practice harmed the Chinese women
Credit to www.bbc.co.uk

In ancient China, the ideals bound foot are:

• A foot should be no longer than 3 inches. (A perfect 3-inch foot is called 'a lotus of gold', 4-inch foot is considered 'silver', and for a foot of more than 4 inches, it's called 'iron lotus') Ermm, every China girl that time would aim for gold I guess, not silver or iron.
• The cleft between the heel and the sole should be 2-3 inches deep
• The foot should be an extension to the leg rather than a stand for the body

Can you imagine this? 3 inches basically equals to less than 9 cm. People often said I have small feet, but I'm nothing for sure compared to these Chinese women with bound foot. Hehe. I actually took a ruler to measure my foot, and mine is 20.5 cm! :O

'Lotus feet' is a symbol of beauty and elegence
Photo by Jo Farrell

Binding the feet was one of the main avenues for women in China to find a husband or marry into money
Photo by Jo Farrell

The foot binding ritual begins with the clipping of the girls' toenails and the soaking of the feet either in hot water or herbs, nuts, urine and warm animal blood. This is to soften the tissue and bones of the feet to facilitate manipulation. All the toes on the feet, save the big one are broken and folded under the sole and then the toes are bound in place with a 10'x2'' silk or cotton bandage. These wrappings are removed every two days to allow the washing and manicuring of two nails to avoid infection, but after that the feet are wrapped tighter again. Lastly the arch of the foot is also broken and the foot is pulled straight with the leg. The shoe sizes are also gradually reduced to accommodate the shrinking feet.

And...the pain won't stop here. The girls would also have to walk long distances with that bandaged, broken feet, so that their own weight crushes the feet into shape. Occasionally, the flesh of the foot is also cut, or sharp objects maybe inserted in the bandage to encourage 'excess' flesh to rot away so that smaller feet can be achieved. After 2 years of excruciating pain, the girls will get tiny feet of lotus shape, but since the feet naturally will grow, they may need to do the process for additional 10 years or so to ensure that the toes stay in place. Arghh, pity them much!

Small-sized shoes of a woman with bound feet
Credit to Google

Here I include excerpts from When I was a girl in China, stories collected by Joseph Rupp, told by a few women with bound feet:

"It is extremely painful to bind, and at first it makes you sick...changing the colour of your skin all over your body, even on your face. You don't feel like eating for quite some time and you're unable to walk at all - I had to wait at least a year before my toes were broken under and the arch was pushed up at least two inches." - Li Xiu-ying

"When I first started binding, it was very painful...so much that I couldn't sleep at night. I was still able to walk, though. Many girls suffered more than I did. When I couldn't stand the pain any longer, I would secretly loosen the bindings; when my mother found out she wouldn't get angry or scold me. She had bound feet, too, and understood how much it hurt. She would let me keep the bindings loose for a while, but I always had to wrap them up tightly again.I would wash and rebind my feet every day - it had to be done that often because the binding cloth gets caked with blood and pus." - Su Lian-qi

Zhou Guizhen, 86 says that she regrets binding her feet. "But at the time, if you didn't bind your feet, no one would marry you," she says.
Photo by Louisa Lim, NPR

Here I include a video for you guys to watch:

Ps : I was actually grimacing and gritting my teeth endlessly while writing this entry. Ouchh!  

Blue lips of Maori people

Now, I would like to bring all of you to another adventure of beauty story. Have you guys ever heard of Maori people?

Maori people during a cultural event. Maori are the name of indigenous people of Polynesian descent in New Zealand, a beautiful island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean
Credit to Google

Maori people practice a painful beauty ritual which is ‘Ta moko’ . ‘Ta moko’ - traditional Māori tattooing, often on the face - is ataonga (treasure) to Māori for which the purpose and applications are sacred. Every moko contains ancestral / tribal messages specific to the wearer. These messages tell the story of the wearer's family and tribal affiliations, and their social level. Among men who are considered as Maori warriors, tattoos or ‘moko’ will usually be applied on the whole face. Women wear moko on the face too. A woman's moko is worn on the chin, as well as occasionally appearing on the forehead, upper lip, nostrils, and throat.

Tatto on the face of a Maori woman
Credit to Google

Maori people believe that women are attractive when their lips and chins are tattooed. A woman with full, blue lips considered the most beautiful and desirable. Knowing about tattoos, you might know that making them is certainly painful. Imagine forcing the needles into the skin to insert ink into the puncture, for 30 minutes or longer, because the process can take hours. Ouchh! That’s if it’s on your skin, what about having them on your lips? I can’t imagine the pain.

Tatto for Maori women is usually applied on the lips and the area on the chin and symbolises beauty
Credit to Google