Have you ever said to yourself, “I wish I had a beautiful long neck” or ever wondered who in this world has the longest neck? Well usually you might get an answer where only one person is rewarded for the longest neck. But what will you think if I say that there is a tribe where each woman has the longest neck in the world? Shocking, right?
There is a tribe, called Kayan Lahwi, in the outskirts of Thailand, where a strange ritual has been taking place since centuries. The women of the Kayan tribe have been referred to as the “Giraffe Women”. These women are well known for wearing brass coils around their neck, appearing to lengthen it.
The reason why Kayan women started wearing the coil is unknown to the anthropologists and also to the community members themselves. They believe that rings act as protection from tiger attacks, others believe it would keep rival tribes from abducting the women by reducing their beauty. But for what it’s worth, it is just the opposite, the sheer beauty and pride puts emphasis on the women’s necks, giving the Kayans a divine grace.
These rings, according to different cultures, have different symbols attached to them. For some, the rings designate wealth and status. For others, they indicate the faithfulness of a wife to her husband.
There doesn’t seem to be a direct cultural significance to the coils apart from visual benefits.
Contrary to popular belief, the neck rings don’t really make the wearer’s neck longer, but it does give the illusion of length.
These women maintain live – in gift shops, for tourists, where their tradition is used as a means to raise capital for outside authority.
The women who wear brass rings are not allowed to discuss their difficulty with the tourists. Anyone caught doing so will have their earnings decreased. As such, the women keep smiling, photo after photo with random strangers. Without the tourist revenue, the tribe might end up being neglected by the authorities.
As a result of this, women’s go through serious health risks by wearing the rings on a day to day basis. Below mentioned are some effects women face.
- The weight of the rings is pushing the collar bone down, causing the vertebrae in the spine to collapse.
- The coils cause injuries to the back and neck, but without health insurance and easy access to hospitals, many chew betel nuts and leaves to have some pain relief, which are highly addictive.
- The rings push the collar bone down and compress the rib cage.
- If efforts were made to lengthen the neck by stretching it, serious damage can be done. It could result in paralysis and even proved to be fatal.
- The use of the neck rings causes the wearer’s neck muscles to weaken.
- Clavicle or collar bone is deformed, so the neck looks longer.
- Wearing the neck coils means some adjustment are required to be made. For example
- The wearers cannot lean their heads back and forth, so they need to drink from straws.
- The metal is hot and can cause rubbing on the skin, so the wearers use natural ointments or pieces of cloth to protect their skin.
- The elongation also impacts their vocal cords. After continued neck ring use, women are said to have deeper, hollow – sounding voices.
The women never remove the rings, not even when they go to bed.
The tribe women start wearing the rings at the age of five. The weight added at a girl’s neck follows her overall weight and as she grows, the length of the rings is increased. The total weight of rings that each girl should carry on her is 5 kilos before puberty, and then they will add more rings later.
The coils are only removed when bigger and heavier ones need to be worn.
In a new study from Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, “Two 66 – year – old Karen women wearing brass neck coils were asked to remove their coils for the structural radiograph examinations. When they had their coils removed, their heads appeared to be very wobbly”.
In another study by Lapo P. et al (2019; Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism), 14 Karen women that habitually wore neck coils were compared to 14 Karen women who did not wear them. Furthermore, 14 – matched individuals living in cities were compared to control for the health effects of a rural lifestyle. The study found that
- Women with neck coils has higher blood pressure, lower respiratory function and reduced circulation to the brain.
- Some of the women wearing neck coils even had compression fractures to the upper body – possibly due to deformation of the muscles and skeleton and demineralization of the spinal cord.
- Impaired circulation could result in early weakening of the central nervous system of women wearing neck coils.
- Women wearing neck coils demonstrated lower
- Flow – mediated dilation (widening of an artery when blood flow is increased in that artery).
- Lung functions.
- Forced expiratory volume (or FEV measures how much air a person can exhale during a forced breath).
- Forced vital capacity (the total amount of air exhaled during FEV test).
- Cerebral blood flow velocity (blood supply to the brain in a given period of time).
- Women wearing neck coils demonstrated reduced endothelial (functions associated with cardiovascular organs) and pulmonary (functions associated with respiratory organs) functions as well as cerebral perfusion compared with age – matched women without neck coils living in the same villages.
- Brass neck coils worn by Karen women may elevate risks of developing Cardiopulmonary (medical term used to describe a range of serious disorders affecting the heart and lungs) and Cerebrovascular (group of conditions and disorders that affect the blood vessels and blood supply to the brain) diseases.
Mental Burdens arises because of all the compelling from the authorities. Women of the tribe might feel responsible and very burdened by what the tribe want with them. Women never complain about their plight. This can be very traumatic and difficult because of the pain caused by all the deformities in the body. The disease of the lungs and heart can cause anxiety and depression among the Kayans. They have very limited access to the utilities like education and healthcare. They are addictive on pain-relieving betel leaves, which according to World Health Organization, is a carcinogen. Then there is also the fear that if they removed their rings, they would have to live a harsh life.
The unfortunate thing is that women here might never know what they are going through because they have no access to the knowledge.
Women in this tribe have been taught not to dream big, not to leave the village and never to remove their rings. But in recent years, there have been many efforts from the women themselves to break this cruel tradition. In 2006, many Kayans removed their rings in order to achieve a higher education and protest against this restricting tradition. In 2008, a refugee camp was created for Kayan women who wanted to leave their tribe and remove their rings in order to lead a more normal life, which they deserve.
I am an invisible woman.
Not because people reduce to
See me.
They know I am here.
But it’s as if my (pain) detracts
From my existence.
My presence too often mistaken
For absence.
I am an invisible woman.
[Toni Blackman]
The rituals can’t be made forgotten, and the money is everyone’s necessity. But do you really think, a woman in pain is the answer for both?
It’s something to think about.
Please note that the copyright of the images used in this article lies with their respective owners
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