The Padaung Women
Near the border of Burmese in the Northwest of Thailand lies a tribe. This tribe is unique. In the tribe, the women are referred to as the Padaung women. Their stretched necks define them as Padaung women. As part of a tradition, the Padaung women stretch their necks and shackle their limbs. Century after century these women have carried the mark of their tribe: the Wang. It’s said the process for the Padaung women starts at a young age because the bones are small and flexible. The elders place coils around the children’s necks to achieve an elongated appearance and an illusion. It’s not your neck elongating but your shoulders being pressed and lowered. The coil is chafed. Every two years the elders will add more coil. As the added coils grow, it presses the shoulders down and chest while the ribcage is utterly caved in because of this, the neck appears to rise higher from the collapsed collar bone. The pain is constant throughout the process. However, the pain is stipulated to achieve belongingness. The Wang is the mark of the Padaung (“Why Do These Women Stretch Their Necks?”).
The Lip Plates of The Suri Women
The origin of lip plates is uncertain and the tradition is distinctive. The size lip plate determines a woman’s value and marriage prospects like a bound foot of a particular size in Chinese culture. When foot-binding was a flourishing tradition a specific bound foot for a woman determined her prospects in marriage and family’s future. The Suri women at a certain age have their lower lips pierced and stretched. Their lower lip is pierced and stretched until it can hold a clay plate. The Suri women’s verbal speaking is different from the Suri men’s speaking. The Lip Plates are a mark of pride and beauty. Typically it is said the mothers will begin the process after the girls hit puberty. In the BBC documentary a Suri woman comments, “When we’re old enough our lips are cut and we start to wear lip plates. It is an old tradition. We don’t know when it started. ” To begin the process a particular stick is used and inserted to make a hole. Gradually the hole is made bigger to keep stretching the lower lip until the desired size is achieved. However, if it is stretched too quickly the lip could potentially break. During the process, the girls are susceptible to infections, diseases, and ailments. After constantly stretching the lower lip and the desired size is reached the pain gradually subsides over time. The lip plate is associated with marriage and fertility. One Suri woman was interviewed and said without a lip plate marriage is not possible and their family would not receive cattle. Sometimes before the process begins, the girls are already promised marriage to someone arranged by their parents with a bridal dowry. The men pay the fathers with cattle for the marriage. However, the size of the lip plate will decide the cattle cost— for example, the bigger the lip plate, the more cattle it will cost. In the photograph above a Suri woman stands at an angle with her baby sitting in a sack-like pouch. The woman has a clay plate molded around her lip with face paint of a beautiful design covering her face. The baby is seen with a similar pattern of design.