Neck ring

A Kayan Lahwi (Long-Necked Karen) woman with neck rings

Neck rings are formed with one or more spiral metal coils of many turns worn as an ornament around the neck of an individual. In a few African and Asian cultures neck rings are worn usually to create the appearance that the neck has been stretched. Padaung (Kayan Lahwi) women of the Kayan people begin to wear neck coils from as young as age two. The length of the coil is gradually increased to as much as twenty turns. The weight of the coils will eventually place sufficient pressure on the shoulder blade to cause it to deform and create an impression of a longer neck. ^[1][2]

The custom of wearing neck rings is related to an ideal of beauty: an elongated neck. Neck rings push the collarbone and ribs down.^[3] The neck stretching is mostly illusory: the weight of the rings twists the collar bone and eventually the upper ribs at an angle 45 degrees lower than what is natural, causing the illusion of an elongated neck. The vertebrae do not elongate, though the space between them may increase as the intervertebral discs absorb liquid.

Tourism

A Kayan Lahwi girl

Tourism is often blamed for encouraging the use of neck rings, as they are a popular attraction for tourists.^[4]

Small girls may wear brass collars from the age of two to five years old, as it is more comfortable to lengthen the neck slowly. The alternative is rapid and painful lengthening of the neck at around the age of twelve, when girls first begin to compete for the attention of boys. Marco Polo was the first tourist to describe the practice in c.1300. Refugee practitioners in Thailand were first accessible to tourists in 1984.

See also

• Footbinding

External links

• Page about Karen tradition
• Page about Kayan Lahwi neck rings
• Padaung National Geographic film

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neck rings