Decorating the body is as old as mankind. In the West, it usually involves piercings and tattoos. The body decorations in various cultures differ enormously from this:from rings around the neck to lips containing complete plates.
In the past, bracelets, necklaces, nose rings and a lot of make-up were mainly used as body decorations. Nowadays, the possibilities for decorating the body are almost endless. A tattoo, a piercing (on many different parts of the body), make-up (permanent or not), body glitter tattoos (so temporary), henna and so on. Body decorations are just a fad for many Western people. In other countries it is slightly different. There, decorating the body is often related to the culture in which one was brought up. Body decorations that we may find bizarre or at least unusual.
The bindi is the (usually) red colored dot that Hindu women have between their eyes. This should not be confused with the red colored part at the beginning of the hairline near the forehead. Both dots have a completely different meaning.
The Bindi is meant to protect against evil spirits and to increase concentration. The other red "spot" near the hair indicates that the woman in question is married. This is also a warning for men to keep a certain distance (after all, a warned person counts for two).
Who doesn't know them? Jews can easily be recognized by their black clothing, their yarmulke or black hat and of course by their curls. Also notable are the large sideburns. However, the Peyos is something else:those are the hairs that grow on the side and that are not cut off, but are simply rolled up. This is also a form of body decoration, although in this case it is not only a cultural expression, but even more a religious expression.
The Aborigines are known for their body decorations with white paint. Today, these decorations no longer serve the spiritual side of the Aborigines, as the fact that they want to distinguish themselves in the patterns. Certain patterns allow people to recognize each other and some patterns also indicate that it is a special occasion.
This is a form of body decoration that is largely disappearing in Asia. Certain peoples in Africa, however, still use this form of body decoration. The rings are placed around the neck of the wearer from an early age. This creates the optical impression that the neck has been stretched. However, this is not the case:the rings press down on the ribs, collarbones and shoulders.
That this is unhealthy is shown by the fact that women can no longer live in a normal way:if they tilt their head back, they lose their balance and fall. In the past, these rings were worn because the men wanted to make their women unattractive to other men and tigers. The neck could no longer be bitten by the tiger. The long neck would also indicate descent from the dragon with a swan neck.
Today, women see it more as a tradition they want to keep. Incidentally, the neck will return to its normal position when the rings are removed and no longer worn. However, this must be done under supervision, because the neck no longer has a grip once the rings are removed.
Who doesn't know them? African women who have a sign in their lip, causing the lips to be heavily stretched. This makes a decent life seem almost impossible in our (Western) eyes. The dish is placed as follows. A 2 cm incision is made in the lower lip. After cleaning the cut, clay is placed in the wound.
Once the wound has closed, a larger lip dish will be placed in its place. To be able to do this, two lower/front teeth are also removed. The size of the dish will tell a future husband whether the wife is rich or not (the larger the plate, the greater the dowry). More info about this tribe:http://www.vakantie-in-afrika.com/mursi.html
In both cultures it is common among certain tribes to provide the body or specifically the face with incisions with a certain pattern. These incisions are made with a knife or bamboo stick and the scars are permanent body decorations. This form is also increasing in popularity in the West:for many it is a different form of tattooing.
Fortunately, a tradition that is no longer used much is that of the so-called lotus feet. Here the feet of Chinese women are bound. The binding made the little toes all break and the big toe grew straight. This ensures that the feet remained very small and graceful, but are severely misshapen. This again had to do with the prevailing culture. Incidentally, the girls and women suffered excruciating pains. When the ritual of the lotus feet was banned and the bandages of many women were removed, they again had to endure infernal pain. The deformities and growth of the feet once they were released caused many problems.
In the West, body decorations are no longer dependent on a particular culture, but more a matter of personal taste. If you don't want ordinary body decorations, you can also go for the more extreme variants, such as:horns, cat eyes, whiskers like an animal, etc. Whatever the reason for taking a body decoration:tastes differ.
Do you have any striking piercings? A piercing in a special place or another body decoration?
