Beauty comes with a cost, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing with beauty- it’s subjective. What some find beautiful, some might find repulsive. Some groups prefer long necks, some prefer dark hair and so on. Since the notions of beauty and so diverse, we’ve lined up some the most bizarre trends that communities practice in order to look desirable. While some of them involve mutilation, a few have extremely unhealthy practices like over eating and disfiguration!
You will find a whole new world of weird yet intriguing beauty trends created by different tribes and groups that are completely different from the modern media’s perception of what constitutes true beauty. Check them out and prepare to be surprised!
Yaeba
Yaeba translates to ‘double tooth’ and involves young women in Japan having expensive orthodontic work done to their teeth to make them look a little more crooked than they naturally are. Yes, this is the complete opposite of why we get braces! This procedure is usually done to one or two teeth to make women in question look less perfect, and therefore less intimidating! Can you believe it?
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Foot binding
Foot binding was one of the most gruesome traditions in Chinese culture for centuries. Even though it was banned in the 1940s, effects can still be seen on some women. It involved breaking the women’s toes by bending them back against the sole of the foot and them binding them in place with a tight fabric. This made their feet small and delicate which was considered desirable!
Fat camp
While the world is running after the ‘skinny girl’ trend, African women who find themselves unable to put on weight, are packed off to “at farms” by their families, so that they could be force-fed high-fat foods to make them gain weight and look more attractive and wealthy. Though this outdated practice is now dying out, bigger women are still considered to be more desirable and can command bigger dowries!
ALSO READ: 7 weird beauty trends that ruled the world in 2017
Lip plates
Women of the Mursi and Suri tribes in Ethiopia wear huge lip plates on their lower lips to look more beautiful and desirable! They do so to stretch the lower lip until they can insert a full-size lip plate. All this pain, just for prospective husbands!
Yaping Hullo nose plugs
A tribe of Apatani in Andhra Pradesh, India get nose plugs for the weirdest reason- they want to look unattractive to males from neighboring tribes! Although the tradition isn’t as prevalent as it was a few decades ago, there are many families that still follow the custom.
Scarification
Ethopia’s Karo tribe create patterns on their bodies using THORNS! They signify everything from beauty to wealth to adulthood or even are a mark of belonging to the tribe. These scar like tattoos are practiced in Uganda too!
Skin whitening
Here’s the most bizarre beauty ritual of them all- the snow white obsession. While they have beautiful brown and black skin tones, people in some parts of Africa and majorly Asia consider white skin to be superior. Does that ring a bell, fair and lovelies? Our obsession with being ‘white’ is just as weird as all the aforementioned practices!
Fairness treatment
(Photo: dreamstime)
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