Giraffe Women

Among the smaller minority groups belonging to the Mon-Khmer Language family are the Padaungs and the Wa. Both have gained a certain fame or notoriety that far exceeds their meager numbers. The Padaungs are mostly live in the vicinity of Loikaw, capital of Kayah state. Their giraffe women have been highly publicized by various ethnographers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Padaungs women’s necks give the appearance of having been elongated by nine kilograms of copper or brass rings. Yong girls receive their first neck rings as well as rings for the arms and ankles at the age of five or six. Year after year, new rings are added, until by the time of mirage, their necks are 25 centimeters long.

Infect the women’s necks have not been elongated at all. Their collarbones and ribs have been pushed down. But the affect is the same. Since no muscles can develop where the heavy rings support the hesd, the rings become a necessity. If the rings are cut off, as they sometimes were in past times as a punishment for adultery. The head can flop over and suffocation can follows unless a neck brace is worn.

It is conjectured that this unusual custom dates from a time when the Padaungs were subject to frequent slave raids from larger tribes. By deforming their women in this manner, they were able to dissuade would be captors from stealing them away. Some even claim the rings served as protection against tiger bites. As time passed, the original purposes became superfluous. But the custom has remained.