An interesting tidbit about the
extreme use of jewelry.
Are you familiar with the
elongation of the neck caused by neck rings? This is the practice of women as young as 2 in certain African and Asian cultures of adding rings around their
necks as they age to lengthen the neck.
In reality, their necks
aren’t getting longer, their collar bones are compressing. Normally, a
person’s collar bones are angled upward. As the women add more rings, the
bones are slowly pushed downward. As they age and continue to add more rings,
the bones of their rib cage will slowly compress downward as well, upwards of
45 degrees from normal. This movement of
the core body structure downward is what gives the illusion of the neck
lengthening. The purpose of doing this to
accentuate the concept of ideal beauty associated with longer necks.
Similarly, jewelry can be used in
non-bone structure areas such as the lip, tongue, and earlobes to elongate the
skin and allow for ever larger rings and discs. These are not only viewed
as status symbols, but also as a sign of commitment to the culture.
Whether these women use specific types
of jewelry boxes to store various styles of rings or discs is not readily known :).
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