The Padaung Tribe of
Burma
By: Sara Musafa, Peter Jin, & Adam Banatt
The Padaung Tribe
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The Padaung Tribe
of Burma
(Myanmar) is
situated in
Southeast Asia.
The Padaung Tribe
of Burma has very
unique fashion.
They tend to like
very long necks on
women.
-This place is
called a zoo, not
because of it
animals, but
because of its
“Long necks” or
“Giraffe women.”
The Padaung Fashion (Coils)
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The women wear extremely heavy
brass or silver coils on their necks
that push their shoulder blades
down.
In doing so, the neck had a
elongated image.
The longer the neck the more
beautiful you were.
The coils are looked at as social
barriers and the women say it is
for tribal identity.
The Padaung Fashion (Corsets)
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The Padaung Tribe of
Burma not only wore the
coils on their necks but on
their waists (corsets),
arms, and legs.
When the Padaung women
wore corsets they could not
sit down strait, fainted a
lot, had heart problems,
digestion problems, and
died when their babies were
born.
Many of the women do not
wear the corsets anymore.
Padaung Fashion (Arms and Legs)
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People who wore the
coils on their arms
and legs got tired
very easily and
couldn’t do hard
and exhausting
work.
Misconceptions
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There have been many
incorrect myths and
misconceptions about the
practice.
The neck is not stretched, it is
an illusion by pushing down
the collarbone.
The brass and silver around
the neck are coils, not rings.
The coils are often taken off.
Here is a video to help inform you
more about the tradition.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3zndD
GTVI
Credits
CITATIONS:
Abdulcadir, Omar. "Female Genital Mutilation." Africa Speaks 24 April 2004 1-1. 17 Mar 2009
http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=1671.msg17098.
Brazil, El-Branden . "The Long Neck Padaung Tribe." The Mystic Traveler. 02 FEB 2005. 16 Mar 2009
http://tibetkanagawa.blogspot.com/2005/02/long-neck-padaung-tribe.html.
Gray, Denis. "Padaung 'Giraffe Women'." 1999 1-1. 16 Mar 2009
http://www.seatlepi.com/getaways/040998/neck09.html
Mansfield, Stephen. "The Padaung." The Padaung. 5 Sept 2002. 18 Mar 2009
http://www.myanmargeneva.org/tourism/THE%20PADAUNG_files/THE%20PADAUNG.htm.
Sochaczewski, Paul. "Trust Us, We Know Better Than You Do"." Paul Sochaczewski. 1998. 17 Mar
2009 http://www.sochaczewski.com/ARTarrogance.html.
Unknown, Unknown. "The Padaung Tribe." The Hill Tribes of Myanmar 19 March 2009 1-1. 19 Mar
2009 http://www.hilltribesmyanmar.com/padaung_tribe.html.
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Yin , Saw Myat. Cultures of the World: Burma. 1. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1990.
Discussion
Do you think that this practice is beautiful?
Why?
Who do you think it is up to, to decide what is
really beautiful?
Quick Write Time: 30 Minutes
Homework
Write a short one paragraph essay on…
To what extent do you think people can
sacrifice for beauty? What are the
limitations? MUST BE AT LEAST 5
SENTENCES.
Also if the crossword puzzle is not finished,
it is homework.