Weird Standards Considered As Beautiful In Some Countries

The definition of beauty can be relative, depending on the your background, culture or even the media. Whilst beauty could be a pain and sacrifice to one, beauty might mean differently to another. Below are some standards of beauty recognized in various parts of the world.

Red Coloured Skin and hair in Namibia

Women of the Himba tribe in Namibia are known for their unique skin colour and hair and are portrayed as an Iconic image of African tribes. Otijze is the red beautiful  substance used by the women for their red hair and skin colour,  which is also regarded as the ideal beauty standard of the Himba people.

The paste is a mixture of Ferric Oxide, clay and sand which also acts as a cleansing agent that protects them from sunburn. The indigenous tribe of Namibia places great significance on the Otijze, as it symbolizes the earth’s rich red colour, blood and the essence of life.

The people of the Himba bribe begin to use this paste with aromatic resin Omuzumba to design their hair from puberty. Long thick strands of hair are viewed as a testimony to a woman’s ability to bear children and each hairstyle represents the age, status and social standing of a woman.

 

The “Fat Farms” of Mauritania

When people spend hours in the gym to get an Hourglass body the Mauritania wife-fattening farms remain as a relic of the country’s past. The term “wife-fattening” refers to a form of female enslavement where girls are put on forced feeding to be attractive to males. Mauritanian tradition believes that fat women are at the height of attractiveness.

The country believes that fat women are beautiful and they have better chances of getting married. Curvaceous women with lots of body fats are considered a perfect symbol of beauty and for these reasons young girls were sent to “Fat Farms” and forced to eat a diet of up to 16,000 calories a day to prepare them for marriage.

They usually use the term “big is beautiful”.  After the fat farm experience, these girls get married between ages 12 and 14 years because of their physical appearance.

 

Lip Plates -Ethiopia

This beauty standard is one of the unusual and can be found amongst the women of the Suri and Mursi tribes of Ethiopia. inserting large circular disc inside your lip seems gross but not for these tribes.

Women in these regions have to undergo the tradition before they get married  An incision is made on the lower lip and then pierced with a piece of wood which eventually grows until the desired look is achieved.

There are quite a few theories regarding the lip plate tradition which have been passed verbally from generation to generation. The most commonly believed story is that the lip plate was meant to disfigure the women of the tribes and make them ugly and unappealing to slave traders.

As time wore on, this feature became a beauty standard and symbol of love. The lip plate process begins when a girl clocks 15-16years. This tradition soon became linked to fertility and eligibility to marry.

CROOKED TEETH -JAPAN

In most countries, a perfect smile is Associated with the symmetry of teeth and for this reason many wear braces for years. However, the people of Japan have a different opinion; they believe that the concept of Yaeba which means uneven teeth, particularly protruding upper canines gives the best smile.

According to the people of Japan, an uneven set of teeth is one of the cutest features in women which also symbolizes youthfulness. The beauty is made perfect when the crooked beautiful smile is combined with a mole on the upper lip or cheek.

Among other reasons, the major purpose of following the Yaeba tradition is that, the Japanese’ love natural beauty and don’t consider it necessary to correct it in any way.

Nose jobs -Iran

This Iranian tradition demands that women show only  their faces and for that reason, they will spend any amount of money even up to $2,500 to look beautiful and that explains the growing number of nose surgeries conducted in Iran.

It is most common for Iranian women to go for nose jobs to look gorgeous but surprisingly the men also go for nose surgeries. Iranian males consider a perfect nose to be a sign of power and social status.

Nose surgeries are so desirable that many patients prefer to wear the bandages long after full recovery just to let people know that they have undergone the procedure and have been able to afford such a significant expense.

Even those who can’t afford to pay, simply wear fake bandages around their noses so people will think they are healing after the surgery.

Unibrows in Tajikistan

In ancient days, the unibrow was praised by poets which evolved into the believe that unibrows increases women’s’ beauty and makes them more desirable. Contrary to today’s definition for beauty,  the unibrow remains a major criterion of beauty \, even in Tajikistani men.

According to them, having thick eyebrows merging above the bridge of the nose is considered a beauty statement. There is also a theory that says the smaller the gap between the girls eyebrows the closer her husband would be to her.

If any woman doesn’t have a unibrow naturally, then she paints them on herself to look beautiful for a suitor. The indigenes believe that this beauty standard represents luck and longevity, for women it symbolizes purity and innocence and for men its a symbol of vitality.

The herb Usma is also available to help women get long bushy eyebrows naturally.

Chin Tattoos-New Zealand

Maori women of New Zealand take a lot of pride in the Art of Moko Kauae (a traditional female chin tattoo). The symbolic pattern on the chin is considered a mark of great beauty, and the more intricate the design, the more gorgeous the woman is considered and becomes attractive to men.

The ritual chin tattooing amongst the Maori women isn’t just cosmetic but spiritual. The chin tattoo is considered a physical manifestation of the woman’s true identity.

The intricate designs are chiselled into the skin using a tool called the Uhi, the ink is then smudged into the carved lines. The practice represents the wearer’s family heritage and social status.

It is also believed that the receiver visits a spiritual realm where they encounter their ancestors hence returning as a new person.

The heart face of South Korea

It is common for the people of South Korea to undergo cosmetic surgery to look nice. In the major cities of South Korea, people will find billboards with such beautiful portraits.

South Korea has strict beauty standards and paramount amongst them is the shape of the face. An ideal face in South Korea has a wide upper part and a narrow chin, and many females undergo cosmetic surgeries to get that perfect face.

Such surgeries often include fractures of the jaw, removal of its parts and other frightening procedures. The rehabilitation period isn’t pleasant either because the patients are not able to eat solid foods for a long time.