Women have been exposed to ridiculous practices in past centuries, all in the name of aesthetics, but how can one even decide what is truly beautiful? One thing is for sure, different cultures perceive different traits in women as beautiful or desirable, and some seem to be quite bizarre and even torturous. Personal preference is what really determines beauty.

Breathtaking beauty
The Victorian society is renowned for wearing tight corsets to slim the waist, but ultimately this practise totally deforms the body and internal organs. Fainting was common during those times, because the corsets made it difficult to breathe. The corsets were bodices that were reinforced with steel, whalebone or featherbone. Women, particularly those from the upper classes, were laced tightly into these garments, in order to reduce and accentuate the waist – known as wasp waists. Waist sizes could be reduced by a shocking 30%.

Lip service
Full and voluptuous 'Angelina Jolie lips' are envied and admired in many Western countries, and thousands of women have opted for collagen injections to give them that va-va-voom effect. Some countries in Africa, however, don’t focus on the perfect pout, but rather they consider an outstretched bottom lip an attractive asset. Lip stretching is popular amongst the Suri and Mursi women of Ethiopia, where lip plates are markers of beauty and social status. A surprisingly large hole (usually up to 15cm in diameter) is stretched from a small hole in the lip which is filled with a bigger wooden peg each time. Once big enough, teeth are removed to make way for a decorative plate.

Flat as a pancake
In the Mayan society, a flat head is deemed attractive. This is achieved by placing two wooden boards on the back and front of a new born baby’s head and tying them together – this reportedly ensures that the head grows into its “flat” state. When the skull was eventually flattened, the boards would be removed. The Mayans also think squint people are beautiful and they are believed to often tie a dangling object to a baby’s head, so that the baby would constantly cross its eyes to look at the object, and subsequently become squint.

Giraffe-giraffe
The Burmese-Thai Kayan tribe is particularly famous for this custom, which has been practiced for centuries. Nicknamed the Long Neck Tribe, Kayan people view long necks as a sign of female elegance. To express cultural identity and flaunt feminine beauty, girls begin wearing brass rings around their necks at the age of five. Contrary to the belief that the rings actually stretch the neck, with time, more rings are added, until the weight of the rings gradually crushes the collar bone and compresses the rib cage, resulting in the illusion of a stretched neck.

A, B, C, D-cup
Back in the 1920’s, in contradiction to nowadays, it was considered beautiful to have a flat chest and women began binding their breasts to their bodies in order to have a flat chest and create the desirable boyish look. After that, big and busty was back in fashion and many women had breast enlargements done. Doctors injected all sorts of dangerous substances into women's breasts to make them appear larger, including ivory, glass balls, rubber and even ox cartilage. Other surgeons attempted to inject fat from the buttocks or abdomen into the breasts. However, the body reabsorbed the fact, resulting in unsightly lumps and scars.
Even in today's modern and Westernised South Africa, women still expose themselves to some kind of “beauty-torture”, just think of stilettos, Botox and the killer exercise we do to get that “perfect” body. One truth remains - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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