Lip plates in Africa: women stretching their lower lips

You could easily look at this and call it barbaric, but they could easily look at our culture and call it barbaric too. Judging their beiliefs won't make ours any better. Tattoos, stretching piercings, boob jobs, botox, plastic surgery, liposuction, piercings, scarification, hair dye, they're ALL body modifications. This is an inspiring culture to me, you don't have to think the same, that's fine. However, how is our culture any better? We have little girls running around in beyond short skirts and articles of clothing you can barely call a shirt. We have more boys AND girls going on diets, more eating disorders, more suicides, more self harm more depression, more self consciousness than I bet this culture does. Our society is barbaric, not theirs. Yes stretching piercings hurts, I would know I have my ears stretched, but honestly I think it's beautiful, I love seeing little Asian or African girls with huge lobes, it's inspiring. And for all of you who think this is ugly, then don't do it, if you don't like it don't look at it, don't do it, don't research it. It's fine if you don't like it, but don't go and bash on it, because they don't bash on our culture. You are never truly beautiful until you are able to recognize other people's true beauty.

Those who say the practice is ok must have a rethink!
So they,unfortunately know a little thing about the meaning of life, I am glad!!!!
But life is all admiring the creations of God in wholesomeness and not defacing the beautiful faces by excessive piercing or cutting organs and the like!!
yes! I assume some people may not get afraid of if they see a man with just a nose hole in place of a nose if such cutting is practiced by a tribe!!!!
But, you can make sure that could be sad to look at and ugly to the majority !!!!
we must not advocate dogmatism in any way !!! !some of our customs must be abolished and some must always be held!! I hope no body will ever wish for victimizing a girl as a gift for some imaginary gods on our mother earth as well !this is to the same degree barbaric and a big question mark for its upholders!!!

This may seem like humiliation to you but in there culture it would be humiliating not to have one. It is there beliefs and we shouldn't be so judgemental towards it.This is a choice they are choosing and many people in the U.S. do these things and it is just for fun. They have no religious or cultural reasoning for it.

[Doug]

Yes without a doubt and by all means should folks be able to show out in the open what's in their head. After all, all hi-tech, all inventions, all creations for the benefit of mankind come out of the head of man. Why not let these folk contribute what their culture has developed over these many thousands of years in existence.

Modification is the name of the game today. Modify the body in all different ways. Why, even sex is like playing golf today. Yes it is. You go to one hole and drop it in, then another and drop it in then another. You have ladies days where only women play and men's play days. Everyone has a gay time and there is prizes for some in the form of aids.

Guess I should stop now for it might be a tad bit rude for me to stimulate a brain into thinking in terms of good and evil rather than what I like and I do not like.

What you people never heard of gauges?

[Doug]

SO?

why do these people use lip plates? we don't know. Are indigenous Africans the only group using lip plates? No. There are several native groups around the world that wear lip plates. This suggest there is a hidden importance we outsiders to know. Here are a few of the native groups around the world that wear lip plates:

1.The Aleut, Inuit, and other indigenous people of Northern Canada, Alaska and surrounding regions used to wear lip plates until just recently.

2. The Suyá men of Brazil wear lip plates too.

3. The Botocudo of coastal Brazil also wear lip plates.

4. And then we have the Mursi people of Ethiopia.

so as you can see, several indigenous people around the world wear lip plates not just Africans.

Why do several native groups around the world wear lip plates? that is the question we must first answer before calling it barbaric.

Im not an African but I see nothing wrong. she is wearing it cause she loves it the same way we do some crazy sh*t cause of fashion.

There is NO pain in stretching if you're doing it the right way. This whole lip plate thing is about beauty, marriage, and culture. I'm a white female from America and I have stretched ears and a stretched medusa. I do it because its something that is attracting to me. And yes, I also know other people who do this. Stretching is definitely not barbaric. Barbaric is someone running around slaughtering millions of people. What they're doing is not barbaric.

Don't just judge people based on your standards. what you call "standard" to some is a taboo. bleaching, plastic surgery, implants, you name it, which are very common in our world today are taboos in some of these isolated societies. beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

to be honest with you all this lip plating thing is very disgusting!!!!!

Your lips wont stretch probably because you dont have any lips...who are we to judge what they do or anyone being judgemental on here? People have different ideas of beauty. Just because it doesn't match you're doesn't make it barbaric...men being born are still being circumsized..what purpose does that serve? is it barbaric...or a standard custom..if you grew up there youd think differently. Funny to me how a bunch of white boys are running around gauging their ears ..but this is "barbaric" Though I dont agree with the reasoning..it's their choice

this used to be a common practice throughout the ancient world not just Africa. wonder why some Amazonian tribes still wear disks in their lips? there is definitely a major reason behind this practice.

ugly? yep! very ugly....sorry! just being honest.

[einfopedia]

this is a very amazing thing that these woman's what done for their beauty.i think in my whole life i listen that thing first time that in a world this also happens.i also saw the video so that its really a amazing. and the woman also this only for the beauty...

I don't understand how people can react so horribly to this. I honestly think traditions like this are completely original. Besides, Americans may not understand African traditions because they are not necessarily required to follow any of their own traditions.

except people with no cultural values will consider this a barbaric act. One good thing about Africans is that they cherish their cultural heritage and that is something one should be proud of