Kate Garrett
Make-up Exploration
Skin Stretching.
Image 8.0 - Rafa Gnomo
Ear Strecthing in Tribal cultures.
Ear Stretching is something that is practised by many cultures all around the world. Here I am looking at ear strecthing in tribal cultures; the Masai tribes in kenya and Huaorani tribe living in the amazon are two tribes that are still practising ear stretching today.
How the tribes stretch their ears.
Sometimes they use weights in their ear piercing to elongate ear lobes (as seen in image 18.0) or other times it was the size of the piercing that was then was increased over time therefore streacthing a hole into the ear (as seen in image 18.1)
They would stretch their piercings by using larger and larger pieces of stone, wood, tusk, and thorn. This is a long process so the older tribe members have larger stretched circles than the younger members. Due to having larger spaced lobes this has made it a sign of age and wisdom within this culture.
The Huaorani tribe stretch their ears by using the spine of a tree trunk, once piecred they enlarge with wood or stone plugs. When they get to a older age they take the plugs out and wear their lobes hanging, this to them is a sign of beauty.
Image 8.1 - Ear stretching with weights
Image 8.2 - Ear stretching through piercing
Visual comparison.
As you can see from above the stretching with weights produces a longer more oval shaped loop, whereas the piercing stretching is shorter and rounder. The texture of the skin has changes and is very wrinkled whereas the other is still smooth and resmebles more of a saggy look.
Ear Stretching in western culture.
From the traditional act from tribal people originally it has influenced our culutre massively. In western culture stretching has become very popular, especially with people who want to explore their body's limits. The main group of people who do this body modification are the younger demographic (14-21 years).
How do the have have them?
There are different methods for this as explained below (Ear gauges and plug earrings, 2014):
Dead stretching
This is simply just forcing larger jewelry into the original piercing. This method of stretching can sometimes lead too blowouts or tearing. This sometimes leads too permanent scar tissue being left behind.
Pierce and Taper
Using this method enable significantly larger tapers to be inserted straight after the scalpel-ling, this method is one i wouldn’t recommend, due to scar tissue and an increased risk of infection.
Silicone Plugs
These can be used to expand the ear lobe after insertion due to being folded beforehand, as they are malleable by their very nature being made from silicone. They do however come with an increased risk of infection, due to their ability of stopping the skin underneath from breathing.
Weights
They’re certainly not recommended nowadays due to the increased possibility potential injury, purely because of the weight used.
Tapering
The method used the most today for ear stretching, a simple cone shape rod is used after lubrication too its widest point, apiece of jewelry is then added to be back where the cone tapers. All different sizes can be used here and often are, some people even improvise at home with household objects such as knitting needles, obviously this isn’t recommended.
What do they use as their plugs?
A wide variety of materials plugs can be made from are; natural stone, shell, bone or wood, and specific types of metal and acrylic.
Issues.
This look is not accepted by everyone, many employers will frown upon this and may even ask you to remove it when working. However saying that as time is progressing it is becoming more accepted in our culture as more men and women are choosing to express themselves in diverse ways.
Image 8.3 - Large stretched ear
Opinions.
Image 8.5 - Opinion 2
Image 8.4 - Opinion 1
Image 8.6 - Wooden piece
Image 8.7 - Ocean inspired plug
Other types of skin stretching.
Here is Rafa Gnomo demonstrating his body modifications including tattooing and skin stretching. He has a lip plate both bottom and top, stretched ear lobes and nose plugs.
Image 8.8 - Lip plates in the Surma and Mursi tribes
Lip plates are used in the tribes of surma and mursi, however it is only the women who endure this body modification, many of which have their teeth knocked out in order to be able to carry around this massive plate in their lower lip. It has a great affect on their speech.however the western culture has slowly krept into these tribes now as some young women are refusing to follow this tradition because they don't know why they are doing it, they also know that other cutures do not do it which makes them question this tradition.
My opinion.
As seen above lip plates are another way in which people express who they are. Personally I think this is a damaging process that the concequences out weight the aesthetical value of this process.