Everyday, there is news where you see people transforming into a whole new body. Many of them look like some animals or comic book characters. While some of them just want to go to the comic con and enjoy a few moments to themselves, others are just looking for a more dedicated look that they will keep for the rest of their lives. There is this woman who decided to elongate her neck and dress up as a giraffe.
Meet Sydney
Sydney V. Smith is a 30 year old woman who decided that she would use brass rings and elongate her neck to transform herself into the animal that she was obsessed with – the giraffe. However, she did not want to wear the brass rings forever since it was limiting the ways that she could enjoy life.
Giraffe Woman
Sydney lives in Los Angeles and ever since she was a child, she wanted a long neck. In an interview, she said, “In middle school, they called me ‘giraffe girl’.” She had a rather longer neck than a normal child and thus, she got the nickname in school. She did not let the humor go to her self-esteem but rather accepted it and decided to become Giraffe Woman as an adult.
The 15 Rings
In order to elongate her neck, Sydney got 15 brass rings that weighed nearly five pounds. “I got it up to 9 or 10 inches,” Sydney said. She was referring to the length of her neck with the rings on. Soon, however, Sydney found out that the rings were doing her quite a lot of damage since they were not letting her do the normal things in life.
Limiting The Movement
Unlike the African Kayan tribal women, Sydney had to do a lot of things in her life and the neck braces were proving to be a bit of a hurdle and sometimes even dangerous. “A fast lane change is scary when you don’t have free range of movement,” Sydney said. She said that driving proved to be quite dangerous since she did not have the free neck movement that she needed.
Living In Isolation
People would always come and ask her questions about how she was feeling and why she was doing it all. This led to her wanting to isolate herself so that she could do what was necessary. “Unless you are willing to completely isolate yourself and you’re a trust fund baby and don’t ever need to leave the house, don’t ever need to drive, then maybe you can pull it off,” she said.
Effect On Love Life
Things were getting hard for Sydney in her love life too. People would not treat her like a normal woman. They would either be fanboys about her neck braces or be embarrassed to be seen with her in public. “They would just want to talk about the rings, and that gets tiring,” she said. “Or, a partner would act like they were OK with it, but then ask me to remove it or not bring me around their family.”
Stealing Her Identity
Sydney felt like she was becoming a woman with rings more than she was being herself. She was beginning to lose herself. “I spent five years of my life with rings around my neck and I just became very introverted and isolated and felt the rings were taking over my life in every way,” she said. “It was always about the rings, it wasn’t about Sydney anymore. I tried sticking my neck out to make it work but logic kicked in after a while.”
Removing The Rings
Since she was losing herself after being the woman with the rings for five years, Sydney decided that it was time to lose the rings. It took her six months to convince herself. She felt so attached to the rings that they felt like an extension of herself. However, when she did get the courage to take off the rings, she had a friend come over to help her.
The Process
“A very hardcore glue held the rings together. We had to put a chemical on it to eat through the glue,” she said. “Someone then had to pull the rings apart. It was very painful and took about 15 minutes.” After removing the rings, they found out that the bottom of her neck and the collar bone were badly bruised and her neck was quite weak as well.
Getting Back To Normal
Sydney had to visit a chiropractor regularly so as to get her neck to feel strong again without the support. Once the braces were off, she noticed that they did not make her neck any longer than it was before. “I believe that a woman with a short neck is not as attractive,” she said. “I’ve grown to appreciate my neckline.”
An Unhealthy Choice
The rings would only create an illusion of a longer neck since they would push down on the collar bone. Wearing rings in the neck would also compress the rib cage of anyone who wears them. This is one of the reasons why the Kayan women, who regularly wear the rings, have higher blood pressure and often die early of stroke.
The Rings Are Her Precious
Sydney has often said that she misses the rings even though she has a more free range of motion now with her neck. “I really enjoyed the feeling of the rings around my neck. I miss the sensation of the weight on the collarbones, which was in a weird way very comforting,” she said.
Memes Started To Be Made
Since the world is full of people who are looking for a good laugh, they decided to make a meme on Sydney too. There are many pictures of Sydney with an elongated neck and it was quite easy to find one with a giraffe.
She Even Had A Giraffe Purse
Sydney was so obsessed with the giraffes that she would actually go around with a stuffed giraffe that served as her purse. “I never go anywhere without my giraffe purse.” It might seem weird for anyone at first but once you understand her obsession, you will understand that it was just something normal for her.
The Best Version Of Life
“I’m not even who I am, yet…I am endlessly creating myself. Manifestation Is like technology . Our minds need a software upgrade periodically. In order to move onto the next best version of ourselves. We are never finished upgrading,” she said in a post on Instagram.
Yoga Enthusiast
Sydney loves yoga and she can often be seen posting pictures of herself before and after yoga classes on Instagram. “It’s important to listen to your body if it tells you to rest. Just Took a week off from the gym to rest up. Which I hated doing, but felt it was necessary. I’ve spent several months going at it hard 5 days a week, with great results. So a well deserved break is needed. Also, my diet wasn’t on point all week. Rather than feel bad about it, the important thing is moving forward. Each day is a new chance to begin again.”
Accepting Her Humility
Sydney has accepted the fact that she is not perfect even though she tried to be “sexier” by reaching for a longer neck. “Sometimes a smile is a brave way to handle life’s toughest challenges and Not break down. A reminder that I’m not perfect even though I try to be.”
