Culture. No difference in why people put gauges in their ears. In both circumstances, it can be viewed as body mutilation and questioned as to the reasoning behind it but it is perfectly acceptable in different cultures.
This is an age old tradition, going on even during Darwin's time. He was probably aware of it, but didn't care. Darwin was a Naturalist focused more on animals then comparative anthropology or sociology. Given what I learned about this tradition the first time I discovered it from Natural Geographic Magazine, that guy is not just an elder in the tribe and therefore important, but he's a stud too. Those rings are worn around the neck by both men and women of the tribe and they are symbols of their sexual abilities, real or otherwise. And now that I have shown my age and nerdiness I'm going to go back over here and hide.
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