Someone recently had asked me why I am into the whole idea of body modifications. Although I had some general idea of what I wanted to say, I did have to take some time to think about my answer. I really do wish I had a simple answer, but it ended up being quite a bit deeper then I thought it was going to be.
At A Glance Author Lasmori Contact [email protected] IAM lasmori When N/A The very short answer would be that body modifications are one of the very few things anyone can truly own.
The longer answer however will have to start with an example. Lets take an average person of upper middle class named Betty. Statistically she will have a house, a car, kids, a spouse, a job, and the need to provide for both herself and her family... etc. All of which are things that take away her freedoms.
Okay sure, she chose this path in her life right? These are freedoms she is choosing to exchange for something she wants, and I can understand that. Lets instead look at the same person, but this time she chooses to be single. Even further, she has chosen to live a bit of a minimalist lifestyle, renting an apartment and taking the bus to work.
That still leaves her with needing a place to live, which I might add... is getting pretty damn expensive these days. She also has to somehow feed herself, which is also getting damn hard to do these without relying on others. I would even say that its very likely a very large number of people in the US would likely die if the US food economy obliterated.
But she has possessions right? A computer, tv, microwave and all that... thats something she has that is hers right? Try going bankrupt. You will get to watch helplessly as your possessions get sold or repossessed to recover losses belonging the companies that you have indentured yourself to. You should also ask yourself just what purpose property has anyways. What meaning do items provide? My lamp isn't any more a part of me me as the moon is. Strike that... one might argue that the moon is actually a larger part of me considering the fact I might not even be alive without tidal dynamics.
What about your right to life then, you have that don't you? You really should ask yourself what such a thing means. Shouldn't it mean that you OWN your life and can do what you see fit with it? Try getting caught attempting to commit suicide. I can almost guarantee that you will get your butt locked up in a hospital. Shouldn't a person of right mind be allowed to take their own life? I thought we owned our lives... Isn't that something we have control over?
Your life does not belong to you any more then my lamp does. Its there, and society dictates what you are allowed to do with it. Go attempt having an abortion, I can assure you that a number of people will let you know just how they feel about the situation. Ever wonder how it feels to confront a group of people who think they have more to say about what you are allowed to do with your life then you do?
What about kids.. kids are free right? Maybe free natured... but they are owned even more then the rest of us. Stuck in crappy education systems that they are expected to attend. TORTURED by other kids for being different. Never mind the fact that they are essentially property of their parents. I don't like that idea at all, but I can tell you that my dad made a very big point in making sure I knew he OWNED me, and thats in his own words.
You are a cog in a system. You are no more free then what society allows you to be.
Going back to body modifications, lets agree that you indeed have little control over your life. Hell lets even say that you do not even have a whole lot of say in what you can do with your own body. But once you are done with a body modification, that modification is yours for life in one way or another. Be it a tattoo, piercings, scarification, breast implants, a new vagina, a larger penis, whatever.
I look at piercings in the mirror, I find that I am really glad that I can truly own something. My modifications are mine, and short of bodily injury nobody is going to take them from me. Even if I end up with a tattoo that looks pretty off at an old age... its hard to regret having the chance to truly own something. Its yours until the day you die... and its yours because you made the choice to have it.
There is a reason humans have been using body modification for as long as they have. Its a timeless act of asserting ownership over ones self in one of the few ways that one really can. Its a very strong tribal feeling for me, and I am not just saying that because of my native american ancestors. I think its part of the very evolution of humanity.