In a relatively short time, body modification seems to have not only grown, in terms of pushing boundaries but also in terms of mainstream attention, at least, that has been my observation. I can’t imagine some of the more extreme body modifications being covered in mainstream media (other than a purely negative piece) when I first discovered BME (however many years ago that was, shh, not telling).
Gelding sent me a link to an interview he did with Gawker. The interview itself is very professional and positive (I can’t speak for the comments). It’s refreshing to see this sort of extreme modification getting positive coverage from a more mainstream outlet.