Funmail 14 followup letter

From: Mike & Anouk <[email protected]>

Subject: BMEzine

You wrote to the editor of BME: I am writing to express my extreme disgust at the material you authorise to be displayed on these pages. All the stuff you show is a corruption of public morals, and my team will be getting in touch with the High Court in London soon to consider the possibility of an injunction being put onto this webpage to prevent it being shown in the UK. Alex Smith Q.C. High Lane Chambers London. 'Prejudice is the reason of fools.' Voltaire I live in London. I am 24 years old, well educated(BA Hons Journalism), middle-class white female. I am currently training to be a body piercer. I have discovered, over the past two years since I became very interested in Body Piercing and Body Modification, that there is a huge and growing interest in Body Adornment. It is not for everyone, I admit, but the cross-over from ritual or extreme body modification and piercing into fashion is evident. Fourteen and 15 year old girls and boys are getting their navels and eyebrows pierced, for fashion. This does not necessarily mean that they will start getting into scarification, branding or other body modifications later. Those who are interested in these aspects of body adornment do so for deep rooted, emotional reasons, and it does not imply a psychological disorder. For someone who is not the least interested in getting pierced or tattooed, it is difficult to comprehend why anyone should wish to alter their bodies in these ways. But for those who find these things a part of their lives, it is a long and revealing process. Body adornment becomes important, necessary, a means to exploring oneself and expressing their individuality. Body piercing, modification and tattooing has been practiced by cultures across the world since the beginning of time. Anthropological evidence of body modification is well documented in nearly all ancient and modern cultures and civilisations. There is a genuine and pervasive need for people to be able to adorn and express themselves in this way. Body adornments such as make-up, fashion, and hairdressing are testament to that in our society, to more extreme expressions such as cosmetic surgery and body building, which are socially acceptable forms of extreme body modification. Most people today do not wish to conform to the 'off-the-supermarket shelf' ideology where everyone is the same and adheres to a common identity. A lot of people have decided that what is recognised as socially acceptable or desirable in Western societies is akin to the society which alienates the individual, which rejects the obvious need and desire in people to adorn themselves for whatever reason, ritual, fashion, expressive, emotional... BMEzine is a celebration for those people involved and interested in Body Piercing, Tattooing and Body Modification. It is a community and an invaluable resource. It provides an unparalleled forum for sharing knowledge and experiences, important health and safety related information, advice and discussion. I will not accept that you and your team are guardians for the public against what is obscene and immoral. Through narrow-mindedness and ignorance, you decide you have the right to protect 'public morals' (if such a thing exists - perhaps you could explain the meaning of it to me?). You have no interest in 'public morals', you are merely expressing your intolerance and bias towards a group of people and a history and culture of which you have no understanding, knowledge or sympathy. What you find personally offensive does not give you the right to attempt to decide what is offensive or wrong for any other human being. I strongly object to the idea that it is in my interest to be restricted access to BMEzine or any other material for that matter. I can only suggest that if you wish to pursue your pointless convictions that you at least inform yourself. I recommend the following books (see bottom of letter) to start with, and then perhaps you could start talking to the people who are involved in body modification. Perhaps you will realise it is not an attempt to corrupt 'public morals', but a very real and important aspect of so many people's lives for a plethora of valid reasons and justifications. The BME is there for those people. If you don't like it, I can only suggest you don't look at it, instead of telling other people what they cannot look at. I ABSOLUTELY object to any attempt to restrict access in this country to BMEzine or any other form of body modifcation information or resource (internet or otherwise). Your proposal amounts to a breach of freedom of expression and represents a dangerously 'Big Brother' attitude towards the freedom of access to information (although not constitutionalised in this country, surely the British Government accepts the notion of freedom of expression and freedom of access to information). Yours disgustedly, Anouk Gerard Book List: The Customized Body; Randall, Housk & Polhemus, Ted Return of the Tribal; Camphausen, Rufus C.
Modern Primitives; ReSearch

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From:	Mike & Anouk <[email protected]>
Subject:	BMEzine
You wrote to the editor of BME: I am writing to express my extreme disgust at the material you authorise to be displayed on these pages. All the stuff you show is a corruption of public morals, and my team will be getting in touch with the High Court in London soon to consider the possibility of an injunction being put onto this webpage to prevent it being shown in the UK. Alex Smith Q.C. High Lane Chambers London. 'Prejudice is the reason of fools.' Voltaire I live in London. I am 24 years old, well educated(BA Hons Journalism), middle-class white female. I am currently training to be a body piercer. I have discovered, over the past two years since I became very interested in Body Piercing and Body Modification, that there is a huge and growing interest in Body Adornment. It is not for everyone, I admit, but the cross-over from ritual or extreme body modification and piercing into fashion is evident. Fourteen and 15 year old girls and boys are getting their navels and eyebrows pierced, for fashion. This does not necessarily mean that they will start getting into scarification, branding or other body modifications later. Those who are interested in these aspects of body adornment do so for deep rooted, emotional reasons, and it does not imply a psychological disorder. For someone who is not the least interested in getting pierced or tattooed, it is difficult to comprehend why anyone should wish to alter their bodies in these ways. But for those who find these things a part of their lives, it is a long and revealing process. Body adornment becomes important, necessary, a means to exploring oneself and expressing their individuality. Body piercing, modification and tattooing has been practiced by cultures across the world since the beginning of time. Anthropological evidence of body modification is well documented in nearly all ancient and modern cultures and civilisations. There is a genuine and pervasive need for people to be able to adorn and express themselves in this way. Body adornments such as make-up, fashion, and hairdressing are testament to that in our society, to more extreme expressions such as cosmetic surgery and body building, which are socially acceptable forms of extreme body modification. Most people today do not wish to conform to the 'off-the-supermarket shelf' ideology where everyone is the same and adheres to a common identity. A lot of people have decided that what is recognised as socially acceptable or desirable in Western societies is akin to the society which alienates the individual, which rejects the obvious need and desire in people to adorn themselves for whatever reason, ritual, fashion, expressive, emotional... BMEzine is a celebration for those people involved and interested in Body Piercing, Tattooing and Body Modification. It is a community and an invaluable resource. It provides an unparalleled forum for sharing knowledge and experiences, important health and safety related information, advice and discussion. I will not accept that you and your team are guardians for the public against what is obscene and immoral. Through narrow-mindedness and ignorance, you decide you have the right to protect 'public morals' (if such a thing exists - perhaps you could explain the meaning of it to me?). You have no interest in 'public morals', you are merely expressing your intolerance and bias towards a group of people and a history and culture of which you have no understanding, knowledge or sympathy. What you find personally offensive does not give you the right to attempt to decide what is offensive or wrong for any other human being. I strongly object to the idea that it is in my interest to be restricted access to BMEzine or any other material for that matter. I can only suggest that if you wish to pursue your pointless convictions that you at least inform yourself. I recommend the following books (see bottom of letter) to start with, and then perhaps you could start talking to the people who are involved in body modification. Perhaps you will realise it is not an attempt to corrupt 'public morals', but a very real and important aspect of so many people's lives for a plethora of valid reasons and justifications. The BME is there for those people. If you don't like it, I can only suggest you don't look at it, instead of telling other people what they cannot look at. I ABSOLUTELY object to any attempt to restrict access in this country to BMEzine or any other form of body modifcation information or resource (internet or otherwise). Your proposal amounts to a breach of freedom of expression and represents a dangerously 'Big Brother' attitude towards the freedom of access to information (although not constitutionalised in this country, surely the British Government accepts the notion of freedom of expression and freedom of access to information). Yours disgustedly, Anouk Gerard Book List: The Customized Body; Randall, Housk & Polhemus, Ted Return of the Tribal; Camphausen, Rufus C. `Modern Primitives; ReSearch`