Body modification, in its less extreme forms, have been popular in western society for a number of years. For example, piercing the earlobes of women has been practiced for decades, and a few years ago earrings on men, too, became somewhat more acceptable. As the years went by, modification became more and more acceptable: tattoos were not reserved only for sailors and jail inmates, and people began piercing their noses (although people of the Hindu persuasion had done this for centuries). Only a few short years ago did navel piercing first make an appearance, and it has only taken a few celebrities such as Britney Spears (who sports a poorly placed, almost rejected, navel ring) to convince young women that they, too, need one of these piercings. Stretching earlobes (although only to a very small gauge) in males has become more prevalent, thanks to pop "punk" band Blink 182 (Blink and even Britney also sport tattoos). At first, one might think that popularization of body modification might actually be quite beneficial to the modified community, although, after living as a modified person in England through this, I've come to the assumption that the popularity of modification is doing absolutely nothing to change the acceptability of real body modifications, and is perhaps even worsening it.
At A Glance Author Princess Iscariot Contact [email protected] Artist N/Q Because people like Britney Spears, Blink 182, and many other celebrities appeal to young people, this causes a surge of under-agers dying to be pierced/tattooed. In my small town there are two tattoo/piercing shops. One of which has pierced and tattooed children as young as twelve. This particular studio was almost shut down recently after an outbreak of hepatitis among its patrons. The other studio, which is far pricier, and does not modify minors, is quite well renowned, and has some fantastic artists. The work I've seen done in the other studio is of poor quality, often done without gloves. Because I live in England, and there are so few laws governing body art, this studio has yet to be shut down. I've not seen any minors with scarification, implants, or any 'serious' modifications. Why? Probably because Britney doesn't have any (well, silicon implants are a completely different story!). This is also probably because the crappy studios which allow minors in aren't skilled enough to go past the basic arts of piercing and tattooing, and probably because it doesn't make them money. If a studio pierces minors, all it cares about is one thing: money. Not your health, safety, and well-being.
The work done on minors is often shoddy, as those who take their profession seriously and are good artists do not work on minors. Why not? Piercing a minor will almost inevitably result in the piercing migrating and looking awful. Would you want a navel ring you put in looking terrible, and having that person walking around telling others it was your work? No. Same with tattooing- would you want a child walking around with your ink on them, telling all their school mates that you do work on minors? No. This works in the same respect towards people who are modified. If people see one hundred little kids with navel rings and badly done tribal tattoos, they're bound to just see it as a fad, a rebellion, and then when they see me with my various facial, ear, and other piercings, and gasp, more than one tattoo, they think worse. Children with modifications make the whole concept of body modifications a little harder for people to grasp, especially older people. They don't see it as art (neither do the children); they see it as mutilation, an abomination of western culture. For those of you who think modification in England has become more accepted, remember how shocked and disgusted the media was when ex Spice Girl Victoria Beckham 'pierced' her lip? (It turned out to be a fake clip-on one, which was quite obvious to me, but not anyone else, apparently) A lot of people said how unacceptable it was because she was a mother and that she influenced her fans to do it as well. Well, I intend on having children, and my modifications aren't going to hinder my child rearing abilities in the slightest. How na�ve.
Because modification has become popular, few people respect it. If you see many people with say, ear plugs, and you ask them about them, they'll probably just respond that they thought it looked cool, or they saw it in a magazine. Few will probably tell you how it has been practiced for centuries among African tribes, South American tribes, and even the Maori tribes of New Zealand. However, this can work in exactly the opposite way. One girl on the street told me that her navel ring stemmed back to Ancient Egyptian times, when princesses wore them as a symbol of their nobility (perhaps it wasn't worded exactly this way, but that was the gist) when I told her it was quite a common misconception and that the navel piercing was purely a western invention as far as we know. She had a fit and told me that I knew nothing about body piercing (although I had worked in a studio for over three years by then). I've been to Egypt! Show me one Egyptian tomb with navel piercings illustrated on it!!
If you are going to get a modification, at least research it. Find out what it represents and where it originated. I can't tell you how many 'eye of Horus' tattoos I have seen and how many people have been shocked to find that it was actually a symbol of the underworld. "I don't know. I just thought it looked cool" is a common answer to questions about the origin and meaning of their tattoo/piercing. A guy in my senior year of high school got a Kanji tattoo on his foot, he told everyone it meant strength. Imagine our surprise when Kiyo, a Japanese-American student burst into hysterics, telling everyone that it was actually the Japanese symbol for 'pig'. He's now marked for life with a surprisingly accurate Kanji tattoo. I rest my case. Make sure you know what your modification means (or doesn't) before you get it done. Especially if it's something as permanent as a tattoo.
People who have modified themselves for reasons of popularity, to be cool, to fit in, etc. are actually giving body modification a bad rap. People want to close studios because minors have modifications. We need to ensure even if we are of age that we carefully examine our reasoning for modifying ourselves. Does the modification mean anything to you? It should. If people continue to be careless about body modification then the modified (especially the heavily modified) community takes much of the blame and ridicule. To those who are dedicated to their mods: it is art, a way of life, something beautiful to adorn their bodies and to be proud of. To those who aren't, it is simply something they've placed there for a reason they shouldn't have: attention, to fit in or be considered 'cool', to be like someone else. Research your modifications, be smart about them, and most importantly, be proud of them. Then we will encourage the world to embrace modification as an art, and not mutilation.
I welcome any comments or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected]
-Please no fights about why minors should be pierced/tattooed. If you send me arguments about piercing minors, I already have a standard reply e-mail that I forward to anyone who bothers me with ridiculous arguments about the subject.