At A Glance
Author	Vic
Contact	[email protected]
IAM	viccles85
When	It just happened

The point of my article is to bring forth the point that the world today is not tolerant of the "different" or the "pariahs" that live amongst our society. In this article I am going to focus on how modified or modded people of the world are treated differently from others. I believe that these prejudices need to be looked at and examined closely to really understand what petty things people gawk and stare at.

You might not quite understand what I am trying to put across, but take this for example, a person who is in a wheelchair will be gawked and stared at just like a person who is modded and treated differently, perhaps put down, or stared at. They are left out of jobs, social occasions just because they don't fit the "superficial image" of the world. I wonder to myself, how can one be considered the right image? People come in all different shapes and sizes and this one particular attitude is considered the "right way to go"?

Modification can also be seen as a freedom issue. Aren't people allowed to have the free will to do what makes them feel good, or better about themselves? Taking away this right is repressing a persons right to live in a free society. Its like saying to a woman stop putting on makeup, if it makes a person feel better about themselves or feel good then why shouldn't one be able to do it? I mean if a person wants a particular hairstyle or to wear a certain outfit, they should be able to do it without worrying that they might look different or be stared at. The same goes with modification, a person is trying to be different or to express themselves. If everyone wore the same clothes, the same hairstyle and acted the same the world would be a boring place but unfortunetely modification is not treated with the same respect as if you were to get a new hairstyle.

In Australia, most schools don't allow piercings and in the Anti Discrimination Act, the only issues that can be discriminated against are piercings and tattoos. But why? how can a piercing or a tattoo change ones personality. How can a piercing effect a childs education? Does piercing make a person bad or evil? Piercing has been a norm in many cultures for thousands of years and is seen as beautiful. Why is the rest of the world so against it?

Especially the older generations look down upon body modification. My grandmother the other day told me that only "freaks" get piercings, that is barberic and that with my tongue ring I will only befriend "freaks" at my new school. She also told me that there will always be a stigma attached to piercing and tattoos, that you are 'bad' or 'wrong' and people won't respect you. As my mother pointed out the other day, if two people went for one job and had exactly the same qualifications but one was modded and the other wasnt then the unmodded person wouldn't get the job. I was talking to my unmodded friend who is always accepting of whatever I do the other day and she said perhaps they are scared of piercings and haven't been educated enough to know if they are dangerous or not. I thought about it and realised it must be pretty scary for their child to come home with a stud through their tongue and not know anything about how to care for them.

I myself absolutely hate it when kids or adults catch sight of my tongue ring and say "oh did that hurt?" or "thats disgusting" it would be nice to one day catch a comment of "thats really nice" I got a worse reaction when I had my belly pierced. I'm not looking for praise from others just acceptance . The thing that really hurts is that they my parents can't accept my being different from other people.

The world needs to be educated that "different" doesn't mean that they are not beautiful in their own way and need to be loved just as much as the next person. My message is to all people that are prejudiced towards modifications is to think carefully about their prejudices and not to gawk and stare at the person with stretched lobes, these people all eat and sleep and have feelings and lives like other human beings do. Personally I can't see how a hole through ones tongue or tattoos on ones body makes a difference. Perhaps if models or TV stars looked differently instead of this prim and proper, thin body type then it would be more accepted to be different. But the one thing I want to emphasise is that everyone deserves and should be treated with an equal amount of respect. People need to learn that looking different on the outside doesn't mean that they are any less of a person on the inside.

Well thank you for reading my two cents my inspiration to write this article basically came from the prejudices I recieve in my own home from my grandmother mainly due to my tongue ring. As I aforementioned she believes that only "freaks" are pierced and makes you a "freak" also. I am trying to set the record straight that a piercing or tattoo doesn't change a person, or if it does for the better as it may give them confidence and acceptance in themselves. If you have any questions please contact me :)