After seeing a poll on BME asking whether tongue splitting should be legal, I realised that I didn't know what my opinion on the matter was, whether only surgeons should be able to perform such operations, or whether anyone should be able to do it. This is the result of my considering the matter.
At A Glance Author vampy Contact [email protected] IAM vampy When N/A Most of us live in a society obsessed with chattels, property and financial security. With such a backdrop to our lives it is easy to forget that our only true posessions are our bodies. Our bodies are our vehicles for life, and it is our right as humans to express our individuality through the decoration, adornment, and modification of our bodies. While society may have a case when interfering in the cases of individuals considering severe modifications which may affect the society, such as a person wishing to amputate a limb and then claim social security benefits, tongue splitting does not have such severe effects. The modification is purely aesthetic, and does not affect the proper functioning of the body. There is no reason why society should interfere, certainly not on a legislative level.
In an ideal world, qualified surgeons would be willing to perform tongue splits at an affordable price. Unfortunately, the current situation is that if you can find a surgeon who will perform the procedure, you may well find the cost to be prohibitive. Given that if an individual desires a certain self image enough they will do anything to achieve it, it follows that many people end up seeking alternative routes to getting a split tongue.
For someone wanting a split tongue who can either not find, or not afford a qualified doctor to perform the operation, there are two options. A DIY tongue split, or an underground practitioner.
In most of the world, the law does not intervene with what individuals choose to do to themselves, so doing a tongue split yourself is generally legal. However, is this really the best method to choose? There is the potential for a lot of blood, which you need you to know how to deal with, and it's very unlikely that someone performing this procedure at home would be able to abide by the necessary hygiene requirements. And this is all assuming you can deal with the pain and manipulate the scalpel or whatever you're using to cut the tongue inside your own mouth. In short, doing a tongue split surgically by yourself really isn't a great idea. The tongue can be split by using increasingly shorter ties between the tip and an existing piercing, but the result is generally far inferior to other methods, and can be unbearably painful.
So this leaves the individual seeking a split tongue with a problem, being unable to have a medical practitioner perform the operation, and being unwilling to accept the risks of a DIY job, the only remaining option is to seek an underground practitioner.
For many people, this is the option chosen, as it is cheaper than the medical option, and less risky than the DIY option. Of course, there are still risks. If injectable anaesthetic is used (which is illegal in many countries for use by non medical personnel), this creates additional risks. However, the procedure itself is very simple, and if all goes to plan will heal with no problems. If something does go wrong during the procedure, the practitioner should know how to stop excessive bleeding, and basic first aid, if needed. They should also know if a problem is outside of their ability to cope with and to seek professional medical advice.
So assuming that the procedure is done by a reputable experienced practitioner, while still not as safe as having it done in a hospital, the risk is reduced to a level that is acceptable to most people wanting this procedure. The problem is finding such a practitioner. With no rules or regulations governing these modifications, it may take some time to find a good practitioner to perform the split. This problem is compounded by the borderline legality or illegality of the procedure in many places. Good practitioners have to rely on word of mouth and try and keep as low a public profile as possible, so unless you are in a position to discuss such matters with other interested people, you will have a very hard time finding someone to perform the operation. Thanks to the internet, and especially BME, it is a lot easier for interested individuals to research and discuss options with very experienced practitioners, although as most of them do not advertise their work for fear of legal repercussions, it is still a laborious process. If tongue splitting were legal, those wanting the modification would be able to see many more credited images of work performed, and would be in a better position to decide how to proceed.
Legalising tongue splitting would of course have a downside in that, unregulated, anyone could decide to open a shop and start doing tongue splits without any knowledge or experience. However, I don't think anyone who did this would get much business. People don't just get a tongue split on the spur of the moment, as they might a piercing. Tongue splitting is a permanent modification, and surely anyone considering such an important thing would do their research first, rather than just go to any old place.
We shouldn't have a law simply to protect people who do choose to go to dirty, inexperienced, dangerous places because they don't bother to do any research. We are considered able to weigh up the risks of, for example, being a smoker or a drinker, playing rugby or driving a car; why should a government not allow us to take the risk of needing medical attention after a bodged tongue split? Hospitals help lung cancer, sporting injury and road accident victims, even if the injury was caused by the individual's own actions.
If any legislation is needed, it should be an effective method of regulating the body modification industry, not a blanket ban on potentially dangerous procedures. I believe that individuals should be allowed to make informed choices as to how to modify their bodies, and by ensuring reputable practitioners aren't forced to work underground, the information to enable individuals to make these choices will be freely available. Even people who don't agree that people should be allowed to modify themselves as they want must surely agree that people WILL modify themselves regardless of the law (as they have been already). Is it not the duty of society to protect its members? If that is the case, then allowing people to seek experienced bodymod practitioners for such procedures is a lot safer than forcing people to perform the modification themselves.
This is not a perfect solution, but it seems to be the only logical conclusion if the motivation is the protection of society. Unfortunately it seems that most governing bodies are uncomfortable with body modification, and would rather ban it under the guise of safety than accept us for who we are.