As a modified individual, I have experienced many forms of cultural oppression. There have been two specific situations where I have felt that my modifications have been the reason for me being at a position of discrimination, as well as the prejudices I have faced in everyday life. I have spoken to fellow modified individuals about this subject, and it seems to me to be a situation that must be challenged in our modern society.
At A Glance Author Nick Parker Contact [email protected] IAM slyoldfox When N/A As an undergraduate studying politics and history, I have learnt about different forms of systemic oppression that are now openly discussed. In History A Level, I studied the Civil Rights Movement in America and learnt more about the struggles that non-WASP peoples fought in their desire for equal treatment. In Politics, I have covered the subject of gender discrimination and the way that the female sex has been oppressed throughout history. Recently, I attended a camp for revolutionary socialist youths and was able to get a better understanding of so-called "queer theory" by discussing this subject among fellow LGBT individuals. However, the way in which those who have body modifications have suffered oppression is a subject that is new to me.
My first experience of discrimination occurred when I was at sixth form studying towards my A Levels. Around the same time as I was preparing to take my mock examinations, I decided to get my right lip pierced. I had been planning it for some time, and had already got a centre labret piercing, and therefore assumed that there would be no further problems based on my body modifications. However, the management of my sixth form had other ideas.
I was called into the Deputy Headteacher's office, and was told that my appearance was "unacceptable" and "extreme". When I asked for clarification on this accusation, I was told that I was setting a bad example on some of the younger students. I asked whether the Deputy thought that body piercings were a "bad expression of individuality", and somehow deviant. He replied that some younger students may be tempted to replicate my activities and therefore break the law. This seemed unusual to me, as this policy in the wider society would result in the body modification community being criminalised because it would somehow encourage the younger members of our society to be deviant from society's norms. He also argued that my piercings would be detrimental to the image of the school in the eyes of visitors.
The result of this discussion was the issue of an ultimatum that I leave my classes that day and remove my piercings, and incidentally my mohican, or I would not be admitted back to the sixth form. I therefore returned home (six miles away) and sat in my bedroom and thought. I wanted to express myself in body piercing. I did not have particularly extreme piercings, just two facial piercings, and did not feel particularly deviant. I had applied for a University place in Glasgow, which depended on me achieving good grades at A Level, so I was unable to keep them in and progress to University. As I reluctantly removed my new piercing, I felt as though I was removing a part of me. If I had removed it voluntarily, it would have been a different feeling. But this was done under some duress, I felt intimidated into changing myself to suit others, and I began to cry. I could not understand the use of living a life that is so acutely controlled by others. My parents had not supported me, they had sided with the school, and I felt completely alone and wanted to end everything. However, I saw a promise of freedom in University life, so I kept going.
My treatment made me feel completely alienated from the sixth form I was at. From then on, instead of feeling a part of a community, I attended classes as opposed to participating in them. Although I tried to be a part of the community at the school, I felt distanced from it and alone. All I could think of was getting out of the environment so I could explore my body freely and without risk of discrimination. My time at sixth form ended on a Thursday. The next day, Friday, I had my medusa done, and the following Monday, my first tattoo. I was so happy and proud of these new modifications. To this day, my medusa still feels like the most amazing and beautiful declaration to the outside world. I believe it symbolises that I am an individual and that you can try and put me in a box, try and model me on your conceptions of what a "normal human being" should look like, but you cannot defeat my feelings and my cultures.
About a year later, at a job interview, I was offered the job as a retail assistant on the condition that I removed my body modifications. I needed no time for decisions. I walked out the door happy with my modifications intact and my overdraft worsening. Would I rather be rich or happy? I'm a happy bunny and no amount of money will decide that.