As a forword, the following views expressed are by me and not by BMEzine.com, Shannon Larratt, or any member of the BME staff.
At A Glance Author Hunter Contact [email protected] IAM hunterjackson When N/A I have been lucky enough to be modified by some really great artists in the short time I have been involved with body modification and BME. I do not go to a super famous piercer or tattoo artist, but they are extremely confident in their fields and I do not know if I would ever be pierced by anyone else.
I am writing this article due to the fact that I was recently called a "Piercing Snob" by a person who shall be nameless, partly due to the fact that I was called this from an anonymous person.
When I think of snobbery, I think of someone who appears to have it all and acts like they are better than anyone else around them. The thoughts take me back to high school when all the different cliques tried to be better than anyone else. I think of the jocks and cheerleaders who put down normal people due to the fact that they (jocks and cheerleaders) have more money, better clothes, more friends, 'better' friends, and for many different reasons. Snobs are seen as a negative in western society. So my first thought was, "What did I do to deserve such an assumption?"
As far as the thoughts on a "Piercing Snob", I do not know that I have ever called anyone else on their poorly done piercings, or bad technique, or anything of the such. Wait, I do know that I never have done such a thing!
What is a "Piercing Snob"? According to Wikipedia, "A snob, guilty of snobbery or snobbism, is a person who imitates the manners, adopts the world-view and apes the lifestyle of a social class of people to which that person does not by right belong." So according to Wikipedia, I would have to act like a person in the high modification society, for which I am not a member. I have never claimed to be anyone but an individual who is slightly modified, and better for the fact that I chose to be modified in a world that does not accept modification as a main stream idea.
I have always proudly stated that I wear quality jewelry made by Anatometal, and that I have no problem paying more for a better piercing or tattoo. Is that a bad thing? I highly think not. Tattoos are permanent and piercings are at least semi-permanent. What is so wrong with making sure that they turn out right? I see no problem with a person who self pierces. If I put down people who prefer to modify themselves, then I would be a snob and no better for judging them than anyone else. People should be free to do what they want to with their bodies. After all, we own our bodies, not anyone else.
I am an advocate of the Association of Professional Piercers (APP), and have only been pierced by APP piercers. The question which is now posed is , would I be pierced by a non-APP peircer? Absolutely! I see no problem with this as long as the piercer has been properly trained and meets the personal criteria I have. Also, another question posed is, would I wear non-Anatometal jewelry? If I found jewelry which met the quality that they put out, at the price point they were at, I would definitely give them a try.
About the above, I see people in the QOD daily asking about various different problems and about piercers who gave bad advice. If I piercer gives horrible advice or does not fit the appropriate jewelry for a piercing, I would not go to them if you payed me. This is not a bad thing! I have seen many people pierced in my town by crappy piercers who fit their nipples with overly short barbells, pierce handwebs with safety pins (and not the surgical stainless steel ones), and they continue to go back to these people. If I think that is just stupid. If that makes me a snob, I am gladly labled one.
Are there "Piercing Snobs" amongst us. As in the above, I hope there are. People should care about their bodies and what is put on them. I believe that paying a person appropriately for a permenant or semi-permanent mark on your body is a thing that everyone should do. I do not agree with piercers piercing with the poorly made imported externally threaded jewelry which we see in our shopping malls everyday.
In conclusion, I believe that any judgement on a person is wrong. If we as a society overly judge people, we can not survive happily. This is a community of people of like interests, and when we begin to judge, we will be just like the rest of the people around the world who do not understand why we do certain things. Thank you for reading my article.