At A Glance Author Michelle D Contact Michelle [email protected] IAM Flutterfly When A month ago Location Toronto, Ontario On Wednesday, May 3rd I had the opportunity to participate in a research study undertaken by a University of Toronto graduate student. Why, you may ask, am I mentioning this on BME? Well, I am mentioning this because the research study was related to body modification. Specifically, the purpose of the research study was to examine the research participants' experiences with body piercings and medical professionals.
Prior to participating in the project, I had been walking down Queen Street East one evening and noticed a sign in the window of a piercing place. Though I had never been pierced at this studio, nor do I plan on it, I stopped outside the studio and read the flyer, which was recruiting individuals to participate. Participants needed to be at least 16 years of age and have body piercings. The project sparked my interest, but I failed to remember the Email address listed at the bottom of the flyer. A few days later I couldn't stop thinking about the study and phoned the aforementioned studio and got the contact information from them. Immediately following the phone call, I sent an Email to the Email address listed, with a brief description of myself and my various piercings. I received a prompt reply to my Email stating that I could either phone the individual conducting the research study or she could call me. I replied to the Email with a list of times I could be contacted and waited for a phone call.
People participate in research studies for a variety of reasons. Some people allow themselves to undergo medical studies because of the large amount of monetary compensation they can receive following sessions of, let's say, testing out a generic brand of medication. I'm sure that some of the participants in this study were swayed to participate because of the compensation that we received, in the form of piercing coupons. However, the compensation did not mean anything to me. Aside from my vast interest in body piercings (and tattoos) and the fact that I'll take any opportunity to talk about or be exposed to the topic of body modification, I had just completed a Social Work Research class. I hated that class with a passion, but I wanted to participate in the study to see how the theories and concepts in class actually played out in real life.
One evening I received a phone call from the individual conducting the research study. She introduced herself and gave me enough information about the project for me to be able to verbally consent to participate. She was incredibly professional, seemed to be "by the book" according to everything I'd learned in my research class, and answered any questions I had. I consented immediately and was given a choice of 3 dates to participate in a focus group. I picked the last day, which was May 3rd. This date allowed me to be finished my final exams and have enough time to schedule time off of work.
There was no contact between myself and the researcher until a day before the scheduled focus group. The night before the focus group I received a phone call confirming my participation and providing me with all of the necessary details such as directions, start and end times, etc.
The next day I showed up to the University of Toronto Campus and walked into the building the focus group would be held in. I was greeted by an individual and showed where to go. When I entered the room there was already two participants present, aside from myself. The researcher welcomed me and gave me a written consent form to read (we would also be discussing it when everyone arrived) and sign.
When I walked in I immediately noticed (though I was also told on the phone) that the individual conducting the research study had numerous piercings herself.
Once all of the focus group participants (there were 7 of us) had arrived the consent form was discussed. With all questions answered two audio recorders were turned on to record our conversations. These recordings would be transcribed and then destroyed. The participants would not be identified in any way and therefore, privacy/confidentiality was assured. The individual conducting the focus group provided us with a number of topics to explore, but it was conversational style. The first question was about our particular interest in and motivation to get body piercings. Answers ranged from wanting to be different, to viewing body modification as art and thus being a way to show one's love of art and esthetics.
The focus group was 2 hours long, but the time just flew by. We discussed issues relating to being judged because of our piercings and our motivations to be pierced. Themes that emerged included that of being stereotyped by people, believing that we get pierced to rebel against authority figures, that those with piercings are somehow immoral, bad, or out of their mind and so on. The participants, myself included, shared experiences of being given 'bad' information relating to piercings, by doctors, dentists and nurses. We talked about when we would see a doctor for a piercing related issue � in my case, when I have no other option and am desperate enough to be reprimanded for getting pierced and to be prescribed antibiotic ointment or a regimen of peroxide or rubbing alcohol for my piercing related problem. Of course, I wouldn't follow this advice as I know otherwise, just as I would never remove an infected piercing, even though I've been told to numerous times by doctors. Issues relating to being judged because of a piercing (especially hidden ones that are only exposed during physicals) were also raised. The group also talked about what they though would help make interactions between pierced individuals and medical professionals more pleasant. Not all of the discussion about medical professionals was negative. There was talk about the nonjudgmental medical professionals with whom we've interacted. I also raised the topic of Safer Piercing Kits, a harm reduction initiative that seeks to reduce the risks associated with self piercing. (Harm Reduction as it Applies to Body Modification) Above all, we talked about anything and everything piercing related, especially issues relating to our health care.
It was not surprising that BME was mentioned in the focus group. Many of the participants, myself included (obviously) use this website as a source of reliable information for body modification related inquiries. BME was talked about very highly and I was not the only IAM member present in the group.
Once the conversation topics had been exhausted, the audio recorders were turned off. We were then thanked for participating and given TTC (public transit) tickets as well as piercing related coupons. Then a draw was held to determine which 3 participants would win a free piercing at various Toronto piercing/tattoo studios. I was one of the winners and chose the gift certificate to Passage � the studio at which I had my nipple pierced at and believe is one of the best studios I have ever been pierced at.
The rest of the participants left, but I stayed a little while longer to discuss BME and my recent submission of an editorial related to the Safer Body Piercing Kits (link provided above) that I used to hand out as a part of my Social Work placement. The individual who conducted the focus group asked me some questions about the kits and I offered to send the link to my article.
This research study was very interesting and I'm very glad that I had the opportunity to participate and offer my opinions and views on body piercings, especially in terms of my interactions with dentists, surgeons, nurses and doctors. I can't wait until I have the opportunity to see the finished product � one of the goals is for the research to be published in a scholarly journal. It would be interesting to see how everything comes together � what themes emerged across all of the focus groups and what the medical professionals that were interviewed had to say.
Above all, I'm happy that I was able to offer my opinions to this research study. I had the opportunity to help dispel many myths about body piercing, help to bring fourth the facts and hopefully provide helpful insight to facilitate healthcare professionals to better work with individuals who are part of the body modification community. I believe that if you are passionate about something then it is nice for you to give back your community. This applies to body modification � if you have the opportunity, give something back. This doesn't mean that you need to go out and participate in focus groups. It can be something as simple as giving back to this (BME) online community, by submitting pictures and experiences for others to learn from and enjoy.