A lot of people do not understand the art of body modification. They stare at people that have tattoos and piercings and think of them as different. Sometimes they are even thought of as criminals or sex predators. I have even seen people cross the street when a tattooed person was walking by. Although times have changed and more and more people are accepting body modification, there are still people out there that do not understand. A lot of jobs do not allow piercings and some will not even hire people that have tattoos.
At A Glance Author Becca Seraph Contact Becca [email protected] IAM Silhouettes When N/A This is not true of all people, but for me, piercings are a way of expressing myself. I am not crying out of attention. I have a very loving family that is always there for me when I need them, either financially or emotionally. We have had our differences but I would never want another family. I have a boyfriend that loves and accepts me for who I am even if he does not particularly like all my piercings.
I grew up in a strict home. My parents did not allow me to go over to friend's houses until around the 5th grade; all my friends had to come to me. My mom never wanted to let me go.
I remember the first time I so called modified myself. It was around the 6th grade and at school and my long hair that I had never before cut kept getting caught in the chair and ripping out. One day I asked my mom for my first hair cut. She was very upset and it took her a month of talking to my dad before they agreed to cut my hair. I loved my new look; I looked older and not like a child anymore.
Now, believe me, back then cutting my hair was a big modification. It takes small steps to get to where I am today. Thinking back it seems like such a simple and natural thing but at the time it was scary. I was scared to get my haircut and how I will look and my parent's responses. My dad hated it at first and said I ruined my hair but by the end of the year they got used to it and liked it.
It was around the 8th grade, my last year in middle school when I first dyed my hair. One of my first friends Tania had her hair highlighted and I loved it. It took me almost a year of begging, but my parents finally let me get my hair highlighted. I loved it, but it wore off after a few months and to save money I went to my sister (not really but I grew up with her) and she highlighted it again. After my sister, Tina, did my hair I looked in the mirror to realize she accidentally dyed my whole head blonde.
My parents hated my newly dyed hair and yelled at me, but again, they finally got used to it and all throughout high school I kept dying my hair. My parents finally got used to me dying my hair and even though they did not like it they let me doing it. I had blonde and red and black.
The first time I really seen and got into body piercing was when I was 16. I meet my boyfriend, Josh, when I was 15 and we were still together, he wanted to get his eyebrow pierced. Before that, the only body piercings I really seen was ear cartilages. I really liked the one on top of the ear, but it looked scary to get. I had my ears pierced twice with a gun before (once before I can remember and once when I was 10, my mom pressured me into it), but they were all healed back by then.
I will not lie; I stereotyped tattoo shops back then. I went with Josh to get his eyebrow pierced and I was shaking more than him. All the people that worked there scared me. They were tattooed and looked like troublemakers. I was scared when he left me alone to go get his eyebrow pierced, but it was fast and he came back and paid and we left. I was amazed when he said it did not hurt.
My parents thought his eyebrow was the stupidest thing ever and told me I better never get that done. Josh had it for about a year before having to take it out to get his first job. I never really thought of getting anything, until one day when I seen Tommy Lee, my favorite drummer used to have a Monroe piercing. I feel in love and for the next year or so I looked up pictures of this piercing and loved it to death.
I was really scared and delayed about a year to get it. I waited till I was 18 and then walked into the shop with Josh. I had passed the shop many times and chickened out, but finally Josh made me go and I am glad he did. I barely remember the experience now, but I loved it. My dad never noticed it until years later when I started collecting them and by this time my mom was loosing some of her memory, so some days she noticed and yelled about how I was ruining my body and others she did not really notice.
I had this piercing for a few months, I kept saying it was the best thing I every spent money on. I changed the ball all the time and loved it, but one day while out of town it feel out and I could not get it back in. I finally got it redone a few months later along with my Labret.
I thought that was the end of my piercing and my parents hoped it was. I went to college and loved the looks I got and compliments. My boyfriend decided about a year after that when I was 20 that he wanted his eyebrow redone and talked to me about getting my ears pierced again finally.
I got an eyebrow piercing with Josh spontaneously and then slowly started collecting piercings. My parents hate them and they cannot keep up with them now. Everyday it seems they are noticing a new one that has been there for months. I have plans for my first few tattoos and some pictures drawn up.
I started out small as cutting my hair and ended up with 21 piercings and 3 tattoos in mind. Around the time I was 15 I used to cut myself to deal with my anger and then I met Josh who helped me change.
Body modification is not a cry for attention; it is me expressing myself. I hate when people make bad comments about me, but I have learned that I should be me and not care what others think. I love every piercing and every piercing has a story even if it is a shallow one like I think it is cute or a deep one like it symbols something to me. I am striving to make a collection of piercings and tattoos that mean something personal to me.
Body modification is an art to honor the body and show who we are. I am not a stereotype. I am not a big sex addict (even though that would not be a problem... just a stereotype sometimes) or a criminal. I am just a young adult that wants people to see me for who I am. Piercings help define me and show my personality. They are a type of jewelry like a bracelet, but they stay there and you cannot really loose them. They add features to a body and praise your body.
I no longer stereotype people that are modified. I look at them with wonder and respect. I have friends that work in our local tattoo shop and I hang out there all the time. I see all the young faces walking in scared and smile to myself knowing that I was in that position once. Times have changed for me and I am glad that I am now educated and experienced in body modification.
In the end what really matters is I love my piercings and I love myself.