A daughter's right, a parent's fear.
At A Glance Author Millie Contact [email protected] IAM MilllieB When N/A Ever since I was about 5 I've longed to be pierced and tattooed but with both of my parents being very negative to even the smallest of modifications this was only made possible when I became 16 and even then every time I added another piercing to my skin I lived in dread of what my mam was going to say.
Since my first piercing I've grown so much, I've grown to learn that being pierced for me certainly isn't a fashion statement, it is at just gone 17 a way of life. Every move I make I think "will this affect the way my piercing heals?" I, like everybody else, have the right to express myself and body piercings don't hurt anybody else. I do it for my own pleasure. My parents have always taught me that tattooed people are drug addicts, hookers etc and deep down I knew this wasn't the case. Some of my friends who have stuck by me through thick and thin are tattooed, pierced, scarred etc. and not one of them does drugs.
I came to realise from my tongue piercing that my parents were never going to accept me whilst I had metal/acrylic in my skin but I soon learnt that piercings gave me the confidence and strength I had yearned for. Was I willing to sacrifice my own happiness for somebody elses? No and I'm glad I made that choice as there has been times in the past year that I wouldn't have got through without the strength being pierced has given me nor without the people I have met through it. As much as I respect my mother I am certainly not willing to risk being the vunerable scared girl I was prior to obtaining piercings. From the moment I got my navel piercing almost a year ago I became the "bad person" "the freak" and "the stupid cow" but in reality I am none of those things.
I can see why my mother is hostile towards modified people but I won't accept that as a way to make me conform to what society wants me to be.
In the past year I certainly have learnt a lot of lessons and gained a lot of knowledge. I learnt that my parents are always going to frown upon one of the most important things in my life. I gained the knowledge that body modification is one of the few things that truly inspires me to create a person that I am proud to be, regardless of the fact that my very judgemental parents will probably never understand my need to change and modify my body in order to survive the world in which I live in.
Being modified has also taught me that although my parents probably have my best interests at heart they are not always the right things for the time in my life that I'm at right now. I learnt that I had to sacrifice a great deal in order to reach the stage I'm at right now. Body modification has not only created a journey of growth and challenges for me but also for my parents.
I think everybody who has seen me discover my inner beauty through body modification has grown to realise that it is not just something I planned to irate my parents or to hurt them in any way. What started as something I thought looked nice, allowed me to change beyond my own expectations and gain the strength, ambition and control that I desperately needed in order to come of the road of self destruction.
I learnt that I have the mental strength to over come peoples judgements and prejudice. My parents will I'm sure always fight against my passion to be modified but I will continue to modify my body with the strength and passion in which it was intended. Although I'm only 17 I'm happy with everything I've done to my body, even the piercings I have removed will contain memories that I will forever embrace and wear with pride because everything I've done so far has a hidden meaning that I share with very few people. My parents don't understand how a piece of 1.6mm by 14mm titanium can bring me so much joy and happiness. I intend to be inked, implanted and scarred at a later date and my parents will try and suppress the need I feel to do such things but I am my own person and a persons judgement alone is not enough to control my opinions on body modification.
I think everybody will agree that some people take their rights to change their own skin more seriously than others and for me this is certainly serious. I'm modified, not nasty,