Yates Monteith
Mr. Jacques, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Baly, Ms. Ellerbe
Senior Exhibition
03/29/04
Holes of My Own
The human body is a unique canvas that has been decorated in many ways for millennia by people all over the world. Since the beginning of human history, people have embellished their bodies for many reasons, but there is no known culture in which people do not paint, pierce, tattoo, reshape, or simply adorn their bodies. Whether with permanent marks like tattoos or scars, or temporary decorations like makeup, clothing, and hairstyles, body art is a way of signaling an individual's place in society, marking a special moment, celebrating a transition in life or simply following a fashion. (AMNH)
Whether through lavish styles of dress, exorbitant amounts of makeup, or numerous other outward forms of expression, American society has largely turned a blind eye towards such expressionary decoration. However, within the past one hundred fifty years, America has developed a thriving body modification culture with a following that encompasses millions (Reybold 6). Nonetheless, the majority of society has deemed this form of body adornment taboo. The masses have decided that body modification should not be commonplace for most people and have relegated to the lost youth and the hopeless dregs of society (6). For this paper, I defined body modification as the reshaping or alteration of ones body by artificial means. For the purpose of this paper, tattooing, piercing, scarification, and extremist modification in particular; however, this definition is also inclusive to the use of corsets and bras, breast implantation and reduction, the use of makeup, and the many other practices people engage in to beautify their bodies. I sought to find a reason for body modification through my research, as it is often seen as nothing more than self-mutilation. However, I found that no one reason can be pinned to any one aspect of body modification, but rather each form of body modification should be looked at separately in its own distinct categories: piercings, tattoos, scarifications, and extremist body modification.
After much research and many interviews, I have found that the reasons for piercings range from fulfilling a fashion trend to the personification of an inner character. On the other hand, tattoos are primarily in remembrance, whereas scarification is usually an isolated action often performed in order to regain control of one’s body. Finally, the more extreme body modifications, like suspension, trucking, and splitting, have a very wide variety of reasons ranging from just the experience all the way to the shock value of the modification. It is important to investigate the history and acquire information on the background of each of these subjects before making any kind of analysis of why people modify their bodies.
For this assignment, I have divided my paper into four distinct sections: piercings, tattoos, scarifications, and extremist modifications. Each section contains information on the different types of modifications, the history of them, and interviews with people that have pursued these modifications. I conducted my interviews exclusively online, posting a series of questions on different community message boards devoted to body modification. My interviews consisted of questions on where, when, why they were modified, and retrospective feelings towards their modifications. I allowed for elaboration, and asked additional questions based on their answers to my first questions if I thought it was necessary. In total, I conducted close to fifty different interviews. The age of most subjects was between sixteen and thirty.
Piercings
We are modern people… desperate to find our own inner images of resonance that tell us who we are. We are searching through our bodies for the sounds and images of our own personal gods that have all but gone silent. (qtd. in Gay & Washington 25) Existing over two thousand years ago, the ritual of piercings in a society can be found all over the world, in both ancient and modern times. In ancient civilizations, the place that one pierced differed by the location of that tribe, with reasons for the piercings ranging from the practical to the occult. Romans, for instance, pierced their nipples not only in a display of loyalty to their emperor, but also to keep their cloaks in place (Reybold 81). However, garment accessorization is not the only body modification that they performed. Romans also pierced the foreskin of slaves and athletes (100). It was pierced in a such manner that the subject was rendered impotent. Furthermore, it is inferred that this was used as a counter-reproduction effort in slaves, and a method of saving energy for events among athletes (100). On the other hand, as we move farther west geographically, we encounter the Aztecs and Mayans, along with other Native Americans who pierced themselves. In what seems to many as an occult practice, the Aztecs and Mayans pierced their tongues in order to communicate with their gods (84). The higher castes of Aztecs also adorned their lips with gold for aesthetically pleasurable reasons. As I will later discuss, religious reasons are not only a largely acceptable reason for piercing, but also a common practice today. However, body piercing did not make its modern debut to the world until the 1970s with the advent of the American and British punk rock movement: “The next wave of Western tattoos and body ornamentation began with the rise of the punk movement in the late 1970s and 1980s, in forms more overtly grim, political, and rebellious in expressive intent” (qtd. in Lloyd 63). This, coupled with the rise of gay activism in the 1980s largely contributed to the growth of the piercing culture. Piercings found a new home in the punk rock scene, due to their inherently alienating qualities and the shock value associated with them. Punk rockers had a common quality of alienation from the population, and piercings only accentuated this quality. Furthermore, the shock value of the punk rock style was only embellished by that of piercings. However, the second boom of piercings during the 1970s and 1980s was brought about by a much different group of people in a much different way. After the rise of homosexuality during the 1970s, gay men began to signify their homosexuality by piercing their right ear on the lobe (Gay & Washington 38). Along with this practice, the saying “Left is right, and right is wrong” came about as a reminder to men who wanted to pierce their ears (38).
The advent of the 1990s brought to life a new age of piercings, and with this advent also came a new style. Piercings were no longer simple ear and nose studs, but rather elaborate projects requiring inspiration and in many cases large amounts of preplanning. No longer limited to just the ears and face, piercers suddenly saw themselves as artists working on a canvas.
While ear piercings are some of the most common piercings found today, the limit of piercings, like many other art forms, knows no bounds. Every day new, more complex, more intricate piercings are created, like spiral helixes, or double helixes. Piercings are combined to form new piercings, which could only be conceived through surgical genius. But there are far too many piercings to document in this paper.
Many sources during my research attested that the decision to get a piercing is nothing more than following a fad (Reybold 7), and many of my interviews seemed to back up this statement. In many cases when a girl gets her ears pierced, it can be concluded that it was done for more superficial reasons than the reasons some of the people I interviewed. However, even those who partake in complex ear projects and piercings of a more extreme sort also justify their piercings with nothing more than ‘I thought it looked neat.’ One subject, Andromeda Walker, whose piercings totaled twenty-four, including three major ear projects and two genital piercings, responded to the question of why she had her piercings done, “[I got them] because I thought they looked good, or just for fun” (Walker).
These reasons account for only a small part of the spectrum of answers I received, and the more people I interviewed, the more depth their answers revealed. While this idea was not supported in any of the written research I have done, many subjects, along with my personal experience, attested to the idea that piercings are addictive. Another subject, Jessica Finger, whose piercings included a major navel project and over ten other piercings, in addition to saying that she got her piercings for stylish purposes, also said:
I think piercings are addictive because it gives you an adrenaline rush like no other. For me it gives me a sense of happiness because I know that I went through with something that I wanted and didn’t back down. So after awhile, I begin craving that adrenaline rush again and then I scope out a new area to “decorate.” (Finger)
Another subject, who preferred to remain anonymous, says his reasoning for eleven of his twelve piercings was addiction:
[…] Next came one nipple because I became addicted. Then the other nipple and both nose rings because, well, I’m addicted. Last came the surface bar project which was all [seven] holes at the same time, again, because I’m addicted. (Anonymous)
This theory of addiction does not hold true for all people who are pierced, as it leaves no explanation for those who get only a few piercings. Nor does it apply to every person with a large number of piercings; furthermore, one reason does not encompass the reason for every body modification or every piercing. One man I interviewed, Kyle Guerin, had a list of different reasons, with nearly a new one for each piercing:
My first two were for a girl. After that, I saw people with stretched lobes, and I thought it looked cool. I liked them, so I got them. Then I wanted an ear project. So I got my third hole done and made an orbital. I haven’t seen anyone with anything like I have. (Guerin)
In the above quotation, he lists a number of different reasons. The first two were from an element of peer pressure. His next modification, an ear-lobe stretching, was for reasons of style. His third modification, a major ear project, can be explained by the addictive nature of piercings. Like many of my subjects, Kyle modified his body not only for three different reasons, but also for three vastly different reasons; however, this was not the first, or the only subject who had such a long list of reasons.
However, there are still more reasons. Another woman I interviewed, Alyx Koutrobis, stated that she got her nipples pierced for practical reasons, more specifically, she found them “[…] sexually stimulating” (Koutrobis). But, that was not her only reason. Like many people, she feels that her piercings are a way of reclaiming her body as hers:
I got all of my modifications to test my pain tolerance and to have control over what is done to me. I've had a lot of things in my life taken over by others and my body mods are one of the last things left that I have control over. (Koutrobis)
This reason is especially popular among women. This trend is even stronger in women who have been raped, who often see genital piercings as a way of reclaiming their sexual freedom and their control over their bodies (Larratt “People in Glass Houses”). Shannon Larratt, editor of Body Modification Ezine, writes:
After all, we [the modification community] hold up as a hero the woman who reclaims her body with a genital piercing after being raped. We don't even think to point out that maybe she's now a headcase that's carrying on the abuse by mutilating her genitals — because we know that's not true.
While there are still hundreds, even thousands of other reasons to be pierced, these were the main and the most common reasons to be piercings.
Tattoos
Tattoos are fundamentally a means of expressing identity, both personal and collective. Tattoos inscribe a person’s relationship to a society to others, and to him or herself, and they do so in a manner that is visible not only to the wearer but to others as well. Except when worn in private areas, tattoos are meant to be read by others. For this reasons, tattoos as identity markers are not merely private expressions of the need to write oneself, but they express the need for others to read them a certain way as well. (DeMello 103)
Tattoos have existed for thousands of years, in various forms, given for vastly different reasons. Permeating its way into mainstream America, tattooing has seen an exponential growth since the dawn of the twentieth century, with an estimated over ten million with tattoos in America (Reybold 72). Unlike piercings, the growth in tattoos has occurred not over the course of a few decades, but rather the span of nearly two centuries.
Dating back to even before ancient Greece and Rome, tattoos signified shame, punishment, honor, and a plethora of other reasons. Greeks and Romans used tattoos for very practical purposes. Often, they tattooed slaves on their foreheads with an inscription, “Stop me, I am a runaway slave!” (Gay & Washington 38). Furthermore, they often gave tattoos to people in order to mark their shame or disgrace, or simply to let the public know of their criminal behavior (38). On the other hand, Romans were not exclusively practical in their tattoos. Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) was often tattooed on the arms of men to signify enlistment in the Roman legion.
Mediterraneans were not the first to pioneer tattoos for practical purposes. Predating Rome by over two-thousand years, Otzi, a mummy found in Siberia, had over fifty tattoos adorning his body, arranged in fifteen lines along his back and legs (33). However, his tattoos were not only for decorative purposes, but rather, each of them was given for a specific purpose, many of which were medical. A large number of his tattoos were over chi and acupuncture points (34). Furthermore, eight of his tattoos were over areas where an x-ray confirmed that he suffered from arthritis (34). Finally, there was an X tattooed over his stomach where there was evidence of chronic worms.
While the pursuit of “inking” oneself has existed for over five thousand years, the rise of tattoos in the Western world has followed a less indigenous route. During excursions to the Orient in the seventeenth century, Europeans first viewed radically modified people, specifically in the Philippines. They saw the tattooed traditions of the Philippine people as mysterious and fanciful, and brought back several people as examples of tattoos. Shortly after this period, tattooing gained significant popularity among the European elite, specifically women (Reybold 4). Also during this time, there was a rise in the popularity of henna, a different method of tattooing. Created around 200 B.C., Henna was made from the shrubbery Lowsonia Inermis (31). Native to India, Pakistan, and other parts of the Middle East, Henna as ground up, dried, and mixed with water, oil, or certain juices to form an olive colored paste (32). Tea or other ingredients were added to darken the paste, which could be applied to skin in order to make a long lasting, but ultimately temporary tattoo. However, the henna method of tattooing lost its popularity in 1891 when Samuel O’Reily invented the first tattoo gun (43). The tattoo gun made tattooing affordable, and thus it gained popularity with the working class. At merely $3 a tattoo, the working class of America could now associate themselves with the elite of Europe (6). As tattoos gained popularity among the working class, their popularity among the elite began to dwindle (4).
There were still many problems with tattoos though. Nearly all of the first tattoo parlors were located in bad parts of town, most notably in New York City’s Bowery, or Chicago’s Skid Row (7). As years passed, tattoos began to be associated with more seedy individuals, most notably sailors and enlisted men. The most significant example supporting this idea is everyone’s favorite cartoon character, Popeye. Sporting anchors symmetrically tattooed on both arms, Popeye has been a walking example of a large number of early tattoo enthusiasts. However, after many decades, the appeal of tattooing faded from the minds of the working class, and now was solely for the sailors and ruffians of port cities. At one point in the 1950s, tattooing became so infamous among unruly types that it was banned from Norfolk, VA, the biggest military harbor on the East Coast. Surprisingly, the Navy still allows tattoos under certain precautions:
No tattoos/body art/brands on the head, face, neck, or scalp. Tattoos/body art/brands elsewhere on the body that are prejudicial to good order, discipline and morale or are of a nature to bring discredit upon the Navy are prohibited. For example, tattoos/body art/brands that are excessive, obscene, sexually explicit or advocate or symbolize sex, gender, racial, religious, ethnic or national origin discrimination are prohibited. In addition, tattoos/body art/brands that advocate or symbolize gang affiliation, supremacist or extremist groups, or drug use are prohibited. Tattoos/body art/brands will not be visible through uniform clothing. Waivers may be requested for prior service and existing tattoos from the Chief of Naval Operations. (DCMNO)
While their regulations are stringent, their allowance of tattoos reflects a long lasting tradition among not only the Navy, but all branches of the military.
It was not long after the Norfolk tattoo ban that the birth of the Tattoo Renaissance came into being. Since the advent of the tattoo gun, tattooing had become somewhat taboo, something only the most seedy individuals of society would partake of. Because of the rejection that this form of body art experienced, tattooing became very popular among the counter-culture in the1960s hippie era (Reybold 47). As tattooing gained increasing popularity among the youth of that time, tattoo artists became more sophisticated, not only in their establishments, but also in their work. No longer were “old school” tattoos, like ships, women, and “mother,” in style, but rather they became complex (56). Much like the Italian Renaissance, artists experience great inspiration, transforming the industry from some neat trick to something artful, with meaning. As another decade passed, tattoo artists became much more secular in their tattoos. With the 1980s came a very popular style of tattoo: Kanji (11). Kanji, a very common tattoo today, was a type of Japanese symbol which people used to tattoo a phrase onto their body. Phrases like “sworn brothers,” “within the depths of sorrow, there is joy,” and other seemingly sentimental phrases were now appearing all over the bodies of modists. Twenty years later, we still see Kanji as one of the most common tattoos, especially among fraternity brothers and college students (10).
Still, as time passed, tattoos became more elaborate. As more and more people got tattoos, more and more types of tattoos came about. Another type, devotion tattoos, were usually done in remembrance of someone, especially a spouse or child. In efforts to reach out towards an alienated group of society, young evangelists displayed their reverence and belief through tattoos (24). Among prison inmates, Marijuana, #13, the letter M, birds, roses, snakes, and images of death were all very popular tattoos often for their hidden meanings(59). With the coming of the 90s and the new century, still more tattoo choices came about.
Each type of tattoo, each tattoo, and each person gives different reasons for being inked. Reasons for getting a tattoo range from the obscure to the specific, from fiercely internal to external exhibition of oneself. One person I interviewed, who will be named Jack Smith, described his tattoo as a kanji for raven with a purple outline along the tattoo on his left leg, above the ankle. When asked why, he explained, “I've always had an affinity for animals, and I'm always interested in meanings of names and Japanese culture. All three tie together for a unique marking on my body” (Smith). This external representation of a person is the reason to get inked for thousands, if not tens of thousands of individuals. A more common reason for those getting inked can be labeled introspective. Corrie Anderson, during an interview, talked about his tattoos, “Multa Docet Fames,” which in Latin means “hunger teaches many things,” and a Celtic star on his right wrist. However, his reasoning varied slightly from Jack’s: while Jack got his tattoo as a symbol of him, Corrie got his for different reasons:
The quote [Latin] is just something I felt I needed because it represents a huge stage in my life. […] I went through a lot and grew a lot, and I wanted to remember those things. The star I got more because I just liked the way it looked, but there are also some things that go along with it. It kind of just represents where I've been and what I am still capable of achieving. (Anderson)
While Corrie did not go into in depth analysis of why he got his tattoo, it is apparent that he got it for intensely personal reasons. In his book Customizing the Body: The Art and Culture of Tattooing, Clinton Sanders suggests that the primary reasons for tattoo acquisition are the pleasure of the experience, a new experience, exotic contact, the ritual, a social display of characteristics, courage, strength, et cetera, or to alter your self definition, make yourself more beautiful, unique, connected, or belonging. Ph.D. candidate Anne Velliquette, however, disagrees with Sanders, proving with Corrie that his commentary is too broad: “Your body is the one thing you have utlimate control over. Tattoos are a way of committing yourself to something permenant and stable, of recording who and what you are right now… the traditional stereotype is gone” (qtd. in Lloyd 12).
Much like piercings, many people make claims to an addictive element of them. Corrine Williams, who I interviewed, said:
I absolutely love tattoos, and I think that if you choose a tattoo that has a deep, personal meaning to you, it's one of the greatest ways to artistically express yourself. If it weren’t for the standards that are set by employers and the fact that I want a great job in the future, I would be working on tattoos from head to toe. They're incredible. (Williams)
Another person I interviewed, Jay Austin, had the logo from the Black Label Skateboarding Company tattooed on his upper arm. Sporting the red flame, he said, “Skateboarding was a large part of my life for a while, and I always wanted to remember it” (Austin). It seems that the majority of people are getting tattoos as a symbol of something to themselves or an outward expression of themselves. Not surprising, very few people get tattoos because of a fashion trend, most likely due to the longevity of a tattoo. However, those wishing a more permenant and significant depiction might turn towards scarification, tattooing’s darker, more twisted twin.
Scarification
“Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point” (qtd. in Larratt “People in Glass Houses”). While tattoos and piercings seem to be increasingly mainstream ways to modify your body, still there are new and more extreme ways to get the same effect. Scarification and other modifications, however, are seen in a negative light when compared to piercings or tattoos, due to their enigmatic place in society. Scarification, the process of scarring oneself in a tattoo-like manner, is not a new invention of body modificationists, but rather dates back thousands of years. Most commonly practiced by tribes in New Guinea and Australia, scarification has found increasing, but still minimal, popularity among the devout body modificationists of America very recently.
While scarification seems to be merely a more extreme way of tattooing oneself, several other factors come into play when considering this form of body modification. While it could be loosely argued that piercings and tattoos are forms of self-mutilation, scarification carries the stigma of self-injurers and cutters in addition to those wishing to devote part of their body to something more important to them. While many people scar to show devotion to something important to them in a more permanent way than a tattoo, still more cut themselves not for artistic purposes, or aesthetic reasons, but rather as an emotional release.
Despite the relative ease of getting them, and even the lack of pain in some procedures, there are still very limiting factors to scarification that keep it from being a mainstream art form, or even a form of body modification. While tattoos and piercings are often seen as legitimate body modifications, there are people who question the validity of the reasons for scarification, seeing it as nothing more than self mutilation. The ranks of those in support of scarification as an art form are few, and the majority of the public sees nothing more than “cutters” or “self-injurers” in those who scar (Larratt “People in Glass Houses”). Among people I interviewed, some very reasonable and logical reasons for their scarifications surfaced; on the other hand, not all reasons I was given would be considered socially acceptable by every reader. Mentioned previously, Kyle Guerin, defended his scarification, a branded star around his right nipple, by saying, “Everyone has piercings, and very few people have even heard of branding. I don’t want to be like everyone else. I want to set my self different from what society is and stands for” (Guerin). Not everyone I interviewed used scarification as an exclusionary device against society. Erika Kweller, veteran modificationist and owner of Slingin’ Inc. Tattoos and Piercings in Brooklyn, explains her scar:
I have three X's above my knuckles on both my hands. In 8th grade when I first claimed the edge [straight edge] my edge friends gave them to me to welcome me into the group. I don’t regret them because they are from something I am proud of. (Kweller) Very similar to reasons for tattoos, many people get scarifications for devotional purposes, much like Kweller. Kewller’s experience very accurately mimics an example given by author Margaret Mead, “Formally the adolescent boy faced tattooing, a painful, wearisome proceeding additionally stressed by group ceremony and taboo” (qtd. in Wilkinson 96). However, there is still a darker side to scarification than the devotion or remembrance, or initiation.
One subject I interviewed, Jane Doe, who had a total of five scars across her left shoulder, claimed, “[I regret them] very much so. I did it stupidly out of anger, but generally, I do like scarification. If I had done it on my own terms, I would have been happy” (Doe). Such reckless and anger driven motivation to scar yourself lends great leverage towards those that feel that scarification is nothing more than self-mutilation, and as the picture above shows, in many cases it is nothing more than self-mutilation. However, scarification is not the final front of body modification, and is nowhere near the most inventive and radical forms of the art.
Extreme Modifications
Labeled by the author as extremist body modifications, the far reaches of body modification are dominated by such operations as trucking, pulling, tongue-splitting, implanting, and others. These operations make scarifications look like everyday occurrences in the eyes of the unmodified. However, often these individuals are seen only as self-injurers in the eyes of others because of the obscurity of their modifications. But, at this point of modification, it truly is an art form, as Kweller says, “It’s amazing. I’ve found over the years that anything is really possible. I’ve pierced places that I didn’t know could be pierced, and so much more can be done. Certain things I refuse to do, but I know people will find someone to do it” (Kweller). At this point, modification is no longer broken into different categories, like ear projects, Celtic tattoos, or brandings, but rather they are limited only by what the modificationist wants, and what the artist is willing to do.
Of the subjects I interviewed, very few had extreme body modifications. These modifications are often so innovative and new that it is impossible to list a general reason that someone would have this done, or furthermore, to find enough people to come to a clear consensus. However, of subjects I have interviewed who have had extreme modifications done, most of their reasons were similar. Erika Kweller, having participated in suspensions and hangings over nine times, said “It's a mental thing. It gives you a natural high that cannot be described. We always try to top it [our previous hanging], but never to the point of anything dangerous. You always want to try something new every time” (Kweller).
Not everyone sees suspension as a competitive actions, but rather, Dan Johnson reported that his suspension, “Gave me [Johnson] a natural high like no other drugs in the world could.” The high is not the sole reason people suspend themselves either, but rather Andromeda Walker commented, “I guess you could say the biggest reason for suspension would be my lifelong obsession with flying” (Walker). But just as the modifications get more eccentric, so do the reasons for them.
I interviewed Hillary Williamson, veteran piercer and extreme body modificationist. With over twenty six piercings and three extreme modifications (one transdermal implant on her head, and two clavicle bars), Hillary says: Overall my view on my mods is this -- I would like to look like a robot trying to look like a person. I know it sounds really strange but I've always sort of seen myself as a larger than life celebrity type. Basically I know what I want to look like and rather than finding my ideal self through plastic surgery, I find it in jewelry and ink (Williamson).
Conclusion Finally, a conclusion must be made about these individuals who pierce, tattoo, scar and modify their bodies. Most in the body modification community see what they do as art; still more, however, see it as something spiritual (Gay & Washington 13). And yet, others feel a need for body modification as an outward expression of who they are (12); or as illustrated with the case of Alyx Koutrobis, it stems from a need to lay claim to one’s body (12). Regardless, most modificationists believe they should be able to decorate their bodies without needing to explain or justify their actions, and many people agree (16). Author Laura Reybold makes a good point: “Studies have shown that a large percentage of those who scar are young people who have suffered from some form of abuse and are seeking to reclaim control over their bodies” (Reybold 15). Reybold’s argument suggests that a large portion of the body modification community is modifying as a result of some form of abuse; in contrast, Shannon Larratt comments, “Self-injurers tend to describe their acts as a stabilizing force in their lives” (Larratt “People in Glass Houses”). Furthermore, Larratt comments that objectivity is not always the best way to look at modifications and those participating and that the context of modification should be accounted for. As found in many cases throughout this paper, just because someone is engaging in seemingly self-destructive activities it does not mean that the person is self-destructive. In Larratt’s article “People in Glass Houses,” Larratt summarizes, “If someone is hacking up their arm to get through life, then there are very likely problems in their life that need fixing — but don't ever assume that the injury is the problem. At best it's a symptom, and no one was ever helped by trying to suppress their symptoms” (Larratt).
Erin Simovic, columnist for The Oregon State Daily Barometer Online, sees things quite differently from Larratt, “I conclude, that these individuals either want to rebel from society or are simply not in their right minds. I tend to lean toward the latter myself, but feel free to form your own conclusions” (Simovic). However, Larratt and other piercing proponents adamantly defend their claims:
But we know that's not true because we've been there. After all, we hold up as a hero the woman who reclaims her body with a genital piercing after being raped. We don't even think to point out that maybe she's now a headcase that's carrying on the abuse by mutilating her genitals — because we know that's not true. We're thrilled to read the story of the young down-on-his-luck man who's feeling "reborn" after his first suspension — we would never say "well, if you thought he was messed up before, look at the sick stuff he's doing now, hanging from hooks!” (Larratt)
As previously mentioned, Larratt, and most modification proponents, realize that an objective view is not always the best standpoint from which to be analyzing modification. Context should be taken into account.
Despite what critics may say and journalists may write, the evidence stacks up. Incontrovertible testimony from subjects that I interviewed ultimately left me with several conclusions about modification. It seems from the amount of tattoos people I interviewed had, tattooing was a more mainstream modification; generally, it was used in the remembrance of someone, something, or an event. Another common reason was symbolization of oneself. Those with piercings generally liked a look more, and found, much like those who were inked, that piercings were an accurate description of who they are. However, more sincere reasons arose as I interviewed subjects. Many were pierced for sexual pleasurable reasons or the reclamation of ones body. Scarification seemed to be indicative of initiation processes, or an ultimate sign of devotion. Finally, those that pursued extreme modifications almost always associated the act with the high from suspension, or a dream made true through modification.
While the number of people with modifications dwindles as one goes from one end of the modification spectrum to the other, it is apparent through my research the total extent of modification in America. Not only is the subculture of body modification growing, but also the procedures have become an evolving art form. Within the last twenty years, the public has grown more tolerant of piercings and modifications and also has begun to embrace them. As the world becomes more modern, it is only probable that piercings and body modification will become more of a part of mainstream culture.