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Body Modification (General; Miscellaneous)

carole said:
Nowadays people have gone in for all sorts of piercings, tattoos and body modifications. Something I haven't noticed yet: the lip disc like some of the Amazon indians wear.

Only a matter of time, I suppose.

Carole

could be... seems its mostly done to frighten parents anyway..so why not!
 
When I see a young person with facial piercings, I always wonder "So, do you not intend to work, later in life? Or did you even think about how well 11 rings in your face would fly in a job interview?"
 
i nearly always think...what an awful juicy spot they have on their face...
 
sidecar_jon said:
i nearly always think...what an awful juicy spot they have on their face...

gag reflex inadvertantly activated!:cross eye
 
I find facial peircings disgusting. I mean, not revolting, but ass backwards ugly. ESPECIALLY lip rings. My ex-girlfriend got her nose and eyebrow peirced... I got used to them, but damn was she mad when I didn't pretend to love them. The most I could manage was saying they were "okay". Which was true, I guess.
But I like to hope, through ugly faces I made whenever she mentioned it, that I dissuaded her from getting a stupid tatoo of song lyrics on her FOREARM.
 
when i see a girl with a nose to ear chain i imediately think theyve had a long boogie wipped round by the wind..... lips rings look like they lost a fight with a curtain ring.... eyebrow pierceings they look like acne...
 
peircings and tatts

Carole- I had my tongue peirced a few years ago. Believe it or not, it actually isn't that bad. It hurts, but not nearly as bad as you'd think considering what you're actually doing. The worst part is right afterwards when you rinse your mouth out with the stingy stuff and your tongue swells to fill your whole mouth.:blah:
Unfortunately for me, my tongue ring came out in my mouth while I was asleep on a road trip only about a month after it had healed. I awoke as I swallowed it whole. I didn't have anything to fill the hole, so I lost my beloved tongue ring. :mad:
Oh well, I still have my bellybutton peirced.
I was supposed to have a sun tatted onto my right shoulder, but I have been to much of a wimp to go get it done. For some reason I am scared of tattoos. I don't see how those cat people get tats all over their faces. Ouch! :cross eye :
 
I just had a courier come through the office -- he looked frighteningly like Rik from "The Young Ones", except for
the multiple piercings on his face.
He even had the tatty suit on!
LOL

TVgeek
 
I don't mind the odd bit of piercing on another person (I don't think I'll ever do it myself). Some people do go too far, but the same can be said of anykind of accessorising.

With regards the more extreme body modifications: I am continuall surprised that we are yet to hear of anyone having their ears pointed to look like an elf or a Vulcan (or even a Romulan). More surprising (given the surge in interest over the last decade or so), no-one seems to have been surgically modified to look like a Klingon. (Not TOS Klingons. obviously as they were just humans with funny haircuts and dark makeup.) Surely if the Cat guy, or the leopard guy, or the snake guy can find surgeons willing to do this for them, there must be some overly obsessed Trekkie out there who can get bumps put on his forehead.

And for all you people talking about how painful a tongue piercing would be, what about a Prince Albert, or the female equivalent? Even the idea of piercing the periphery of the groinal region makes me cringe.
 
anome said:
And for all you people talking about how painful a tongue piercing would be, what about a Prince Albert, or the female equivalent? Even the idea of piercing the periphery of the groinal region makes me cringe.

God yeah - I had several piercings in my ears, including one in the cartliage bit at the top which hurt so much I had to take it out after a few days (couldn't sleep even, and I've got a high pain threshold) so what it'd feel like in the trouser department I'd rather not dwell on :eek:.

Prince Albert, apparently named after Queen Victoria's consort, who allegedly had one: as Jack Dee pointed out, there's no indication of this on the Albert Memorial :).

Stu
 
Not one noted for his philospohical output on life BUT Ozzy Osboune seems to have it right when he said.......

"If you want my opinion on tatoos, and you want to be f*****g different, don't have one."

As with many things in life, the attempt to be different leads people into becoming all the more the same.
 
body mod's

Has it ever occured to you guys that people get piercings and tattoos because they like them,not to shock others or 'be different', and that it's other people that have the problem?
Sure, i understand that they don't go down too well at job interviews but that's due to the interviewers prejudice isn't it
I've always wanted scarlet red hair and it's my work that prevents me from having it, i'd probably work better cos i'd be happier but working in an office means it's a no go.
People should be able to look as they wish in this day and age but it's 'stick in the mud' social pressure that stops them.
How would you like it if they banned your cardigans and slippers?!
 
I hope I don't offend anyone, but I hate it when people get piercings/tattoos because it's trendy or looks cool. I find that to be on par with women who get breast implants to only please their husbands/conform to society's standards/whatever. The local news did this segment on this young woman who got her ear cartilage pierced because it was trendy, and it got infected, and now she needs plastic surgery because the ear ended up becoming severely deformed. I was very upset when I saw this and muttered some pretty choice words at the TV.

I have several piercings, and I investigated fully what the dangers would be. I researched them online and read many horror *and* happily satisfied stories. I read reviews about the various piercing parlors in my area, and chose the one with the best reputation. I thought through it long and hard, and because of circumstances waited several months to get pierced (ear barbell and eyebrow). When someone doesn't completely think through their choice to get pierced/tattooed (including how they'll look when their 80 yrs. old or if they'll be able to find a job) I can only wonder how they badly they make decisions in other parts of their life.

I think people have to decide wisely about anything they do to their bodies, be it piercings, smoking, drinking alcohol, doing drugs, eating, exercising, having sex, etc. I don't care if you're a pierced, vegan pothead who's only had one sexual partner and works out 3 times a week, or if you're a swinging party guy/gal who loves red meat but doesn't drink or smoke; whatever, as long as you know the consequences and have weighed the pros and cons. Do whatever you want, but be informed about your choices!

Also, aesthetics is partly, but not only the reason for my body mods, and, as I've stated before, it cheeses me off when people do it for only that one reason. I may be overly-sensitive, but I actually took an Anthropology class on body modification, and there are many more reasons for it than simply attention, including but not limited to: expression of renewed strength (for abused women or those that felt inferior because of their former station in life), a symbol of adulthood/a passage into a new part of life, a critique of the body's role in society and how society values it according to how well it fits the norm, a spiritual/religion sign of ultimate devotion, proof of physical strength, etc.

My main reasons for getting pierced, while guided by their aesthetic worth, were primarily because I wanted to retake control of my body. I had severe medical problems for a while, and it was that uncertainty, the fact that my body could betray me, that I think spurred my walking into the piercing shop. I had been contemplating piercings before, but I finally had the courage, the strength, to do so after I recovered. For me, it's an expression of my dominion over my body, a symbol of my physical strength, and my connection to a different part of society (that is becoming more and more accepted), and I guess that's what the tiger guy, the tattooed ladies, whoever, are all doing.

Of course, I live in Austin, aka the liberal enclave of Texas, so I can say that there are so many students who walk around looking like me that it's not weird anymore, and that most of them can get jobs either way. I was admiring the Wendy's cashier's nose piercing the other day, and my body mod Anthro professor (a nice woman in her early 40s) sported an eyebrow piercing the entire semester.

Okay, I've blathered on long enough, sorry about the long-windedness! :D
 
carole said:
Nowadays people have gone in for all sorts of piercings, tattoos and body modifications. Something I haven't noticed yet: the lip disc like some of the Amazon indians wear.

Only a matter of time, I suppose.

Carole

I regret that I saw a woman with a 1" plug in her bottom lip, at a car boot sale back in the summer Carole.:(

She was white & aged about 40, so no excuse for ethnic reasons or inmaturity!!!!!!!!
 
I don't have any piercings and nor do I want any, but I can understand and respect the wishes of those who do. I think when people ridicule those with piercings, it's just because of the old fear of what's different.
Most people on this board would claim to be open-minded, but the generalisms being thrown about here seem to make me think otherwise. You can't possibly know the motivations of all the people who ever wanted a piercing, or a tatoo or any other mod for that matter.

Does anyone have any opinions about other body mods, like scarification? It appeals to me if only for the scab picking element.
:D
pinkle
 
Stu Neville said:
God yeah - I had several piercings in my ears, including one in the cartliage bit at the top which hurt so much I had to take it out after a few days (couldn't sleep even, and I've got a high pain threshold) so what it'd feel like in the trouser department I'd rather not dwell on :eek:.

Prince Albert, apparently named after Queen Victoria's consort, who allegedly had one: as Jack Dee pointed out, there's no indication of this on the Albert Memorial :).

Stu

and the PA feels great (as posted by me elsewhere on the board IIRC).

One or to *ahem* extreme example on the BME website too.

I agree with MsClaireVoyant on the tongue, it doesn't hurt as muchas you would think. In comparison to the cartilage in the ear (which was agony as Stu Neville noted). I do remember posting something about this kinda thing before so I appologise for any repetiton but from experience:

Tongue, eyebrow and lip no problem.
Septum (middle bit of the nose) VERY sensitive for about a week after (and you get a weird smell occuring too :eek: )
Ears, the cartilage was a pain and there is no going back from a stretched lobe. I am stuck at 6mm now (was 10mm which allowed for interesting cigarette through lobe tricks in the pub).
Nipples are painful to get done and take an age to heal (beware of aging sag too!!)
Everything lower just gets all jumbled up but it can be rewarding from a pleasure point of view (once healing has finished and you are back up to speed so to speak).

Anyway, a good publication that might help you to grasp at the motivations behind all this is the re:search, modern primitives which covers regional modifications, trends, techniques and personal accounts (tattooing piercing and scarification are covered).

Incidentally I look quite normal seeing I have only my earlobe and eyebrow visible to the public. The lip and ears have since passed into the history of my youth.

Opinions on other forms of modification? As long as it is done to the willing by the trained and is all consensual, why not? Just make sure the motivations are correct and its not all just a fashion statement. Rings and things can be removed but ink and scars and removal of pieces is a tad more permanent. Though that maybe what the individual is seeking.
 
punychicken said:
...Nipples are painful to get done and take an age to heal (beware of aging sag too!!)
But if you have your nipples pierced and your ears pierced then age sag need not be too much of a problem ... :D
 
carole said:
I've always imagined that having one's tongue pierced would hurt like hell - I mean really hurt . . .

When my mother returned from a trip to Malta, she brought me some postcards featuring wax museum figures performing various acts of medieval torture.

One postcard featured tongue piercing. It used to be done as a punishment for a first offense for blasphemy.

Great. Agonizing tortures of the past are being embraced by the youth of today for shits and giggles. That's a sure sign society's on the upswing.

Not to mention their enhancement to a BJ is minimal at best.
 
Does anyone have any opinions about other body mods, like scarification? It appeals to me if only for the scab picking element

I imagine that a lot of people who go in for scarification do it for the look aswell, ive seen some really good art simply scarred out on someones body, although i wouldnt do it myself (although i dont know why really) i think that if it is well done it does look good. With self scaring of course there is also the depressed element, although i can honestly say that when i tried it out on my leg it was more out of curiosity and bordem than because i was unhappy in anyway
 
Never attempted branding or scarification but I do have several bigish scars from a road accident when I was 17. Initially I was more than a bit pished off with them. But their existance (on me) now taps into a deeper sense of history that has played itself out on my flesh (I know what I'm talking about, honest!).

And in a way it is this sense of wearing a scar, tattoo or modification that can mark out or declare to the 'tribe' or family that you as an individual have passed onto a new stage in your life.
 
I think tattoos look tacky to be honest, but then I have friends who have them and they like them, so I keep quiet. lol
I just wonder what these ppl with permanent modifications to their bodies will do when they are older?
An old woman with a rose on her shoulder would be bad enough, but an old woman with cats whiskers? :err:
 
Spooky's just being duplicitous. I know for a fact she has piercings she can't disclose in polite company! ;)
 
I agree with every word there Caroline.

And good god woman, you're damnably sexy when you're angry ;)
 
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