Yes, I realise I have a tattoo. Yes, I realise it's forever...

WARNING!!!

This blog contains pictures and videos containing graphic body modifications - especially the video links!!!

Body Modification: Body modification (or body alteration) is the deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, aesthetic reasons, denoting affiliation, trust and loyalty, religious reasons, shock value, and self-expression.

Body modification is a topic which raises many questions. While many people love the thought of basic body mods such as tattoos and piercings, many people feel disgusted at the thought that people would get deliberately branded, or have dermal implants placed into their skull. The truth is, that even the simplest body modification can change how people see us, and indeed how we see ourselves.

Some of the more commonly practised and well known body modification techniques include

• Ear, facial and body piercing - includes many parts of the ear, nose, lip, nipple and genital... to name a few
• Tattoos
• Male circumcision
• Breast surgery - implants, augmentation, nipple removal etc.
• Bodybuilding - although bodybuilding requires little/no surgery, it is often considered a type of body modification due to the extremity of which it changes the natural body shape
• Hair dying - colouring the hair unnatural colours is a modification. Obviously.
  

Commonly practised but less well known body modification types;

• Piercing Stretching - a piercing (most commonly the ear) is stretched to a variety of sizes to form a hole in the flesh. After the elasticity of the skin is passed, the hole will never completely heal.
• Microdermal and transdermal implants - a metal anchor is placed under the skin and a hole is made in the skin to allow a stud attached to the anchor to sit above the skin surface. Most commonly used on the forearm with a small stud or spike sitting on the skin.
• Subdermal implants - A piece of 3D metal placed fully under the skin. Several of these implants to cause a row of spikes/bumps is a common form of this implant.
• Surface piercings - A piercing which enters and exits a flat area of skin, often the nape of the neck.
• Branding - the burning of the skin and underlying tissue to cause permanent scarring.
• Scarrification- the cutting and removal of sections of skin to cause permanent scarring.
• Tongue Splitting - ... self explanatory really.
• Ear Shaping - The tops of the ears are re-shaped to resemble the ears of an elf/cat/lizard?...etc.
• Corsetry - binding of the waist to make the waist smaller - taken to EXTREME lengths... also known as tightlacing
  

Other types of body modification follow. Many of these are now extremely rare due to the extreme danger they cause. They have all existed at some point though...

• Pearling and anal stretching - Pearling is also known as anal beading... please don't make me explain that...
• Extraocular implant - This type of body mod is relativiely new. It involves a small poclet being cut into the outer layer of the eyeball and having a piece of dermal jewellery (I'm told the heart shape is very popular for this) inserted into that pocket.
• Nullification/amputation - the removal of body parts
• Cranial binding - the binding of a babys head to change the shape of it. Nice parenting, huh?
• Foot binding - common in Asia - small feet are a sign of beauty. And corns.
• Breast Ironing - The application of heat to a pre-pubescent girl to stop her breats growing.
• Trepanation - Drilling a hole in the skull. Although this was used to 'release the devil' pre-Victorian times, people also believed drilling a hole would 'air their brain' and make them more intelligent.
  

Currently, I have a total of 9 piercings, 2 ear piercings stretched to 12mm each, 8 tattoos covering my arms, back, leg, ribs and colar bone, the majority of my hair is pink and I'm seriously considering transdermal implants. It has not yet affected my ability to get a job, dettered people from talking to me or resulted in my family, none of which have any tattoos at all, disowning me. Perhaps I'm lucky, or perhaps the reason body mods haven't affected my life is because I didn't get them in order to do so. Unlike many people I know, my first tattoo wasn't simply a sign of rebellion. It wasn't to prove I was 'hard' because I could withstand pain. My first tattoo, and indeed the ones that did and will follow, was simply an expression of me.

One of the main concerns with body modification is the pain that it inflicts. People often say they've become 'addicted' to tattoos or piercings, and so it's understandablt that people would question why you would want to endure pain for... well, pleasure. It could be argued that the small amount of pain, if any is experienced, is worth the result. While I agree with this in terms of piercings, etc, I can't say that I'd be happy to sit for several hours while someone cuts sections of my skin off, just to be left with a pretty mean scar for the rest of my life. But some people honestly like this, and I suppose it's quite hard to just make a cut off point when it comes to body mods. If you're modified at all, is it not hypocritical to say that certain types of it are too extreme?

Through body modification, many people do hinder their chances of getting jobs. It's often the case that incredibly intelligent, able people get turned down for jobs because they have some modification which a company frowns upon. In many places, workers are asked to cover up their tattoos and take out their piercings, despite, in the majority of cases, them having no affect on the worker or their ability to do a good job.

On the other hand, having extreme body mods is almost a requirement for the job; Tattooists and piercers, especially. People can work in jobs for months before anyone notices they have a tattoo if it is in a place where it can be easily covered. Places such as The Planet nightclub or The Giffard Arms Pub in Wolverhampton seem to imploy only people with tattoos, piercings and incredibly crazy hair. Again, it can be argued that if the body mod isn't to an extent where it harms the ability to do a job properly, why shouldn't body mods be accepted in the workplace?

I asked my boss what the difference would be between hiring me for a job and hiring Jim, shown in the picture.

The jist of her reply was that tattoos and piercings, within reason, are generally accepted now by society. So many people have them that coming to get served a pint by a girl with tattoos isn't going to put them off and make them run a mile. However, if they were to be served by someone who bears a similar resemblance to the devil, they might not be so comfortable in ordering. Although I'm all for the expression of character, Jim here would of been an idiot to think that after undergoing such drastic procedures people wouldn't be shocked by his appearence, and it's likely that that was his intention. It's likely that Jim gets his fair share of pointing and shouting when he goes on his weekly shop, but he obviously likes the way he looks.





People are often a lot more shocked when they see people with body mods such as Jim than they are to see people like Katie Price, who has practically nothing natural left about her. Body Modification, most of the time, isn't about changing the features you have, it's about enhancing the way you look and expressing yourself. Plastic surgery procedures aren't about expression or individuality, it's simply about making yourself look, and feel, better. While people who undergo plastic surgery to become better socially accepted, people who undergo body mods do so to feel comfortable in themselves. To try new things and be a little 'out there'. In all fairness I would rather be covered in tattoos, piercings, scars and microdermal implants than feel like I had to change the way I look, in regards to physical features.

Response to Being Bad

In response to "Being Bad: Lecture 5 on masturbation"

I think you're right. Many people in the class did seem uncomfortable talking about the big 'taboo'of masturbation. I, however, was not one of them :)
It's understandable that not everyone is going to feel comfortable getting into a conversation about something like this, but there wasn't much discussion involved on our part.
Personally, I think the idea that men always look at porn and women are more private is sexist and pretty old fashioned. After all, the majority of people in the porn industry are women...

Week 12... because I still haven't made a suggestion...

Obvious suggestions for the last week would be places like Alton Towers, Amsterdamn etc., although I can't see how Alton Towers really relates to 'Being Bad', and I doubt it'd be everyones ideal day to sit in one of Damns legendary cafes... although please, consider the latter as a genuine suggestion.

I think it'd be an idea to have small discussion groups. The only real time we get to discuss our ideas is on these blogs. Of course, we're free to speak out in the lecture but with such a large group and the presentations being as long as they are we're limited on how much we can interact. Maybe if we could sit and talk to each other we'd hear a lot more opinions and possibly develop our own thoughts too. Yeah, not as interesting as Amsterdamn though, is it?

Sex for sale!

I was looking through some blogs from last weeks lecture and found something that I totally disagree with. I apologise that I can't remember the bloggers name or title.It wasn't the blogger him/herself, but the lnik that they used on a blog about prostitution. Quote;

"4. MYTH Women choose to enter prostitution. It’s better to choose to make lots of money as a prostitute than to choose to work at a minimum wage job like McDonald’s. FACT: It is profoundly unjust to declare that prostitution is an acceptable job for some women - those who are mostly poor, mostly women of color, mostly young. Prostitution is an intrinsically abusive institution and women stay poor in prostitution (although lots of cash passes through their hands on the way to pimps, stripclub managers, bartenders, taxi drivers, casino hosts and other predators). " http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/c-laws-about-prostitution.html

Now, obviously, I'm intelligent enough to know that the majority of prostitues do get forced into it. I'm also intelligent to work out that there are roughly three other groups. Firstly, there are the prostitutes who have an unfortunate crack addiction and sell their body to buy a rock or two. I'm not going to suggest that this addiction is always the fault of the woman, but, generally, if you're addicted to shit like that you're going to do whatever it takes to earn some cash for it. Secondly, we have the high upper-class escorts. Despite what people say, this is still prostitution. Obviously, not all escorts choose to sleep with their 'date', but many do. I'm pretty sure they'd argue with the above 'FACT' that they get little money for their job. Finally, we have women that very simply love sex! The type that will never complain about having a headache or being tired. I'm neither for or against prostitution in all fairness, but it seriously annoys me when I read things like this that generalise and sterotype. It cannot be denied that prostitution is mainly associated with pimping, rape, sexual abuse etc, but sometimes... well, it's just not.

Also, I don't think that using the idea that prostitutes have little money because of 'bartenders and taxi drivers' is a very good arguement. That's where most students spend their money on weekends.

Antichrist

It's weeks infront of the lecture on films, but last night I was unfortunate enough to watch Antichrist, a film by Lars Von Trier. It was mentioned in Bizarre magazine a few weeks ago, and they said it was incredibly gory so, being into blood and guts, I downloaded it.

I seriously had to rewind and watch the first 2 minutes of the film several times. Willem Dafoe, the goblin from the film Spiderman, was penetrating some naked chick in the shower. It wasn't some crappy waist-high shot either, you can actually see a dick, balls and all, being thrust into some womans vag... in slow motion! Now, obviously, it's unlikey that the on screen cock was actually his, but I honestly thought for a second that I'd dug up his dirty porn-filled past.

Without going into detail of the plot (as I assume a lot of students who read this will rush off to watch the film) throughout the film there are several more sex scences, ones just as graphic as the first. I can't say the film itself was interesting enough to pay full attention to, but I can say that the sex scenes didn't add to the plot at all. They did, however, add to our understanding of the characters, but the effect would of been exactly the same if we had seen them at it under the covers.

After watching the film I had to ask myself how mainstream things have become. It wasn't all that long ago when sex was still a hushed subject and the porn industry was very underground. Now, not only do you have to walk past several sex shops to get into Wolvo high street, but you can see the act in Hollywood films. So is this generation having to redefine what "being bad" is?

Smoking. Being Bad?

I figure it's about time I start this blog thing. Granted, I should be revising for a Psychology test I have on Monday, but when better to write a blog on Smoking than when I have a fresh deck of 20 next to me?

I'm one of those ridiculous smokers that aren't actually addicted to it. It's no problem for me to go several days without bombarding my lungs with shit. But the fact is, I honestly like smoking. I like the taste, the smell, the strangely relaxing effect. I am fully aware of the health risks (although I know many people who are well into their 80's and will swear that smoking has been their Philosophers Stone), as, I assume, are the other 9.5 million people who smoke. So the million dollar question, as always, is why is smoking so attractive? And why do people continue to smoke?

It cannot be denied that smoking has its benefits, my personal favourite being the fag breaks given to smokers at work. As previously mentioned, those tiny, tar filled death sticks seem to have an almost euphoric effect when stressed. Despite being a stupidly expensive habit, it is one that has the ability to provide smokers with an excuse to be anti-social, which at times can be invaluable trait. When looking up the benefits of smoking (yes, I did research) the following page was the first search result on google; http://www.drquit.com/articles/trying/benefits/. Seriously, a genuine reason for people smoking is that they believe its a contributer to keeping their weight down. Now, I understand that during the quitting process, many ex-smokers tend to snack more, but I highly doubt that the likes of Gordam Ramsay would add fags to their list of 'healthy foods'. The website also suggests that 1/3 of all smokers suffer from serious depression, and states several times that a benefit of smoking for these people is that smoking offers them a comfort in "fighting loneliness" and, seriously, "fights depression". Forgetting that I am a smoker myself, when reading these 'facts' I had to ask myself what lengths people will go to to justify smoking. Although I would agree that when stood outside a pub, waiting for someone who was meant to turn up over half an hour ago but still hasn't quite finished doing their hair, a cancer stick in your hand can make you feel that little bit less lonely, but how many people would genuinely say that smoking helps them fight depression???

My mom would be one of the first to argue that smoking plain old cigarettes will definitely lead to smoking pot, and eventually you will end up on the streets, selling your body to feed a heroin addiction... not that she has anything against smokers. She, like many people, believe that someone who knowingly risks their health cannot be a very intelligent person. Unfortunately, she has little sense of humour, and doesn't find it funny when I suggest she should skip the cigarettes and move straight to the Ganja. In all fairness though, we could take that domino effect view on almost anything. Someone who watches porn WILL become a sex addict. Anyone who eats fast food WILL become fat. In the end, it's always our own choice to take those drugs, or eat that food (with the obvious exceptions of being literally forced, as some people unfortunately are).

So let's be honest. Smoking is socially condemned as 'bad'. For many people, that reason alone is enough to keep them attracted to the lovely habit. The arguments both for and against smoking could go on for a fair while, but as I said, I should be revising. And by revising I mean smoking.