It depends who you ask. Many people claim that cutting your nails, wearing braces, and coloring your hair are not "body modifications," because modifications that are more mainstream tend to fall off the charts of actual body modification. People claim that cutting one's nails cannot be considered modification, because "they grow back!" Yes, indeed they do, but stretched ears can also naturally return to their original size, and I don't know anyone who doesn't considered stretched ears to be a body modification. This isn't to say that I don't question whether or not certain alterations can be considered "body modification;" I do not have all the answers, but it's certainly interesting to contemplate.
In this post about tooth art (in this case, temporary caps which can be removed whenever the wearer feels like doing so), a contributor says that she thinks "it’s more how accepted and 'mainstream' something is, if it makes people stare in the street, that determines if something is considered a 'body modification.' " This is an interesting suggestion, but it completely ignores the definition of "modification." According to dictionary.com, a modification can be anything from "a small change or adjustment" to perhaps my favorite, "A change in an organism that results from external influences and cannot be inherited. "
Anyway, here is a short list of some of the modifications that are undoubtedly considered to be mods:
piercings
tattoos
scarification (before/after)
branding
suspension
lip and eye sewing
implants
play piercing
corsetry and corsetry piercing
amputation
urethral rerouting
circumcision
tongue bifurcation
fingernail modification
sounding
tooth art
stretching
I created links to attempt to explain any mods that may be confusing, but there are some for which I didn't create links simply because of their graphic nature.
Some of the modifications whose placement in the body modification category is more questionable are:
painting one's nails
cutting one's nails
coloring hair
cutting hair
chemically straightening or curling hair
wearing braces
botox
all sorts of other cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries
thanks for the list - are there items in the "unknown" area between IS and IS NOT body modification (as you defined it)...
ReplyDelete-J
Oh yes, there are definitely items in this unknown area. I don't mean to say that the second list (including nail cutting, hair coloring, etc.) are all definite-nots. In fact, I think all of the items on the second list ARE examples of body modification, but the confusion lies in the fact that the items on the second list are not commonly considered by most people to be modifications.
ReplyDeleteFor me, almost everything you do to your body, whether it's popping a pimple or getting a tattoo, is body modification. I think the reason why people are so hesitant to agree with this statement may be that people who do not consider themselves "modified" associate the label of "body modification" with a fringe society, crime, lack of success, and such.
This relates to an idea that my theology teacher, Mary Filice, introduced to me in class - the anonymous Christian. This is a person who acts like a "Christian" (or what a Christian SHOULD act like), lives morally, loves openly, helps others, etc., and yet this person does not claim to believe in any god. My teacher explained that in order to be a Christian, one does not have to knowingly believe in God. In fact, there are many people, with whom I'm sure we are all familiar, who claim to be Christians, but behave in very un-Christian ways. Likewise, you do not have to believe that you are a member of the body modification community in order to be a member of said community. If you cut your hair, trim your nails, have "normal" lobe piercings...you are a member.
I definitely want to continue to add to "The List" as I continue to think of more items. I welcome all suggestions from anyone else, as well.