by Nik Nak

Created on: March 06, 2010

Body modification is a form of art that dates back many centuries to different cultures all over the globe. We have began to see this unusual form of art frequently amongst the mainstream or pop-culture society of today. Seeing a person with a tattoo or piercing may not seem uncommon these days in a world where modifying the body is becoming less taboo. Body modification can be seen in much more forms than this, some of which were found in history thousands of years ago. In history modification could even determine your social status. Things like piercings, tattoos, cutting, branding, stretching, suspensions, and amputations, are expressed for reasons including religion, pride, loyalty, sexual enhancement, beauty, and personal expression. Some will pierce their flesh with 'meat' hooks and hang from them to enjoy a deep spiritual connection. Others may express this form of art by coloring a memorial piece into their skin by tattooing. Whether or not you think of these modifications as a negative form of expression or an art form depends on if you are understanding of people's opinions of beauty.

My personal journey into the modification community began when I was twelve years old. I decided I needed to try something that involved feeling pain to achieve pleasure or to become more attractive. I began stretching my ear lobes from what could be considered a 'normal' fourteen gauge piece of jewelry to a wooden 'plug' measuring thirty millimeters (one and one half inches). In short time the pain became less appealing, and all of my energy was focused on modifying to be more beautiful. My curiosity of body modification only grew much larger from that time. From the time I was twelve until I was eighteen I had greatly stretched my ears, got many tattoos, and piercings, and my most recent "mod" which is my bisected (or split) tongue. Although painful, to me all of the pain was worth the end result of an improved body image. Modification allowed me to express what in my eyes is beautiful. It also is a way for me to create art on, or with my body as it is for people all over the world.

I believe to appreciate human emotions, you must respect that every single person has their own idea of what is beautiful or socially acceptable. Different cultures have their own ideas of what makes a person greater or lesser. For some, including myself we find this sense of harmony in modifying our bodies. For others harmony is found in religion, dedication, generosity, selflessness, or whatever makes one feel beauty inside and out. We must as fellow humans honor each individual's feelings and views on the beauty life has to offer.

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