It seems body modification has become mainstream. I've always been slightly stunned at how many are interested in this... since as far back as I can remember. I'm talking about the legions of women who have had breast jobs, never mind nose and face and lipo or whatever.
That came first... then the proliferation of tattoos on everyone, everywhere. This also shocked me a bit. I'm going back in time here. I figured it out, eventually. The piercing goes here as well.
Of course now we have sex change or sex altering via hormones of whatever combinations. I'm have a decent level of awareness of what it takes to attain certain body shapes. I don't think most have caught on to this.
Just to make this comprehensive, many years ago, I wrote about my husband and I talking about this sort of thing. Chinese binding their feet, rings around necks, or those tribes that weighted their ear lobes to make them stretch. Different standards of beauty, in different places at different times.
What do you think of this? Have you modified your body?
It seems people have always morphed or shaped their bodies, when we look at it. You have examples there. I understand the feet binding was in upper classes, where women didn’t *have* to do manual labor or work. Just like what we would call being overweight back in the times when that signified the ability to have an abundance of food vs starving (poor).
I know about the neck stretching, a little. Many of these things were popular in wealthy circles of their tribe or class. But tattooing was more fringe, originally? Maybe many of these were fringe: fringe wealthy, fringe outcast or edges of society.
There were the corsets, too. Those were eventually used by more middle class people.
I have my ears pierced. I also had a third hole in my right ear but I’m not sure if that’s there anymore. I pierced my nose. I liked the way that felt, hurt in a good way. I only sometimes wear something there. I have one tattoo on my foot. I’d get another one but I’m in no hurry, mostly because I don’t think about it much. But I like it. To note: I got my nose and my tattoo in my late 40’s because by then I was, wtf not? Back when I was in my teens and 20’s not many people had these.
I also have breast implants.
As an adult, these things are always person decisions, and most of the time, people have thought these decisions through, as they are permanent, and some are expensive for people. All my decisions weren’t things that defined me or that I needed to be anyone.
Incomprehensible. Does any living creature besides humans do any sort of body modification? It all seems like yet another example of human disharmony with nature. The age old question is Why?
@warped Status, to be a part of a group and to set oneself apart from a group. And often, I think when one is part of a group, it becomes the aesthetic, something that you’re used to seeing, so many like it.
In a less extreme form, there were also dress codes. Only certain classes of people could wear a certain fabric or decoration, even if they could somehow afford it. Very strict codes of dress.
Body modification is a form of creativity. That’s not a judgment, just an observation.
Footbinding rendered a woman incapable of normal useful mobility, particularly the kind needed to escape danger. The various extreme "decorative" adornments like the neck rings and lip platters also impair normal human functionality. What exists in the human psyche to prompt the creation of permanent structural alteration far beyond clothing or even ink?
@warped Even though it’s extreme and potentially dangerous, it’s still status. Even if it impedes normal function, it’s the status. And these people also have people that will take care of their needs and do things for them.
For whatever reason, and I’m sure we can research it, a long neck, tiny, bound feet, tiny waists, extreme pallor, etc…these were considered beauty, power, status, some purpose (see Elsa’s link to the castrati). Humanity is brutal beyond what even know now. And it’s happening even now.
😞
Yes, learned all about the castrati in a freshman Music History course.
I'm not usually one to rant "Patriarchy!" but so much of the "fashion" imposed upon women throughout history for "status" has been misogynistic and objectifying.
With current trends shall we soon see a resurgence in opera?
@elsa So dark.
Thank you for posting these links. I feel like this rhymes with some events.
It IS still going on, a variation in India...
The Truth About How Hijras Are Made In India - IndiaTimes
i haven't heard of it either or that it existed in a community like this. it seems a form of controlling a population. if you're so young like that one doesn't know any better.
as per topic: i dont do anything to my body with tattoos but i have normal earring piercings. no modication on my body except maybe i gain some weight if i eat alot. i like to eat alot of good food, and thats my downfall. maybe gluttony but i stop if i'm full so maybe not too much gluttony. i dont like to alter anything to my body otherwise. I've colored my hair thats it. and put make up on.
Oh, yeah. Elisa mention hair coloring. I do that, too. I don’t have enough gray hair on the right places to make it look good I dyed, I feel. It’s gray at the roots and doesn’t contrast well with my regular brown color. My mom has snow white and I don’t know if I’m ever getting that.
The tattoos, piercings, hair colors, plastic surgery that we see now and barely notice, are so tame compared to the links and images above. I guess we tend to notice them more when they stand out and are way outside convention, or are abusive to children and people who are defenseless or lose their agency.
Exactly. Our hair color, makeup, pierced ears, tattoos, implants, facelifts, etc. may be for status or self esteem, but they're essentially cosmetic. They do not alter function as the extreme examples do.
@warped It’s also a fine line. Breast implants for mastectomy patients. Hair implants for those with balding or alopecia. Plastic surgery for accident, burn victims.
I’m not trying to be argumentative ❤️. Your post made me think further. There are valid reasons for body modification. There are also abusive reasons. Where, when, how, do the boundaries move? Who, what, are the influences in this?
Oh I agree, those are medically corrective and restorative. Also the correction of birth defects like harelip, clubfoot, extra digits, etc.
If there's a line, it would be the arbitrary, frivolous, permanent alteration from natural function.