Body Modification

Synonyms

Piercings; Tattoos; Mods; Body ornamentation

Definition

The deliberate or purposeful alteration to the human body/anatomy.

Introduction

Body modification is a more permanent form of human ornamentation. Forms of body modification include corseting, piercing, tattooing, subdermal implants, and ear gauging. Perhaps most common in Western culture is piercing – particularly the ears. Other, commonly pierced areas include the nose, tongue, lip, eyebrow, and even the genitals. Tattooing is a form of permanently ornamenting the body with artistic pieces via ink inserted into the skin with a needle. The Maori and other Western Pacific cultures have a rich history of ornamenting their bodies via tattooing. Today, tattoos are widely accepted multi-cultural phenomena across the world. This is a very interesting human universal.

Another type of body modification that has gained popularity is ear gauging in which an individual slowly stretches a hole in their ear (typically in the ear...