Extreme body modification is not a brand new trend. In fact, it has been practiced for thousands of years in different cultures around the world. Individuals who modify their bodies do so for various reasons. In some parts of the world people view it as a rite of passage into certain stages of life. For others, it is seen as a form of beauty or self-expression in order to shock mainstream society.
Putting bagel-shaped saline solution injections into the forehead is a newer form of body art that has become popular with some Japanese hipsters, simply because it is unique. An injection practitioner shoots saline into a person’s forehead, causing it to swell.
Once the saline has become nice and puffy, the practitioner pushes their thumb into the middle of the forehead like a thumbprint cookie, forming the desired bagel-head look. It takes anywhere between 16-24 hours for the body to absorb the saline and the swelling to completely cease.
According to everydayhealth.com, the modification trend could come with risks. If the needle is not properly sterilized it can cause infection. Also, it could cause internal bleeding if the needle punctures a blood vessel.
Taking body modification to even more of an extreme, some people have morphed their bodies through loads of plastic surgery in order to emulate certain animals.
Eric Sprague, known as the “Lizardman,” is one of the first people to have a split tongue. He is recognized solely for starting this craze among some people. To perfectly resemble a reptile, Sprague has undergone 700 hours of tattooing, had five Teflon horns placed underneath the skin where his eyebrows are, had his teeth filed down to make sharp fangs and had his tongue bifurcated (split into two, allowing each half to move individually). Consequently, the tongue may not heal after it is split. Infection, bleeding and loss of sensation are also possible negative results of having a tongue bifurcated.
In similar fashion, Dennis Avner, known as “The Cat Man,” has transformed his whole appearance akin to a feline. He had surgery done to get a cleft lip, has piercings above his lip and cat contact lenses. His teeth were also filed down and capped with fangs.
Freshman nursing major Katherine Marting believes that although the practice of extreme body modification can be intense, it is a personal preference.
Dermal piercings, a much more minor form of body modification, have become popular with the college crowd. The procedure involves making a hole on the surface of the skin, which reaches down to the muscle layer. After the procedure, it looks like a normal piercing, but the other half is inside the skin as opposed to coming out the other side like with earlobe piercings. The piercing should only be removed with the help of a medical professional. The ears, nose, navel and hips are common locations for dermals.
“I would not get one [a dermal piercing] because if I ever want to get a job in the criminal justice field, that would be looked down upon,” said senior criminology major Kyle Beausoleil.
In addition to being seen as a form of self-expression, extreme body modification is practiced in various cultures to signify the start of a new stage in life. Males and females often have different puberty and marriage rituals. In Burma, girls start to wear neck rings at the tender age of five years old. The brass spirals press down on the female’s collarbone, altering the angle of the shoulders and elongating the neck to unnatural lengths.
The Mursi tribe in Ethiopia requires women to get a small incision in the middle of their bottom lips. A disk is put into the incision six months before they are expected to be married. Over time, longer disks are inserted until the lip is stretched out about the size of a frisbee. Also, their two bottom teeth are knocked out to make room for the huge plate.
Senior writing and communications major Philippa Hatendi, a native of Zimbabwe, Africa, is familiar with extreme body modification. However, it isn’t heavily practiced in her home country.
“Usually, within an African culture it is practiced because we want to differentiate between tribes or because it is a standard for beauty,” said Hatendi. “Personally, I would do it only if it was related with identifying that I was a member of a certain tribe, not for purely fashion purposes.”
Body modification has grown into an entire industry and is now considered by many to be an art form. What was once seen as something that was only conducted by native African tribes as a cultural rite of passage has now entered Westernized countries, becoming yet another way to stand out from the crowd.
No comments:
Post a Comment