Body mods

[lnr]

From a conversation on irc...

To me all of the below are in some way the same sort of thing, although I didn't see it that way until Richard pointed it out a year or so back. It made me feel a lot less bitter at people who I don't see as overweight who still want to be thinner. I instinctively still find the cosmetic surgery more distasteful than most of the rest, and wonder if others feel the same.

NB More what you find acceptable in others than what you would consider doing yourself.

[Poll #369403]

Comments

[ms-saffie.livejournal.com]

deliberate scarification: irreversible when you grow up and want rid of it, also attention skeeing/status symbol of being 'different' and that just irritates me

I think you're on dangerous ground with 'attention seeking'. I think that's a very biased, unfounded opinion, and certainly doesn't hold for a lot of people.

[karen2205]

You're right; I was generalising and letting a whole load of personal prejudices come out.

I find it very hard to understand why anyone would want large tattoos/scarification - it often looks a mess, makes getting a job more difficult and is very difficult to get rid of in the future. IM(limited)E such modifications tend to be done by people to show their membership of particular social groups.

I don't like people doing things to their bodies simply in order to show off (which isn't to say they shouldn't do things like that, just that I don't like it - 'cos I think people should value their bodies more than using them as something just to be shown off) (showing off being different in my mind to doing something because it makes you feel good about yourself). I also don't get the cultures that say 'you must have this particular modification to be part of us' - if the culture is strong enough to be a real grouping, then why does it need such visible symbols?

Maybe what I should have said is that I object to body modifications when the motivation behind them is something like 'I want to do this to my body to show I belong to this social group'. When they're done for reasons like 'this will look great' or 'this makes me feel good about myself' I've far fewer objections - but all of that said, I don't believe it's my place to decide what's acceptable or not. Adults have every right to do what they like with their bodies.

[ms-saffie.livejournal.com]

I think you're still missing my point, and those of other people.

also don't get the cultures that say 'you must have this particular modification to be part of us' - if the culture is strong enough to be a real grouping, then why does it need such visible symbols?
You could say that about wearing clothes in Western countries.

'I want to do this to my body to show I belong to this social group'. When they're done for reasons like 'this will look great' or 'this makes me feel good about myself' I've far fewer objections
I think you'll find a lot of people with scarification don't fit into either of these neat little boxes you have consigned people to. It's not a social construct. It's certainly not about looking good. People have their own reasons, and I don't think this is the place to start discussing them. But I wanted to challenge your prejudices and generalizations, and I hope I've done that.

This isn't meant to be rude or offensive, I just thought it needed saying.