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Body modification

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A Kayan girl in Northern Thailand wearing neck-extending brass coils.

Body modification (or body alteration) is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as spiritual, various social (markings), BDSM "edgeplay" or aesthetic. It can range from the socially acceptable decoration (e.g., pierced ears in many societies), to the overtly religiously mandated (e.g., circumcision in a number of cultures) to corporal punishment, to provocative statement by the rebellious (e.g., tongue splitting). Some even become physically addicted to the adrenaline/endorphin release associated with a painful procedure in a way analogous to that experienced by those who self harm. Some people experience an abstract but distinct compulsion to modify their body that appears to have no underlying or external reason.

Nearly every human society practises or has practised some type of body modification in its broadest definition, from Māori tattoos to Victorian corsets to modern breast implants.

Some futurists believe that eventually humans will pursue body modification with more advanced technological means, such as permanently implanted devices to enhance mental and physical capabilities, thereby becoming cyborgs. For the substantial number of people with heart pacemakers and brain implants such as cochlear implants and electrical brain stimulators for Parkinson's disease, this is already a reality.

Controversy

One controversial objective of body modification is the attempt to resemble another race, such as Asians having their epicanthal folds modified supposedly to resemble non-Asian eyes (it should however be noted that they are not normally made 'rounder' or set deeper, and that 'double eyelids' were an ideal of beauty even in the Tang dynasty) or skin lightened with dyes (or even surgically), suntanning, increase in lips or buttocks size by Caucasians, or Blacks straightening their hair or getting a nose job.

Other sources of controversy stem from the notion of attempting to artificially beautify the natural form of the body, often leading to charges of disfigurement and mutilation. Extreme forms of Body Modification are occasionally viewed as symptomatic of body dysmorphic disorder, other mental illnesses, or as an expression of unchecked vanity. Often the general public are unprepared for some forms of modification and reports of the ostracism of modified individuals are widespread within the modification community. Unlicensed surgery performed outside of a medical environment can often be life-threatening, and is illegal in most countries and states.

"Disfigurement" (a subjective term) and "mutilation" (regardless of any appreciation this always applies objectively whenever a bodily function is gravely diminished or lost, as with castration) are terms used by opponents of body modification to describe certain types of modifications, especially non-consensual ones. Those terms are used fairly uncontroversially to describe the victims of torture, who have endured damage to ears, eyes, feet, genitalia, hands, noses, teeth, and/or tongues, including amputation, burning, flagellation, piercing, skinning, and wheeling. "Genital mutilation" is also used somewhat more controversially to describe certain kinds of socially prescribed modifications to the genitals, such as circumcision, female circumcision, castration, and surgeries performed to conform the genitals of individuals with intersex conditions to those of typical males or females. Those opposed to the practice of sexual reassignment surgery may consider it genital mutilation, done for psychological reasons; this is universally rejected by those in favor of it, who more often consider the reasons medical.

Typology of body modification

Body art is any body modification for artistic or aesthetic reasons. However the term is often extended to all socially significant markings, often displaying the bearer belongs to some hereditary (e.g. tribal), age, religious or other group, and therefore on body parts that remain or can be 'decently' exposed in public, except if the group is private or even secret.

"Mainstream" body modification

"Extreme" body modification

Genital body modification of females

Genital body modification of males

Other surgical body modification

Body modifications occurring as the end result of long term activities or practices

  • Dieting - alterations in eating habits that can deliberately result weight loss or gain, the ultimate extreme in the former being anorexia and in the later "force feeding" as practiced by some middle eastern and African cultures
  • Bodybuilding - resistance training to increase muscle mass
  • Orthodontics - braces or other devices used to straighten the teeth
  • Hormone therapy - - a surgical process that changes an individual's hormonal balances through intake of synthetic hormones
  • Corsetry or tightlacing - binding of the waist and shaping of the torso
  • Cranial binding - modification of the shape of infants' heads, now extremely rare
  • Foot binding - compression of the feet to modify them for aesthetic reasons
  • Non-surgical elongation of organs by prolonged stretching using weights or spacing devices. Some cultural traditions prescribe for or encourage members of one sex (or both) to have one organ stretched till permanent re-dimensioning has occurred, such as
    • The 'giraffe-like' stretched necks (sometimes also other organs) of women among the Burmese Kayan tribe, the result of wearing brass coils around them. This compresses the collarbone and upper ribs but is not medically dangerous. It is a myth that removing the rings will cause the neck to 'flop'; Padaung women remove them regularly for cleaning etc.
    • Stretched lip piercings - achieved by inserting ever larger plates, such as those made of clay used by some Amazonian tribes.

Individuals known for extensive body modification

See also

Sources and references

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