Why I Am So Enthusiastic About Body Modification


It has been pointed out to me that I talk about body modification a lot of the time. And this only seems weird because I don’t have any tattoos and I only have two piercings on each earlobe and one helix piercing. This shows how for someone who rants about and gets excited about body modification, I really am not very modified at all and don’t know very much about how a lot of it even works, but I have noticed something about why I talk so much about it.

Body modification is a way of making your body your own.

These modifications and changes you make are your own, decided and designed by you, a way to rebel against our society that shouts so much about our conformity and body image causing so many problems with how we all feel about the way our external selves are viewed by the outside world. Even the stereotypes of the body modification industry and modified people that they are very alternative and different help to reinforce this fundamental idea that it is a way of becoming our unique selves through changing our body so that the whole world suddenly becomes aware of who we want to be and what we represent.

This industry has made it possible for all of us to take back the ownership of our own bodies. It is such an inclusive and welcoming industry helping to show us that we can use this form of creativity on our bodies in a multitude of ways to help to make ourselves into the people we love seeing in the mirror with a little bit of rebellion attached from the stereotypes and prejudices put upon modified people. It is the kind of industry where everyone is from every possible walk of life but has this same thing in common helping them to connect and become a part of something bigger.

I have done rather a lot of research on tattooing especially because I already have five piercings so know a lot more about how this form of body modification works. An interesting finding of mine has been that people advise using tattoos as a way to reclaim the parts of your body that you feel self-conscious about because by placing a piece of artwork on the area means that attention that may be drawn to this area of your body is taken to the tattoo and artwork and not for any of the reasons you may have felt self conscious about the area in the first place. A lot of people report that tattoos have helped that stand taller with more confidence in themselves and their bodies showing how empowering it can be to take charge of the way you look just for yourself.

I have found some really interesting reading has been from a project called Women With Tattoos which was set up by Eleni Stefanou and Christina Theisen who together photograph and interview tattooed women to find out more about their tattoos, tattooing experiences and feelings towards how others view tattoos and the way they view their own. Each person interviewed brings a new perspective and life story to fit with their tattoos and it feels like a good way to show these women's stories using the common thread of tattooing. It is a project that I am definitely going to keep an eye on and discover more about because it has given a platform to these women so that they can be seen in the way they wished through the interviews rather than being over-sexualised or judged for their choices.


One of my favourite quotes from the interviews which has also been featured on their about page is from Gabriella Apicella who says “When I was being tattooed it was as though the needle was uncovering these images on my arm, rather than adding them”. This for me encompasses who I hope my own tattoo experience will be like because I feel like body modification is less about my changing myself and more about me revealing who I truly am.

We, as a society, are subject to so much pressure and expectation surrounding our body image. According to many adverts (although I have noticed a lot more inclusivity within the advertising industry recently), the only women in our world are “flawless”, white and “perfectly shaped” to be identical, removing even the slightest possibility that we could accept ourselves for being anything other than this version of complete perfection. Even worse, when modified people are used within advertising or even for tattoo magazines, these images and people are sexualised for their alternative body image. This is horrendous. It is teaching us that we must all conform or we will not be accepted and cherished for the people we really are even by the people who are supposed to love us.

Stereotypes of tattooing show just how misinformed the people who display discrimination and prejudice are. They must never have met a modified person if their belief really is that all of us are either awful criminals, kinky as you can get or showing a rebellion against professional upmarket kinds of people. Obviously, those kinds of people do not necessarily have to be modified at all and I assure you a lot of modified people are extremely talented, professional and generally nice as anything. In my simple experience of one tattoo and piercing studio and my friends' experiences of other studios, I have never heard any of their experience being unsatisfactory and I did not stop being friends with them when they became modified because this apparently meant they had automatically gone along a worse path in life.

I don’t understand why modified people are still so discriminated against in terms of general judgement, fear or within the workplace where we are still being told that if we really really want our dream job that we should not get modified just so we don’t risk our chances of this. Why should we have to adapt the people we are for the people at the top who are in charge of employing us because of their judgement of our supposed unprofessionalism when in my view their discrimination against modified people is unprofessional in itself.

Anyway, I seem to have gone on a little tangent because of how strongly I feel about the completely bullshit stereotypes associated with modified people. There is nothing wrong with any of them. From my humble perspective, they seem to be even nicer and less judgemental people than the rest of the world simply because they all share this passion for body modification in common and this want to cover their bodies in beautiful, unique and creative art. I could just write for hours about the injustices of our world, but I won’t because I know the important job is being an example to people of the right way to do things.


In terms of my own body modification, I am not very modified yet, but I do hope to be. I am currently planning out what I want my first tattoo to look like and working out how much money I should put to the side for this artistic investment. I am also thinking about what other piercings I would like to go with the ones I already have and whether I would want a piercing anywhere other than my ears.

These thoughts I’m having about my own body modification are helping to make me feel empowered. Each time I modify myself a little more, I feel more myself, as though these changes are helping me blossom into the real me which was always waiting to appear but just needed the extra confidence and self-assurance to make these changes to my body. I always feel like it is me taking charge and doing something for myself which I know I want without thinking about what other people’s views will be on it or their judgement and without waiting to ask for permission to do it.

I don’t always feel the best about my self-image but I know that I can use so many tools to help me improve the way I feel about how I look and the way others view me. Making changes like my clothes, tattoos, piercings, hairstyle or the way I present myself to the rest of the world, help me to become more confident in exactly who I am and help me to show the world with simple external cues all the different parts of me that make me the unique person I really am. I am so aware that as I grow into the person I am that I have so many varying and different passions, beliefs and views that I myself find it hard to know how to present myself so that people realise the whole person I am and not just the smaller parts. At the moment I feel like when people look at me they don’t see the person I want them to see meaning they are automatically making wrong assumptions about the person I am and want to be.

So that is what I am ultimately excited for with my own body modification: for people to be able to see me for the whole person that I am and for me to feel more comfortable in my own skin and who I am.

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