Body Modification: A New Trend - How do you feel about it?

[leftyladyfrommo]

Someone split their tongue so that it looks like a snake tongue. Make your ears pointy on top? Put those wide things in your ear lobes so you get a big hole? I guess you could cut off your fingers.

The male genitalia stuff is too weird for me.

Does this turn you on? Or do you think this is just plain weird?

I don't think I want to go there. I have a couple of flower tats on my ankles - that is enough for me.

go to www.bmezine.com/ for pictures. Weird stuff over there.

[LynneSin]

1. It's a personal choice and one I don't choose

Regrets sometimes are more painful than the procedures themselves. I don't want something I'll have 20 years later and wonder what the fuck I was smoking when I did it.

But it's a personal choice and some people have some great modifications and some people just come out looking like a nut job, one can only hope that we know where the fine line is betwen the two.

I have plenty of friends some of which who have body modificatinos :D

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. Did you look at some of those pictures?

This kind of practice is really just about as old as mankind. Primitive peoples did all sorts of body modifications - making your neck longer, flattening out your head, binding feet.

But some of these things are really pretty odd.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Uh, waitasec

Is it a new trend or is it as old as mankind?

[pagerbear]

6. Exactly--not exactly a NEW trend

[idgiehkt]

7. yeah, I think this is older than cave painting.

but all that stuff on that link looks painful. I'm pretty radical, I don't even wear earrings, lol.

[billyskank]

57. You know how it is

The old shit always becomes the new shit again if you wait long enough. :P

[LynneSin]

9. First I can't get the link at work but I've seen plenty of modications

and I know it's a trend thoughout history - sometimes for the good and sometimes not (ie - foot binding and elongating the neck).

But as for today's style - whatever floats your boat, but I have to admit some people get a bit too carried away but it's their body, not mine

[YankeyMCC]

3. It's a little scary...

but is it really new? I'm sure some of our technology and modern medical understand allows more unique and perhaps superficially at least disturbing but I think you could find examples of this in many acient cultures and traditions.

And perhaps that's a bit of the scare factor...a harkening back to darker (little understood) ancient tendancies of humanity.

But it's a personal choice...as someone else said not one I'm likely to make and one that if a loved one did something like this I would want to probe further into their motivations to make sure all was ok with them.

[xchrom]

4. well, i don't want to throw a leg over somebody with a flattened head

but if that's what they want to do -- then --:shrug:

[pagerbear]

8. I don't need to go to link--I live in NYC!

I've seen some freaky things on the streets of NYC and on TV. I don't even like simple tattoos or piercings, although pierced ears seem to be something women can't do without. Babies with their ears pierced? That's obscene. Tongue piercing, septum, eyebrow? Ew! And let's not even talk about what people do....er.....downtown!

[leftyladyfrommo]

10. We don't have much of this stuff in Kansas City

It is too extreme for around here. I have seen some kids with tons and tons of piercings and lots of tatoos.

I find self expression pretty neat - but I do wonder what the hell they will do when they get older and need to support themselves.

I guess they will just have to wear wall to wall clothes so nothing shows.

[REP]

11. Where in KC Are You??

I was born and raised in KC MO, and that's where I saw more Prince Alberts than I can remember - also many women whipping open their shirts to show me their new piercings - and that started 20 years ago! I was from Brookside/Westport, so I'm not sure what part of the city *you're* in ..,

I've got brandings, by the way. They're inside - tubal ligation by fulguration and uterine ablation - but they're the ULTIMATE body mod!

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. I'm North of the River.

But I am also old so probably not very many young people would look at me and whip off their clothes to show me their piercings.

What is a Prince Albert?

[REP]

14. Ahem. That's Not Kansas City!

A Prince Albert is a piercing of the male genitalia (the corona).

[leftyladyfrommo]

19. Kansas City North is Kansas City. North Kansas City is a town

all of its own - but I'm far enough north to be back in KC proper.

Oh my. I am so out of it. Prince Albert? I'm afraid to ask where that came from. But do you know where that came from?

[REP]

24. Prince Albert Had a Prince Albert

And you how we are who live in the heart of the city are! Even though I escaped 8 years ago to someplace that has better weather (most of the time)!

[xmas74]

18. I dated a guy from KC who had both nipples pierced

and a Prince Albert.

I hated it. Everytime he left my house I knew I'd have to scrub the bathroom floor.

[leftyladyfrommo]

20. Oh God. Why did you have to scrub the floor?

Is this going to be so gross I'm going to be sorry I asked?

[xmas74]

22. check your pm.

Not as bad as you think but don't want a body fluid lock.

[REP]

30. Leakage

More holes than god drilled into him.

[REP]

23. KC Was An Early Adopter of Poking Holes In Weird Places

I had a friend who had her clitoral hood pierced; that was in the 80s. All the Prince Alberts started showing up a few years later; nipples not long after. 40 year old women were popping out their piercings to show me (I wasn't in my 40s then, and now that I am, I'm not thinking, "Hey, what can I do to make my tits hurt a lot?").

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. Oh God.

I think I'm glad I don't get out much.

I think the real world would simply do me in.

[xmas74]

27. My brother also had his nipples done but in Germany.

(I don't want to know if he had a PA done or not. He and J_ bonded over the nipple bit and used to walk around shirtless every chance they got.)

I never did-I knew that if I ever wanted a child I'd want to nurse it. I thought that metal would be tramatic for the baby. Ultimate nipple confusion.


And I'm too afraid to get hood or anything like that. I did my own belly button, eyebrow and nose in high school but removed them years ago.

[REP]

29. I Have 7 Ear Piercings

I usually only wear 5 earrings though.

That's it, aside from the internal brandings that I am so terribly proud of. I really don't have anything against bod mods, and have toyed with intense nipple painage (it looks cool), but all in all, I am WAY too vain about my skin to do much to it. More places to put more jewelry is appealing, but my overweaning vanity wins out!

[leftyladyfrommo]

31. What's an internal branding?

I'm afraid to ask.

[REP]

35. I Had My Fallopian Tubes and Endometrium Burnt Out

Otherwise known as a tubal ligation by fulguration and a thermal uterine ablation! Much more hard-core than those sissy brands that show!

[idgiehkt]

36. me too, but I don't like not knowing.

I wish someone would answer, because just hearing the terminology has traumatized me. Wonder if wikipedia would know?

edit: I googled, and all that came up was skeevy corporate mind control b.s.

[REP]

40. I Told Youse!

It's right in the header! See above!

[idgiehkt]

42. I see it now

but I googled first and what I found was even scarier, lol.

here's a sample:
http://www.jackmorton.com/360/market_focus/mar02_mf.asp
Do your homework
Research is imperative to the success of any marketing effort - and an internal branding campaign is no exception. Employees are perhaps even more prone to cynicism about messages that may seem inauthentic or simply handed down from on-high, so it's imperative to arm yourself with a good understanding of what your employees are thinking and saying before you begin designing your internal branding campaign. By using research, you will go a long way toward ensuring that your messages are aligned with your audience's perceptions and beliefs and inspired to get behind your brand. Remember: research can be scaled to your needs and budgets. Ideally, your communications agency should be able to provide advice, services or management of your research effort.


Recruit evangelists
Ultimately, you want everyone in your organization to be a brand evangelist - someone who truly understands and advocates the value of your brand. As you get your internal branding campaign off the ground, however, you should recruit a small group of internal evangelists that can spread the brand gospel to others. You might select them based on their influence within the organization and ability to sway others, or based on employee nominations...

:puke:

[xmas74]

32. Nipple pain wouldn't bother me.

But you can do that other ways w/o the piercings.;)

I'm at the stage where piercings don't enthuse me as much anymore. I used to adore them but now not so much.

Maybe it's because everyone seems to be getting them.

[REP]

38. Well, We're Venturing Into Getting the Thread Locked Territory...

but from what I've heard, piercing is a little more debilitating than clover clamps. Like can't-use-your-arms-for-a-few-days bad, and I already have a fucked-up arm. But I keep seeing these really cool shields.... Yeah, everyone has rings ... boring.

[xmas74]

39. I know what you mean

Too close to a thread lock. That's why I've answered a few of the OP's questions in pm.

Yeah-everyone has rings now. Too boring.

[RumpusCat]

47. Not to get too personal

But the pain isn't really THAT bad. Like, be careful putting on and taking off over-the-shoulder seatbelts for a week or so and maybe don't sleep on your stomach, but it's not as awful as you'd expect for a sensitive area. :hi: If you can withstand a tetanus shot without howling then you can withstand this piercing, imho.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Not for me.

That guy who wants to turn himself into a tiger kind of creeps me out, but I usually don't have a problem if other people do it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. It's a stupid fad and shitloads of people are gonna be upset in 20 years

While there have always been those who are into the body modification in a legitimate way, it's become so trendy now that your ordinary every day uncreative assholes who feel the need to hop on trends to be "cool" and "hip" are getting it done, and in 5 years to 10 years or 20 years, more than likely in about 5 years, they're gonna be really pissed and upset at themselves; not only because it's ugly, but because the next trend will be to look normal, and they won't be able to jump on that bandwagon. And being uncreative, they won't know how to act to fit into their sick little society of likeminded uncreatives who go around following and fawning at the feet of the real creatives, trying to snag collateral relevancy.

I especially feel for the all the college kids who are otherwise probably kinda smart, but have bought into the body modification bullshit and are really going to be sorry about it as their bodies flab out in middle age, as they try to get jobs, or otherwise find themselves wishing to hell they had been more creative and self-directed, instead of a braindead follower with no self-will and no self-identifcation, in college.

[xmas74]

37. That's why I took out all of my piercings years ago.

I had the bellybutton, the eyebrow and nose done in high school. (Did it myself, w/ a safety pin or "virgin pin" for the nose and a bottle of tequila at a kegger.)

I saw way too many people about 5 years later w/ the same piercings and decided that I didn't want to look like them. (Except for the eyebrow. My parents made me take that out in high school right after I did it. Too close to senior picture time and I had to dye my hair back to a normal color while I was at it.) At least mine were removable.

[Rabrrrrrr]

43. Good for you!

It's always funny when people are thinking they're being "alternative" by doing something that everyone else who wants to be "alternative" is doing.

"We are all unique in the same way together!"

People who do stuff because it's "the fad" piss me off. A decade or so ago when cigars became all the rage all of a sudden, I was embarrassed to be seen with a cigar, and always wanted to say to people who saw me, "No - I'm an authentic cigar smoker. I've been smoking them for years. I am not a bandwagon jumper."

Same with the Martini - I've been a Martini guy for years, and now all of a sudden the uncreative yuppie filth have jumped on the Martini bandwagon, to the point that it is sometimes embarrassing to order one, because I don't like being associated with trash. And to say nothing of how the yuppie fuck scum have destroyed the Martini by calling all cocktails "martinis" with their "martini menus" and other bullshit.

I wish people would just follow their desires and be creative and risk-takers and not be afraid to be "different", instead of being asshole generic "followers". But, then again, without the generic mindless followers, we wouldn't have the immense class of people that is needed to drive the engines of industry by sitting at the lower levels and doing the work, while the few creatives sit at the top, generating the stuff.

[xmas74]

45. I used to smoke cigars

but it was more in a "hang out w/ the good old boys and play some poker" kind of way instead of the "I'm too cool" way.


And I've always loved martinis. I drank them when everyone else was still ordering sugary sweet drinks w/ pretty umbrellas at the bar. I think it goes back to a love of old time movies...


I was always the person who did what no one else did in school and I'm still that person. I just prefer to be an individual instead of following the crowd. (Though I still love my tats. I got my first one as soon as I turned 18 and don't see myself ever regretting it. At least it's not a cartoon character or Chinese writing or something trendy.)

I had multicolored hair and funky colors when no one else in my small town did. Nowadays I wouldn't do it anymore. Everyone has the same thing.

[terrya]

16. To each his own

I have a friend who pierced his, um, genitalia. He said it really didn't hurt as much as you think it would.

I'm not going down that road.

[leftyladyfrommo]

21. Wouldn't sex hurt?

I have to ask that because I want to know.

Wouldn't it hurt the woman to have sex with someone all messed up like that?

I would absolutely freak if I was into sex with someone and they took off their clothes and looked like that. I mean I would absolutely freak.

[REP]

26. It's Supposed To Be Good on The G-Spot

I wouldn't know. Just heard the claims.

[xmas74]

34. I answered that for you in a pm.

Check it out.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

49. Once, it's healed, it shouldn't hurt.

Actually, it's supposed to often increase pleasure for the partner. Especially, subdermal implants...you know, permanent ribbed for her pleasure. BTW, this thread is probably so getting locked.

[LeftyMom]

17. Not my thing. I don't have a problem with it, but not my deal.

I do wish more of it were legal so people could go to professionals with proper drugs and equipment and have recourse when something gets fucked up.

[MadHound]

28. If they want to do it, fine by me,

Just so long as they re willing to live with the consequence, who am I to say no:shrug:

I think that we're seeing much more extreme piercings, tats and body mods these days, and I think a great deal of the motivation is the shock value. One generation trying to outdo the older generation, who in turn already tried to outdo the one before that.

I'm old enough to remember when it was shocking for myself, a guy, to get double pierced in the left ear. Of course that became passe within five-ten years, as more guys got pierced multiple times on their ears. Then came nose piercing, then the various other parts of the body. And now that we've run out of new, shocking places to pierce the body, this desire to shock people has morphed into body mods, sharpened ears, filed teeth, etc. etc. What's next, perhaps the most shocking thing of all, *no* piercing, mods or tats, a completely clean body, whoa:crazy:

[leftyladyfrommo]

33. What was wrong with smoking grass and taking a little acid

now and then. Wearing your hear wild. A little tye- die. Drinking a little wine right out of the bottle. Listening to a little Janis.
You know, I have to be honest - this stuff just sounds awful to me.

[REP]

41. Not a Damn Thing!

Except some of those people then thought, "Hey, I'll get my --------- pireced!" while high!

[MadHound]

46. True, but I think that is the point

Back in the day, wearing your hair long(if you were a guy), or smoking dope etc. were shocking to our parent's generation. But that became passe and the next generation started mild piercings. Well that too became passe, and away we went.

But as these folks get older, the piercings that they got in their younger days are becoming a bit of a burden. Who is going to take them seriously in the proffessional world with a head full of metal? So, I think at some point this escalation is going to burn itself out, and the young folks are going to find something else to shock their folks with:shrug:

It seems to be an innate trait for the young folks to shock their elders, at least for the past couple hundred years. Fashion trends, skirt lengths, drug and alcohol consumption etc., all of this and more. It is just now, with the baby boomers and punks having really pushed the limit back in the day, today's generation feels that they really have to go above and beyond, to the point of where you wind up with looks like this:

So like I said earlier, perhaps the next generation, or the after, will decide that the best way to shock people is to do nothing at all. Now wouldn't that be a suprise?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

51. It's really not fair to post a picture of that guy.

Even the most extreme of the body modification community, does not want him as a representative. Although, half the time when the "shock" factor is given as an excuse, people show up with that asshat's picture.

[MadHound]

53. LOL, just illustrating my point

Oh, and the site where I grabbed that pic from states that the person is a female:wow: Now how's that for a shocker.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

56. I don't see how I'm illustrating your point.

Not only do 99.99% of modded people not aspire to be like that guy (for the shock value or any other reason), but even the most modded members (like Lizard Man or the Enigma, both of whom I've met) of the community wish that picture didn't exist. Male or female, that person has caused unfair criticism and comparision with their poorly-done, infected piercings.

[MadHound]

58. Sorry, bad syntax

I was trying to say in my post above that I'm just illustrating my point with that picture. Sorry it didn't come across clear, that happens sometimes.

And yes, I can see how the body mod crowd would find this woman to be offensive, the trouble is that they had better get used to it. I'm seeing more and more people who've decided to go this route with drastic multiple multiple piercings and body mods. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how widespread such a phenomenon becomes.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

59. Basically, to show you just how offensive we find your example.

We like Lizard Man and Enigma, but even they don't approve of the person in that picture.


The point isn't the excessive amount of body mods. What I find offensive about your example is that they have achieved notoriety through hundreds of misplaced, dangerous, infected piercings and that it perpetuates the myth that piercings are dirty, oozing, and dangerous. Personally, I don't care if someone files their teeth, gets a subincision, transdermal implants, a branding, and a full backpiece cutting, as long as they do it safely and for themselves. And let's face it, I don't think anybody gets a subincision, if it isn't for themselves.

[MadHound]

60. Look, I'm sorry if I inadvertently offended you

I was simply trying to illustrate a point of mine, there is no need to continually jump down my throat. I get your point, OK, I even stated that earlier, so please, calm down and back off. Geez!

[Deep13]

44. Guess I see two ways of looking at it.

On the one hand, people can do what they want and if someone says it's art I can't really dispute it.

On the other hand it seems like an awful lot of trouble to get attention.

[Orrex]

48. A story worth sharing

It was a Halloween party in 1991 thrown by a good friend from work whose interests veered toward the esoteric. She called herself a Cabbalist, and this was way before Madonna had decided it would be cool and avant-garde. The piercing was to occur at 8:00 pm, and I knew what it entailed, so I made sure to show up at 8:30.

When I got there, Noah was lying on his back amid a circle of partygoers, each of whom was to help absorb a bit of the pain. I don't know about that, but a minute later the needle did its work, and I recall a distinct jab of sympathetic pain in about the same region.

That's all well and good, I suppose. But what really struck me was when, half an hour later, Noah happened to limp past while I was talking to the hostess.

"Did it stop bleeding yet, Noah?" asked someone nearby.
"Yeah," said Noah. "Just now."

When I nick my chin shaving, I get a little nervous if it bleeds for ten minutes. But if I'm bleeding from my skewered penis for thirty minutes, I'm sorry but the party's over.

Best of luck to Noah, though. Long may his Albert be Princely.

[seemunkee]

50. My son has done it

Stretched his ear lobes to 3/4 inch, septum and nostril piercings. He took out his lip piercings. Not the most favorite thing he has done. As long as he stays in the music biz it shouldn't be a problem but I'm sure there will be some time in the future when he will want it fixed.

[Cleita]

52. I have nothing against people wanting to change their

appearance, however, when it comes to the weirder stuff I would hope that the people who do the alterations get a mental health evaluation first for the client before they employ the scalpel or the needle.

[ghostsofgiants]

54. I'm considering stretching my earlobes in the near future.

And as soon as I get back to the city have a lip piercing and a couple of tattoos planned. The forked tongue and things like that do kinda weird me out though.

[Radical Activist]

55. pierced toungues are awesome.

Otherwise, I'm not really into it.