Body Modification
... the same piercings mentioned above and typically their response was due to fascination or for sexual pleasure. "When viewed as a material aspect of our culture, popular piercing is an attempt to create an alien other: Something to shock and disconcert: An attempt to break out of the biological and cultural confines that limit the range of personal self-expression." Earlobe piercing is the most socially acceptable form of body piercing in industrialized countries. Modern ear adornments include the conch, the tragus, and two innovative cartilege piercings, the daith and the rook, which were introduced by California body piercer Erik Dakota. Other popular piercings in today's society include the navel, tongue, lip, eyebrow, and the nose. These are usually used to express ones eccentricity and individuality. Ear piercings are most widely practiced piercings among cultural groups in Africa, India, Indonesia, North and South America. In some third world countries ear piercings mark the life stages of an individual and to signify group affiliation. Ear cartilege piercings, especially popular among the Masai and Fulani, also emphasized beauty and wealth. Stretched earlobes are dominant among groups in Indonesia and South America. Stretched earlobes have increased in popularity among modern piercing enthusiasts. I noticed four men with stretched earlobes in about an hour time period on a recent trip to Philadelphia's South Street. I also observed over two-dozen shops on this one particular street in which piercings and tattoo services were offerd. Henna, also known as mehndi, is the painting of the body using temporary ink (usually a dark orange color) made from the herb henna, widely used in the Middle East. It's origins date back to 1700 B.C. in the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. The patterns of henna painting vary from culture to culture. There are three main traditions that can be recognized, aside from the modern use of henna as a trendy temporary tattoo. Generally, Arabic (Middle-eastern) mehndi features large, floral patterns on hands and feet, while Indian (Asian) mehndi uses fine line, lacy, floral and paisley patterns covering entire hands, forearms, feet and shins; and African mehndi art is large, and bold with geometrically patterned angles. African mehndi patterns usually use black henna while Asian and Middle Eastern mehndi is often reddish brown. It is also a common custom in many countries to step into the mehndi, or simply apply the paste without creating a pattern in order to cool, protect, or treat the skin. This practice is rapidly growing in popularity because it is easy, temporary, and inexpensive. Tattoo as defined in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary is an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by production of scars. Archaeologists were able to date the first tattoo somewhere between 4000 and 2000 B.C. They have also found evidence on Libyan figures from the tomb of Seti which dates back to 1330 B.C. Primitive people used body paint, scarification, and/or tattooing for wars, different klans and family purposes. Polynesian tattooing, as it existed before the arrival of Europeans in the South Pacific, was the most artistic tattooing in the ancient world. Some believed that they would be sent to the spiritual world that belonged ...