Exploring Beauty: Session 1

The human body is one that can be simply taken as is, as it was given to us from birth or it can be seen as a canvas. Body modification is a trend that has been explored through our society in many ways, only getting more radical with time. But this practice was not invented by our current culture. Many cultures have practice tattooing, piercing, searing, etching and branding as a right of passage long before it became main-stream everywhere else. In these cultures, the choice to get a tattoo or pierce one's face is seen as beauty or the mark of the passage from boy to man or girl to woman. These concepts are not too far separated from the reasons why people in our current culture get their bodies modified.

While it is true that piercings and tattoos are a trend, there are many others who find these acts to be gateways to enlightenment or a way to make themselves feel and appear more beautiful. The pain that they go through to achieve these new heights is an experience that they treasure, whether it be for personal fulfillment, sexual enhancement, denoting loyalty and trust or simply as a reminder of a treasured memory or person.
There are 'radicals' that take this modification to extremes just for the thrill of it or the shock value, but whatever the reason, this is a version of beauty that surrounds us and is becoming more of the 'norm' as more and more people seek to express themselves through their bodies.
But where is the line drawn between modification and mutilation? Is it simply in the eye of the beholder? There will always be a stigma against those who modify and those that find these modifications freakish and an act of mutilation on the body that God gave you. If God had meant us to have metal in our faces, silicone implants beneath our skin and scales tattooed all over our bodies, he would have made us that way from the start, right? I would not go so far to say as that statement is wrong as I believe people have a right to feel how they want to feel, but who honestly has a right to cast stones?
The choice to have the body modified should be a carefully thought out one and research should be done into each and every modification you choose to have done, whether it be from a tiny nose piercing to having horns surgically implanted beneath the skin. No matter the reason, this is a beautiful form of expression for many people and it is one that needs to be explored and understood before judgment is passed on those that choose to modify. If it is this act that is their passage to a better self image or to feel closer to their God, who has the right to make them feel any less about their given choice?

Let me hear from you out there. Where do you think the line is between modification and mutilation? What sorts of modifications do you find the most beautiful? What do you believe are the right or wrong reasons to modify one's body? Let me know with a comment below, leave a comment to me on Facebook or feel free to send me an e-mail at ima@choco-bunny.net


Links:

bodymod.org
The scary guy website
Piercing pros and cons
Body Modification Wiki

Noted Documentary:

Modify (Available on Netflix)

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