When I was younger, my sister had a boyfriend who had several tattoos all over his body in honor of his time in the marines. Whenever he or my sister would bring up the word ‘tattoo,’ my mom would look at them and ask “Why would you want to mutilate your body like that?”
A traditional definition of body modification is the deliberate and permanent altering of the human body for any non-medical reason. Though true, body modification is much more than that. Body modification is a form of art, using the human body as its medium, for reasons such as religion/tradition, self-expression, and beauty and is not mutilation.
Many people oppose this definition and believe that modifying your body in any way is, in fact, mutilation. As mentioned earlier, my own mother is clearly one of these people. These people believe that modification and mutilation is one in the same because it requires the changing of the body that was given to you and gives you a bad image. And let’s not forget the tell-tale argument against modification (which comes out of my mom’s mouth every other day): it’s going to look horrible when you’re older, that tattoo will end up looking like a blob of nothing when your skin sags, you are going to look ridiculous when you still have your breast-implants in at the age of 77, etc. Although this is all true and you probably will look a little ridiculous when you’re older, by no means is it mutilation. Some people say that there is only a fine line between modification and mutilation but that is not true. They are two completely different things. Generally, any form of modification that will have a negative effect on you either mentally, physically or socially in the end is considered mutilation.
When someone is going through a depression, cutting is a common source of letting the pain out. Though it makes the person feel better and may seem like modification, it is not. For most people suffering from depression, cutting (as well as other forms of self-mutilation including burning or scarring) is a symptom of an underlying psychological problem such as a personality disorder. This action of intentional mutilation relieves the ‘patient’s’ pain for a short while but does nothing to rid of their illness. The patient is damaging their own body with no benefits and, essentially, making their illness worse.
Modification can also be considered in another way: when it holds you back socially. Many, if not all people who partake in body modification are seen as “different” in the eyes of society. The guy with the spikes coming out of his head: freak. The girl with the breast implants and fake nose: whore. The guy with tattoos and piercing all over his body: cold and heartless. You get the picture. These images have been forced into the mind of society for ages and the tattooed and implanted don’t stand a chance.
…this paragraph isn’t even finished yet but…
TO BE CONTINUED.