Body Piercing History

Josie Appleton’s piece opens with her introducing the fact that body modification has lost its mark of being taboo. Appleton then transitions into describing the different kinds of people that modify their bodies and why they do it. The fact that people used to mostly use tattoos to identify with a group and are now using them to define themselves is heavily enforced. The rest of the piece describes in great detail the different ways people use piercings and tattoos to better understand themselves and mark important milestones. The piece concludes with Appleton claiming that body modification should only be for fashion, because bringing significance to it causes problems.

Despite its grounded roots in the Middle East and other parts of Asia, the West began to adopt the age-old tradition and it burgeoned into a common, but still “exotic,” art form. It all began in the early 90’s, when celebrities such as Gwen Stefani and Madonna would decorate their bodies and publicize it on album covers, MTV and red-carpet events. People in the west have embraced the ancient tradition by having their bodies, most commonly hands and forearm, adorned with henna. Today, if you go to any beach, you will most often find several stands with signs marked, “Authentic Henna Tattoos”.

People all over the world have tattoos that are engraved into their skin. In the United States of America, alone, people spend $1,650,500,000 and three in ten Americans have at least one tattoo. ¨Tattoos were found to be more common in females than males.¨ according to Sean T. Carroll, Timothy A. Roberts, and Elizabeth B. Myhre, authors of the article ¨Tattoos and Body Piercings as Indicator of Adolescent Risk-Taking Behaviors¨. These tattoos that litter the population had to have come from somewhere, so it 's time to ask the question, when and where did tattoos come from and how has the psychology behind them evolved over the centuries? This question is one that has been having some people searching for years. Tattoos and the act of tattooing

The head of an Oba was created by artists within the city and only through the permission of their current Oba (king). No one artist is given credit for its creation , so we only know that this piece comes from the Benin culture , made through lost wax bronzing, and is from the 16th century. The head is made in the honor of an Oba who has passed by his successor.

Nose piercing may seem innovative but the custom has been around for almost four thousand years. It is a process which a needle punctured the nasal septum,the nostril, or nasal bridge to create an opening for the placement of a jewelry. This practice is performed as a representation or for beauty purposes. Originated in the Middle East, moving to India in the 1500s and reaching the Western civilization by the 20th century.

Unmasked by Lori Wagner talks in depth about the origins of body art, make-up, and jewelry and how our culture has slowly distorted the world’s view of beauty. One of the many things I’ve learned from this book is the origin and birthing of jewelry. In addition, I also learned the truth behind body art, and how it contradicts the Word. Furthermore, I also learned about the starting point of makeup and how it has affected our society today. Today I am going to share what I have learned about jewelry, body art and make up, and how it has distorted our culture’s perspective of beauty.

In an article by Richard Shweder titled "What about 'Female Genital Mutilation '? and Why Understanding Culture Matters in the First Place", the author explores female circumcision and its relation to culture (Shweder, pg.209). While the topic of this article is female circumcision, the author also explores the reasoning behind why it is referred to as female genital mutilation in some cultures (Shweder, pg.209). In this article, the author focuses on the thoughts that cultures who practice female circumcision have about the practice, therefore the theory used is interpretivism. (Shweder, pg.212). The author analyzes the research question "is female circumcision really mutilation?" (Shweder, pg.218). The thesis developed through this

To understand why a person might tattoo their skin, a practice known to be permanent and painful, research was directed toward the history of tattooing. It was discovered that the art of skin modification had been traced back to 5300 years ago by dating a mummified corpse ordained with tattoos (Haskings-Winner, Collichaw, Kritzer, & Warecki, 2011). The tattoos of

Swallow tattoos seem to be everywhere; their popularity has soared over the past few years and looks set to continue to do so. With these tattoos becoming so fashionable you may be wondering about their origins and whether or not a swallow is a right tattoo for you. Well, you’re in luck because today we’re going in depth with this design and learning more about what’s making it so trendy.

I sit at an angle, I have for a while now, it’s this bad hip so to speak. If you bumped me or the table I sit upon, you’s find that I wobble as much as a weeble, but I cannot insure you that I won’t fall down. You see, often I do, fall that is. I have dents, scratches, ink smudges, and scuffs although they’re not all war scars or anything I’m particularly proud of. I know I look silver, but I also duly reflect my surroundings in vertical streaks across my body. Hidden beneath me is a dent formed from the inside created by my fluctuating weight. Or possibly from water pressure. I think. I’m told. I’m really not sure. At my mouth I nearly always have a plug screwed in to keep myself contained. However, this creates ridges and a lip at my opening where a black, plastic plug sits with bumps for better gripping. I have a little whole for a ring, but my owner prefers that I wear one around the whole meant for fingers and hands. The ring that sealed the deal is large, gaudy, and covered with keys and keychains. I don’t like wearing it, but it’s usually only while we’re traveling and at least they know where to find their

Annette Resenhoeft BA, Julie Villa RN & David Wiseman PhD (2008) Tattoos Can Harm Perceptions: A Study and Suggestions, Journal of American College Health, 56:5, 593-596, DOI: 10.3200/JACH.56.5.593-596

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the procedure of partially or totally removing the external female genitalia. FGM is mainly associated with Africa; however, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that it has existed in all countries at one time or another. The mutilation of girls is a cruel and inhumane act to Americans, but it has a long and meaningful cultural history embedded primarily in African countries; therefore it is not America’s right to get deeply involved and tell them to stop.

Ear piercing and circumcision are symbolic of a child now becoming an adult in the Gikuyu society. Through other symbolic teachings within this culture, children learn ways to provide for their family and advance the tribe as a whole. This tradition is seen in many other cultures. Unfortunately, within the African American community there is no universal right of passage. This can cause confusion in determining when a child becomes an adult or should take on adult task. An adoption of this custom will be beneficial to the African American

During the Post-Modern Era, many young, up-coming artists displayed their art forms on many canvases, skin being one of them. Because there was a rise of tattooing from the earlier era, many more men and women were getting them. This new fashion trend implies that social anxiety against tattoos was partly alleviated. In this Post-Modern Era of skin art, tattoos were being recognized as symbols of empowerment and sexuality. “While men [chose] visible areas for their designs, women [chose] sensual areas”, so the women could keep the tattoos hidden only for the special people in their lives (Mifflin 57). Unfortunately, slowly over time, society turned this thought of women keeping tattoos hidden for their lovers into an objectifying factor against women in this era. A common example of this objectification is the term “tramp stamp”. “The chick spot [became] the tramp stamp and lost its charm” (Mifflin 101). This private spot for tattooing that was once considered sensual in the Modern Era, was now portrayed as trashy in the Post-Modern Era. This shift in cultural discourse is quite subtle; it is a change from concentrating on the purpose of tattoos to concentrating on the worth of a tattoo on a certain part of the body. This shows the change over time of the criticism women faced about their tattoos, now in the Post-Modern Era being called “sexually

It is the complete or partial surgical removal of the clitoris from a woman and has a highly spiritual and cultural significance in many African communities and is required for cultural identity (Kanogo, 2005). In the beliefs of the indigenous communities, cliterodectomy was directly bonded with marriageablilty, procreation, ethnic purity and access to land and thus it meant being socially accepted by community. The missionaries, colonial government and the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) became very involved in this major controversy: whether or not female circumcision should be allowed to continue in Kenya (Kanogo, 2005). Many women challenged these views and partook in the initiation process. Therefore in this essay I shall be discussing