Body modification

{{short description|Consensual alteration of human anatomy}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2013}} [[File:Scarification by Lestyn Flye.jpg|thumb|Scarification in progress]] {{Body modification}} '''Body modification''' (or '''body alteration''') is the deliberate altering of the human anatomy or human physical appearance.<ref name="Thompson 2010">{{cite book | last1 = Thompson | first1 = Tim | last2 = Black | first2 = Sue | title = Forensic Human Identification: An Introduction | publisher = CRC Press | year = 2010 | pages = 379–398 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=2o6iyCnwmDEC | access-date = 25 February 2013 | isbn = 978-1420005714}}</ref> In its broadest definition it includes skin tattooing, socially acceptable decoration (''e.g.'', common body piercing in many societies), and religious rites of passage (e.g., circumcision in a number of cultures), as well as the modern primitive movement.

Body modification is performed for a large variety of reasons, including aesthetics, sexual enhancement, rites of passage, religious beliefs, to display group membership or affiliation, in remembrance of lived experience, traditional symbolism such as axis mundi and mythology, to create body art, for shock value, and as self-expression, among other reasons.<ref name="Thompson 2010" /><ref>{{cite web |date=16 May 1986 |title=What Is Body Modification? |url=http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisbodymod_pdv.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128093431/http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisbodymod_pdv.htm |archive-date=28 January 2016 |access-date=20 March 2015 |work=Essortment}}</ref>

== History == Body modification is recorded in ancient practices, with the tattoos on Ötzi's mummy dating to 5300 years ago.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arcini |first=Caroline Ahlström |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Viking_Age/uC1lDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=body+modification+%C3%96tzi+tattoos&pg=PA73&printsec=frontcover |title=The Viking Age: A Time of Many Faces |date=2018-05-16 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-941-8 |pages=73 |language=en}}</ref>

== Cultural significance == [[File:First piercing.jpg|thumb|100px|Early stages of getting a navel piercing]] What counts as "body modification" varies in cultures. In western cultures, the cutting or removal of one's hair is not usually considered body modification. Body modification can be contrasted with body adornment by defining body modification as "the physical alteration of the physical body [...] can be temporary or permanent, although most are permanent and modify the body forever".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |title=Encyclopedia of Body Adornment. |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0313336959 |location=United States of America |pages=}}</ref> Around the globe, body modification has served as group ritual, rite of passage, and group membership.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ambrosch |first=Gerfried |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Poetry_of_Punk/Q79aDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22body+modification%22+rite+of+passage,+group+membership&pg=PT114&printsec=frontcover |title=The Poetry of Punk: The Meaning Behind Punk Rock and Hardcore Lyrics |date=2018-05-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-38444-5 |language=en}}</ref>

== Types of body modification == {{main|List of body modifications}}

* Piercing – permanent placement of jewelry through an artificial fistula; sometimes further modified by stretching * Tattooing – injection of a pigment under the skin * Scarification – cutting or removal of dermis with the intent to encourage intentional scarring or keloiding * Branding – controlled burning or cauterizing of tissue to encourage intentional scarring * Subdermal implants – implantation of an object that resides entirely below the dermis, including horn implants

== Psychology and motivations == Factors behind body modification include group identities, reclaiming bodies, and painful rituals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pitts |first=V. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_the_Flesh/gUTHAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22body+modification%22+%22reclaim%22&pg=PA15&printsec=frontcover |title=In the Flesh: The Cultural Politics of Body Modification |date=2003-05-15 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4039-7943-8 |pages=15 |language=en}}</ref>

== Health and safety == Complications of body modifications may include infection and allergic reactions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garzon |first=Dawn Lee |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Burns_Pediatric_Primary_Care_E_Book/w5rxEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tattoo+infection,+allergy&pg=PA765&printsec=frontcover |title=Burns' Pediatric Primary Care - E-Book: Burns' Pediatric Primary Care - E-Book |last2=Dirks |first2=Mary |last3=Driessnack |first3=Martha |last4=Duderstadt |first4=Karen G. |last5=Gaylord |first5=Nan M. |date=2023-11-27 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0-443-11042-9 |pages=765 |language=en}}</ref>

== Legal considerations == Laws related to body modification vary across countries, and parental consent may be required for minors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Loue |first=Sana |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Case_Studies_in_Society_Religion_and_Bio/j1juDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=body+modifications+vary+parental+consent&pg=PA54&printsec=frontcover |title=Case Studies in Society, Religion, and Bioethics |date=2020-06-29 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-44150-0 |pages=54 |language=en}}</ref>

== Ethical and social perspectives == Body modifications raises ethical questions including harm and threats to autonomy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Nancy S. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Consentability/Q96CDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22body+modification%22+autonomy+harm&pg=PA175&printsec=frontcover |title=Consentability |date=2019-02-14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-16491-8 |pages=175 |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Body piercing}}{{bodymodification-stub}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Body Modification}} Category:Body modification Category:Cultural trends Category:Underground culture