Stigma

Body modification is an interesting topic of discussion. Tattooing, branding, scarification and piercing are some of the way's people alter their appearance. John Harding discussed incorporating possessions as an expression of ones self including the body. John used the term "Body Project" where individuals show meaning through the modifications that they have made to their body. This is an interesting concept and can be compared to the concept of attribution that we learned in class. When you modify your body, you change your appearance and are stating something about yourself. In the tribal cultures you could learn everything you needed to know about another warrior just by looking at his tattoos. Attribution deals with acquiring knowledge about people by their behavior, traits and motives. When you see a tattoo on somebody then you immediately draw some conclusions about the person. In the tribal cultures you could tell what tribe the person was from, the rank he/she held, his/her age just by looking at the tattoos. It was discussed in class that the type of tattoo that a person had received also determined the reaction from society. There were some tattoos that were seen as "cute" while other tattoos were seen as a sign of deviance. In the past tattoos were used to brand criminals. It is also said in the bible that thou shall not mark thy body. Perhaps this is why some tattoos and excessive body modification are deemed as deviant. This type of behavior goes against the social norms. We also discussed in class that the generation gaps view body modification differently.John said that the most popular age group that was receiving some sort of body modification was the 18-35 age group. This age group accounted for 75% of most body modification that was being done. I know from my parents point of view that body modification was not looked upon very highly. They told me never to get any tattoos or piercing. From ...