Another baby picture! Again, before you congratulate me, click the picture to find out who you actually should be congratulating (well, one of the people involved anyway, but you can follow the links).
It's weird — I was kind of confused when I saw those pictures with a recent date on them… I first saw them weeks ago, but I've been having some trouble staying just in the present and find myself moving through time less linearly than I'm told is normal.
Just did the little interview below, archiving it here as always…
1. Do you think there is an increase in bod mods among teenagers?
More teens get body modifications every year, yes, but it's not just teens. There's also an increase in body modification in seniors, and everyone between. I would not classify body modification as a “youth activity”.
2. Is it becoming a trend?
I don't believe that trend is the right word. Since the early 1990s, every one of us in the industry has said, “well, this is the last big summer for body piercing”, expecting that we're riding the final wave of the trend. But, every year, it's gotten bigger, and expanded its demographic. In addition, because an increasing number of these modifications are permanent (it's not like a funny hairdo or a style of clothing that you can swap overnight), people commit themselves for life and I don't think “trend” is really the right word for that.
3. What are some of the most popular bod mods you've seen among teens?
Among teens the popular mods are probably most facial piercings — lip, tongue, nose, and so on — as well as ear piercings of all sorts, including stretching. Nipple and navel piercings are also popular, as are tattoos of course.
4. Do you think that employers react differently to people with bod mods than to people who do not?
It depends on the employer. In jobs that require interaction with a mainstream market that may discriminate against those with visible body modifications, those employers may choose to shy away from the pierced for financial reasons. That said, the visibly modified public is growing dramatically as a “market sector” so employers are forced to hire the modified to reach that market.
In jobs that are meritocracies, assuming the potential employee has the skills and can document them, while the mods may provide an initial hiccup, in the long run many people find the memorability of their look actually helps them.
5. Why do you think that high schools do not allow teens to wear facial piercings?
Public high schools that ban piercing by students do so because they are ignorant and small-minded and want to do everything they can to ensure that graduating students are equally ignorant. Sure, they may cloud the issue in bogus claims about protecting the integrity of the educational process, but all of these claims are revealed as deceitful and false under any objective scrutiny.
The fact is that a student that is willing to buck the mainstream and pierce their face is an individual with the power to question authority and the power to think for themselves, even if they don't know it yet or have not yet learned to coherently express it. The last thing the “establishment” wants is free individuals, since freedom is a threat to their ability to control and profit. Remember, the school system isn't run by individuals or even the local community. It's a factory system owned by the state, designed to produce a product.
6. How well do you think people respond to those with noticeable bod mods?
The world is full of people who enjoy making other people suffer, and as long as body modification is a minority act, it will make us a target for these sad people. It's becoming less common though, and I hope that in the long run it will all but disappear.
