I did this brief newspaper interview earlier today. I'm archiving it here for my own uses. If you see quotes from it over the next week, please let me know. You never know where the wires take stories, as some people discovered recently! Well, my narcissism is satiated for today.
I'm short on time so I've linked to some articles I wrote in the past. You're welcome to use them as answers if they're relevant.
At 8/3/2004 07:35 PM, you wrote:
1. What was your first modification? How old were you? Why did you do it?
I was doing temporary piercings on myself at about age ten and started tattooing and piercing myself when I was fifteen or sixteen. I don't know why I did it, I “just had to”. To put it into context, I was living on a farm two hours from the closest large city, and this was a decade before piercings and tattoos would become public enough to be commonplace in the media. When I started, I had no idea that there were many other people doing this, and certainly wasn't expecting it to become as popular as it is now. I suppose a lot of other people found themselves with the same innate drives, and you'll find that most people seriously involved in body modifications have analogous stories to my own. It's really quite a common story.
2. What further modifications have you done? How old are you now?
I've had a lot of things that I haven't kept as I went through an experimental phase (mostly a lot of different piercings and implants), but at this point I have a split tongue, a subincision, heavy tattooing including my face, and 2″ stretched earlobe piercings. I am thirty years old.
3. Is modification primarily something young people do?
Absolutely not. Right now there are definitely more young people doing it, but that's a very recent shift. Traditionally body modification has not been a “youth trend”, and it certainly still penetrates all demographics. Most of our original members on the site were over 35.
4. Does modification have a spiritual or religious aspect for you?
It does for me, yes, but not for everyone. A few relevant stories about me on this vein are:
https://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A40721/tatlongh.html
https://www.bmezine.com/ritual/A21022/ritdmtfo.html
https://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A30314/tatdoest.html
https://www.bmezine.com/pierce/01-ear/A20118/eartheda.html
5. Modification is sometimes considered part of the tribal/pagan scene. Your comments?
It certainly is, but I don't really want to put words in other people's mouths… That said, body modification was an important part of the social structure of many tribal cultures, denoting family history, caste rank, age and achievements, and so on. Modern neo-tribal Westerners often emulate some of that, although it's in a very different context. I wrote an article on the subject about a year ago:
https://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20030718.html
As far as pagan involvement in body modification, I don't think there's anything that would attach neo-pagans to body modification any more than modern Christians (ie. body modification is a great way to commemorate and solidify ANYTHING that's important to you)… which I've written a little about here:
https://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20031102.html
6. Modification is sometimes considered part of the S/M scene. Your comments?
Absolutely, there are three main aspects. First, body modification is a part of SM fashion for those that see it in that way; it's a part of the look. But it's more than that. It's also a functional accessory — piercings and other modifications both make traditional sex play feel better (in short, by allowing more nerves to receive stimulation), and often allow for new forms of play as well. Finally, the act of receiving modifications, both permanent ones and temporary play (CBT and so on), involves intense physical sensations that many people find highly erotic. This is very normal and healthy in my opinion.
7. How large is the modification community?
BME receives about 20 million hits daily. The body modification community is immense, and far far larger than most people imagine. Most people only see the young people with piercings on their face, but what they don't realize is there are legions of modified people hiding intensely modified bodies underneath their business suits. Most of the more heavily modified individuals I know are well off professionals in positions of power who keep their modifications to themselves when in public.
8. Many Americans are frightened of the modification scene. Are they simply old-fashioned?
I don't know if “old fashioned” is the right word because body modification is nothing new. It's more visible these days because of the media attention, which has also popularized it especially among youth, but it's definitely not something new. It's just more out of the closet. Body modification is a healthy and a positive thing in most people's lives — there's nothing in it for people to be afraid of. To be perfectly honest, the only “bad” thing about body modification is that it can make prejudiced plainskins restrict access to jobs, education, and so on because of their fears.
9. What does “the body” mean to you?
My body houses me and is the only tool I have to experience what this world has to offer. I'd be a fool not to manipulate it in ways that allow me as many experiences as possible.
Hope that helped,
Shannon
