The Beauty in Disfigurement: Body Modification and their Significance
Body modifications reinterpret the representation of skin, and accentuate the intimate discovery of the affinity between art, affliction, and transcending one’s body. They have been practiced for thousands of years, varying from regular tattoos and piercings to more shocking – transgressive – alterations, including crude scarring, nipple splitting, or foot binding, and more extreme versions such as voluntary amputation and body suspension. Many cultures partake in these painful acts that were designed as a means of individuality and spirituality, while the rest of those who engage in them are looking to build on their aesthetics and self-expression.
Many perceive modifications as a type of self-mutilation or a form of psychiatric disorder. Those with body dysmorphia often engage in “non-therapeutic mutilation” in an attempt to “fix” their perceived flaws, but the results are nonetheless often found unsatisfactory and can actually exacerbate a person’s BD, which causes an ethical divide between medical experts.
The ways in which we cover our bodies are, at the same time, ways of exhibiting it
- WALZER AND SANJURIO