Under The Skin: A Psychoanalytic Study Of Body Modification

Many children in various cultures had to undergo body modifications due to certain cultures and beliefs. “The feet of very young Chinese girls were bound and spliced, intentionally and irreversibly deforming them, because this was seen to guarantee the girls’ eventual amorous and matrimonial success.” (Borel,1994). In Polynesia, unless a girl was tattooed, she would not find a husband. An unornamented hand could not cook, nor dip into the communal food bowl (Borel,1994). It is as to say that “the fact that such motivations and pretexts depend on aesthetic, erotic, hygienic, or even medical considerations has no influence on the result, which is always in the direction of transforming the appearance of the body. Such a transformation is wished for, whether or not it is effective.”

Other marks such as a scar or tattoo may have some meaning behind it such as what the person had experienced or endured.

We view our bodies as ugly, and seek medical and unconventional methods to achieve or prevent this ugliness. Some of the customs we undertake include body piercing, waxing, tattooing, facial and body surgeries and makeovers. There may not be a culture, but people do these things willingly just as the Nacirema tribe. People spend a lot of money doing these things in an endeavor to make themselves beautiful. The behavior of mouth cleansing was very interesting because, though they realize that their teeth still decay even after doing the rituals the tribe still continued to perform the rituals. This behavior is evident with our current culture in that though we realize something is not working as we intended, we still believe in it and continue to do it with the hopes that we will achieve

Body modification, which means to alter ones' physical appearance, is a phrase that tends to bring up many negative implications and judgment from people who are not fully aware of all the things that can fall under that subject. Body modification can be something as simple as having ones' ears pierced, or something to the extreme, such as pearling (inserting small beads underneath the skin of the genitals). However, the act of body modification is something that has been in nearly every culture since the beginning of time.

7). Cultural views vary by religious institutions, which means “artificially altering the body, may violate some important values in some cultures” (par. 14). For example, the Chinese are naturopaths, which prefers not artificially altering the body composition (par. 14). Those who get plastic surgery are perceived as violating cultural views. On the other hand, Cosmetic surgery is more prevalent in the US because patients undergoing these procedures are not judged (par. 16). The U.S towers over any other country in the number of surgeries completed (par. 16). This is a credible scholarly journal published by The Journal of Social Psychology in 2012. This article is only four years old, which is an appropriate time for this article to be written. Tam has created forty-five publications of different articles. Tam has studied at the Hong Kong University of Science granting him a PhD in Social Psychology and Applied Psychology. Tam is a professor teaching multiple topics relating to psychology. Many speeches and presentations were done by Tam on this topic as well. There are a large number of sources in which information was referenced from.

As teenagers, they have a lot going on in their minds: puberty, struggling toward their identity, and fitting in. Getting a tattoo has ran through everyone’s mind and elders always warned us about how tattoos were bad and that there would be consequences to having one. But having tattoos also creates self-identity towards oneself. For example, my uncle Carlos got his whole left arm tattooed many years ago and it still fits to his personality today. When picking a tattoo, it should have a meaning because it will stay with them for the rest of their lives. The article brought up a 13 year old boy who proudly showed off his tattoos. He explained that his tattoos represented how his dad was killed by a motorcycle gang

Body modification has become increasingly popular due to the influence of media and social trends. As the popularity of body modification increases, the stigma and stereotype that has followed it for generations is gradually losing its prevalence (Keyser, 2017). Social media is a major influence on the popularity of body modification; it has brought body modification into the mainstream and due to this, is becoming more socially accepted (Murphy, 2015). However Cassar (2017) believes ‘Tattoos and piercings are no longer unique”, resulting in the more extreme forms of body modifications as people strive to be unique and stand out from the crowd. The survey conducted shows that 78.6% of the participants had a form of body modification. Out of

There are many reasons for individuals to acquire body modifications. One possible reason for body modifications is to gain attention through displays of extravagance such as those that are found in people with histrionic disorder (Durand & Barlow, 2000). A study by Burger & Finkel (2002) investigated reasons why people adorn their bodies with tattoos and body piercing. They also researched unmodified participants’ perceptions of body art. When the researchers polled participant group as to their perceptions of body modifications, they found that many people associate tattoos and body piercing with risky behaviors and view them as symbols of drug abuse and violence (Burger & Finkel, 2002). They found that a main motivation for people to modify their bodies is to increase self-esteem. The people polled found body art as beautiful and felt more beautiful when they acquired it. A study conducted at Denison University by Lyons and Snyder (1996) described the reasons why college men and women had tattoos and body piercing. The main reason cited by the men with body modifications for getting tattooed or pierced was to identify themselves with a certain group. Women, however, rated their tattoos and piercing to make themselves more individualized or sexually appealing. Other popular reasons for displaying body modifications are to carry on cultural traditions and to increase

Body modifications have existed in our society for centuries and the way in which it is perceived has changed somewhat over the years. But certain stigmas still persists to this contemporary day. One such body modification is the act of inking or marking the skin: Tattooing. Like most body modifications, tattoos are an often misunderstood form of body modification. Despite the stigmas, tattoos have become a unique object of desire to diverse groups of people. But are the popular perceptions of tattoos out of synch with the true meaning behind them? This essay will explore the social and cultural practices of tattooing and the causal connection between the mind and the tattooed body. It will also explore why tattoos engender

A large nose, acne-prone skin, single eyelids, and the list goes on. We all wish we could change that one imperfection we have. However, some of us can accept it and carry on with our lives; not for sufferers of body dysmorphic disorder.

Body modifications have been practiced by humans for thousands of years. It's a common practice in modern society, mainly to make one's body conform to societal or personal ideals of beauty. There are other motives as well, such as health reasons, religious beliefs, shock value, and to display affiliation or membership to a group. Some of the most common forms of body modification are:

Humans intentionally modify themselves because they use it as a way to control themselves. As we grow up, we are limited in the ways in which we can control our appearance or our internal biology. Being able to modify ourselves gives us the opportunity to take matters into our own hands and chose what characteristics we would like to have. People like to have a say in the way they live their lives, so it’s only natural that they would also want a say in their appearance or abilities. Intentional modification allows for humans to express themselves in their own way. People use this process as a way to identify better with themselves as well as in their relationships and in the community.

Body modifications have been a cultural tradition since the ancient times in many parts of the world. Whether its body paint, foot binding, scarification of beautiful patterns from the face to the feet, lip plating, nose and ear gauging or even tattooing, we change the way we can look significantly (Tanne). People typically alter their bodies for beauty and the love of other individuals or even sometimes for a rite of passage to become a man or a woman. In almost every society throughout history, women have been pushed to undergo crucial and often horrible physical modifications in the name of beauty and social status. Imaginably, one of the most agonizing body modifications in all of history is the ancient Chinese tradition of foot binding.

Many people today feel insecure about their bodies. They feel that people will judge them more if they have a crooked nose or eyes that are too close to each other. Some get liposuction if they feel too fat or breast implants because they think it will make them more attractive to the opposite sex. These people who do not feel happy about the way their

For centuries, humans around the world have been taking steps to alter their bodies. From foot binding and neck rings ear piercings or tattoos, the expansive list of human body modification practices shows that for one reason or another, every society has certain elements designed to purposefully change the structure of the human body.