I think that body modification is practiced for both the self and social public reasons. Really, anything you do to change or at to the outside of your body is for someone else to see and interpret in a way that they have a better understanding of you. Or rather what you choose to show them. With tattoos they show a story or an aspect of the wearer, and if the person were to be inside all the time, they might be less likely to do body modification. Although this is not always true, or one might beg to differ, I think it is an underlying possibly unconscious reason.

--T Elio

I love my naval ring. I also had my tongue pierced, and I have a small tattoo on my left ankle. I had all three things done because I wanted them done. I know plenty of people with all three done who love them just as much as I do. No matter what anyone says, if you get a piercing or tattoo, it is because you wanted it done. No one is going
to force you to do anything you do not want to do. I think that with all the problems in our world today, piercings and tattoos are a small issue.

--Whitney

I think this whole issue (the idea of people doing things to "fit in") raises an important question about the relationship of one's outward, "social" presentation of oneself and one's experience as an individual. True, many teenagers and adults practice body modification in order to "belong" to a particular social group, but how is this fundamentally different from wearing, say, a business suit? The fact is, participation in a group enables one to experience things one might not have been able to otherwise (I'd be hard pressed to get a job on Wall St. with my aqua tongue ring in...), and these experiences have a direct effect on our personal and subjective experience. I suppose you can say there is some existential, "spiritual" aspect to body modification, but most people do it in order to construct a certain identity, both for society and for themselves -- posing a dichotomy between public and private reasons for body modification begs the question that this distinction exists in the first place.

--Nick

I got my ears pierced at age 9, cos "everyone else has them piereced." I once piered my lip just to rebel. But that was when I was younger! I have since had my lip pierced again because I liked the look if it, the same with my navel, but I dunno my navel piercing made me feel special, kind of sexy if you like!!! I would love a new piercing but I cannot think of the nothing original!!! I would like the "pit" of my neck pierced because it is not too common - I do not like to be a sheep (not all the time).

--LittleRedHenUK

I like having people look at my tattoo and piercings, and anyone who feels like it is very welcome to have a chat with me about body mods. However, any procedure that involves holes or permanent discolouration of the skin should be seriously considered and maturely evaluated, just as you would a cosmetic surgical procedures. It may be fashionable to have really pale skin, but would u go and have the top layers of your skin bleached? No. So then why decide to have your skin a coloured pattern just coz it's fashionable?
You can probably tell I'm a staunch supporter of the 'personal reasons are best' camp. I think u'll agree I have a point though, no matter what reasons you may have fro being inked.

--Gemma, England

There is no doubt that in this fad conscience society where people, especially the youth, determine their desired look by the latest media marketing ploy that many people are modifying their bodies to fit in; to be "cool." I'm sure that the tattoo and piercing business was loving life when Dennis Rodman was in the lime-light. However, body art, particularly tattooes, are not a fad for those of us who truely use them - dare I say, need them - for personal reasons. We are part of a modern tribalism whose roots go back thousands of years. So for those do believe tattoes are just a fad, kep believing it; it just the longest running fad in history. Most of us who really believe in our tats could care lees what the critics think anyway.

--aerochunck

Speaking for myself, I got tattoos because I wanted the public to view me differently. Is that a public reason or personal reason? It is my opinion that a lot of the tattooing and body piercing done today is for the shock value it can create with the public. What the young person should realize is that studs and earrings etc. can be removed when the fad wears off but tattooing is forever, or at the very least very, very expensive to remove.

--cvetz

Whether we modify to conform and belong or to make a statement, doesn't this modification ultimately result from inner motives that can be so personal that we may not consciously be aware of them? When we "dress up" for a special night out with friends do we know that we plan on getting accepted, fulfill our expectation to be rejected or simply to feed our ego by being noticed? Whether we consider the motive or not, we choose our public face.

--Cat

Speaking only for myself, body modification is done purely for personal reasons. Like a previous visitor, I used to cut myself when angry at others. I was part of the punk subculture for many years, but didn't consider getting a tattoo until I was in my late twenties; during a period in my life when I felt I was losing control, it seemed like a commitment to myself. I also wanted to make myself 'different', to alienate myself from others, and this seemed the most permanent way. I feel it's really important to have a relationship with your artist, and allow him or her to develop artwork based on your specifications. I am now very comfortable with my body, and believe I can thank my body art for a lot of that maturity.

--Robin from the Near North, two large tattooes and eight piercings.

I feel that all humans have a need/desire to express their individuality. I feel that piercings, tattoos, etc, are all a form of individual taste and expression. People of all nations, have lent themselves, at one time or another to fads. I do think that some of the piercings and tattoos we see now, are trends for some. For others I feel that difference is a way of life. Modification of our looks is widely accepted. We cut our hair, we color it, we spend millions of dollars each year, to modify our looks in one way or another. Bottomline, I feel to each his own. I think that difference in people makes our world go round. Frankly, I'm a people watcher, I love walking along Telegraph avenue, in Berkeley Ca, near the university campus, and watch the people browsing the many street vendor booths; talk about an array of people who've modified their bodies, their hair, it's a beautiful sight to behold. I have a few piercings of my own; four piercings in each ear, one nose piercing; modest to some degree. I'm a 51 year old woman, risiding in the S.F. Bay Area...

--Meeoow1930

Body Modification can take both forms, but is in my view a self ritualistic form of acceptance or belonging on a personal level of wanting a cultural or subcultural identity of who we are or want to be. Publically, to display that desire or truth to others to establish who we are as a form of non-verbal communication of that truth or wish even if verbal communication may dictate a portrayal of self as a truth or lie in order to establish some form of acceptance within our so called normal majority society!

--PAGELIO