Body Mods: Beyond Beauty

Like sensory difference and diabetes, body modification has been a part of human experience since before written records began. We have already discussed body modifications intended to 'perfect' human bodies, and to bring them into allignment with specific cultural norms and ideals. Howver, in this last example of the year, we will explore body modifications that are principally aesthetic, but non-conforming. From tattoos to piercings, subdural implants to elective amputations, an increasingly visible culture of modification actively challenges cultural norms; adopts, adapts, or perhaps appropriates the aesthetics of another culture; or seeks to address highly divergent criteria of belonging or othering. What do cultures of extreme modification tell us about human perfectibility, past, present, and future?

Reading Questions:

• Is tattooing (and are tattoos) universal or culturally specific?
• Does the meaning of tattooing (and other practices of body odification) change over time? Why/Why not? Where? For whom?
• Can 'shocking' bodies also be 'perfect'?
• Are aesthetic non-conformists still pursuing 'perfection'?
• What role, if any, should societies play in regulating the limits of body modification?