1:04 a.m. - 2004-12-03
Ranting About Body Piercings
The girl in my English class that looks like Frankie from "The Realworld: San Diego" did her research paper presentation today. She's doing her paper on body piercings and scarification. She was going to include tattoos but "they are too boring."
During her presentation she handed out several photocopies of people with various body piercings. Sure there were the many ways of piercing an ear to include gauging it, which looks disgusting to me. Then there were some of the standard lip region, tongue, nose, eyebrow, and other fairly regular facial piercings. Then there was what I consider the dumbess piercing I've seen yet. A guy had a pair of piercings through his gums, between his top front teeth and the ones to either side. The rings went through the gums with the bottoms looping down to get in the way when he'd bite down. So impractical.
She mentioned another pointless mouth piercing, but she deleted the picture because the name sounded disgusting in a genital way to her. People are getting their UVULA pierced. The UVUALA is the hangy ball in the back of your throat that controls your gag reflex. My logic is if a clitoral piercing makes any movement into a possible orgasm, then a uvula piercing makes any mouth movement into a pending case of vomitting.
Moving from the head to the spine. One lady was pictured with two sets of rows going down her back. With ribbons laced through it gave it the appearance of a corset without any of the funtionality. It's not like you can tug on skin to force her ribs and stomach to suck inward.
Thinking back on my conversation with Aysha that I'd posted on here... I am exactly as I seem yet completely the opposite at the same time. I dislike the run of the mill conformity of society, yet I am too conservative to "appreciate" this body "art".
Here's a notion though: perhaps my dislike of the mainstream realm of society mirrors my dislike of extreme body modification. It's all part of the "bigger, better, more" conspicuous consumerism ideology. Without an overpriced, luxury edition of a sport utility vehicle which will never leave the pavement a person is nothing. Without having the most extremely painful looking body modification, a person just isn't "rebelious" enough.
So the "striving young business executive" wastes his or her money on a new suit to fit in. The "starving artist" wastes his or her money on body piercings and scarification to stand out. Either way they are buying stuff they don't need in order to build an identity.
.oO(Somehow I seem to have segued into the topic of my research paper. My working title is: "You Are Not Your Grande Latte--Another Look at Conspicuous Consumerism."
Yes, I am using Fight Club as a source of information and inspiration.)
You are not the car you drive. You are not the clothes you wear. You are not your tattoos. You are not your piercings. You are not a special and unique snowflake. You are part of the same decaying compost heap as everything else.
"Where is my mind...*explosions*... With my feet on the ground..."
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