Why is disfigurment nessesary to be "cool"?

Back in my day we did'nt have to get our tounge
forked to be hip.
Seems todays youth have a strong dose of self
hate. [or something)

www.thedenverchannel.com...

[Edited on 6-3-2004 by fortean]

i'm 18, and find body piercings of any kind to be disgusting. i know others with the same outlook. it's not all of us youth.

That's just plain wrong, I find it uncool by my definition and would consider anyone who thinks this is cool as lacking self respect.

I knew someone who used to say that the only men who should get their ears pierced were Pirates, Gypsies and Gays.

Well, I'm 14 years old, and I personally find that to be one of the sickest, most disgusting things that a person can do to themselves. Now, I don't see problem with girls having their ears periced, but personally I don't see what anything else needs to done to themselves...and also, why did guys ever start putting holes in themselves?

J.

The majority seems to do to just "follow the herd''. I have no idea why this came to be the "cool" thing to do but each generation has to go one step further than the last to set themselves apart. I'm worried about what the next generation is going to have to do. Brandings, piercings and tattoos date back to ancient times, however the youth of today are not doing it for the same reasons those tribesmen did.

It just occured to me, maybe the media blows this
phenomenon out of proportion. Thus making it
seem more popular than it is. Hence making it
popular? No?



[Edited on 6-3-2004 by fortean]

Originally posted by Milton
Well, I'm 14 years old, and I personally find that to be one of the sickest, most disgusting things that a person can do to themselves. Now, I don't see problem with girls having their ears periced, but personally I don't see what anything else needs to done to themselves...and also, why did guys ever start putting holes in themselves?

J.

So it's ok for girls to go and mutilate themselves but not anyone else?
Is it ok to brand an animal too?
Cut off the tail of a dog just for show or because it's been done for a few hundred years?
Do u have any tattooo's? Or is that self mutilation too?

If you were ont he titanic would u let the women onto the boats first or just let them sink while u hop onto the boats?

People disfigure their body to be cool.
Cool = self esteem.
Self esteem unfortunately for many is measured by whats popular and who can emulate it best.

Media outlets such as MTV, movies etc, and pop culture icons define what's popular.

Many youth are drawn into it unwitingly, and once in it's hard to turn around and say, "i don't want to be cool anymore "

Call them "terminally cool". Why? because they're be cool no matter what the cost. Cost to them, their family, their soul.

Back along time ago...women used to get their ears periced to look nicer for fancy parties and stuff...but now guys started doing it, without a reason. And girls started doing it also, which needless to say is useless. Yes, it's fine to brand animals like Cattle, they need to be marked. No, I it's not ok to cut off a dogs tail, and no I have no tattoo's and don't have plans to get one. If I were on the Titanic, I wouldn't have gone onto a boat, instead would have swam away from the Titanic then held onto a boat. Besides, I don't have to say "I don't want to be cool any longer"...I'm already not "cool" to most standards. .

J.

Ask the Kayapo why they wear the botoque (large disk in their bottom lip).
Ask the Ndebele woman why she wears up to 13 brass neck rings.
Ask the Samoan man why he has nearly his entire body tattooed.
Ask the Masai why they stretch their earlobes.

Body modification is ancient and always intensely meaningful. Sometimes it's a display of fearlessness or power. Sometimes it's an expression of beauty.
The Samoan tatau is a visual representation of a person's life and lineage. It shows bravery and is often a part of a boy's transition to manhood.

Modification isn't new, and the base reasons haven't changed.
Ask someone why they get pierced, tattooed, branded, or cut. You might be surprised at the answer.

Happily tattooed & pierced,
-B.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
i'm 18, and find body piercings of any kind to be disgusting. i know others with the same outlook. it's not all of us youth.

i agree. i cant stand to see people with their faces looking like pin cousins. although i dont mind tats too much. ive even been thinging about getting one my self. well 2 actually

Thanks. Banshee.

That was very insightful.
Can't say I'm gonna run down to tatoo parlor,
but I can empathize more now with those who
choose to.

I really dont care either way. If people want to get tattoed or pierced its their problem... not mine.

I wouldn't call it disfigurment, I would agree with the word: body modification.
Its a personal choice, to most of us.
In such, why do we feel the need to place or own biased opinions of "wrong" and "right" on the said person. Stereotypical?

That person's body is, after all, there own and not yours, correct? If they so chose to do body modifications, does it ultimately change Who the person is? What one may concieve and/or percieve as disgusting and such, to another, it is beautiful, heritage, and art......

Tolerance...the single most under-utilized word and human trait in use today?



regards
seekerof

Why is disfigurment nessesary to be "cool"?

Its not. Im plenty cool without having to do any of that. What makes you a "cool" person is your personality and the way you carry yourself. Thats what makes you cool my friend.

I'm 15 and have my left ear pierced and stretched. I have pierced and stretched it because i've seen pictures of tribes or whatever in africa and saw how their ears were all huge and thought it was one of the most interesting things i've seen. I didnt do it to follow to crowd because 1: Almost no one here has stretched ears 2: i want to be different from everyone else, i like to see peoples reactions when they see my ear...

who cares???

if you like it, do it, if you dont, dont.
its that simple.

persoanlly im not into piercings (except for when i wear my pirate earring, because im a pirate)

but tatoos!

jeeeeeeeez imm aking stencils of some artwork im doing nd getting em on my back. my never ending tribute to art.

People don't get pierced or tattooed or any body modification to be "cool". They do it because they want to. I wanted my ears pierced and after a LOT of begging and pleading and annoying my parents I got them pierced for my 6th birthday. Same thing for my second and third piercings. (14th and 19th birthdays) I didn't get them cause other people had them. I didn't get them cause I wanted to be cool. I got them cause I liked the way they looked and wanted them for ME.

And when I get tattoos (which I'm planing to do) it won't be to be cool or cause other people have tattoos it'll be for me. Cause I like it and I want it.

I don't speak for everyone but I don't think any sane adult person would get something permanent on their body just to be "cool". (and to get anything done you have to be 18 ie adult. Unless you get it done somewhere seedy and then your just a moron anyway.)

Everyone I know who has tats or piercings or other body modification did it for them selves or for a culture thing like the people Banshee mentioned.

Battle scars are cool!