Throughout my life, I have always been very indifferent regarding body piercings and tattoos. I have experienced a variety of situations where I have enjoyed a piercing or tattoo, as well as times where I have disliked them. My opinion on the subject is dependent on the reasoning behind the alternation. Non-permanent alterations, such as clothes, hair, and makeup, are much more socially accepted and common in the United States. As Sanders stated in Customizing the Body, “At the simplest level, clothing and fashions are adopted in order to display symbolically gender, social status, role, life-style, personal interests, and other identity features” (Sanders, 4). I often view these types of alterations as self-expressive. When it comes to more permanent body modifications, such as piercings and tattoos, I tend to make the conclusion that the person receiving these modifications is seeking attention. However, making this conclusion depends on the reasoning behind the modification.

Personally, I don’t think making permanent adjustments to your body is ever a good idea, but especially when they are made to your face. I know this belief is due to my mom, who has always been supportive of anything I want to do with my body, with the exception of piercings on my face. When I first came to the University of Oregon, I noticed many girls had nose piercings, and to me it was an attractive look, so I highly considered getting one. I remember my mom getting extremely worked up about the fact that I was going to put a hole in my face. It wasn’t the piercing that bothered her, just the placement I had chosen to get it. She had taken me to get my ears pierced a couple of times, and she had even offered to get me a tattoo, but the difference was that I could hide my ears with my hair, and a tattoo with my clothing. I now understand her opinion on it; it wasn’t that she didn’t like the look of the nose ring, but rather she knew others may not like it and she didn’t want that to negatively affect my lifestyle. She was afraid I wouldn’t be taken seriously, and while that was her opinion, I fell into agreement with her.

Another value I adapted from my family was to not act on impulse. This required me to think on choices that resulted in permanent outcomes, and an easy way to do that was for me to think to myself, “10 years from now, would I be asking for the same thing?”. This way of thinking has prevented me from getting a tattoo. There have been many moments where I have deeply considered the idea; something as simple as a short quote that made me feel better. I knew if I were to get a tattoo, I would place it on a hidden part of my body that would be covered by daily, casual clothing. What stops me is thinking back to 10 years ago, which would make me 12 years old, and asking myself what kind of tattoo I would get as a 12 year old. The tattoo selection I would have had at 12 would have been soccer balls and the name of my elementary school crush, which are very different from my current goals and interests. From here, I think into future, and that maybe by the time I’m 32, the quote I got permanently inked onto my body at age 22 will be meaningless..

While I choose to use this thought process in regards to body modifications, I understand the desire to do it. As I stated in the beginning of my discussion, I often view wild tattoos and piercings as a cry for attention; however, I do believe there are deeper reasons for them. Referring to the PowerPoint presentation, there are various reasons for people to alter their bodies in permanent ways, one being the shock value. This is closely related to my belief that these alterations are an attempt to receive more attention. In my people watching assignment, I talked about a woman who had various facial piercings and facial tattoos. I don’t think there could be a better example of shock value, and I also don’t see another reason for this woman to do that to herself. While I don’t agree with this reasoning, I do understand it.

Another reason, which is a more positive opinion on the matter, is for representation of something. I’m not sure how this would relate to piercings, but with tattoos, the tattoo often represents something of great importance to a person. What tattoos could represent is endless; from grief to motivation, or even something more specific. These are the instances where I feel I am more accepting of wanting to make a permanent make on your body; a constant reminder of something important to you. I have a close friend who had made many mistakes in her life involving drugs. She cleaned herself up, and today is living an extremely healthy lifestyle. She has the date she entered a rehabilitation facility tattooed on her chest, near her heart, which she claims represents the day she decide to live.

I have no doubt that my family values influence the way I judge body modifications. I grew up with a very small family, and most of the older generations were on the conservative side and looked down upon any permanent alteration to your body. My mom was the family member to branch out; while she didn’t alter her body in any permanent way except standard ear piercings, she was much more accepting of what people chose to do. My opinion is most closely related to hers, but I would argue that I am even more open to it. There’s many things I don’t agree to doing to myself, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I care if other chose to do so. I think people have a right to express themselves however they chose, I would just argue that many people think of these expressions in only the short term, and neglect the long term consequences.