Body Modification
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Body Modification
People send signs and messages as communication all the time. Sometimes its subconscious and sometimes it's not. The way people physically choose to dress, the music they listen to, the language they use, communicates meaning about how they want society and the public to see them as. Dress, language, music, and dance are some of the ways that portray one's own unique character. Oftentimes, fashion and society forces us to look and act a specific way. Like Greer says in "One Man's Mutilation Is Another Man's Beautification," our values and our symbols are being manipulated commercially. "There is [no] mutual decoration, no young warriors apply magical designs to each other's back The only human interactions we see are commercial." (167) For example, we are being manipulated by fashion to undergo body modification, particularly by means of tattooing and body piercing.
Tattooing and body piercing are somewhat trendy now, having gained popularity in the 1990s. However, these forms of "body modification/body art" are anything but new...