Body Modding or what the hell is wrong with people?!

[funguy2121]

I want someone to explain body modding to me.

No, I don't mean this:

Spoiler

I mean crap like this:

Spoiler

What the hell drives people to do this to themselves? Do they think it looks good or cool? Do they realize that shit like this will forever fuck up their lives, that they will never have decent employment, and that things done to this extreme cannot by undone?

I mean hell, I've seen a picture of a guy who tattooed his entire penis, and then cut it in half lengthwise so that it forked. WHY?! Why would someone do this?

Is there anyone here who can help me understand why anyone could possibly think that this is a good idea?

I think some of your pics may be photoshopped, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised to find out I'm wrong.

I take it you're not against tats and piercings when they're not done to such an extreme.

I met a woman when living in Denton, TX. She was one of what we called "Fry rats," couch surfers who would hang outside of the local coffee shop and pizzaria and beg for change and cigarettes. Most of them were fairly young and able to afford manic panic. This one in particular had a tattoo of a Chinese character on her forehead. She said that it was the symbol for joy. We always joked that it was the Chinese symbol for "I don't want to work, ever."

Most of these people are already living in alternative culture, and don't have many ambitions outside of working at the local record store.

 

[dex-dex]

so my piercings are wrong?
my soon to be tattoo is wrong?
I am hurt!

I will say that the photos that you do have are in the over the top category but there are people who do it and do not go nuts with it. I mean I have 12 piercings and a soon to be tattoo but I don't look terrifying!

 

[eatenbyagrue]

Personally, the only body mods I'd be into are all somewhere in the "cybernetic limb/appendage" department.

 

[Fudj]

Personal choice, some mods look good some bad, but its not upto anyone to justify this to anyone else, if it makes the person happy or more complete then thats a good thing for them.

You could say the same thing about gender re-assignment surgery (the ultimate body mod) but if it makes that person happy then its a good thing, you dont have to like it or understand it, its not your body or your life, its theirs to do with as they want.

 

[PurplePlatypus]

I?m sorry, are you trying to suggest people as far into body moding as the people in the photos, don?t understand what they are doing? You know the guy in the last photos, you see them horns he has? They were put there by surgery, surgery that probably wasn?t cheap, which implies he has some form of income which is probably from a job. Not to mention to get to that point takes years of modifications, so he probably has plenty of experience dealing with people while he looks like that.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Spoiler

HIs little green star is funny. Did he kill some one or did he honestly think that was cool, because it does not match the rest of his face. He looks like (and I mean this without any offense intended) a homosexual gangbanger that killed someone and wanted to show it off but look fabulous while doing it.

Also:
I mean hell, I've seen a picture of a guy who tattooed his entire penis, and then cut it in half lengthwise so that it forked. WHY?! Why would someone do this?[/quote]

I want to meet this man, because he is surely the most interesting man in the world. Also, what were YOU looking at when you found said man? o.0

OT: What drives anyone to do anything? This is no worse then people who design their own clothes to reflect their geek fashion, or when they tattoo geek imagry on them (I guarantee if anyone of those pics were a hot chick that cut her ears to look like an elf, or a man who wanted to look like Darth Maul, or Ganondorf, we'd be praising them as awesome).

Its something they like, they shouldnt be told their wrong for it. They know they cant get "normal" jobs, and odds are dont plan on getting "normal" jobs or dont already have "normal" jobs, and in fact are probably employed doing this to other people. I dont see anything wrong with it.

Besides, thats not really extreme. I used to work with a kid whose brother used to do this stuff, and actually found a girl who did too. The brother had those little ring things that put on your skin, 30 on each for arm (3 rows of ten), and 50 on each leg (5 rows of 10), and a stud pericing, as well as piercings up his ear and a gauge in the lobes so big you could probably snap the skin yourself and it wouldnt matter. His girlfriend had two bars going horizontally across her vagina which (the way he described it) pretty much closed it off completely. And she had a straight up metal rod just going htrough her leg, through the bone.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I personally haven't gone as far as these people because I am just not a big fan of discs or sub-dermal modding (the dudes horns). I also keep most of my stuff hidden in an attempt to get my foot in the door of an accounting firm.. after that my ink might expand.

You can be released if you continue and dont have a professional look about yourself. Just cause you're there doesnt mean that once you are, you're there forever. It can also keep you down in promotional times because you wouldnt look profession when big wigs or other employees from different places come and get together.

Just takes a few people to say they dont feel comfortable working with someone like that, or customers to not want to work with you (and to a further extent the company) to get you let go because "its just not working out".

And its perfectly Legal too.

 

[Soxafloppin]

How the hell does that hole-y guy eat or drink? His face is full of holes :| Is he tube feed?

I think all this jazz is crazy :| I understand people want to be unique but personally i think this is too far.

 

[magnuslion]

I want someone to explain body modding to me.

{{snip}}
What the hell drives people to do this to themselves? Do they think it looks good or cool? Do they realize that shit like this will forever fuck up their lives, that they will never have decent employment, and that things done to this extreme cannot by undone?

I mean hell, I've seen a picture of a guy who tattooed his entire penis, and then cut it in half lengthwise so that it forked. WHY?! Why would someone do this?

Is there anyone here who can help me understand why anyone could possibly think that this is a good idea?

ahem,
Just so you know, most of the people who do these kinds of these kinds of things already have decent employment. these types of body mods are very expensive. most of what showed in the article you cited require surgery.

I am not certain as to why people go to the extremes they do with this kind of body mods. I have a few tattoos and a pierced ear, but would not ever consider mods to this extreme. it borderlines on masochism or mania with some people.

however, tattoos are not going to stop anyone from getting good jobs, neither are reasonable piercings. those days are long gone.

People are all different. These people must feel very strongly about what they are doing in order to change themselves this drastically. Don't judge. :/

It is human nature to judge everyone and everything. I judge them just the same as they would judge me.

That sir, is a bloody cop out, and a thinking error. you should see a counselor about that line of thought.

 

[CommanderKirov]

I would pay good money to see the first guy eat soup.

 

[lacktheknack]

Because they thought it was a good idea. I cannot for the life of me tell you WHY they thought this, but that's why they did it.

 

[geier]

Well, i'm heavely tatooed myself and i have 4 piercings (as a guy, and none of them is on my head, think about it) and even i think they look retarded.

But:

It is there life and they live it like they whant, and for that, i respect them.

 

[Kingsnake661]

I only have one problem with SOME body modders.

My problem is this.. when you do something like THAT to yourself... and we stare... you are no longer allowed to be offended by our gawking. I'm sorry. It's not the same as staring at someone with a naturel deformaity, or a disfigureing condition or injery. You CHOOSE to do this to yourself, you HAD to know people would stare, in fact, i think that has to be one of the reasons people do it, for attation. If you don't like the attation your getting, well.. eh, if you can undo the damage, do so. If not... geeh.. i don't know what to tell you...

other then that, i could honestly care less what people do to there bodies. Have at it. Just don't give me gref when i shake my head at you. I'm not judging, i'm just baffled.

 

[funguy2121]

snip

I think the 2nd and 3rd pic might be photoshopped but I wouldn't be shocked to find out I'm wrong. I presume your problem with tats and piercings is when they're taken to excess. If so, I agree.

Did you know that some people surgically alter their ears to become elves? Pretty sad, huh?

When I lived in Denton, TX, I knew this woman who was one of what we called "fry rats." Mostly young adults and teens who could afford JNCOs and manic panic but who were always hanging out on Fry Street begging for change and cigarettes. She had a Chinese character on her forehead that she said was the symbol for joy. We always joked that it was the Chinese symbol for "I don't want to work, ever."

 

[FamoFunk]

The first picture freaked me out, seeing his teeth throught the stretched lobe.
And I have 30 piercings myself, none of them are stretched or non-"normal" ones and I have 5 tattoo's.

I could never go to the extreme these people do, damn :/

 

[zehydra]

I know where you got those pictures from, I just saw them yesterday.

Usually people who do this 1) Have no fucking clue how badly this will destroy their lives. 2) Are already established is their community on what they do for a living, therefore they can do whatever they want to their bodies and get away with it. 3) They are already so far removed from 'normal' society mentally/socially, they just went the next step, and have enough confidence to pull it off on a daily basis.

Gross? Disturbing? Dumb? Perhaps. But if you are willing to live with the ramifications of your actions for the rest of your life without regret, then go for broke.

Personally myself, I have been working on half-sleeves (elbow to wrist) on both arms for about six years now. I'm only a 1/3 of the way there, because it is very time-consuming and expensive and I'm always talking with my tattoo artist on what step we are going to do next. I'm very proud of my tattoos, but I made sure I was well-established with my company before I started work on my arms, and I also made sure we NEVER tattoo across the wrist and onto the back of the hand. I do have to interact with some pretty important people from time to time, so its in my best interest to be able to cover up with a long sleeve shirt.

I find the piercing/skin stretching stuff overdone myself, and just see no point in it. It was all cool and edgy in the seventies, but now that counter-culture has become mainstream, its just more or less hackeneyed with no true meaning now.

Why are you proud of your tattoos? Seems like a silly thing to be proud of

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Their body is theirs. They can do what they want with it. As to why... well, I'm sure they have their reasons. Most see it as art, self expression, or just to be different.

I could smear myself in the excrement of animals and parade naked through the town. I would be different. Id also be a naked idiot covered in crap. Who on earth equated different and good. This man should be slapped. Then asked to forfill the afformentioned task.

 

[00slash00]

Probably to get this exact reaction out of people?

Anyway, i fully endorse and encourage alternative visions of the "body beautiful".

Conformity is bad mmmmkay?

im all for that, but when i just cant look at people who have gauged ears so stretched out i could fit half my hand through. also thinking about people who split their tongue or hang their body from hooks, for fun, just kinda makes my skin crawl. people are free to look however they want, but as long as i dont try to restrict them in any way, im free to not be attracted to certain changes to their appearance that they might make.

also, if your changing your body, purely for the sake of being non-conformist, thats just another kind of conformity. i knew a guy in high school who has a great quote, "not having a tattoo, is the new tattoo"

I agree with you totally on the first part, while i like body art in so far as tattoos go, the extreme piercings are f-ing weird. But if it makes you happy, do it.

As for the second part, well there is conforming to the social norm and there is conforming to a social minority, there is a distinction. I think.

what im saying is that if you get something done because you like the way it looks, thats one thing, but if you do it so other people will think you look cool or because you want to be nonconformist and most nonconformists look a certain way, then youre just conforming to their standards, not your own. aside from just being stupid, its also like spitting in the face of nonconformity, in general.

 

[Drakane]

I personally haven't gone as far as these people because I am just not a big fan of discs or sub-dermal modding (the dudes horns). I also keep most of my stuff hidden in an attempt to get my foot in the door of an accounting firm.. after that my ink might expand.

You can be released if you continue and dont have a professional look about yourself. Just cause you're there doesnt mean that once you are, you're there forever. It can also keep you down in promotional times because you wouldnt look profession when big wigs or other employees from different places come and get together.

Just takes a few people to say they dont feel comfortable working with someone like that, or customers to not want to work with you (and to a further extent the company) to get you let go because "its just not working out".

And its perfectly Legal too.

I have no plan of like one day just showing up w/ tons of new ink or anything... but as a slow process bring back my goatee, let my hair get a little longer, maybe get a little ink that partially shows sometimes... cause yea I know what your saying, and for some reason I don't think many people want their accountant to have chin length blue hair w/ a goatee to the middle of their chest and sleaved in ink.... because somehow that makes my intellect, education, and previous body of work null and void.... but thats a rant for another time

 

[Illesdan]

Why are you proud of your tattoos? Seems like a silly thing to be proud of

Troll much? Already explained it in my post. Try reading the ENTIRE post next time.