Types

Extreme body modification is one of the oldest, most diverse, and farthest reaching subcultures in the world. From simple cartilage piercings to genital mutilation, body modification has become a way for people to create visual and physical representations of their identities. Modification helps shape personal, societal and cultural identities as we can see in various examples from around the world**. The highly experiential process connects this community in a way that other subcultures cannot replicate. Through modifications, members of this subculture form a story that influences how they interact with others.

To help us understand why people modify their bodies, let’s start with some background. Historically, body modification can be classified into five different forms: piercing, implanting, tattooing, scarification/branding, and hardcore.

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Piercing is defined by a puncture through which jewelry or other adornments are placed. This is one of the most common forms of body modification. Piercing can occur Nose piercing dates back 4000 years to the Middle East and is still widely practiced in India today. Ear and nostril piercing has also been alluded to in the Bible in Genesis 24:22 and Isaiah 3:21.

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Implanting consists of modifications where foreign objects are surgically implanted into the body. While this is a more recent development, evidence of genital beading can be traced back several hundred years to the Japanese Yakuza. A common form of implanting that is normalized in society is plastic surgery.

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Tattooing encompasses body modifications that require the insertion of ink into the skin to change the pigment. This practice can be tangibly traced back to ancient Egyptian mummies from 3300 BCE bearing tattoos of animals and other creatures, however it is believed to have originated over 10,000 years ago.

Scarification/branding is the process of cutting or burning flesh to leave a permanent scar in the form of a pattern. It’s typically used by those who have too much melanin in their bodies for tattooing to be effective, specifically the “crocodile” people of Papua New Guinea, the Karo people in Ethiopia and various Aboriginal tribes in Australia.

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Hardcore includes ear pointing, tongue splitting, genital modifications, body suspension and the like. While this extreme form of modification is not uncommon, it is quite unusual and pushes the boundaries even within the extreme body modification community.

While many Western cultures use jewelry and adornments to establish social status and group affiliations, other cultures associate deeper meanings with punctures and scars. Common ritualistic purposes for body modification include religion, warding off evil, coming of age and physical beauty. These customs help illustrate how people use body modification to establish cultural identity.

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