Body Modders - Tribal Tributes?
From Mod Mania
Twenty years ago, to see a man or women wandering down the street sporting a bald, tattooed scalp, a face full of piercings and ears surgically reshaped as an elf’s, would have been extremely uncommon. To the average citizen, this image may have set off alarm bells and evoked thoughts that this person is just a weird, immoral scumbag. Today, however, society has a perhaps more relaxed opinion of what is ‘normal’, and we as humans are generally more accepting and open minded about different cultures and ideals.
In the broadest sense of the term, ‘body modification’ can include everything from having a hair cut or painting one’s nails, to surgical implants, scarification or full body tattoos. It is therefore necessary to be specific when talking about the extent of body modification. In terms of the relevant movement or subculture, body modding refers to any permanent or long-term alteration of the appearance, function or emotional association of a body part, resulting from an individual’s own decision to execute such an action. This can include, but is not limited to, tattoos, piercings, scarification, implants, cosmetic surgery, and nullification.
Body modification is not a new sensation by any means. Body art and piercing date back thousands of years to the times of ancient civilizations. The earliest evidence of body piercings occur on an Egyptian mummy estimated to be 5000 years old. This embalmed corpse has ‘plugs,’ which are larger gauge rings used to stretch the pierced holes, in both ear lobes. It has been suggested that piercings were not uncommon in Ancient Egypt, with the quantity and location of the piercings thought to have denoted status. For example, only Pharaohs were allowed to have their navels pierced.
Similarly, body art, or tattooing has occurred in tribal communities since the birth of their culture and people. The earliest tattoos involved rubbing ash into cuts in the flesh. Today, tattoos are applied by a tattoo artist who uses a handheld, powered tool that has ink on a sharp tip, which is used like an engraver. There is debate as to where the word ‘tattoo’ originated. Some believe it is derived from the Polynesian word ‘tatau’ meaning ‘to mark.’ Other sources state that modern tool used in tattooing is driven by a hammer like action which makes a repetitive ‘tatu’ sound.
In the isles of Samoa, boys were tattooed at puberty as part of an initiation process, using traditional methods, around the torso and thighs. These markings were not restricted to boys, with some girls acquiring them also. Designs often include patterns and the traditional Samoan canoe.
In the Amazon Basin, women are often adorned with linear patterns applied with the ink from a certain tree, in order to display eligibility for marriage. Due to the potency of this natural ink, these tattoos can last for up to six months. Scarification, which involves the repeated cutting or removal of skin with the intention of scaring, is sometime seen as an extension or more extreme form of tattooing. Alternatively, scarification can occur through ‘strike branding’, which is not dissimilar to the branding of livestock. The aim is to leave a design, words or patterns on the skin in the form of scarring. This process, just like piercing and conventional tattooing, is common in tribal cultures and dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
In the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, people believe that crocodiles were the creators of humans. To honour this belief, young men have slits inflicted on their back, chest, and buttocks with sharpened bamboo, to test for strength and self-discipline. These markings are to imply that the boy was ‘swallowed’ by a crocodile during this ceremonial practice. In a similar fashion, men of the Karo tribe in Ethiopia wear scars on their chests as a symbol of victory against enemies. In this culture, women with scars are considered sensual and attractive. Prior to the 1870’s Maori men in New Zealand would chisel wood-like patterns into their faces which would result in raised tattoos once the wounds had healed. These ‘mokos’ formed an identity for battle, and were also considered attractive by women.
Closer to home, Aboriginal men and women aged sixteen to seventeen endured cuts to the chest, shoulders, and tummy, with ‘clean skins’ not allowed to participate in other cultural rituals. Once a wide spread occurrence, this scarification now rarely occurs, only occasionally in remote parts of Arnhem Land.
It is interesting to note that scarification, as a cultural ritual, is most common within dark skinned tribes living close to the equator, as the colour of skin means tattoos are more difficult to see.
As previously illustrated, body modification has many tribal connotations. These communities, some still practicing, performed these rituals for a number of reasons. Tattoos and scarring can be seen as a form of cultural identity, illustrate status within a community, create a spiritual connection to gods or ancestors, mark a rite of passage, or portray beauty. In modern society, the reasons for body modification are really not that different to that of the cultures and tribes gone before us. Indeed, Victoria Pitts, professor of sociology at City University of New York, notes that “industrial consumerist cultures are becoming more interested in what they might call primitive societies.” She believes that humans have had a romantic infatuation with exotic ethnicities since the colonial era, a cultural yearning for something we feel is lost or missing. This sense of nostalgia is addressed by the neotribal or ‘modern primitive’ movement that began to appear around the world in the early 1990’s.
What differs between ancient communities and new age tribalism, is the choice in participation. In days gone by, one was born and raised in a community, respecting and participating in the groups traditions and beliefs, without thought as to why these rituals and values are practiced. According to the makers of the film “Modern Tribalism,” low-fi filmworks, we now have “the luxury of choosing our own tribe. …Our affiliation with a modern tribe comes from a philosophical or emotional connection rather than necessity or birthright.” We have the ability to associate and form a group with other individuals who share our view on life and the world around us.
These days, modern tribalism promotes a subculture of body modification, including extensive piercings and tattoos, in the belief that these tribal rituals reconnect oneself to the world. Pitts says that this movement is “interested in reviving or reenacting indigenous body rituals from around the world, trying to get in touch with a more authentic or spiritual experience of the body.”
When talking about body modification, most people will instantly call on the more obvious forms, such as tattooing and piercing. Scarification, while still seen as a bit bizarre and disturbing, is becoming an increasingly prevalent form of self expression, particularly within the new primitivism movement and related cultures. Less common forms of body alteration are generally the more extreme options that are either irreversible or would take a great deal of money and surgery to correct. On the milder side, surgical implants may involve things like ‘horns’ being implanted on the forehead. In the absolute extreme, body modding can include foot and body binding, body part reshaping such as tongue dividing or penis splitting, or even the nullification or amputation of body parts. Some of these intense examples are very alarming, and evoke suggestions that people who undergo these procedures may not be mentally or emotionally stable.
The reasons behind these more serious adjustments are less connected with tribal reasoning, rather than creating an image of oneself. As a blogger on the bodymod.org website posted: “I modify my body because I don’t feel complete yet, and I have an inner image that I know I want. Until I have that image I won’t be happy. Not only that but every day I look in the mirror and see my modifications and they make me smile.” (- v4climber)
Nonetheless, there is no denying that in recent times body modification has become a subculture unto itself, one which feeds both on the ritualistic behaviours of its members and the collective image that they create. To outsiders, body modding may seem bizarre, disturbing, and dangerous, which at times is very true. Some procedures may involve risks to health such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis, and wound infections if the mod is not properly executed or cared for.
However, in reality body modification is really not that different to the expression of identity in mainstream society. Cosmetic surgery and the mass consumption of fashion, styling and accessories, provide an interesting parallel to the ‘underground’ culture of body modding. Society has grown to be more accepting and open to that which is 'different.' No longer is the tattooed and pierced body modder simply a weird, immoral scumbag. Now he or she is an expression of individuality, standing out against a world dominated by mass consumerism.
- Jess
Bibliography
Sher, S, 2002, Modern Tribalism, Get Underground, October 11, viewed 6 May 2008, <http://getunderground.com/underground/features/article.cfm?Article_ID=79>
Low-fi filmworks, 2001, Modern Tribalism Online Press Kit, low-fi filmakers, viewed 6 May 2008, <http://www.lowfifilmworks.com/production.html>
Guynup, S, 2004, Scarification: Ancient Body Art Leaving New Marks, National Geographic Channel, July 28, viewed 5 May 2008, <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0728_040728_tvtabooscars.html>
Handwerk, B, 2002, Tattoos – From Taboo to Mainstream, National Geographic News, October 11, viewed 5 May 2008, <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1011_021011_taboo.html>
Various, 2008, Why body mod?, BodyMod.org, viewed 7 March 2008, <http://www.bodymod.org/forum/forum_posts~TID~9158.htm>
