Body Modification

Body modification has been happening for many hundreds of years, in relation to religion, society and culture. Body modification entails a deliberate alteration to the human body for a non medical reason. Daily, people modify their bodies, from cutting their hair and nails to tattooing.

Body modification can be temporary or permanent, and invasive or non invasive. in correlation to these varying modifications it could be argued whether this behaviour is bad. One reason to why body modification is deemed bad is due to religion. For example some believe it is a sin to modify the body as it presents no appreciation for the natural body they was given, attacking their God, changing their natural state. In correlation to this if non invasive practices are carried out does it mean this type of behaviour is acceptable as it does not enter the body beyond flesh. In comparison to the proposed religious beliefs, other opposing religions do believe in body modification. For example in Judaism, men are circumcised, presenting how modification is part of their religion and how to not modify their body this way would be bad. From this debate I believe it presents how in correlation to body modification it it not easy to say whether the behaviour is bad as it must take into account a persons morals and beliefs.

Unlike religious reasoning, some people choose to modify their body for aesthetic reasoning to enhance beauty. Even through religion would argue against this, is it really wrong. Changing the state of the modifiers body does not harm anyone else and it is not a crime therefore how can it be deemed bad. In Western societies body modification has been increasingly more common, personally I believe it is a great way for self expression and could even lead to increasing crime. For example people who express themselves through modification may feel less of a need to express themselves through other forms for example through rebellion in crime such as graffiti.

One way in which modification for personal enhancement may be deemed bad is because it could be portrayed to insult others. For example in Hawaiian tribes tattooing on the face is used to symbolise what people have done in their life, their status and who they are. The website http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hawaiian-tribal-tattoos.html presents the meanings of the tattoos. This has then been copied and incorporated in Western societies with no cultural meaning in turn insulting certain cultures and their way of living. From this is could be questioned whether Western body modification is worse then Cultural.

Overall, I personally do not have any tattoos but I believe they are a great way of self expression and I definitely do not believe they are a bad behaviour.