Tattoos, piercings and body modifications: why?

[Albertosaurus Rex]

These things are becoming increasingly popular and socially acceptable. Having a tattoo means you're hip. Personally, though... well, I'll be honest: I can't stand it and don't understand why anyone would do it.

Some time ago I was out eating with some fellow students, including a girl with a lot of tattoos. This prompted some conversation and what I really wanted to ask was simply "why?", but I was too afraid of sounding judgmental so I sidn't say anything. Hence me posing the question on the internet...

[Omie]

Having a tattoo means you're hip.

That's not why everybody gets a tattoo, though. Those that get a tattoo to be trendy are pretty stupid as they're most likely to regret it later.

I have a tattoo, a small black stylised running rabbit on my fore-arm. I got it because I wanted a piece of art that was also a part of me, I suppose. My sister drew the original design for me, which makes it more personal as well. In another small way, it was like a rite of passage... I was twenty-five and wanted something different and permanent for myself. It's a fairly superficial change to my person, but a visible one and one I had done deliberately.

I would eventually like to add to it, not to be 'more tattooed' but just to finish it off decoratively as by itself its very basic.

I think other people who get lots and lots of tattooes simply view their skin as a canvas. They like the look of tattooes and the designs they choose so they put them on themselves as decoration and a statement of their identity (even if the statement is simply 'I like tattoos!'). You don't like the look of them... others do, and are willing to endure the sting just to get the look they like.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I suppose I can... kind of see why people take tattoos, but I have to ask: isn't the permanence of the thing a little scary? I imagine that a tattoo design is not chosen lightly.

What I don't understand at all, however, are piercing. Little rings or nubs of metal through your skin? I don't see the beauty in that - I don't want to offend anyone, but when I see someone with a head full of metal walk by, it revulses me a bit. And that's not even getting into more intimate places - I remember a girl I knew a few years back who told me and a few friends ecstatically that she had her left nipple pierced. I mean, what the hell? Similarly, getting one's tongue pierced just sounds painful and inconvenient. To say nothing of pierced genitals...

Although I would never want a tattoo, I can sort of understand why. But piercings? Part of me is convinced that it must be a symptom of something - a healthy person does not stick pieces of metal through his or her sensitive areas.

['thul]

if you want to pierce your body, you should get someone to help you. preferably with a knife or similarly pointed object.

if someone wishes to paint their body, that is their choice.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

if you want to pierce your body, you should get someone to help you. preferably with a knife or similarly pointed object.

I think that's a rather venomous remark, Thul. I hesitated before positing that piercing might be the mark of an unhealthy person, because some (pierced) people might take offense to that thought. However, what you're doing there is pure flamebaiting. Let's try to keep this discussion civil.

[joost]

Earrings are piercings too. Are a lot of girls mentally ill because they have earrings?

Personally, I don't want to do piercings or tattoes. But if they're well-done I can see how they can enhance someone's looks. Genital piercings are something else, they can increase the pleasure experienced in sex. A nipple piercing can increase pleasure too if you have sensitive nipples.

A friend of mine once was hung from the ceiling by meat hooks in her back. She said it was the biggest adrenalin kick she had ever gotten.

What I personally don't understand: body enhancements. Horns, tails, fangs, split tongue, split penis (yes, that exists!), etc etc. But if someone's happy with them, who am I to judge?

[Albertosaurus Rex]

My words may have been ill-chosen. I did not mean to imply that people who pierce necessarily suffer from mental illness. Allow me to make a comparison: automutilation.

Back in high school, a girl in my class actually turned out to engage in automutilation. Her younger brother was going to die and she couldn't deal with it. Not being able to express her grief, she cut herself with razorblades.
Obviously, piercing is not as extreme. But nobody goes through life unscathed, even if not everybody experiences events as traumatic as one's child brother dying. I often suspect that piercing might in many cases be a subconscious manifestation of inner pain.

(About that girl who hangs from meat hooks... I am sorry, but that does not sound healthy to me.)

As for earrings... I knew someone was going to bring it up. While I don't have the strong feelings about earrings that I have about other forms of modification, I don't truly understand it. I think the only reason I don't revile it as much is because it has been socially accepted for far longer. Earrings can be pretty, though. Piercings tend to be unattractive nubs of metal.
Also: split penis? That sounds like the most horrible thing ever to me. I get queasy just thinking about it.

All in all, I do want to stress that although I have my theories about what drives people to pierce, I am still very interested in hearing those reasons from piercers themselves. If anything, I have learned in recent years to become more tolerant of other lifestyles. It is not my place to impose my views on people, even if I think their behavior is not quite right.

(There are limits of course. I once saw an item on television about tonguesplitting. Many owners of tattoo / piercing shops refuse to perform that operation, because the chances of botching it are very high, leaving the "victim" without control of their tongue.)

['thul]

These beings do not deny it. Their previous post was rather venomous. However, they view pretty much all forms of piercing (even earrings) as self-mutilation. They can accept that others may like it, but they do not truly understand it, nor would they want to have anything to do with it.
While they do on occasion support death sentence, they only do so for serious crimes against the human species (like playing soccer or biological attacks). Not for things such as self-mutilation.

(if you have not figured it out yet, these beings enjoy getting reactions from others. They are more tolerant than they may appear to be.)

[redchild]

Like joost said, it's for the rush. I suppose many people who are into getting many piercings/tattoos do it for sensual reasons. They like how it looks, how the skin feels when pulled, the reactions they get from people, expression of unorthodox/rebellious personality, etc. A bit off topic but I've also heard some people that are into plucking hairs because they find the pain pleasurable. But like anything, if it becomes too much, it can get in the way of living day to day. People with extensive tattoos or piercings usually have a tough time in the workforce, as they have to put on makeup to hide it or have to find employers who don't mind them. Getting a tattoo similar to a gang symbol may unknowingly put you in danger. And being addicted to pain is inherently dangerous.

If done with thought and taste, it can look beautiful. However, more often than not, people just do stupid, terrible things.

[Nuytsia]

I WAS going to say that I couldn't answer your question as to 'why' as I have no piercings or tattoos, but then I remembered I DID have my ears pierced....

I never really considered tattoo basically because I hate pain..... and piercings the same, BUT woops hang on I got my ears pierced.....
I guess if it's something you know a LOT of other people have had done then you think how bad could it be....... (although a lot of other people have had babies and I bet that HURTS A LOT)

(and having clip on earrings on your ears really hurts after a period of time so in the long run having my ears pierced SAVED me pain)

I suppose I can... kind of see why people take tattoos, but I have to ask: isn't the permanence of the thing a little scary? I imagine that a tattoo design is not chosen lightly.

What I don't understand at all, however, are piercing. Little rings or nubs of metal through your skin? I don't see the beauty in that - I don't want to offend anyone, but when I see someone with a head full of metal walk by, it revulses me a bit. And that's not even getting into more intimate places - I remember a girl I knew a few years back who told me and a few friends ecstatically that she had her left nipple pierced. I mean, what the hell? Similarly, getting one's tongue pierced just sounds painful and inconvenient. To say nothing of pierced genitals...

Although I would never want a tattoo, I can sort of understand why. But piercings? Part of me is convinced that it must be a symptom of something - a healthy person does not stick pieces of metal through his or her sensitive areas.