A man was complaining about people who would use a cosmetic to fatten up their lips. I found this ironic since his girlfriend is full lipped, blond and very busty. Maybe I'm just sick of pseudo intellectuals spouting their views on body altering as if it is unique to this society. Humans have altered their bodies since the race began. They all had their reasoning, most of the reasons being the cultural norms and traditions of the times. In other words, fashion. They wanted to make themselves bigger, badder, more desirable. They wanted to anchor meaning in their own bodies. Sometimes they just wanted to look pretty.
Part of me is a person who has been molded by society and part of me is a person rebelling against society. I can't say that I care at all about what kind of modifications a person has chosen to make but I can get very bent out of shape by people who think they are better than others, and think cutting their hair and dressing in fashion isn't body altering. If you do something because it is fashionable, you are being led by fashion. If you don't do something because it is fashionable, you are still being led by fashion.
Part of me is a person who has been molded by society and part of me is a person rebelling against society. I can't say that I care at all about what kind of modifications a person has chosen to make but I can get very bent out of shape by people who think they are better than others, and think cutting their hair and dressing in fashion isn't body altering. If you do something because it is fashionable, you are being led by fashion. If you don't do something because it is fashionable, you are still being led by fashion.
mistressmedusa:
in regards to some of the native african tribes (ie., the tribes that inserted plates into their lips) it was a matter of survival. One, to them it was attractive and stood for the purity of the tribe memebers (meaning no outer-tribal relations) but two, it made them less desirable to other tribes, hence they were less likely to be abducted, less likely to be sold into slavery and so on. Also, in that time when folks were less educated, if you were wandering around in the backwoods and came across such a thing... you might just be a little frightened. 