Body Mod

As I drove home today an ad came on the radio for laser hair removal and it got me thinking. When you consider the term "body modification" what do you think of?

The first things that come to my mind are tattoos, piercings, and the more extreme miscellaneous items like people who have their tongues split in a snake like style.

In reality, by its pure definition, body modification is anything that changes the body from it's natural state. By this definition things like boob jobs, laser hair removal, face-lifts, botox, etc. are all body modifications in the same sense as the snake-tongue people. But, you'll notice, it is never called body modification in ads, and for obvious reasons. The people who sell these things know that you want your boob job to make you look more like the superstars, not the side show. It is a game of perceptions and connotation in order to sell their product.

You'll also notice that most people who are into "body modification" in the traditional use of the term are regulated to the fringe of society in many respects. The man who has tattooed his entire body to look like a lizard is unlikely to get a job in an executive office because of his modification but the woman with the boob job is, in some cases, more likely to get the position because of her modifications.

Obviously society has no problem with the general idea of altering your body from its natural state, you just have to do it in the ways they tell you to.