Lecture eight-Tattoo's and body modification

The lecture for the subject of body modification was, for me, one of the most uncomfortable, yet interesting ones so far! Although some of the photographs and images shown were a little more graphic than I am used to, the content of the lecture was very interesting. Firstly, we talked about what body modification is and the different types of body modification. When we, in this society, hear the term 'body modification' we think, tattoo's and piercing. Also, images of 'hairy bikers' and 'punks' spring to mind, well for me atleast! But what I found most interesting and infact how narrow minded I found myself to be was what I was most interesting by! What I found from the lecture was that tattoo's and/or body modification are by no means a western and/or modern thing...actually they are quite the contrary! Infact, body modification, in particluar, tattoo's, are an ancient practice in civilisations all around the world! From the historic civilisations of ancient Egypt to the aboriginal people of New Zealand, body moodification has not only been part of the cultural make-up but religion and basic identity of these people! We learned about how the aboriginal people of New zealand, would literally carve into their faces their whole identity and life stories as part of the tribal lifestyles. We then went onto learn about how these practises have been adopted by modern, western people, changed slowly and been made into a fashionable trend. Ultimatley what was most fascinating thing about it is that still for alot of people the idea of body modification is something people dont fully understand and/or excpet, however, when one looks into the history of it more, it can be seen that infact the origins of body modification is part of a rich cultural heritage, and whether you personally like them or not, you must respect thier significance within the history of so many cultures and civilisations!

Below is a link for a online gallery for aboriginal art and tattoo's:
http://www.tattoos-gallery.net/aboriginal-tattoos