Body modification & Tattoo

Fancy the pictures above? Well, at one point of time in our lives, surely there's a point in time in which each of us wants to be an individual; to be different from others. This is especially so for youngsters and teenagers in which their inner rebellious nature wants to break free. This form of individualists vary from individuals to individuals and it may be subtle changes such as dying a person's hair blue or to extreme changes such as body modification for example tongue splitting, eye-tattooing and body piercing as shown in the pictures above.
According to the news article on www.CTV.ca,
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060804/body_modification_060804/20060804?hub=Health&s_name=
body modification is a growing trend that is going extreme.

"People want, I think in general with society -- especially the younger sect -- to be different," said Luis Garcia, international liaison for the Association of Professional Piercers, which takes no official stance on the modifications. "It's not different anymore to have your navel pierced."

There are very few societies around the world who accepts this growing trend. It comes as no surprise that Singapore is certainly not supportive of this extreme and growing culture since she is still a conservative and a fairly open-minded country. Most of the Singaporeans will cringe at such an extreme idea and they dare not try it. However there are still people who accepts this culture as they view it as a type of body art. They don't see anything wrong with expressing one's individual character through body art because to them, it's a matter of personal expression. Surely this type of extreme body modifications comes with a risk, that is health risk. Health risk such as infections, blind(for eye tatooing) and Hepatitis are one of the few illnesses that may happen if the person who does it is unqualified or the needles use are not properly sterilized. Well in my opinion, there is nothing wrong in the desire to express one's personal expression but one will have to consider the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. In this case, body modification takes up to an extreme level that there are many risks to it such as health risks. One will have to weigh the potential health risks that may happen and whether it is worth going through such pain just for personal expression. They are other painless ways in which to portray their personal expression such as paintings and music, not necessarily through body modifications only. Despite the potential harm that body modification have, that does not stop people from doing it.

"Teen works for loan sharks to get cash for tattoos" was the headline for "The NewPaper" dated on 5th October 2009. According to the article, it says that increasing number of youngsters were attracted to become loan-shark runners because of the attractive and lucrative money that these loan-sharks offer. The amount that they are paid vary from the difficulty of the job that they had to do.
According to the article,
"Despite knowing that it was illegal, Arshad Ajmal Mohamed Salih, 18, worked as a loan-shark runner for two months, earning about $60 each time for splashing paint at debtors' homes."

Furthermore, the lad needs the money to keep up with his tattoo addiction. For these youngsters, they engage in tattoos to give the impression that they are rebellious and bad. They want to instill fear in the people around them. Tattoos can also represent the gangs that they belong to and it is also a sign of loyalty and belonging towards the group.
Well, there's a long history of tattoos and body modification and it goes as far back as five thousand years ago. In my point of view, tattoos and body modification is a personal choice. What about yours?