Everyone has their view on body modification and it gets a bit weary for me when people try to change my point of view of them. I have had 7 piercings that I chose to do on my own time.   7 piercings that I don’t regret getting. 7 piercings (I used to have 8) that I modified my body with that hurts no one.

Yesterday, I was running errands and a gentleman (He was either muslim or israelite) stopped me because I had my iPod in my ear. He mentioned how am I able to change the world if I am deaf to my people. I dismissed the thought of mentioning that I had attended Rochester Institute of Technology which has the National Institute of the Deaf and deaf people hasn’t stopped their lack of hearing from making them change the world.

However I responded that I can hear very well because I stopped to respond. He saw my tongue ring in the process. He said “Tell me why someone as beautiful as you pierce her tongue? Hasn’t God made you beautiful enough? Do you think you can make yourself more beautiful than God has?” To which I replied no but I did choose to modify my body it’s a choice I can make on my own.

I couldn’t sway him and he got argumentative so I returned my iPod to my ear and walked off with him still trying to preach to me.

Thoughts:
People will do what they want and not everyone has the same point if view. I don’t see tattoos the same as piercings. They are permanent and piercings are temporary since you can remove them. I like seeing modifications that others do with tattoos knowing that I might never have the guts to get any on my own. I settle for piercings (just like tattoos) which are abit addictive but I stopped at 7.

It’s all an art to me. However many people are misguided in their opinions by what society has taken them to mean. Are men really tougher because of the tattoos they wear? Seriously, if you’re soft do you think people are going to say ” there goes that bad ass.” I know what my piercings are associated with when seen. It is funny to me that people don’t say anything about those in my ear – I have more there. If I pierced private areas of my body no one would know either.

There’s an actual history of having a pierced tongue. It comes from Aztec and Maya cultures. The priests had their tongues pierced. Other cultures such as Islamic Fakirs and Sufis from the Middle East, and Asian Spirit Mediums of the Far East also have tongue piercings – even in Aboriginal Australia. In western culture we call it a tongue ring. A great deal of people associate it to very degrading things in Western Culture but I still ignored and did it because I wanted it pierced. Not many people know of how other societies see it as. I chose it for aesthetics – just like a new bag, new shoe or makeup.

Anyways, I am not harming the environment or others by piercing my very own body. Get over it. Mind your damn business lol.