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Body Modification Is a Form of Self-Mutilation Essay Example

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Body Modification Is a Form of Self-Mutilation Essay Example
Body Modification Is a Form of Self- Mutilation
Summary-Response Essay One can't look in a magazine nor watch television without seeing the trend. It has become the newest trend in western civilization. Celebrities and the mainstream media glorify it the most. The practice has become as common as women getting their hair done, for some individuals. It is so accessible one or more of these procedures can be acquired by just a trip to the mall. The trend is known as body modification, deliberately altering the body for nonmedical reasons. The most common forms of body modification are tattooing, piercing and cosmetic surgery. Shelia Jeffreys, an associate professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, gives her perspective on piercing, tattoos and cosmetics surgery in her article " Body Modification Is a Form of Self-Mutilation ". Jeffreys examines piercing, tattooing and cosmetic surgery as all harmful forms of self-mutilation. Jeffreys believes that self- mutilation is due to a male society dominant which doesn't accept homosexuality nor a variety of body shapes, and where pornography is the center of the mainstream media . More importantly people are mutilating themselves as a response to low social status, sexual and physical abuse and severe emotional distress. According to Jeffreys those who self mutilate also self hate. Women and homosexuals are known to mutilate the most. Over two million young women in the US regularly self-mutilate. Self- mutilation has become a common practice in today's society and its viewed as fashionable rather than deliberate pain and mortification of one's flesh states Jeffrey. Piercing was originally a symbol of gayness which flowed into the mainstream after models walked the cat walk and were noticeably pierced. Some take body modification to the extreme by taking part in self-harming networks on the internet where individual can pay to access photos of fresh blood, castration, and more.

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