There are a number of social movements that are prominent within the modified world- for example, veganism is popular among people who are modified as well- Tattoo artist Megan Massacre is vegan and campaigns for PETA,- Morgan Joyce an ‘alternative’ model also promotes veganism, and in the US, the Association of Professional Piercers has become a large body of people who promote safe and professional piercings, which protects the integrity and jobs of ‘professional piercers’. In this blog post, however, an issue that I would like to bring up is of the Anti-Body Modification discrimination sentiment, or movement, if you can call it one.
From my own observations, I feel like right now this movement is still rather undeveloped - there hasn't been one strong group of people or organisation that have come up to speak against it claiming successfully to represent all modified people, and other than people speaking up against body mods discrimination, nothing wide scale yet- mostly its just some individuals who come together and speak up against it.
Before we go on, one could possibly point out one major flaw in this argument: in the first place a body mod isn’t something you are innately born with, it’s something you choose to do. Therefore if you already chose to look ‘different’ from ‘everyone else’, why are you fighting for ‘acceptance’ with the rest of the world? My take on this is that modified people, in speaking up against discrimination, are not looking to be ‘accepted’ in the normal sense of the word, but rather simply to be respected for the decisions that they have to their body, regardless of what other individuals might think of it. Simple case in point, as blogger ALB says, speaking up against people who feel ‘entitled’ to comment on ‘outlandish’ looking people ‘in whatever tone they feel like’.
The main tenet of the argument against body modification discrimination - a very large part of it- commonly has to do with the ability to get a ‘regular’ job. This is of course, an important survival factor to a large percentage of the population regardless of city or country. That body modification should not be 'discriminated’ against in a normal workplace setting because the way they look does not affect their qualifications and capabilities. According to this blogger, (http://tattoosandbodypiercingsdiscrimination.blogspot.sg/)
"Many other sorts of body modifications are acceptable in the workplace so why is there such a controversy over tattoos and body piercings. I do not think that having a tattoo or body piercing should exclude you from getting a job when things like breast implants do not. Both things change your body in a way deemed unacceptable to many so why is one acceptable in the workplace and the other not. I think that it would be valuable to the employers and owners of companies to be able to hire whoever is the most qualified for the job no matter what they look like. What you look like on the outside has no affect on how your brain works and how qualified you are for a job"
The anti-body modification sentiment however does extend out of the job sphere. Although the concern of jobs is one of the more pertinent things people want to fight for, it also aligns itself with not wanting to be discriminated just because of perceived ‘difference’ in looks, Which is why anti body mod. discrimination is closely related to anti-discrimination of other marginalised groups like the lgbtq movements, and extends out to race, religion, gender etc. For example, Chris Cerulli, frontman of a band called 'Motionless in White' is known for speaking up against anti-bullying. As someone who himself has multiple lip piercings and stretched ears, who speaks up against not letting others dictate ‘what someone should or should not be’, I think it resonates with modified people as well, because people tend to look at them as ‘different’. The trouble comes when people think its OK to make snide, rude comments or treat others with less integrity because of it.
Anti bullying- Chris Cerulli (Blogger refuses to let me upload this!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSLryw8a3L4
Morgan Joyce however, has a different take on dealing with body modification discrimination where work is concerned- In her video, she says that if a particular modification compromises on your job, then you shouldn't risk economic stability for it, unless you are working in a job that allows you to. She cited the example of how she probably would not be able to get a job at a kid’s or baby store - which raises the issue; just because someone has modifications does not make them unqualified to work at a kid’s shop, what if that person happened to really like and wanted to work with kids, be it in the retail line, or even in the education line? The only explainable reason I can come up with is that simply, their image does not suit what the institution or company wants to portray.(this brings the argument back to the very first blog post, as what constitutes an ‘acceptable’ form of modification, right? dyed blonde hair vs. dyed pink hair, breast implants vs. subdermal implants) But then this same ‘unsuitability’ extends out to so many other places and situations as well , and sometimes people don’t get jobs simply because the person who hires you doesn't like your modifications or feel uncomfortable around them, and acts in a bigoted or irrational manner about it.
Personally though, I feel that as people should have the right to choose how they want to look, so others too should have the right to decide who they want to hire. It’s about knowing and accepting the consequence of ones actions, as well as setting realistic expectations and knowing how to deal with situations in a rational manner. I feel that if modified people want to gain more acceptance in society, instead of going by ‘don’t discriminate me just because I’m modified’, perhaps trying a different tactic would work, like being able to show to rest of the people that we are equally qualified, or human, and no less kind (or unkind), or ‘scary’ as the next human being. For example for a start raising awareness and educating people about what body modifications are, its procedure and why they do it is extremely important in dealing with things in a peaceful, rational manner, as opposed to ‘why dont you just let me be?’
The trouble is that is unlikely to happen on a large scale because modified people really are such a diverse set, some can’t bother to align themselves with common institutions anyway. To me, it seems difficult be able to establish a widespread ‘collective identity’ among modified people because other than the physicality of it, there is the while thing that people get modified for so many amounts of different reasons that the ideology is different in the first place. People have so many other ‘identities’ they cannot even reconcile with each other like class, race, gender etc. Some men who have tattoos don’t like the idea of women having tattoos. women might identify themselves with people of their same race before seeking a collective identity with women of other races. I think that what the Anti-Body discrimination movement should progressively be is to cultivate the mindset of accepting and respecting anyone at all, regardless of how they choose to look, modified or not.
Anti-discrimination where people of all walks of life can live and work together harmoniously after all really is a utopian idea, just as how racial and gender equality though on paper seems to be getting better, but in reality is still there. Its a complex situation; do I want people to be more accepting, or at least respect the way I choose to look? Of course. But do I believe that in my lifetime this will ever happen? That’s doubtful.
http://tattoosandbodypiercingsdiscrimination.blogspot.sg/
http://news.bme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pubring/edit/A20517/artthesi.html
Ties in with more than just modification to include race, gender, religion.
