by Chenai Mugunyani
I call it ART, BODY ART, in my humble opinion ?, that is what it is, that is what I think it is.
A way of expressing oneself.
People are still opening up to the idea of piercings and tats, what is normal, what is not? Where do we draw the line? Judging, this is the worst, at first glance, people have already made up assumptions about you ‘mostly not good’, based on the number of piercings and tattoos you have and how ‘freaky’ you look.
Tattoos have been around for a long time; they apparently date back to the 4th millennium BC. Imagine that! Some tattoos are associated with tribalism, I read an article saying some Egyptians and Indians used tattoos as a form of healing and religious worship. How amazing is that?
We have come far when it comes to body art and I think we still have a little more to go, just appreciating and respecting one’s choice when it comes to their body. People express themselves differently too, can we all just be ok with how the next person expresses themselves and can we be open to express ourselves?
Piercings date as far back as 1500BC, and they were mostly found in African and American tribal cultures. For Aztec men, at least, they were a sign of hierarchy: the position of the piercing and the material that hung from it were a sign of where you stood. If maybe you were the king or high nobility! Sounds awesome right? Genital piercings symbolized a chastity device by ancient Romans: check out PREPUTIAL INFIBULATION.
Art comes in different shapes and forms, expression too, some piercings and tattoos represent strength, courage, battles won, and obstacles conquered, they serve as an everyday reminder of how far one has come or a certain memory.
There is no limit to how much body art one can have. Just do your research first before having something inked in you or piercing your skin. And it is great to have some sort of pain tolerance ?.
HAPPY EXPRESSING!
