An Epigrammatic History of Body Modification & Piercing 2021


Body modification started as a taboo in ancient times. When it all started, it was more like taboo, which was practiced as some sort of sacrifice, tradition, or myth. But today, it is a blooming fashion culture, among fashionistas, especially teenagers and youngsters all over the world.

The long-established and widely-accepted annotation of body modification is: It is a practice in which your body parts are reshaped, repurposed, or modified, to meet some additional purposes. When you go for body modification, you visit a body modification shop or specialist that makes the alterations in your body, using his unique equipment, following a hygienic, meditated procedure.

It is like personalizing your body to exhibit your unique fashion sense.

Body Piercing is also a kind of modification, in which the professional creates a hole or puncture in certain body parts - like ear, eyebrows, chin, lips, tongue, belly, nose, nipples, and genitals - in which piercing jewelries are worn. Some of the jewelries that are worn in pierced body parts are: navel rings, nose rings, barbells, curvatures, etc.

Stretching - Earlobe and lip stretching looks like a painful fashion trend. The earlobes are stretched to an extreme extent, and adorned with distinctive stretching jewelries like ear tapers, ear gauges, and tunnels. However, it is not as painful as it seems like. But, when stretching your earlobes, the suggested precautionary measures should be kept in consideration. Stretching carelessly may encumber your overall look permanently.

Tattooing - Technically, getting tattoos is also considered as a stream of body modification, when practicing which, the color/texture of your skin changes everlastingly. However, today, it has a separate history and identity, and is popular among herds all over.

The following pointers enlighten how this fashion trend evolved over time-

  • According to archeologists, piercing is not ancient thing. Though, why exactly the primitive tribes used it is still unrevealed.

  • A mummified body has been recovered in Austria, which as per the studies; it is more than five thousand years old. This mummy has her ears pierced.

  • Researchers have also unearthed ancient earrings at an archeological site in an ancient Sumerian city.

  • The Holy Bible also has several mentions of earrings.

  • The mentions of earrings can also be found in the oldest text on earth, Rigveda.

  • Nose rings also root back to before Christ era, in 1500 BC.

  • Body piercing turned popular in the decade of 1970s, following some blockbuster Hollywood movies.

  • Today, it is one of the most commonly seen fashion trends in the world. Celebrities, fashion models, sportspersons, etc. are to thank for this new fashion trend.

It is because of the human nature which always keeps aspiring for something new that we came across several inventions and milestones in the history of evolution. The fashion of body modification is an example to the previously made statement. Be it whichever reason or purpose, for which we, the people started this, today it has become a magnificent fashion statement all over the globe.