Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like such a bitch!
(JAZZMIN buries her head in the sand like an ostrich, embarrassed of her
poor conduct.)
>I think a lot of the body-piercing/tatooing I've seen aroud recently is in
>the "making a statement" camp, though. <snip> At the same time
>the whole scene is a reflection of tribalism and ancient cultural practices
>and values.
>
>That's only an insult if you think tribalism is inferior to "modern
>living". I don't.
>
>Reed Konsler
>konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
>
Here in Oklahoma, tribalism IS modern living. Come visit sometime. Watch
out for arrows and people running around in loincloths. =)
Actually they have this body-piercing shop close to campus. There seem to
be two camps of people who go there --
1. Those who want to look cool, to shock people, to "fit in"... poseurs...
2. Those who are cool and don't give a shit whether they look it or not,
just doing it because they want to (feels GREAT in bed, etc etc).
So of course this ties in to memetics, and not really tribal religion per
se, because the Native Americans around here tend to identify themselves in
other ways (ie, tribal haircuts and whatever). With the assault weapons ban
on campus, nobody carries a bow and arrows (or guns, but often knives), OU
is (supposedly) safe. Oh yeah, my point that I rambled away from is that
sometimes people get these ideas in their heads that others are just
"mutilating" themselves, when that isn't always the case. Beauty, and
mutilation, is in the eye/mind/genes/memes/whatever, it's midnight of the
beholder. A deeply religious, or superstitious, person may get a tattoo
resembling/signifying some image whose meaning is more than ... uhm... skin
deep.
Don't be so quick to judge, I guess is my point.
jazz sommers