Body Piercing Webster\'s New Millennium

Body Piercing

Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English defines 'body piercing' as "the act of piercing of a part of the body other than the ear for the wearing of jewelry" (Body pp).

According to most encyclopedias, body piercing is a form of body modification, of which involves piercing a part of the human body and subsequently inserting and keeping a foreign object in the opening until the wound heals, by which forms a tunnel of skin, called a fistula, around the foreign objects, thus creating a suitable place for wearing different types of body piercing jewelry (Body1 pp). The term 'piercing' generally refers to this hole, and the most common example in today's society is ear piercing (Body1 pp). Some cultures practice piercing for religious or other traditional reasons, however, many people, particularly those in the modern West, choose to be pierced for spiritual, ornamental, or sexual reasons (Body1 pp).

Body piercing, including ear piercing, has been practiced from ancient times throughout the world (Body1 pp). Mummified bodies with piercings have been found, including the oldest mummified body discovered to date, which was found in an Austrian glacier, and had an ear piercing 7-11 mm in diameter (Body1 pp). Moreover, the Bible mentions nose piercing and ear piercing, as in Genesis 24:22, when it mention's that Abraham's servant gave a nose ring and bracelets to Rebekah, his daughter-in-law (Body1 pp). Since the sixteenth century, nose piercing has been common in India, and tongue piercing was popular with the elite class of Aztec and Maya civilization (Body1 pp). Ancient Mesoamericans wore jewelry in their ears, noses, and lower lips, and such practices continue to be popular among indigenous peoples in these regions (Body1 pp).

Ear piercing has existed continuously since ancient times, and even today is popular throughout the Western world (Body1 pp). Although it became a rarity from the 1920's until the 1960's, it regained popularity among American women and was eventually adopted by men in the "hippie" and gay communities, and later by the punk rock culture (Body1 pp). Among many non-Western cultures, ear piercing, of either or both ears, has always been practiced by men, and by the 1980's, male ear piercing became rather common in the Untied States, although, most men usually only pierced one ear, however, today, single and multiple piercing of either or both ears is very common among Western women and fairly common among men (Body1 pp).

Body piercing has grown more accepting in the West and as well as other parts of the world, and in some areas, certain types of piercings that were once considered radical are becoming more accepted (Body1 pp). For example, ear piercing was uncommon for middle to upper class Western males, however, today men with pierced ears can be found working in banks and other conservative settings, while in other parts of the world ear piercing is still considered inappropriate for men, as are multiple ear piercings for women (Body1 pp). Some people regard the practice of piercing as spiritual or as embracing the 'modern primitive,' while others consider it as simply faddish (Body1 pp). Some view the practice as a form of artistic or self-expression, while others use it as a form of sexual expression, or for symbolic reasons, however the current popularity of body piercing has diluted much of its cultural identification and symbolism (Body1 pp).