Body Modification

A slender, tapering neck is a symbol of femininity. There's a tribe in Burma where women wear rings around their necks that lift the head and stretch the neck. This exagerates the length of the neck. More and more rings are added until the vertabrae seperate. At that point, the neck is no longer capable of supporting the head. The women will die if the rings are removed. And this is all for the sake of accentuating the slender, tapered feminine neck.

There are ethnic groups where young women have a hole cut in the lower lip and a wooden plug inserted into the hole. As the lip streches around the plug, it is replaced with a larger plug. Larger and larger plugs are inserted until the lower lip is stretched around a plug the size of a saucer.

In western societies, women commonly shave their legs and armpits. Women wear makeup in public that makes their cheeks and lips red, which mimics sexual arousal. However, removing hair from the pubis, which is normally visible only when a woman removes her clothes in private, is considered unnatural and somewhat slutty.

"Professional" attire for women has come to include high heeled shoes. These tend to cause progressive, irreversable damage to the knees and ankles. Over years, the damage can accumulate to the point that walking becomes painful. However, cosmetic sugery, even if it causes no lasting health problems, is considered unhealthy and a sign that the person having surgery is suffering from a body image problem.

Body modification of one form or another is almost universal. It occurs in all societies, and it is associated with group membership. Members of a group tend to talk, dress, and look the same. Gang members get similar tattoos, young male Salvadorian immigrants in the US cover their closely shaved heads with baseball caps, etc. Taking on the appearance of another group makes people feel awkward. Guys who don't normally wear "business attire" complain when they have to wear suits. Put the average anglo in a salsero's open shirt, and he feels rediculous.

Women who get breast surgery often report that they feel better about their bodies afterwards. Not sexier, or more attractive to men, just better. Having larger breasts means fitting into a group where larger breasts are part of the group image. Not having appropriately sized breasts means feeling like an outcast. A local cosmetic surgeon advertises that breast augumentation is for "Women who are bothered by the feeling that their breasts are too small."

A person doesn't actually have to have contact with the group they want to belong to. The fans of a rock band may imitate the band's look even though most fans will never speak to a member of the band. High end fashion shoe manufacturers give shoes to movie stars because they know that if the movie star is photographed in the shoes, thousands of women who have never met the star will buy the shoes. Most of the teenagers who buy tennis shoes associated with a basketball star will never play on a basketball team.

A combination of diet, exercise, and genetics gives female movie stars figures that most women will never be able to have. Part of the reason that movie stars earn as much as they do is that people identify with them; they feel like they belong to the same social group. Since the movie star defines the group, people who don't resemble the star become outsiders. Given the stubborness with which our bodies retain their unfashionable shapes, that can only be remedied with surgery.

Women may get cosmetic surgery in order to fit into a professional group. Before silicone was banned in breast augumentation, some people complained that Hollywood parties had so much silicone that guests were in danger of being punctured. Starlets who wanted to get work wanted to look like someone a producer would hire, hence the preponderance of silicone.

When girls start working in porn, they often get work because they don't look like porn chicks: they don't have the heavy makeup or the boob jobs. While they're new and getting lots of attention, this works. Everyone likes the "fresh" or "unspoiled" look. After a few months they stop being new and stop getting the attention. In spite of the fact that they get praised for having the natural look, they start wearing heavier makeup and frequently get boob jobs. When they stop being in demand and their natural look is no longer getting jobs, they start to want to look like porn chicks instead of the girl next door; i.e. they want to look like someone a porn producer would hire. When looking inexperienced no longer gets jobs, porn chicks want to look experienced.

There's no difference between this and professional women wearing high heels because it looks "professional". The intent is to signal that the woman belongs to a group that can do a particular type of job. Women who look the part are hirable.

The Burmese tribeswomen described at the beginning have to stretch their necks in order to be included in the group of adult females. Tribeswomen in other areas have to wear saucer-sized plugs in their lower lips to accomplish the same thing. Western females have to shave their legs and armpits and simulate sexual arousal with makeup in order to be included with adult, socialized women. Movie actresses, porn performers, and strippers signal employability with enhanced breasts. Professional women do the same thing with high heels.

As a large scale phenomenon, body modification can't be explained by referring to unhealthy body image or other mental pathologies. People modify their bodies in order to signal their membership in social groups.