The headline of this post is the exact same message that is featured in a number of ads put forth by breathe.sg. I’d like you to first watch both videos, as they’re the focus of the rest of the post.
Keep on reading to find out where these ads came from and why they were made. I’ve broken the post up because it is a long one, and I know how much you guys hate massive stories on the front page.
With a positive or healthy body image, a woman has a real perception of her size and shape. She also feels comfortable with her body. With a negative body image, a woman has a distorted perception of her shape and size, compares her body to others, and feels shame and anxiety about her body. Being unhappy with your body can affect how you think and feel about yourself as a person. A poor body image can lead to emotional distress, low self-esteem, unhealthy dieting habits, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. Developing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to a woman’s happiness and wellness.
I had a conversation with an ex-gf last night. We were out with a group of old friends, and someone handed us a picture of the two of us from when we were dating. She looked pretty much the same, which is impressive as the picture was over 10 years old, while I looked substantially different. Sure my head is shaved now, I have a beard, and I wasn’t even modded back then, but the thing I noticed most was my body. I’m not an overweight guy, I’m a little on the big side of average, but nowhere close to being an unhealthy weight. In my mind, I’ve always been roughly the same size. It turns out, I’ve been wrong. You see, in the picture I was a stick figure. I started asking around, “was I really that skinny?”. I was holding a photograph of myself, and I still couldn’t believe it.
It really got me thinking about how we perceive ourselves by our body image, as well as how much we rely on others to judge us. While I don’t want to get too deep into a discussion about eating disorders and the like, I did want to talk about how we, as people who go to great lengths to modify our bodies, feel about the judgments and stigmas that arise when discussing body types.
We as a community are a very unique bunch. We all do things to achieve what we perceive as the way we want our bodies to be. We push the limits every day of what the human body can take in terms of modification. We stretch, pull, poke, cut, and more, all in the goal of getting self satisfaction.
So given all that, what makes us different from those with eating disorders? I’m not trying to make any accusations here, I’m just throwing some ideas out there to discuss. Think about it. To a person who has a negative body image, like the quote above describes, they are not happy with the way their body appears. These people will then go to extremes to try to force their bodies into how they believe it should appear. Crash diets, excessive exercise, eating disorders, all of these are what people (and yes this goes for men as well as women) go through to change themselves. The sad part of these behaviours is that often when the person reaches their initial “goal”, they will find something else wrong and continue the behaviour.
So where does the fault lie? Where do these people get the notion that they need to change themselves to fit a specific ideal? This is where the line gets very blurry. We as a community are continually changing ourselves. Some more than others, and some even feel the need to continually change as they can never quite attain their goals. Plus there are a number of modified people who also suffer from a negative body image, and do have the same problems that an unmodified person may have. I think the answer may lie in the motivations. With modifications we deviate from the “norm”. What may be considered unacceptable in some places, is celebrated here. We have bonds with each other where we can get together and discuss our progress. We talk about new techniques, new ideas, ways to make our changes even better than we could imagine. We have support.
Yet when it comes to issues of weight and body image, things become slightly different. To discuss one’s modifications with other modified people is the norm in our community, to someone suffering from an eating disorder, talking to someone about it can be the hardest thing in the world to do. To talk to someone means that you first must accept that you have a problem, but then you have to do the unthinkable, which is go to someone and say out loud that you have a problem with your self-image and you need help. There is no stigma in our community towards getting modified, yet for some reason when a person chooses to alter their body shape, or suffers from an eating disorder, there is still a negative stigma attached.
When you look at someone who is overweight or obese, your first thought probably is “they should lose some weight”. Yet to many people they feel that they themselves must lose weight, even if by society’s standards they aren’t overweight or obese. There have been many studies and books written talking about how over time the media and society have crafted what would be considered the ideal standard, which to many people is an unrealistic standard. We’re now in a world where more and more people are doing drastically unhealthy things just to meet this falsified standard.
Which brings me back to us. Do we as a community hold a double standard when it comes to body types? We’re a global community that willingly welcomes people with open arms, regardless of what they look like in terms of their mods. Yet when we discuss body type and body image, do some of us forget how we’re all here because we are taking control of our bodies, which means accepting the way we look? The reason I’m asking these questions stems from an older ModBlog post that was brought to my attention. Last December IAM: Botexty submitted an image of her newest tattoo. She just sent in a healed image which I want to share with you now.
Going back and looking over the comments, you’ll find a mixed bag of reactions. Some discuss the tattoo, others compliment her on her ass, and some do the exact opposite. And while most of those people were chastised, I found it a little upsetting that readers of ModBlog, who are some of the most open-minded people I have had to privilege to know, can possess the capacity to judge a person simply on their body shape. Isn’t that part of the reason we’re all here. This community is built as a safe haven for those sick of being judged out in the world. A place where they can be who they want to be without fear of negative comments about their bodies.
I pose this question to you now ModBlog readers? Are we truly an accepting community, one that ignores the “faults” in others, or are we just a microcosm of the larger world where we have members that find it acceptable to pass negative judgement on a person’s body, while expecting approval for their own body?
Back in February, our very own Tristan made generous offer. He would paint a commissioned portrait and in return donate the funds to the BME Legal Defense Fund. Tristan sent me some photos of one such portrait to share with all of you.
Detail shots after the jump!
Check out some of the people who have applied for the BME World Tour so far. The following are a random selection of audition videos we’ve received so far. Remember you have until Saturday so there’s still time to submit your application.
Remember Taryn? Thanks to all of you, she’s currently in the number one spot, but the competition isn’t over yet. She needs to be in the top 3 by February 28th to be one of the finalists. Through your efforts, she could win the opportunity to volunteer, through ONEXONE. Show your support for Taryn and for this wonderful cause.
To vote go to: votetaryn
You can also show your support on Facebook, by joining her group - http://www.facebook.com/tarynforafrica
And don’t forget folks, the World Tour Internship Contest closes on Saturday (we all know what Saturday is, my birthday). Get your applications in and don’t forget to include a link to your audition video! I’ve seen all of the applications so far and now I know how it feels to be a judge on a reality show. If only we could take everyone who applies!
Also, whether you’re applying or not, you can help us out! If you’re from Europe/Asia/Australia/Africa, we would really appreciate it if you could list your country, the cities in that country that you think we should visit as well as the names (url, location, etc) of the best shops in town! Help us locate the best places near you! Maybe we’ll even get to see you there! (Well I won’t since I’ll be managing the tour from my igloo in the frozen wasteland that is the east coast of Canada, but the rest of the group will!) You can post below or, feel free to email us at bmeworldtour@bmezine.com
What’s that you say? I can have my portrait painted and help BME at the same time? Tell me more! That’s right readers, our very Tristan, who you may remember from such posts as this one, has sent us the following:
Elation
A portrait of Robin Henry-Wilson
11 x 14
oil on boardI finished this painting in under 20 hours; record shattering speed for me. I’ve never painted someone while they were around to watch the progress or even stand over my shoulder. It was surreal. I loved watching the look on her face as she’d run by and point, “that’s me!”
I’m donating my time to help the BME Legal Defense Fund. For $200 + s/h, I’ll paint a 9″ x 12″ portrait from a photo. 100% of that $200 goes to the BME Legal Defense Fund and you keep the original painting.
I understand money is tight right now for everyone so this is a test. I’m doing one painting on a first come first serve basis. After that painting is complete, If others would like to participate I’ll paint more. If you have any questions please email me at thewhiteleaf at gmail dot com.
You can see more of Tristan’s stunning work at his website. IAM members can contact him directly through his IAM page. Non-IAM members can use the email listed above or through his website.
Don’t forget, BME’s Internship 2.0 applications need to be in by Saturday (my birthday, you know)! Keep those applications coming.
It’s been almost 5 years since BME last had interns. I’ve decided that I’d like to do something similar to the internship contest that we had. You can read more about it here. This is a much shorter version of the intern ship and instead of relocating to beautiful La Paz, Mexico, we’ll be traveling around the world.
I’m currently planning a worldwide BME tour. This will probably mean being on the road for 2-3 months. My goal is to start the tour in time to be home for the middle of June. This means we’d be hitting the road in the beginning of April. I have approximately 6 weeks to plan the trip, get sponsors, figure out the winners and then buy everyone’s tickets and book accommodations. I will also be booking the interviews that we will have scheduled. We will have at least one day off each week. This trip is all business though so if you want to do it, be prepared to take photos, talk to people and video tape interviews while we work our way around the world.
The goal of the tour is to interview as many individuals from as many different cultures and locations as possible. In each city that we stop in, I want to interview at least 5 shops and collect copies of their portfolios to add to BME. In addition to interviewing Tattoo Artists, Piercers and Body Modification Artists, I want to talk to and photograph clients as well as random people that we meet on the streets. I want to see the sites that the various places we go to have to offer (yes this means playing tourist!) as well as compile video interviews along the way. I’d like to bring 4 people besides myself. That means our group will consist of 5 people total. We can get away with 4, including me but we may go to 6 if I can’t make a decision between a couple great candidates.
Depending how the planning process goes, the trip may end up getting split into continents, obviously it’s always fun to think big but to make it so this really happens, we may need to scale it back and make it more affordable in terms of money, time and logistics. While I’m working on the contest and putting together the team, I’ll also be working on getting sponsorships as that will help make the tour that much more viable. I may also end up having a couple openings on the trip for multiple people to fill the various roles due to the length of the trip. I feel though that you should be able to commit at least two weeks. If you can only come out for a week, it’s not enough time to get into the groove with the rest of us. I will, however, make exceptions so please send in your audition and let me know that you’re the exception that I should make!
Click through for more information! Read more…
In what should be the new Friday tradition, I bring you body modification news!
The APP and Penthouse, together at last!
Check your local newsstand for the December issue of Penthouse magazine. Elayne Angel has a three-page spread of material from The Piercing Bible—with information from the APP. This article features advice on how to go about getting pierced cleanly and safely, in addition to discussing some of the more sexual aspects of body piercing (of course). The text is accompanied by photographs from Sean Hartgrove—the APP’s Conference photographer.
So run out and buy a copy of December’s issue of Penthouse. Just tell the news seller you really are reading it for the articles…
More news…
In Lakewood, Ohio, an eatery offers discounts for tattooed.
Tattooed ladies tell their tales in ‘A History’ - A book review from The Trib.
Tattoo parlour evolves into art studio. - I don’t know if I’d call that evolution. Since when are tattoos not art?
Donate to Toys for Tots and get free tattoo removal in Houston. - When kindness and lasers collide!
Do or Dye - The only salon that cuts and tats. Located in Florida. I remember a salon that did the same in Toronto a few years ago. I’m not sure this place is the “only” salon that *ahem* “cuts and tats”.
Cracking the gang code inside Santa Rita Jail, tattoo by tattoo. - “Deputy Mark Schlegel’s job is more like something out of a Dan Brown novel.”
Out of Canyon Lake, a gentler side of tattoos as a lasting testimony to love and family.
Here are a few body modification related news stories that caught my eye.
No tattoo parlour deal for Old Town.
“Geno Cassillo, owner of the nearby Brick House Restaurant, cited recent fights and a drug bust in Old Town, and said a tattoo parlor would bring similar activity.” - Am I the only one thinking “Sin City” right now? Of course a tattoo parlour would mean more drugs and more fighting, right? Right…
Rock Bridge senior Logan Parks’ tattoo is more than just ink.
“I’ll see that tattoo in the mirror, and it gets me through every game.” - More than just basketball, this family develops a tradition through ink.
Blackwood 79-year-old takes tattoo plunge.
You’re never too old for a new tattoo!
USF basketball players have tales told in ink.
‘This generation coming up, as time goes on, you can see the tattoos have meaning to them — you have a death in the family, a birth of a child, references to God and faith.” - College basketball and ink collide.
“These Design-y Branding Irons Are Begging For a Hipster Following”
“If you think about all the weird things hardcore hipsters do to their bodies already—DIY tattoos, safety pin piercings—branding doesn’t seem too far-fetched.” - Oh irony… Someone hasn’t heard of a little site called BME.
Check out who else has donated and how you can help make a difference!
