Lizardman Q & A PART ONE

Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.

– Sir Cecil Beaton

I get asked a lot of questions — in interviews, walking down the street, online, and so on. It is pretty much a near constant fact of daily life for me that someone will be asking me about something. And while a great deal of the questions are predictable and repetitive, I do catch my fair share from ‘somewhere out in left field.’

Earlier this month I decided to really open the floodgates as part of a new regular monthly feature for Through the Modified Looking Glass and asked IAM members to send me absolutely any question to which they would like to know my response. Hopefully you will find it as entertaining to read as it was for me to write. And now, the premiere edition of Lizardman Q & A!

deadinblood: They say there are two things humans know are going to happen to them in life; one being puberty, the other death [Editor’s note: I thought that was “death and taxes”?]. Most people are afraid of death — even to talk about it. Are you afraid of death?

I don’t think puberty is as certain as death — many die long before reaching it. And while it may not be as conscious a fear, I think people experience a great deal of fear and anxiety when approaching and experiencing puberty. As for the certainty of death, I know and have read a lot of immortalist literature and while I personally feel that there is a large amount of “pipe dreaming” in their thinking I do find many of their ideas to be inspiring — the most basic of which is that we should not simply accept death as inevitable. I do think though that it is very likely that I will die and that doesn’t scare me. I imagine that my death will be my final experience and thus I only hope I can make it magnificent.

stretched_thomas: What are your views on the “fat people disorder”? Why are we fat?

I think different fat people are fat for different reasons — but I think a great deal more of it can be traced to will (or lack thereof) than most would want to accept or find ‘politically correct’. For those having a hard time translating that: I think a lot of fat people are fat because they eat too damn much ‘bad’ food and exercise too damn little. I will accept alternate explanations on a case-by-case basis only when accompanied by a doctor’s note — which should detail not only your condition but also why you are so particularly bad at controlling it.

TheDiabolicSon: A friend of mine says robots going to replace human teachers in schools in the future. What do you think of that?

I think that in terms of effectiveness robots will not be able to do the work that humans can. In my experience good teaching includes a very connective, emotive, and, well, ‘human’ quality — but that doesn’t mean that this approach will not be tried. If such robots become cost effective (and possible) then expect them to be the norm — not unlike the babysitters that masquerade as teachers in many of our schools currently. I would personally never allow anyone I cared about to be solely machine educated.

CrazedInk: Has being part of acts such as the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow helped people watching your acts view the modified in better terms or has it been negative — that is, thinking that we’re all weird and freaks and belong in sideshows?

What’s wrong with the sideshow world? It is caring and supportive of its members and very fun and entertaining. As far as whether or not such shows contribute or detract from the general public’s respect for the modified… the answer is that it depends on the show and the viewer. A good performance demands and earns respect. I have known many people to have their first experiences of the modified be through such shows and those experiences were very positive when the show they saw was a good one. Of course, there are those who just always seems to react badly and I don’t think you can blame the shows — these are people that would have hated mods whether they saw them at a rock show or in an art gallery or anywhere else.

rat_xxx: Do people ever pull away their children when you go to the supermarket?

Very rarely. More often I get children who react in a positive and curious manner to my appearance who are then shuffled off by their parents out of embarrassment. Too bad really, since I will gladly play and talk with an inquisitive kid rather than have their parents stifle them like that.

Majik: I would like to know The Lizardman’s views on marijuana.

The history of legislation as relates to this plant is rife with politics that defy common sense — particularly in the use of hemp fiber and its many industrial applications (as pro-legalization people are often prone to point out, many of the founding fathers farmed hemp as a cash crop) that have no connection whatsoever with marijuana as a drug. As a drug I think it is no better or worse than any other and what comes of its use is far more a function of the user than the substance.

If you’re looking for an admission — yes, I have inhaled many times and enjoyed it. Overall, I can take it or leave it and current prevailing laws in the U.S. make it easier to leave it and avoid unnecessary hassles.

wldfire_1: If you ever have children do you worry what they will think? Or if it will make it hard for them to grow up with a father who looks like you?

I don’t plan on having any children but looking at it hypothetically I think that having me as a father, in terms of my appearance, would likely provide for both additional difficulties and privileges. It certainly wouldn’t deter me. I have other reasons for not wanting to be a parent.

Goat: What crazy stuff did you do when you were in college?

Why just while I was in college? Anyway, it’s more than I could possibly account for in anything less than a book — and that’s just the stuff I remember. Also, I’d have to check the statute of limitations on some things to make sure I wasn’t endangering myself.

Meghan: Over the course of our almost four years together, how much money have you spent on Cinnabons for me?

More than I should have, but I love you anyway.

Counterpunch: Do you feel the end of this planet is near? And when you first started modifying your body did you know that you would go as far as you have, and at what point did you decide to become the Lizardman? Have you ever got into a physical fight because of your appearance?

To answer your questions in order, no, but human life on this planet is always on the brink of ending in many possible ways.

I designed my transformation extensively before beginning it and before that I knew that if I were to undertake these sorts of modifications I would want nothing less than a full body concept. The idea and appearance of “Lizardman” really started to come together from ’93 to ’95 but I didn’t take that name per se until the end of 1998.

I have never fought anyone due to my appearance but I have defended myself — mostly in a pre-emptive fashion by ‘letting people know’ that they didn’t really want to fight with me. [Editor’s note: The Lizardman is an experienced martial arts expert in shito-ryu and shotokan-ryu karate, and definitely not someone you’d want to mess with!]

Numzy: Why a lizard? Why not a different animal?

I like lizards aesthetically and it was an obvious thematic amalgamation of all my procedures.

FREE: Boxers or briefs?

I am not a slave to underwear.

glider: As someone who’s now moving from personal friend of many people here (i.e. “on the same level”) to genuine “celebrity status”, how does that change your perception of the people you deal with every day, as well as your IAM page and personal blog in general?

I genuinely don’t think of myself as a celebrity. However, there are times when having that self-image is actually beneficial but I have to consciously work to maintain and project it.

I don’t think my perception of those I deal with every day has significantly changed — it is more a matter of an increased wariness towards new people. There is often a slight uneasiness about them attempting to use you or only wanting to attempt to profit from an association with you. But, I suspect that these sorts of people often greatly overestimate my value in this respect.

As for my public postings, I’ll admit to having edited myself a bit in entries in the past, but experience is showing me now that I tend to get a better response when I don’t tread so lightly.

obmf: What is the meaning of life? Also, all things equal (cost, upkeep, feeding, and so on), would you rather have a helper monkey, or a helper robot?

I am not at all convinced that life has a meaning and that the question isn’t simply an artifact of the defects of language. Meaning to me is primarily representative of part of the process by which we use symbols of various sorts to represent, and not a property of things. Also, searching for a meaning to life seems to very heavily imply that life is a more like a noun than a verb and my position would be the latter rather than the former.

As to your second question, I have to go with the robot — mainly for customization of appearance and design. If I so desired I could make it a robot monkey.

twitichingfetus: What is your stance on abortion?

I feel no more need or right to tell a woman what to do with her reproductive processes than I think anyone else should about how I cut my hair. Despite romanticized notions and expressions of couples being pregnant and the like, it is ultimately only that individual carrying the fetus that has any real claim to a decision regarding the pregnancy and then only that particular pregnancy. I certainly recognize that others will make claims beyond the individual based on moral and societal prerogatives but I find that I will almost universally deny the premises of those claims when presented.

And there you have it. If you have a question you would like to see me answer, watch my IAM page for the next time I request them. If I didn’t answer your question this time, feel free to re-send it then as well — it might have simply been a space or timing issue that kept it out. And finally, if I did answer your question but you didn’t like the answer — you can ask it again… I have been known to change my mind occasionally.

Erik Sprague because the world NEEDS freaks… Former doctoral candidate and philosophy degree holder Erik Sprague, the Lizardman (iam), is known around the world for his amazing transformation from man to lizard as well as his modern sideshow performance art. Need I say more? Copyright © 2003 BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published July 23rd, 2003 by BMEzine.com LLC in Tweed, Ontario, Canada.

The Benefits of Being Trendy

Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.

– Jean Cocteau

They say, “You have to take the bad with the good.” Now, we all know that they say a lot of things – and a lot of what they say is inane crap. I bring up this particular adage though, because when it comes to the popularity or so-called “trendiness” of body modification all I tend to hear are negatives. It comes from both sides – those who are aghast that people do these sorts of things fear a new wave of modified people, and the already modified are mortified that their cool, unique status is about to be threatened, or that their deeply personal journey that the “mod” represents will simply be mistaken as joining in with the latest fad.

Part of the problem, as usual, comes from the media that applies the label of trend or fad. Their doing so is usually a calculated move to create or increase the impact of a story – just look at the recent coverage of tongue splitting. Tongue splitting is not even remotely a fad or a trend in the world, in the west, or even among people who go so far as to get tattoos and piercings. At best, you might say that tongue splitting is approaching the level of a trend among those people who have a disposition towards “heavy mods”. But what makes a better sounding story? A couple random people doing what they want to make themselves happier or a rush of people mindlessly running to get their tongues cleaved? The latter makes a story, which combined with a good image or two, that is sure to draw attention and that is what it is all about: ratings.

Commercial media is based upon how many people they can get to look at their product and subsequently the ads within, which pays for the whole enterprise. But there is an upside. It is possible, I’d even say likely, that out of all the people who saw the coverage of tongue splitting that there were at least one or two who saw something that they could identify with, perhaps had even been dreaming of, and now know that they can achieve. If just one person benefits in this manner then I, for one, would be willing to go through the all the hassle and headaches over and over again tenfold.

By way of extension, we can apply such a loose model of exposure to most “mods”. Think about how you first came to know of tattooing, body piercing, or whatever else might be your fancy. If you have come into any of these “scenes”, especially in the last decade or so, then it is very likely that your initial exposure was due in some part to the increasing popularity of them. Moreover, the primary reason you currently have such a large selection of quality manufacturers of jewelry and equipment, qualified artists, and other resources is because of this popularity (i.e. trendiness)*.

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* I know, it also spawns the glut of anything for a buck shops, but — “You have to take the bad with the good.” Heh….

It was not long ago that finding jewelry, good or no, larger than 14 gauge was an incredibly frustrating search and the idea of something like pocketing was nowhere to be found. The necessary fuel for the creative fire of the people who pioneer new designs and procedures to offer us is an industry capable of supporting them. Before you bemoan the “belly pierced and quarter sized butterfly tattoo on her butt” chick imitating her favorite pop star remember that she is one of legions and it is their dollars that help make this industry. Shops cannot survive off only the heavy and unique procedures and practitioners cannot simply jump in at an advanced level – good piercers get good by doing lots of piercings, and good tattoo artists get their basics down churning out flash. Every little flash piece from butterfly to Taz and every blinking light navel barbell are dollars in the coffers and experience at work that go towards potentially improving and evolving the industry and community. Without recent trends your current piercing would probably have been much more expensive, done by a less experienced piercer, and used lower quality jewelry. When the trends and fads are too thin to produce new customers the businesses fall off and it is usually the better shops that take the first hits because of their unwillingness to cut costs on the quality they provide to you in terms of staff and product.

Instead of laughing at “trendy chick” or whoever else – thank them and kindly suggest that they think about adding to their collection. And who knows, perhaps in going through the process of getting that fashion driven “mod” the person may well learn something unexpected or find a deeper meaning and motivation. That butterfly could grow into a bodysuit (we all start somewhere), but that first step might not have happened if not for the pop-star tattoo trend.

So what do you do when everybody else starts getting the up-till-now rare “mod” that you chose because it’s the latest trend? My advice: Get over it. If you only got something done to be different from those who didn’t have it then you are just as shallow, if not worse, than those who run and get the latest thing their idol had done. Odds are you weren’t the first and only person to have it anyway – so why is it ok for you to be one among tens or hundreds, but not one among thousands? We are all already unique individuals by nature without making any effort whatsoever. Doing something just to try and be different is rather silly and redundant to the facts. Ask yourself, “If everybody else had it, would I still want it and why?” Here’s another one of those things they say, “Just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t mean you have to too.” To this I say, “Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.”

Are you afraid of being one of the crowd or being perceived as one of the crowd? The “crowd” is an illusion – everybody doing it has their own personal feelings and motivations for what they are doing – the differences may not be great but they are there. So, really, you can’t be one of the crowd but you can be seen as such. And this seems to be the most common complaint among the “anti-trendy modified”. These are the people who are upset that their personally significant “mods” will be viewed as just pop trends. Again: Get over it. People who look at you and think you got your piercing or whatever because the flavor of the moment rock star has it done weren’t ever going to recognize the deeply personal or spiritual event or outlook it represents to you anyway. In fact, it is rather hard to do this in any situation unless you explicitly tell the person what it means to you. It may be annoying that they make an assumption that you find distasteful but that’s life and it is going to happen a lot – people make assumptions, trend or no trend. How am I supposed to guess that your butterfly is symbolic of a reclamation and rebirth after abuse and addiction instead of something you and your sorority sisters did on a dare just by looking at it?!

I know and know of a few people who have removed or reversed things because they became popular. I sit here typing this and laughing at such people. To me, your “mods” could not have meant as much to you as you claimed if they can be given up simply because others had their own as well. Beyond which, I choose to laugh because the alternative is to cry at your lack of understanding. Your ideas about modification may be deeply spiritual or have a greater context but that doesn’t have to be so for everyone. You can stretch your lobes for enlightenment but let others stretch them for looks or just for fun. Why should it matter if they aren’t approaching modification with your particular frame of reverence? Feel free to be annoyed if you want but if you actually feel that way about it I would think that you would keep yours and educate others rather than giving up completely. I don’t see the devotee among Jews giving up circumcision and the bris, Hindus no longer wearing nostril piercings, or any other number of peoples stopping their modification practices just because other people in the world may start doing them for other reasons than their religiously or spiritually motivated ones.

Finally, perhaps the greatest benefit of body modification (atypical, of course – per my earlier columns) being trendy is simply a greater level of acceptance. If enough people are doing something that it can be rightfully called a fad or a trend then that means a lot of people are doing it. The more people doing it, the more likely it is to gain acceptance. Look at men piercing their ears over the last couple decades. People like myself with so called extreme and heavy mods are not the ones who can or will make body modification accepted at large. We can do our part as ambassadors of a sort, but ultimately it is the trend followers that will bring body modification home to their families and fight on the front lines for its acceptance. Mom and Dad can sit home and watch me on TV, perhaps even enjoying it, without ever being threatened or changing their dislike for modification but when their son or daughter comes home with their new “mod” then the real process begins. They face possibly an even greater struggle than those who might shun them for their fad – which would you think is easier to fall back upon for support in such times: A vision or belief based on body modification or just wanting to be allowed to look a certain way?

Erik Sprague because the world NEEDS freaks… Former doctoral candidate and philosophy degree holder Erik Sprague, the Lizardman (iam), is known around the world for his amazing transformation from man to lizard as well as his modern sideshow performance art. Need I say more? Copyright © 2003 BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published July 8th, 2003 by BMEzine.com LLC in Tweed, Ontario, Canada.

What is ‘body modification’? … and what does it matter?

Hold on to something, this one is going to jump around a bit…

A lot of the feedback on my last offering (‘Body Modification’?) gave me a sense of preaching to the converted. That is, of those who commented, the majority thought the points I was looking at were ones they agreed with and found to be rather obvious. While it is nice to know that others share something of my view, I can’t help but be dogged by a certain uneasiness. If it is true that many modified people will agree that body modification is something everyone does and includes things like haircuts and possibly even clothing then why isn’t that reflected in their words and behavior?

It reminds of the problem with evolutionary theory. Many people will accept and recite back evolution when questioned as to the nature of the human animal but they do not reflect this position in how they actually behave. It is simply a ‘fact’ that they have learned to give in response to certain promptings but it is certainly not what they base their actual decisions upon. People who purportedly believe in evolution hardly ever react to and judge human behavior on the grounds that human beings are a domesticated primate group. If they did so, then much of our moral and social quibbling would be absolutely absurd. There is a clear gap between what many people say they think and how they actually behave on this issue and it shows up in much the same way for modified people talking about modification.

“The difference between people without tattoos and people with tattoos is that people with tattoos don’t mind if you have tattoos or not.”

I have seen variations of the above in many a shop, on t-shirts, and quoted by people complaining about the fact that the ‘un-modified’ often discriminate against or look down upon them. However, I often see behavior which goes directly against it — people with tattoos or other mods being very judgmental and pejoratively discriminating against those without. This is not only the case for people without what is popularly referred to as body modification but also for those with ‘taboo’ mods like facial tattooing or amputations. While I find it unfortunate and potentially damaging that people who choose certain methods of body modification (like tattoos or piercings) would further divide themselves from people do not, rather than try and show those others that what they do in getting tattooed or pierced is simply another means in a process we all engage in, it seems even worse to me that they should want to divide amongst themselves those with acceptable and unacceptable tattoos, and so on. For anyone doing so and then claiming to understand body modification as a more general term I would like to hold up the mirror of logic so that they can clearly see it shatter with their reflection.

This does lead to another interesting trail of thought, and one that Shannon suggested investigating as part of following up the piece: the differences between atypical and mainstream modification and how the line is drawn. Quite clearly this is a question of relative cultural and social values as it can be seen that what is the norm in one part of the world and a given subset of a population can vary widely and be plainly contradictory with another. For example, in many African cultures scarification would not be atypical while in the US it is still anything but mainstream and while tattooing might still be considered atypical in the US for the culture as a whole, in many subsets (like the often cited bikers and rock musicians) it is very much part of their mainstream, if not obligatory. To push it back to a broader context, we could ask why is it that I am allowed, and often expected, to cut and style my hair but I am frowned upon for doing so in certain ways (such as a Mohawk)?

As a side note, if you want to really see how something like hair style can affect your life try wearing a moustache in the style that was chosen by Hitler (and was very common in its day). I wore such a moustache for a few months years ago and was almost universally reviled for it, receiving harsh and negative reactions the likes of which my facial tattooing has never even approached. All for a small patch of hair that was representative of nothing symbolic but just a silly experimentation to see how it looked. (When people would call me nasty names I would rebuke them for not appreciating my homage to Charlie Chaplin‘s genius — this generally just confused and further incited them).

To really address why some modifications are accepted and others are less accepted or even taboo would require an indepth examination of the relevant culture or society. I am certainly not going to attempt a full deconstruction of Western civilization and its views on the body here — others have attempted and I think pointed to a great many salient points and influences. I do think though that what you see in terms of a given group’s attitudes towards hair, dress, tattoos, elective surgery, and so on is something of an admission that body modification is a universal and as such rather than be denied, it can hopefully be directed for the good and interests of the group. We then see the typical problem arising on the macro scale that the group is simply too large and diverse in many cases to reach fundamental decisions (for example, an ear piercing on a man in an urban area of the US will have little effect but I still know and see many regions in which it draws negative attention).

Another jump: mainstream versus atypical puts me in mind of another term: extreme. What is extreme body modification? Most of the treatments I have seen before propose that there are two grounds on which a modification can be extreme: technical difficulty and social reaction. Personally, I think the former can be almost completely discounted. The technical difficulty of a modification (now speaking in the popular sense) is negilible and for the most part only exists because of how the industry is structured. I do not mean to deflate anyone but the most complicated procedures being performed by modification artists (such as implants, genital splitting, urethral relocations, and minor amputations) are incredibly basic compared to what is done on a routine daily basis by the medical community. It is the social component that makes something truly extreme in my opinion primarily because it is a social stigma held by those most qualified (doctors and surgeons) which prevents us from attaining the true outer limits of what is possible in terms of modifying our bodies.

Given the possibility that what is extreme is socially derived it will then be quite relative. As has been pointed out before, for a given pair of individuals it may well be a more extreme act for one to simply dye their hair than it would be for the other to tattoo their face. I had a friend from a very traditional Japanese family in college who was nearly disowned for coloring her hair red whereas I received a primarily positive response from my family when I tattooed my face. And what about facial tattooing?

Recently on IAM, Shannon predicted and described facial tattooing as the next “trend”. I have to agree that I have seen and been approached by people considering it a lot more in the past couple years but I would emphasize the caveat that it’s going to be a certain type that really becomes predominant (remember what I said above about groups attempting to direct modification for their own good and interests).

I think you will see people who have always been a bit further along (full body suits, heavy facial piercing, etc) realizing that in today’s world they aren’t really taking that much of a risk by moving into facial tattooing — If you already have large stretched or many multiple facial piercings the general public’s reaction if you add a facial tattoo probably won’t change that much. The ones that I think are interesting from the standpoint of cultural change are those that are less heavy (full black or green, heh) designs — ones that work up the neck or along the hairline and are more decorative than transformative of a person’s appearance. All that said though, a couple things about facial tattooing (inspired in part by Cora’s column on things to consider for those considering the incredible transformation she is undergoing):

1. It will change your life. The degree will vary but it will change and you will not be able to predict a lot of it.
2. Make sure your life is at a relatively stable point. Getting your face tattooed is not an answer or a fix to anything. It is going to make your life less certain (see above) and that’s not something you need to introduce if things are already at all shaky.
3. Make sure you want it and get what you want. Seems obvious I know, but it is amazing what people overlook or skimp on.
4. Tell people you care about beforehand and examine their response. They will be your support and can help you a lot. Sometimes people are amazed that I have such a good relationship with my family but as I often say (and mean it every time) I couldn’t do what I have done without them.
5. Try it out first. Use makeup or whatever to simulate it — not just for a minute but for days or longer. Put the design up and look at it everyday because once it’s there you will have to see it everyday.

In a perfect world, I would suggest these (and more) before any mod but I’m not silly enough to think that’s going to happen…

Erik Sprague because the world NEEDS freaks… Former doctoral candidate and philosophy degree holder Erik Sprague, the Lizardman (iam), is known around the world for his amazing transformation from man to lizard as well as his modern sideshow performance art. Need I say more? Copyright © 2003 BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published June 26th, 2003 by BMEzine.com LLC in Tweed, Ontario, Canada.

‘Body Modification’?

Interviewer: So why do people get tattoos?

Me: There are probably at least as many reasons as there

   are tattoos.

Interviewer: Yes, but generally why?

Me: Because people modify their bodies.

Interviewer: Some people.

Me: All people.

Interviewer: Not everyone gets pierced or tattooed.

Me: They all do something; haircuts, make up… even clothing
   changes the way in which your body looks and moves

Interviewer: But those things aren’t permanent.

Me: So temporary body modification isn’t body modification?

   That doesn’t make much sense…

The above is paraphrased but pretty accurate and has actually occurred more than a few times. It is probably a good example of me trying to be a smart-ass; it is also what brings me to this:

The term ‘body modification’ has popularly come to refer to a loosely grouped set of practices — tattooing, piercing, branding, scarification — and it is usually with this pop meaning in mind that the common question “Why do people modify their bodies?” is asked. The problem here is that the question being asked is significantly different than the question that is very likely intended: “Why do people modify their bodies with tattoos, piercings, and so on?”

The former is a general question about the human experience and motivation while the latter is one that develops out of the first and looks only to particular methodologies. By analogy, to ask the former is as if to ask, “Why do people compete?”, and the latter, “Why do people race cars?” Part of the reason I think that people are often mystified by why someone would modify their body is because they have gotten tied up in the idea that this one particular usage is the pure definition of what is body modification. So then, what is body modification if not just these or similar procedures?

Most of the discussions I have encountered concerning what does and does not count as body modification have born a great resemblance to the debates which occupied a large portion of my academic career over whether or not something was art. In the case of debates over art, it can often be shown that what is actually being argued is not whether or not something is art but rather whether or not something is good or bad art. Obviously, according to most theories of art, whether or not a piece is possessed of any great talent or merit is not what determines if it is art. That is to say, even though it may suck, even though you hate it — it is still art.

In the case of body modification I have found that what is often at stake is not really whether or not something is or isn’t body modification but rather whether or not it is the sort of body modification that is of concern to the parties engaged in the debate. For instance, is hair dyeing body modification? In that it is an alteration of the body it would seem that hair dyeing is body modification on its face. However, since it is not permanent and because it falls (depending on the color) well within acceptable practices many people will claim that it is not body modification. Much of these debates focused upon what other terms would be assumed to be built into or implied in their use of the term body modification. On a practical level this is often expected and quite essential. It is common to use a specified definition for purposes of certain discussions (BME is a fine example of this in its motivation and choice of what it considers body modification for content inclusion) but that definition should not be mistaken for or masqueraded as exclusive or complete.

Body modification as it is commonly used today is a fairly recent introduction to our language and seems to have emerged mainly from the communities that practice it as described. And it is within these communities that I have been able to find the most common adoption of the term and debate over its definition. The other place in which I was most readily able to find the term applied was in anthropology — where it is often used in a very broad fashion.

Anthropologically speaking, the term is taken at nearly face value. It is applied in most any case where the body of a person is in some way altered — from hair styles and body painting to skull shaping. The interesting (and important) thing about this is that taken in this way there is no record of any human culture or society without practice(s) of body modification. And it is for precisely this reason that I support some of the broadest possible interpretations of what is body modification.

I do this because it helps to break down the artificial barrier between the modified and the un-modified. I am fond of pointing out that we are all individuals whether we like it or not. By our very nature we are different from one another but there are also many shared qualities. In embracing our own unique stature I think that it is important that we do not needlessly create the perception of even more difference. If body modification is something we all engage in, in one form or another, then there are no un-modified people.

From this point, we may find a better way for those who do not choose certain forms of modification to understand the motivations of those who do. If the person who shaves, manicures, and is possibly considering a nose-job learns to see tattooing or tongue splitting as simply an alternative example of the same general behavior (modifying the body) that they themselves engage in, it may become less mystifying to them. In fact, body modification taken as part of the overall effort to intentionally create the image that others perceive when they apprehend you — especially in an effort to better express one’s self — is something that I think most people would readily accept as the sanest and most rationale thing in which a person can engage.

Erik Sprague because the world NEEDS freaks… Former doctoral candidate and philosophy degree holder Erik Sprague, the Lizardman (iam), is known around the world for his amazing transformation from man to lizard as well as his modern sideshow performance art. Need I say more? Copyright © 2003 BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published June 10th, 2003 by BMEzine.com LLC in Tweed, Ontario, Canada.