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Tattoos and Piercings
Tattoo Videos
Body piercing has seen a resurgence of interest in the last
ten to twenty years and are becoming more and more a part of the
mainstream Western culture. Take a look at any fashion or
entertainment magazine and you’ll see plenty of well-known celebrities
with body piercing like navel rings or a labret. You might be
surprised to find out that piercing is actually an ancient form of
expression that most cultures have practiced at some time or other for
thousands of years.
Egyptian body piercing reflected status and love of beauty
The earliest known mummified remains of a human that was pierced is
over 5,000 years old. This worthy gentleman had his ears pierced with
larger-gauge plugs in his ears, so plugs may be one of the oldest
forms of body modification there is! We also know that the Egyptians
loved to adorn themselves elaborately, and even restricted certain
types of body piercing to the royal family. In fact, only pharaoh
himself could have his navel pierced. Any one else who tried to get a
belly button ring could be executed. (Tell that to Britney Spears!)
Almost every well-to-do Egyptian wore earrings, though, to display
their wealth and accent their beauty. Elaborate enameled and gold
earrings frequently portrayed items in nature such as lotus blossoms.
Body piercing are also mentioned in the Bible. In the Old
Testament it’s obvious that body jewelry is considered a mark of
beauty and wealth, especially for Bedouin and nomadic tribes. In many
cases, body jewelry was given as a bridal gift or as part of a dowry.
It is clear that piercing was a sign of status and attractiveness in
Biblical times.
Romans were practical pierces
Romans were very practical people, and for them piercing almost
always served a purpose. Roman centurions pierced their nipples not
because they liked the way it looked, but to signify their strength
and virility. It was a badge of honor that demonstrated the
centurion’s dedication to the Roman Empire. As a symbol, it was
important and served a specific function, unifying and bonding the
army. Even Julius Caesar pierced his nipples to show his strength and
his identification with his men.
Genital piercing through the head of the penis was performed on
gladiators, who were almost always slaves, for two reasons. A ring
through the head of the penis could be used to tie the organ back to
the testicles with a length of leather. In gladiatorial combat, this
prevented serious injury. With a large enough ring or bar, it also
prevented the slave from having sex without the owner’s consent. Since
the gladiator was “property,” a stud fee could be charged to another
slave owner for the highly prized opportunity to raise the next
generation of great fighter.
Making love or war, piercing makes it better
Going across the ocean at around the same time, the Aztecs, Maya
and some American Indians practiced tongue piercing as part of their
religious rituals. It was thought to bring them closer to their gods
and was a type of ritual blood-letting. The Aztec and Maya were
warrior tribes, and also practiced septum piercing in order to appear
fiercer to their enemies. Nothing looks quite as frightening as an
opponent sporting a huge boar tusk thrust through his nose!
This practice was also common among tribes in New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands. Some of the materials commonly used were bone, tusks
and feathers. Hundreds of years later, French fur trappers in
Washington State discovered American Indian tribes who wore bones
through their septum and called them the Nez Perce, meaning “Pierced
Noses” in French. It’s interesting that civilizations separated by
thousands of miles and even centuries often developed a love for the
same kind of body piercing to enhance certain features, isn’t it?
In Central and South America, lip labrets were popular for purely
aesthetic reasons – women with pierced lips were considered more
attractive. In fact, the holes were often stretched to incredible size
as progressively larger wooden plates were inserted to emphasize the
lips as much as possible. (Kind of like collagen today). The Aztecs
and Maya also sported lip labrets of gold and jade, many of them
elaborately carved into mythical or religious figures or sporting
gemstones. These were seen as highly attractive and to enhance
sexuality.
As the world moved into the dark ages, interest in piercing died
down somewhat and the medieval church began to condemn it as sinful.
For a few hundred years, Western civilization abandoned the practice.
As the Renaissance went into full swing, however, interest in piercing
began to pick up again.
A new era and a new interest in body piercing
Sailors became convinced that piercing one ear would improve their
long-distance site, and so the site of a sailor with a gold or brass
ring became common. Word also spread that should a sailor be washed
ashore after a shipwreck, the finder should keep the gold ring in
exchange for providing a proper Christian burial. Sailors were both
religious and superstitious, so they generally spent a lot for a large
gold earring to hedge their bets.
Men became much more fashion-conscious during the Renaissance and
Elizabethan eras, and almost any male member of the nobility would
have at least one earring, if not more. Large pearl drops and enormous
diamond studs were a great way to advertise your wealth and standing
in the community. It could also designate royal favor if your earring
was a gift from a member of the royal family.
Women, not wanting to be outshone by the men in all their finery,
began to wear plunging necklines, with the Queen of Bavaria
introducing the most outrageous, which consisted of not much at all
above the waist. In order to adorn themselves, women began piercing
their nipples to show off their jewelry. Soon they began wearing
chains and even strands of pearls draped between the two.
Men and women both discovered that these nipple piercing were also
delightful playthings in bed, adding sensitivity to the breasts and
giving the men both visual and tactile stimulation. Men began getting
pierced purely for pleasure as well. While not entirely mainstream,
piercing of the nipples and, occasionally, the genitals, continued to
hold interest for members of the upper crust of society in Europe on
and off for the next few hundred years.
The next resurgence of interest was, surprisingly, during the
Victorian age, which is usually seen as very repressed. Prince Albert,
future husband of Queen Victoria, is said to have gotten the penis
piercing that is named after him in order wear the tight-fitting
trousers so popular at the time. The ring could then be attached to a
hook on the inside of one pant leg, tucked safely away between the
legs for a neat, trim look. Although we have no record of Victoria’s
response to the piercing itself, there is ample evidence she was
wildly in love with her husband and almost never left his side after
their marriage!
Soon, Victorian men were getting Prince Albert's, frenums and a
variety of other piercing purely for the pleasurable sexual effects,
and women were doing the same. By the 1890’s, it was almost expected
that a woman would have her nipples pierced. In fact, some doctors at
the time suggested it improved conditions for breastfeeding, although
not all agreed. It was an interesting double standard –- plenty of
people were doing it, but no one was talking about it.
Modern-day body piercing
In the last hundred years or so, body piercing in the Western
world have mostly been limited to the ears, a standard hold-over from
the fact that both men and women wore earrings during Elizabethan
times. The Puritan movement did away with men wearing earrings,
however, and it didn’t really regain popularity until recently.
Nose rings found new interest when young people (they were called
hippies then) from the U.S. began traveling in India extensively
looking for enlightenment in the 1960’s. They noticed the nostril
rings that most women had been wearing there since the sixteenth
century. In India, this was a form of traditional, accepted adornment
and was often linked to an earring by a chain. For rebellious teens
from America, it was a great form of rebellion.
After bringing nose piercing back to the U.S., the interest in
body piercing of all kinds quickly caught on during the 1980’s and
1990’s. Celebrities, sports stars and singers all began sporting a
variety of piercing. Soon, high school students and even stay-at-home
moms were flashing new body piercing. And the rest, as they say, is
history!
This article on the "History of Body Piercing" reprinted with
permission.
Copyright 2004 Evaluseek Publishing.
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