I always considered body modification to be an extreme change to the body but the lecture we had changed my views on this and it also made me realise that I have actually modified my own body in many ways through invasive and non invasive practices. Before the lecture I always linked body modification with people with loads of piercings or tattoos and never really thought about body modification as a religious practice or for medical reasons, such as pacemakers and hearing aids. In this case I don't think that body modification is a bad behaviour becau
se it is improving the quality of life for the individual who undergoes it. However, I do find some cultural practices involving body modification to be really disturbing and possibly even a bad behaviour. Examples of this include a practice called breast ironing which is known to be practiced in Cameroon and Chinese foot binding. I think that most of these practices are done for traditional reasons and the people that do them probably aren't aware of the medical implications that result as a consequense.
se it is improving the quality of life for the individual who undergoes it. However, I do find some cultural practices involving body modification to be really disturbing and possibly even a bad behaviour. Examples of this include a practice called breast ironing which is known to be practiced in Cameroon and Chinese foot binding. I think that most of these practices are done for traditional reasons and the people that do them probably aren't aware of the medical implications that result as a consequense. 
I think that people choose to modify their bodies for aesthetic or artistic reasons in order to feel more unique, for example, whilst researching I found a number of people who have compleatly changed their appearance in order to look like animals, such as The Leopard Man and The Lizard Man. I don't consider this to be a bad behaviour as I think that people should be able to do what they want with their bodies as they aren't affecting anybody else. I think that some people may not find body modification acceptable because it could represent a sign of mental illness or criminality. I think that some people could find body modification offensive, particularly people with strong religious beliefs as it is changing the way God intended the body to be. I have included some websites that I found interesting in relation to the topic of body modification below
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I think that some forms of body modification in certain societies are really a means of control. Usually it is by the male population over the female. In the lecture the tutor talked about a certain tribe where the women practice the wearing of neck rings to elongate the neck. In some cases the men can remove a ring, each time they consider the woman has behaved badly. Removal of the rings can have catastrophic consequences and can result in fatality. This really shocked and upset me as we take for granted the opportunity to modify our bodies by our own choice and not as a means for social control.
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