I turned 18 just a few weeks before I left for college. I didn’t do anything too exciting as I entered “adulthood”, but I did put two holes in my body. The piercing artist laughed as my friend and I talked about how our parents would kill us if they found out we had gotten these studs in the cartilage of our ears. For weeks after I hid my piercings beneath my hair. My mom didn’t notice until three days before I left for school, she didn’t mind too much, just request I don’t do it again. But I was an adult now! I figured what better time to get another piercing than right before I left my parents for three months? So the day before I left for school, I got two more holes in my body. It was always an adrenaline rush, partly because there was a needle going through my body, and partly because I knew I was defying my parents. When my mom saw these newest piercings, she wasn’t too happy. She thought I was going to end up in jail just because I had two more holes in my body… but is she right? Am I truly more likely to be rebellious just because I have more piercings now, or is that just an outdated theory?

In 1999, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry released a statement, saying that tattooing and excessive piercing’ were among the list of ‘possible forms of self-injury’, amongst cutting, picking, burning and head-banging. Today, this may seem alarming, seeing as approximately 45 million Americans have at least one small tattoo and 72% of women have some type of piercing, and 46.2% of women ages 16-24 have a piercing somewhere than their earlobe.

Originally, tattoos were most common among men. In the 1940s, military members had tattoos of patriotic symbols and designs. Tattoos later decreased, however they could often be seen in close-knit group, or gangs. Tattoos began symbolizing a “punk” status, often uniting members of a motorcycle gang, or depicting time spent in jail.

Body piercing can be dated back to 2500 BC, but were usually confined to the soft earlobe, nose or mouth. Its origins were often affiliated with religious beliefs, ceremonies or rites. However, women and men alike have taken into this idea of body art, expanding their distribution of piercings throughout the entirety of the body.

Anne E. Laumann MBChB, and Amy J. Derick, MD. recorded a study where they obtained information regarding tattoo and piercing frequency in adults 18-50 In the U.S. According to the study, 24% of the respondents reported having at least one tattoo, with about 12% saying they had more than one, and 21% said they had considered getting a tattoo at one point in their lives. Younger respondents were more likely to have multiple tattoos, according to the study.

The study also reported that tattooed respondents were less likely to have religious affiliation, that those who were not tattooed. The study also reported that the prevalence of tattoos was higher among those of lower education compared to those with higher educational status, as shown by this table. Next, the study looked at jail time spent. According to the results of the 500 respondents, 76% of those with more than one tattoo had spent 3 or more days in jail.

As far as body piercings, 35% reported having body piercings, while only 14% had a piercing other than the soft ear lobe. According to the study, the prevalence of piercings did not vary by education status or income, unlike those with tattoos. However, the relevance of religious affiliation was similar to that of tattooed persons.

“Body piercing varies little by education states. However, as with tattooing body piercing occurs more among those who partake in risky activities such as heavy drinking, drug taking and action that lead to increased incarceration.” Laumann and Derick claim, (pg. 7).

The question still remains, why?

I feel this question may never full be answered. People have been changing and altering their bodies for thousands of years and for thousands of different reasoning’s. Even though you may not be able to see it, things such a Botox are also physical modifications that effect appearances, just as tattoos. There is no stereotype in which tattoos, piercings and body mutations are confined to, therefore the psychology behind it may never be answered.

In this article, the author briefly explains the psychological motivation for tattoos, piercings and body modifications. These motivations include individuality, to enhance attractiveness & sexuality, for love of the art, create personal narrative, show an affiliation or commitment, and many more. These are all the same reasons women or men wear make-up, work out, dress nicer, etc. They do it for their own individual preference. There is no one reasoning behind a tattoo or piercing, for each person and their art is different. There is no need to shame a person for their tattoos, piercings, or body mutation.

While I find the science behind this very interesting, I would like to know more about the differences in body mutation popularity, geographically wise. I think I am right to assume that there are some countries that have a much smaller presence of piercings and tattoos and comparison to others. Furthermore, I believe that cities are probably more likely to be home to people with multiple piercings and tattoos, simply because of the new urban culture that has arose in the past two decades. Unfortunately, I could not find and science backing up my assumptions. (Not like science is always right anyway, but it would be nice if someone conducted a study). Also, the study that I reviewed could have been flawed because they only called home telephones of people in the U.S. People are more likely to be active on their cell phones, while those using home phones are generally likely to be of the older generation, perhaps stay at home moms, or someone of the like, which may have slightly distorted the information. If you wanted to get a full view of what the statistics behind tattoos and body mutations are, it would be beneficial to survey people at least 2,000 people from across the country, of various age groups, economic groups, educational and ethnic backgrounds.

Enjoy some of the coolest “body mutations” i’ve come across during my research

This guy actually got his face mutated to look like a cat, whiskers and all. Individuality!