Mutilating The Body: Identity In Blood And Ink

"The language of the body cannot be denied." This is the key passage in Hewitt's fascinating study on the personal and cultural significance of body modification. Permanent alteration of one's own form involves more strength, conviction, and visceral impact than any verbal statement, and so is infinitely more potent. Hewitt draws together a cornucopia of cultural and spiritual sources including performance art, ritual scarification, decorative and therapeutic tattooing and piercing, religous fasting, shape-shifting, punk fashion, and sadomasochism to trace the motives, meaning, and antecedents of personal change through self-mutilation.Despite my only casual interest in the subject, I was impressed by Hewitt's discovery of a common foundation to some very diverse practices spanning many cultures and eras. To my knowledge, a project of such breadth and ambition on this topic is unprecedented. The other books I'd read about body modification confined themselves to tribal, biker, and punk subcultures, but Hewitt embraces all traditions, finding bridges between Maasai rites and psychoanalysis, animism and feminism, yoga and Fauvism, fashion trends and Walt Whitman, Christian iconography and Annie Sprinkle. At every level she finds a drive for self-expression, a need to heal oneself or one's society, and a yearning for transcendence.To its credit, "Mutilating the Body" is not a smooth read, as every other sentence provokes more thought and raises more questions than whole chapters of other books. Despite its academic density, it left me wanting more--I see it as a brilliant framework, soon to be fleshed out into other books treating its insights with more focus. In the meantime, I recommend it unreservedly to anyone interested in body art, "deviant" psychology, pop culture, or anthropology.

This book attempts to understand the cultural phenomenon of uses of the body which are painful. I seek to answer the question "why does an individual inflcit pain upon him/herself?" as well as "why are these actions becoming more and more popular?"I am hopeful that this book will add to the understanding of the psychology behind many body practices, as well as provide insight into modern society. Some of the practices discussed are playful and decorative, some are dangerous and have been considered deviant. All communicate messages about the cultural moment in which they are practiced. My book looks at a continuum of behaviors - ranging from "pathological" acts including eating disorders and actual self-mutilation, to acts which are culturally sanctioned, including tattooing and body piercing. These acts are often painful, ritualized, and usually leave permanent marks upon the body. Instead of concentrating on the final product of these acts of body modification, I chose to analyze the process, which is meaningful in many ways. The book is based on psychological theory, ritual theory - and talking with a lot of people who have used their bodies to express themselves. Many of the people I met live in Austin, Texas - a city with abundant examples of body modification - some of the most creative and cutting-edge modifications in the United States. I am appreciative to all the people who shared their thoughts with me. Entering the world of body modification has enriched my life and led me to new explorations about the meaning of self and the definitions of consciousness in American culture. Although it is tempting to see this book as a final statement on the use of the body in American culture, I see it as just a beginning.