To many, the art of body piercing may seem like some sort of "new" craze, hitting the streets of North America by storm. In reality, body piercing has a vast history! Infact, the North American culture was one of the last to adopt the art of body piercing. With the exception of piercings to the ears, which is the most conventional form of piercing in North America today, North America has only recently began to show body piercing as a "trend", whereas with many other cultures, body piercing has been an important cultural aspect for thousands of years. Some of the earliest evidence of body piercing comes from the ancient Egyptian,Roman, and Maya cultures. in ancient egypt men pierced their navels as a sign of royalty and also valued a deep navel. In the Roman empire, soldiers in Caesar's army pierced their nipples as a sign of virility and courage. The nipple piercings were also used as a dress accessory for holding the soldiers' short capes. With the Maya, temporary tongue piercings were practiced among royalty during special rituals. Many people believe that body piercing is particularly valuable to the indigenous cultures of Australia and Africa. For the most part, that is correct. With tribes in Chad and West Africa, the upper labret piercing was seen sign of manhood. The most common body piercings practiced among the Aboriginies of Australia were the septum and tongue. A particularly interesting culture is the eskimo of Alaska. Body piercing has been a vital part of their culture for many years. With the tlingit of south-eastern alaska, ear piercing was directly related to an individual's rank in society. Social position was determined by the wealth of the family into which the indivudual was born. Ear piercing was most commonly done at potlaches, where the host paid a member of his group to pierce their children's ears, at additional potlaches, other holes were added. Until the late nineteenth century, the Eskimo of Alaska also defned social status among groups by lip piercing- both men and women wore lip plugs called labrets which were usually made from Ivory. An Eskimo man wore either one lip plug worn centered to his mouth, so he could resemble a walrus, or wore two lip plugs on either side of his mouth. The young men recieved the labret as a type of initiation because holes were often cut when they reached puberty. Women wore a labret to indicate a noble social status. But what about today? True, body piercing has taken North Americans, especially teenagers by storm in the past five years. But is it truly a cultural thing? Some of the reasons people may want to put themselves through the pain of getting a piercing might be: indivudaltity, decoration, adornment of a preferred body part, experimintation, recognition- or even just...for fun! Body piercing is most commonly done in professional piercing shops today. One of the things that people worry about, aside from the pain, is if the shop is clean. Today, most shops carry thousands of dollars in sterilization equiptment such as ultrasonics and autoclaves. This equiptment ensures that all of the tools used are throughly sterilized. Piercing is most commonly performed with a needle, that is very similar to one you might get for a bloodtest or a shot, without the base. Aftercare for body piercings is nothing too difficult. The best thing to clean a piecing is an unfragranced soap, such as neutrogena. The soap will clean off any bacteria and dried up matter, and will also be gentle on your piercing at the same time. Products like rubbing alchol and hydrogen peroxide aren't reccomended because while they do kill bacteria, they can also kill new skin cells in the process, which slows down the healing period tremendously! Prices for a body piercing can range, depending on what kind of jewellery you select and where you get it done. Pain for a body piercing can also range, but from experience, the most painful part of a body piercing is worrying about it! The initial piercing takes only a second, and the pain is minimal. In conclusion, humans have practiced the art of body piercing for thousands of years. In the past, as well as today, in many different cultures, body piercing has been seen as an important part of culture. Only in the past years, has body piercing become increasingly popular among young people in North America. Is it part of the North American culture, supported by the "gurus" of MTV and muchmusic, or is it just another way to add excitement into young people's lives? To many people, body piercing can mean different things. The only common bond people have with piercings is that all of them expierienced a moment of pain to receive something that is very meaningful to them, their concept of culture, and their body.
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