Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

178 Epilogue 2008
in pairs), and the guiche (a horizontal piercing of the perineum).
Men often combine piercings in “ladders,” usually a series of
frenum piercings that run down the shaft of the penis, often continuing
to run the length of the scrotum and ending in a guiche.
The term “scarification” refers to a wide range of permanent
body modifications that result in a scar. The most common scarification
practices are cutting, burning (or branding), and “flesh
peeling.” Cutting is the most precise of these techniques and it
allows for the creation of scars that display the most obvious
artistic features. Designs are usually incised with a scalpel on an
outline placed on the skin with a stencil. The fresh wound is then
coated in flammable liquid such as alcohol or lighter fluid and
then set alight to cauterize the wound channel. The process is
often repeated several times to create a sufficiently deep wound
channel and, thus, a more visible scar.
Branding has a rich history in sub-Saharan Africa, where members
of tribal groups were often branded in honor of, or to simulate
the appearance of, religious totems (for example, raising
keloids to simulate the bumps on the backs of crocodiles
[Roberts, 1988]). The most common contemporary form of branding
is found within traditionally African American fraternities.
Those who wear brands often describe their marks as co-opting a
symbol of oppression from slavery and embracing it as a statement
of pride in their black heritage. Branding also addresses
purely pragmatic issues. Tattoo pigment is often masked by
melanin and thus hard to see in dark skin. Further, the skin of
those with African heritage tends to raise larger, and therefore
more dramatic, keloid scars. Brands can be applied in a variety of
ways, the most common of which features heating strips of metal
held in pliers with a torch until they become red hot. The hot
metal is then applied to the recipient’s skin. The metal strips can
be shaped to create a variety of designs or to achieve various effects.
Practitioners and recipients of brands often call this process
“the kiss of fire.”
Flesh peeling is the most recent innovation in scarification
practices. It involves cutting designs composed of two parallel
lines into the skin and removing the ribbons of flesh between the
double outline. This practice allows for broader lines in the scar,
an effect that is difficult to achieve with standard cutting practice
and difficult to control with branding.