Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

7 Introduction
erogenous zones and were fondled and licked by the attentive
lover. Connoisseurs were even stimulated by the odor of putrification
caused by restricted circulation in the properly bound foot.
For women of the Chinese aristocracy. the unbound foot was a
source of ostracism and significantly reduced the chance of
marriage. Because of its erotic significance the lotus foot was
also adopted by prostitutes, concubines, male homosexuals, and
transvestites (see Brain, 1979: 88-89; Kunzle, 1982; Vlahos.
1979: 44-45).
In western societies body sculpting to attain beauty or to avoid
identification with disvalued groups is a common practice. Hair is
straightened, "ethnic" noses are reshaped through plastic surgery.
diet and exercise reduce or enlarge the body in line with the
current style.
The rise of the corset and tight-lacing in the mid to late nineteenth
century was a particularly interesting western body-alteration
phenomenon. In his detailed discussion of tight-lacing,
Kunzle (1982) presents a somewhat different view of the practice
from the conventional analysis that stresses the relationship between
the "wasp-waist" aesthetic and male oppression of women.
He maintains that tight-lacing was a symbolic protest against the
constraints and expectations inherent in the conventional female
role. Tight-Iacers were defined as deviant. They were ridiculed in
the popular media because their altered physique was associated
with the "unwomanly" outdoor culture and because the drastic
body alteration made them unfit for child-bearing.
Plastic surgery is the dominant form of permanent body sculpture
practiced in contemporary western societies. While plastic
surgery is regularly used to ease the stigma experienced by individuals
who suffer from severe facial disfigurement (Mcgregor.
1974; Mcgregor et aI.. 1953), it is more commonly employed
for aesthetic ends. ApproXimately 5 percent of the American population
(some 200.000 individuals each year) has submitted to
cosmetic reconstructions of the body to erase signs of aging, remove
unwanted fatty tissue, increase or decrease breast size. or
otherwise move the reCipient into the currently approved range of
physical beauty (Finn, 1984; Zarum, 1983; Lavell and Lewis,
1982; Hatfield and Sprecher, 1986: 351-363).