Ah, the hypocrisy of modern Western culture. Individuality is supposedly highly valued, but only in ways sanctioned by that great arbiter of taste, the media. Truly independent people are terrifying, as they are unpredictable. Unpredictability requires considering where the other person is coming from rather than mentally filing that person away and being free to ignore all other opinions and actions.

Body modification is an excellent example of this. Plastic surgery is mainstream and acceptable (or at least tolerated), whereas jewellery and ink are outside the mainstream and therefore less acceptable (outside of certain groups). One group has “reality television” shows like Bridalplasty lending it value and the other group is considered to be drug addicts, misanthropes and kids trying to irritate their parents. Body modification is body modification. Silicon-based lifeforms do it in order to fit in and human pincushions do it to express their individuality (usually-more on this later).

Botox is comparable to piercing. Neither are permanent. The difference is that one involves injecting a deadly neurotoxin into your face, lending you slightly less expressive ability than an android; while the other involves having a piece of metal inserted through your flesh, making airport security that much more entertaining. (Breast implants can be added to this list, as they can be undone, as well.) Except a person getting a piercing doesn’t run the risk of dying under anaesthetic. (Is there a worse way to go? Your accomplishments will be overshadowed by the fact that you died for vanity; your inability to be interesting on your own was your downfall.)

Other forms of plastic surgery are comparable to tattoos in that they’re permanent and carry the possibility of looking ridiculous in later age. The difference is that most tattoos can be hidden, but plastic surgery is, on the whole, done with the view to being noticed. My hypothesis is that people who spend that much money on something want to be sure everyone else knows. It’s why some of the most expensive items are also the biggest eyesores. They scream, ‘Lookit meeeee! I have more money than you and, thusly, are better than you!’ Because acquiring lorry loads of money can make those possessing neither talent nor originality feel superior to those with the temerity not to sell out. Of course, some people with both creativity and vision are allowed to cash in, but, more typically, it’s the result of catering to the lowest common denominator with callous manipulation of the unthinking masses thrown in for good measure.

Perhaps a person has a small surgery to correct a minor problem, a deviated septum, for example. Then they have a few more procedures-it’s understandble that a person can get addicted to plastic surgery. Realising that your body is endlessly customisable is quite the revelation. I don’t understand younger people getting plastic surgery before their bodies have finished developing; I think it’s connected to our ‘instant gratification is too slow’ culture. Why wait for anything if you don’t have to?

The general reaction to any type of body mod is telling, as well. I’ve had complete strangers tell me I should remove my piercings or that I should have my tattoos lasered (under the assumption that I must regret them). I would put money on the hypothesis that people with the equivalent amount of plastic surgeries aren’t hassled by strangers. This is because it’s acceptable (nay, admirable) to attempt to fit in, but expressing individuality is to be avoided at all costs. If you have the nerve not to fit in then you might also have unpopular opinions (that you feel you have a right to express, quelle horreur !)

There’s a third group-the ‘rebels’ that gets tattooed and pierced to ‘stand out’ by fitting in with their, equally uninteresting, cohort. They’re not your friends, as real friends would encourage you to be true to yourself. Expecting others to bow to your, clearly superior, fashion sense is a form of insecurity. After all, if others don’t approve of the way you express yourself then perhaps you’re wrong, or worse, unpopular. If no one likes you then you can’t possibly like yourself.

My favourite misconception about the pierced is that because we paid someone to shove a ten-gauge needle through our tender bits we must enjoy pain when women who’ve had plastic surgery have endured infinitely more pain. The same goes for women who’ve experienced childbirth. No one says to a woman with more than one child, ‘Daaaaaamn, you must love pain!’ The results are worth the pain involved. I have had twenty-eight piercings and the majority hurt for a few seconds and were then sore for a few days; tattooes are annoying during application and sunburn-like whilst healing. I’ve not given birth or had plastic surgery, but I’ve had necessary surgery and was in agony for weeks even with pain killers (which distracts from pain without eradicating it). But, yeah, us pierced and tattooed folks are hardcore . And we’re completely fine with that supposition. We’re less likely to get jacked if someone figures the threat of physical pain is no deterrent to us defending ourselves.

Both groups have common ground-the ability to make irreversible mistakes (it’s what tribal tattoos and lasering are for.) And if that surgery you got at twenty-five is looking a bit sad at forty there are always corrective procedures. That tiny butterfly on your lower stomach you got on your eighteenth birthday morphs into Mothra after a couple kids and a few pints of Haagen Dazs and those double-Ds are as subject to gravity in middle age as the real thing. Both groups are peopled with those who make decisions without considering the consequences or even knowing their own motivations.

And that is unforgivable. The only excuse one can have for not knowing themselves is being afraid of what they’ll find out and being too lazy to become the person they want to be. Knowing oneself but choosing not to be true to that self is worse; you’re allowing others (who are as flawed as anyone else) to define you. You’re allowing yourself to be controlled by someone who’d rather focus on other people’s flaws rather than their own. Marcus Aurelius says that a person shouldn’t seek the approval of those they wouldn’t want to emulate. To do so is to disrespect oneself-the only person you have to be with twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.