Tattoos and body piercing

This was an interesting lecture, even if I had mutilated people stuck in my head for the rest of the night. It's amazing what some people will do to themselves, or do to others. Generally, my opinion is that a person has the right to look how he or she wants to, but a point was made in the lecture about using patterns that describe someone's heritage, which could certainly be seen as wrong. Perhaps people don't research what they're doing to themselves well enough before they get tattooed with a particular design.

Another aspect of body modification being 'wrong' could be the associations with class that tattoos have. The lower classes have historically been vilified by the upper classes (a form of prejudice that sadly seems to have been overlooked in recent attempts for social equality). If the lower classes have tattoos, then other members of the population could perceive that particular appearance as being 'bad', although it's interesting that tattoos originally were popular with the upper class. It's very unlikely that the upper classes would have any kind of body modification in modern society.

As a whole, I don't believe that body modification is bad, as long as it's well researched and does not offend anyone. There are a lot of negative stereotypes associated with tattoos and piercings, but maybe that will change in society.