4/14/2003: Wooden disk body art

[Undertoad]

This is an Apa Tani woman, from northeast India, with wooden disks in her nose and earlobes.

I'm part of the generation that brought body art back into favor in the US, but I have none of it myself. In fact, for the most part I look at my body as an abomination already, and have no interest in getting creative about it. Its job is to support my head, and it does a fine job. Other than that, it generally gets in the way.

What interests me is how people have used body art *forever*. People have always painted themselves, put holes in themselves, changed their look. It also seems to often be a symbol of one's tribe or one's position in society.

That in turn makes me wonder whether there is actually some kind of psycho-biological origin here. Something that makes us want to change our look, or to adopt the look of others.

That in turn makes me wonder how much of our racism and tribalism is actually "built in" -- an instinct to find others that look like us, that we have to actually overcome in order to build better societies.

Your thoughts?

At the same time, I would like to cover this woman's mouth with duck tape and give her the heimlich, so that the wooden things pop out and fly across the room, because that would be funny.

Your thoughts?

Originally posted by Undertoad
At the same time, I would like to cover this woman's mouth with duck tape and give her the heimlich, so that the wooden things pop out and fly across the room, because that would be funny.

I myself was wondering "How does she blow her nose?", but yours is funnier. I would pay good money to see that work. If it made a popping sound, so much the better.

[elSicomoro]

If she sneezes, and the disks come out and injure somebody, could she be charged with assault?

[Uryoces]

It's funny, I was just looking at models and skins for new characters on Planetquake.com for Quake 3. Shopping for a new skin. Ha!

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." -Oscar Wilde

[xoxoxoBruce]

Why are you posting a warthog picture two days in a row??
This one looks more beat up than the last.

[That Guy]

Originally posted by Undertoad
At the same time, I would like to cover this woman's mouth with duck tape and give her the heimlich, so that the wooden things pop out and fly across the room, because that would be funny.

Your thoughts?

That reminds me "Strange Brew." Remember the courtroom scene?

[SteveDallas]

Originally posted by Undertoad
[my body's] job is to support my head, and it does a fine job. Other than that, it generally gets in the way.

I feel much the same way about my own body... I've often thought I should be in one of those 50s era science fiction movies where they extract the brain and have it go on living independently of the body. With chronic backaches and knee problems (probably caused in part, according to my doctor, by my weight! At 155 and 5'8" I'm hardly plump, but 30 of those pounds materialized in the space of 2 year--almost 25% more weight than my body had ever supported in its life.)

At the same time, I would like to cover this woman's mouth with duck tape and give her the heimlich, so that the wooden things pop out and fly across the room, because that would be funny.

Your thoughts?

You're cruel. I can only imagine what you'd say about those women from Burma(?) with the compressed shoulders and the rings around their necks. You'd probably have a desire to use their neck coils as electromagnets or something.

Still.. If you do it and you need somebody along to take pictures....

[novice]

It's disheartening SteveDallas I only put on 10 pounds at Xmas and promptly blew a ligament during my first tennis match of the new year. The Doctor tells me it's just my body saying "Hey !"
Despite this handicap I would happily hobble along on the aforementioned photographic expedition.
I would love to have some kind of universal translation device that would allow me to understand what these isolated peoples think of us. Would they consider us repulsive or perhaps as objects of desire as some Asian citizens find our leggy blondes.
I read somewhere one of the 'ringneck' people had hers removed and although she didn't die, as was predicted by some of her more pessimistic peer's, she had them replaced immediately with no mention of why. This is purely from memory so be nice.

[floki]

Originally posted by dave


I myself was wondering "How does she blow her nose?", but yours is funnier. I would pay good money to see that work. If it made a popping sound, so much the better.

What about this: one of my teachers once started wondering in class whether when people removed their noce piercing and blew their nose there would be a spurt of snot. Just imagining this still makes me laugh hard.

[Whit]

Its job is to support my head, and it does a fine job. Other than that, it generally gets in the way.

I feel much the same way about my own body... I've often thought I should be in one of those 50s era science fiction movies where they extract the brain and have it go on living independently of the body.

     Now a word from the other end. I'm in the worst shape of my life, but I couldn't imagine not loving the physical presence of the body.
     I mean the sheer joy of movement doesn't get enough attention. The feel of muscles tensing as you leap down the last four stairs. The forward lean and the air flow of running. I mean christ, just the motion of these things have a pleasure all their own.
     Here's one I know I can get some backing on. The steady feel of holding a gun on target. The tightning of the tendons of the finger as it squeezes the trigger. The tenseness of the arm, keeping the gun on target. I know a few people around here must love that feeling.
     What about those of you with kids? I can't imagine spending a day with my children without roughhousing a little. Kids naturally accept the joy of motion. They love the feel of leaping off the back of the couch on to Dad's back. Even getting held upside-down by their ankles is enough to make most kids giggle maniacally. (Of course the mom's terror while witnessing this is almost as much fun as the kid's happiness at getting thrown around like a rag doll)
     Christ, don't you people stretch? That feels damn nice, talk about instant gratification.
     Bodies are gooood. Let's not forget, bodies can often feel better when they belong to someone else...


     As far as the pic goes, that lady looks exactly like my great-great grandmother would have if she would have done the whole wooden plug thing. The bone structure and wrinkles are familiar to my eyes, makes me feel a certain level of kinship. Besides, the wooden plug thing makes about as much sense to me as dying hair to a bluish color and then making a helmet via the use of hairspray. And I've seen that a lot.
     UT may well be right about some of the inborn instinct, but I think it's more learned than inborn. I think that what you see in your early years heavily influences that. I look at that pic and even with the oddities I still feel a fondness for a mean spirited lady that doesn't give a damn what you think. Of course, I get that impression through the visual association and nothing else. This lady my be very nice. It's a fondness and an assumption because of my exposure to someone of similar appearance (sans the wooden disks and such) when I was very young. Go figure.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I only put on 10 pounds at Xmas and promptly blew a ligament during my first tennis match of the new year. The Doctor tells me it's just my body saying "Hey !"

My surgeon told me for every pound you gain you put 4 pounds stress on your knee.

[warch]

It is fascinating the universality of adornment- and the control, manipulation of natural states to give the wearer more esteeme, whether that is understood as beauty or other virtues. Its all wrapped up in group survival.

I've always been curious of the process of ever enlarging lip discs and marveled at the endless sculptural potential of hair.

Now I wonder, lets get her jogging. Does she whistle? Are there different plugs to achieve different tones? This could prove useful.

[jennofay]

Originally posted by floki
What about this: one of my teachers once started wondering in class whether when people removed their noce piercing and blew their nose there would be a spurt of snot. Just imagining this still makes me laugh hard.

i assure you, it certainly does not. the hole is too small. my nostril piercing is a 20g, which is the larger average sized nostril piercing. some will have them pierced with larger jewelry, or have them stretched, but for an average sized piercing, like an ear piercing, if there is no jewelry in it, the skin kind of un-stretches to cover the hole. you would have to blow with an *extreme* amount of force to build up the pressure to cause the hole to open and snot to shoot through it. although it would be funny, and as i type this, someone somewhere is trying to do it to prove me wrong

of course, my [super intelligent...] ex was convinced that if i got too many piercings, my beverages would start to shoot out of them as i drank. currently, i have seven (nine if you count industrials and orbitals as two separate piercings each)...and have had five others that have since closed up for one reason or another, and i am still holding liquids just fine, thankyouverymuch.



i have been quite fortunate to be able to obtain jobs where piercings were acceptable. my dad always told me growing up not to get too many piercings, or i would never get a job. this image makes me wonder if society's objections to piercings are simply a manifestation of deeper rooted racism. going back, body art has held deep-rooted meaning for many tribal cultures. when you think of a woman from india, you cant help but add to that image a bindi and nose stud. could it be that objections to piercings are really a way of subconsciously objecting the cultures that they reference?

interesting...

[wolf]

No, Jen, it just looks damn weird.

There is a line in the movie Fame that I still love.

"Does that hurt, or is that ethnic?"

[xoxoxoBruce]

(nine if you count industrials and orbitals as two separate piercings each)

What the hell are they??

I wonder if the woman in the picture has those plugs in piersings and not her nostrils. It would make more sense.