Body modification

Body modification is the permanent or semi-permanent altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, most often religious or aesthetic. It can range from the socially acceptable decoration (e.g., pierced ears on women in North American society), to religiously mandated (e.g., circumcision of Jewish male babies) to the rebellious (e.g., nostril piercings in punk subculture).

Nearly every human society practises some type of body modification in its broadest definition, from Maori tattoos to Victorian corsets to modern breast implants.

One controversial form of body modification is people attempting to resemble another race, such as Asians having their epicanthic folds modified to resemble Caucasian eyes or skin lightened with dyes, or African-Americans straightening their hair. Modification of another's body without their consent for non-therapeutic reasons, such as in routine male and female neonatal circumcision, is also highly controversial. Sometimes the term body mutilation (or in this case, genital mutilation) is used by opponents to describe such procedures.

Some types of body modification: