kids these days...

Apparently this is all the rage now:

http://modblog.bmezine.com/entries/200512071624.html

beautiful. What a bunch of nuts.

Edit: here is the article on how sexy it is to slash your wrists.

It's the calculus of the modern-day Teen Drama Queen. (And/or King.)

--p!

These are just some of the things that can happen by getting these things, Then theres always the risk of getting aids from someone using dirty needles. There are risks to these things.

Okay, I didn't use the emoticons, but that post was made tongue-in-cheek. Or maybe X-Acto-knife-in-cheek. I'm well aware of the dangers of badly-drawn tatts and cuts and other "tribal art". I'm sure the risk is a big part of the thrill.

At the same time, most kids don't go in for this stuff. For one thing, most of it hurts.

In the early 1980s, I had a pal whose sister decided to have a sadomasochistic relationship. She spoke to me about it (which was a surprise in itself) with candor uncharacteristic for her: "I thought it was going to be the coolest thing ever, but it hurt!". I think the agony in question was a single stroke of a belt across the back of her thighs; and she had never experienced corporal punishment as a child, so it came as quite a shock.

She decided to concentrate on the music end of the punk rock scene after that.

A lot of kids like to be daredevils. The tobacco industry depends on it. Fortunately, tattoo ink is a niche market, and knife makers depend on the kitchenware sections of department stores.

Peace ... and don't play with sharp objects :)

--p!

but after having gone through the gangrene thing and having lost body parts, it just seems stupid that anyone would risk it just to be cool. Then having to deal with a 14yo wanting to shove a sewing needle through his lip, well thats what being cool isn't about.

Gangrene sucks. I had a pretty bad septic infection after some botched ear surgery. Most people in the USA never get the experience, except for malpractice survivors, those without adequate access to medical care, and a growing number of people who cut themselves.

I can understand why someone would cut themselves to push back other, deeper pain. What I have harder time understanding is how we, as a society, can ignore people with problems. But I guess that's one of the reason why we're here on DU -- for a better world, hopefully.

--p!

Oh sure it can. If you cut along a vein and it pops and you bleed to death.

but from what I've seen of monkeys, they are smarter then human teens. I just had to deal with a 14 yo wanting his lip pierced, because all the cool kids were having it done in his school.

However, our rebellion ran to hard drugs, not surgery and self disfigurement.

P.J. O'Rourke once pointed out that the more bizarre your behavior, the more normal you want to look. When I look at one of these kids with hardware jammed through his skin all over the place, tatoos everywhere I can see, and a blue Mohawk, I know I'm probably looking at a kid with pretty boring, ordinary behavior.

or give them to the Sally Army, put the dope paraphernalia in the sock drawer, get a decent haircut and deny ever looking that stupid. Self-mutilation just freaks me out. If I had any money to invest, I'd put it in a chain of tattoo removal clinics. There's gonna be gold in them thar hills on the next twenty years.

That is majorly screwed up. I am thoroughly squicked out. :scared::yoiks:

but after reading that I'm thankful I'm too old to worry about all that crap! :crazy:

the guy who started the whole implant thing is 35-40 and live in Phoenix.

Must be some screwy areas of town I don't know about... or want to know about! LOL

to a degree, but that's just silly. It looks like a joke and the possibility for infection is so huge, I just don't get it. Earrings, small lip/nose/eyebrow piercings (and not all at once) can be cute, in my opinion. This is just nonsense.
Self-mutilation is not sexy...it's usually part of some mental illness or disorder, and it's actually pretty offensive to mock it like this if you think about it.

or the 15 year old that had to have part of her tongue amputated because of infection. Its stupid and can lead to all kinds of health risks.

they weren't doing it right or doing it sanitarily.
When you think it's infected, take it out!
I don't get why people think it's any different than ears. It just takes some common sense. Take care of what you get and don't go overboard and put brass knuckles in your god damn chest!

they missed the "Commitment Phase" but just wanted to be "part" of something.

It's the same ghoulish crap that every Century has had to deal with.

It's Kool and they figure their "plastic surgeons" can get rid of it later when they "grow up" .....but it's kinda gross...in a way.

But...if they are into it...why should I deny them their rights to be who they are. It's for their own families and friends to "view back" their crap in their face. :shrug:

body modification/art is interesting. They've been implanting things under the skin in all sorts of cultures around the world for quite sometime. Not my cup of tea, but whatever, so long as you are of age, and willing to take responsibility for it, and done hygenically, it is your choice.

What is this world coming too? :hippie:

Maybe wooden lip discs like the Xingu people in South America?

I mean, whatever people want to do, fine . . . but it's beyond my powers of understanding.

I like most piercings -- on other people, I get infections too often with piercings I've had. But this... um, I can't even imagine finding this attractive. Kind of like the guy that is having his full body tattooed to look like a reptile. He had his tongue forked and implants in his eyebrows and his teeth filed. It is interesting, but I just cannot imagine... And the link at the top for eyelid piercing: OMFG! If there is anything I cannot stand to look at, it is people doing weird things with their eyes. Just tugging on your eyelashes gives me the heebie-jeebies. Ack!

Oh well. To each his/her own.

I like tattoos (although I can't spell the word to save my life) and SOME piercings...just not stupid stuff.
Eyelid piercing? No no no no! EW!

and i normally love piercing and body modification/disfigurement/sculpting. this is just so... lame. it's like, grabbing some random shit in your junk drawer and saying "dude, what'd it be like to have this embedded into my skin! dude, no way, and here's a stapler and tape dispenser, too!" i wouldn't mind as much if some sort of noticeable aesthetic sensibility was pursued, but this is so random and uninspired as to be laughable. unfortunately, now that the act is done it just looks sad. at least other people who get involved in this stuff usually seem to put some thought in it.

well, whatever floats her boat. just waiting until random and pointless maiming becomes vogue; "dude, he's so freakin' hardcore! he plucked out one eye to wear a baby jesus butt plug in the socket! whoaah!"

:eyes:

:shrug:

:shrug:

I know people who've done worse than this.

:wtf:

My generation is more demented than I thought....

Are these people so desperate to be considered 'cool' that they would do this?

Hell, even I, the Duke of Dork, wouldn't ever have been this desperate for "acceptance", and note I'm using quotes because it is not REAL acceptance - not by any measure.

Cutting is just another self indulgent attention getter for bored teens, and a cry for help for undiagnosed depressives. Unfortunately, our technical.. hands-off culture just perpetuates things like this. Depression screening in high schools, by objective groups, should be mandatory. I don't mean the mental health initiative that Bush cooked up with the pharm. industry. But.. more like general screenings from public health groups. I remember when a close friend of my niece committed suicide after school one day, I was shocked that there is no screening and in-school resources to deal with depression in teens.

;) I'm SO out of it these days. Straight Edge...

Those pics made me ILL. :puke:


<snip>
Overview
Straight-edge can be viewed as a counter culture lifestyle option, or as a long-term commitment to abstinence from illicit substances and observation of the precepts outlined above.

There are various reasons why people choose to be straight edge. Often the lifestyle is used as a 'stepping stone' to allow one to be more positively involved with one's own mental and physical health. For some, straight edge involves refraining from casual sex. Rather than promoting strict abstinence, many straight edge persons believe in sex within caring relationships rather than random one-night stands. This plays directly in part with their abstinence from alcohol, excessive use of which can lead to one-night stands. Many straight edge individuals do not abstain from the drug caffeine (not believing or being knowledgable that caffeine IS indeed a drug) contained in soda or other refreshments, and/or choose to be vegetarian or vegan. "Old-school" straight edgers are more likely to abstain from caffeine; "New-school" straight edgers are more likely to be vegetarian or vegan.

The continuing appeal of straight edge has broadened beyond the initial scope of just punk culture, and now appeals to youth of all subcultures who eschew recreational drug use. Many people who are straight-edge became attracted to it as a counter-culture option of not participating in the often times dominant drug culture which is prevalent in many youth's lives.


Attitudes towards spirituality
Some straight-edgers feel that having a clear mind is a better way to approach life and/or spirituality. They tend to be atheists or agnostics, often believing in self-responsibility and rejecting the idea of a deity or any divine moral law. There are also Muslim straight-edgers, especially in Islamic countries, most notably Malaysia. However, in many circles, the lifestyle has associations with Christianity, though there were at one time significant Hare Krishna and Mormon straight-edge movements.


The 'X'
At punk rock shows, it became common practice to mark an X on the hands of under-aged concertgoers to ensure that the bouncers would recognize a minor attempting to drink alcohol. Some people interpret this as a symbol of Ian MacKaye's don't smoke, don't drink, don't fuck ethos. Some people believe the three Xs are short for Body, Mind and Soul, although three Xs have also been used as an abbreviation of Hardcore (Straight-Edge). However, compare also the flag of Amsterdam. Some adopters of the "straight-edge" lifestyle voluntarily marked their hands in the same way to show their commitment to refusing alcohol. Also widespread is the tattooing of the X symbol on other parts of the body, or wearing it on clothing, pins, etc. Three Xs (XXX) have their origin in some artwork created by Minor Threat's drummer Jeff Nelson where he replaced the 3 stars in the band's hometown Washington D.C. flag with Xs. The X is both a mark of negation and a mark of identity. Attaching the X to one's name or band name is common practice for straightedgers. For example, 'John Smith' would become 'XjohnXsmithX', or 'xxxjohnxxx', et cetera. "Straight edge" is sometimes abbreviated sXe (S.E. plus an X) following much the same logic. Note that sXe can be pronounced as 'straight edge' or 's-x-e'.


Backlash and criticisms
Despite ostensibly good intentions, Straight Edge has occasionally been mired in controversies. It is not uncommon to see many modern punks mocking and even imitating "SXE" adherents, in an even newer, philosophical approach to indulgence, in that it is justified for what it is. Straight edgers have been involved in bashings in the U.S. - this usually involved a subset of straight edge called Hardline. Some people believe that straight edgers are hypocrites because most use the drug caffeine contained in soda and other refreshments. Although, there is a small number of straight edgers are in fact caffeine free.

Police in a few communities such as Salt Lake City, Utah and Reno, Nevada have sometimes classified Straight Edge as a gang, due to violence associated with Hardliners, and due to links some Straight Edgers have with the Animal Liberation Front. In Reno, police concede that only a limited subset of Straight Edgers engage in violence.<snip>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge

are the most annoying fucking people you will ever want to meet.

:puke: