The Anthropology (and Sociology) of Body Modification

In the never-ending search for future projects, I recently considered extreme body modification as a possible project. It fits with the interest I have in the body — an interest that is shared by many in the discipline — and I think it would provide an interesting alternative to existing engagements with the body.

However, it looks like a couple of people have already beaten me to the punch.

http://news.bmezine.com/2008/09/06/anthropology-thesis/

Hi, my name is Alisha Gauvreau and I am a fourth-year Anthropology student at Laurentian University. … For my fourth-year university thesis, I am studying suspension as practiced by members of the body modification community in Canada.

~

I’m a graduate student with the UCCS sociology department and I’m working on my masters thesis on non-mainstream body modification.

It is good at least to see from the comments that the community was very receptive to the research these two were conducting.

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  • Vernita Green
    There's no reason why you couldn't do another project on the same topic, but perhaps looking in depth at a different area. There's a lot to be said about the process of body modification, especially in terms of anthropological and sociological factors that contribute to their widespread popularity. You could also choose to focus on just a particular type of body modification, such as exposed tattoos, or gauges in ears and mouths.
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