In postmodern society, physical appearance has become increasingly central to defining personal identity, as evidenced by the proliferation of features in newspapers, magazines, and television concerned with the health, shape, and fashioning of the body, and by the advent of a plethora of products and technologies for modifying the body (Negrin 2008).

Body Modification is a wide topic. The term ‘body modification’ refers to a long list of practices that include piercing, tattooing, branding, cutting, binding, and inserting implants to alter the appearance and form of the body. The list of these practices could be extended to include gymnastics, bodybuilding, anorexia, fasting forms - and dietary regimes. In addition, we have to consider the ways in which the body is modified by the use of various forms of prostheses and technological systems (Featherstone 2000).

Body Modifications