| Pins & needles |
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| Written by Sarrah Benoit -Argonaut | ||||||
| Friday, 28 April 2006 | ||||||
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A sterile room and cold pliers. A long needle and a barbell. No anesthesia. It might sound like a scene from the movie “Hostel,” but for freshman Cody Erhart it was just part of a long-anticipated experience.  Charlie Olsen/Argonaut Senior Nick Barker shows off his neck piercings. “I went into the room and took off my shirt. And there were these flat pliers they used to pinch my nipple and pull it vertically. They told me to take a deep breath and just as I let it out, they pierced it,” said the 18-year-old adrenaline junkie. “I seriously just cried out. I had the option of getting both nipples done at the same time, but I didn’t do it that way. I think the second nipple was worse, because I already knew how much it hurt.” The Idaho Falls native said what motivated him was the adrenaline rush. “I had a group of friends, so it was me and five other guys that got (our nipples) pierced over a period of time on our 18th birthdays,” he said. “I guess it was just for fun. It was just for the experience of it all.” Shaun Hogan, the co-owner of the Falling Moon tattoo studio in Moscow, said young adults usually get tattoos and piercings in order to fit in with their friends, to stand out in a crowd, to heal themselves of something in their pasts, to memorialize someone or something, or to motivate themselves. Some also see the procedures as rites of passage. Procedures like nipple piercings seem to be gaining popularity among college students these days. Freshmen and seniors alike are rushing to tattoo studios to become part of the ever-growing body art craze. Some are even seeking doctors for cosmetic surgery. Whatever the procedure, one shared motivation remains: the desire to improve body image. Microsoft’s Encarta defines body image as a person’s impression of how his or her body looks. Numerous studies have been done to study body dissatisfaction in recent years. Typically, the research indicates 33 percent of men and 70 percent of women are dissatisfied with their appearance. And college students are no exception. Holes Freshman Whitney Stimmel has had multiple image-changing procedures. “I have six piercings, four in my ears and one in my nose and bellybutton. I have one tattoo on the back of my neck, and I’ve also had a breast job,” she said. “I’m not going to lie. I got my bellybutton pierced purely for trendy purposes. I was thinking, ‘Oh, everyone has one, so I’m going to get one.’” She tugs at her bellybutton through a red, form-fitting shirt and brings her hand up to the small diamond shining on her nostril. “My noise piercing was something I did in the moment. My friend Amy was going to get one, and when we got to the place, she got scared and said, ‘We are doing this together. You go first.’ She pushed me to get it and I got it,” she said. “I was just kind of shocked, but I did it kind of for her.” According to an article in Menstuff magazine, piercing is not a 21st century development. Certain tribes in Africa and North America were doing piercing long ago, as well as European sailors and carnival performers. Today, it seems as if young adults are more than ready to jump on the body modification bandwagon. And they have the option to pierce more than just their ears. Some opt for the lips, tongue or nose, while the more daring go for the nipples, cheeks, neck and even genitals. But for some body modifiers, too much can be overkill. “In general, I think moderation is key. Anything can look good, but the big things — I hate those,” Erhart said. “If they are small and unobtrusive, they are fine.” Today, some employers in professional fields still look down on tattoos or regard them as contributing to an unprofessional appearance. Tattoos can impair a wearer’s career prospects, particularly when inked on places not typically covered by clothing like the wrists, neck and face. But this was not always the case. During the 19th century, tattooing spread among the upper classes all over Europe, particularly in Britain, where as many as one in five members of the gentry had been inked. It was said that Queen Victoria had a tattoo in an intimate location and her consort, Prince Albert, had a … well, you know. And Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s mother, had a tattoo of a snake around her wrist that she would hide with a specially crafted diamond bracelet. Think of it this way: If college students with tattoos and piercings lived two centuries ago, they would be considered elite. Hogan said he attributes piercings’ (and tattoos’) changing popularity to cyclical patterns. “Most popular things change over the years. You can only go so long until tattoos or piercings gets old,” he said. “Once it shows conformity, the popularity fades and something else becomes popular. You just get to a saturation point.” He said piercings are more accepted nowadays because everyone seems to have at least one, but there will always be people who maintain that body art is unacceptable. “What I had done was not meant to change me or make me better than anyone else,” Stimmel said. “I didn’t do it to fit the mold of society or to rebel against anything. It was a personal thing.” Tattoos are forever “I think trends have the potential to push things, and so do friends,” Stimmel said. “Piercings are something you can take out and the hole can heal. But with tattoos, they are forever.” She lifts up her brown ponytail to reveal a black cross that runs from the bottom of her hairline to the base of her neck. “I wanted it for a long time. It’s a personal thing having to do with religion,” she said. “I knew I wanted it in a place where not everyone could see it. Nothing flashy that screams, ‘Look at me! Look at me!’” Stimmel said her cross reminded her of her faith and dedication to the Lord. But some Christians and Jews believe Leviticus 19:28 prohibits believers from getting tattoos: “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD” (King James Version). One reading of Leviticus suggests the passage is specific to the ancient practice of rubbing the ashes of the dead into wounds. Modern tattooing methods have seemed to ease the minds of some religious tattoo enthusiasts. Today, tattoos are often done in studios by artists using rapid-injecting electrical devices that deliver a uniform series of punctures into the dermal layer of the skin. Pigment for the tattoo is injected 50 to 3,000 times per minute into the dermis at a depth of one-sixty-fourth to one-sixteenth of an inch. According to a study done by Judy Grief and Walter Hewitt of Rutgers University Health Services, 69 percent of 18- to 22-year olds polled said they had one or more tattoos. The 766 respondents of the survey were from 18 universities in the United States and one university in Australia. Seventy percent of the participants were women, 29 percent were men and one percent did not disclose their gender. Ages ranged from 17 to 54 years old. The study also showed not all individuals with ink are hoodlums, ruffians or thugs. On the contrary, 60 percent of tattooed participants reported grade point averages of 3.0 or better. As for the inked individuals’ reasons, self-expression was the main motive why the students polled decided to get a tattoo. Other answers included “just wanted one,” “to feel unique,” “independence” and “to remember something.” Erhart said a tattoo should reflect something personal to the wearer. He said he would like to have a tattoo but he would need time to design something. But after getting what he calls “the most painful piercing you can get,” Erhart said he is intimidated by the pain associated with getting a tattoo. According to “The Pain Factor and the Fear Factor” by Karen Hudson, the writer of an online guide to tattoos and piercings, some people have described the feeling of getting inked as a hot scratch while others have said it was just annoying. Most said it was not nearly as bad as they feared. Hudson said she wants readers to remember that everyone has a different pain threshold and the placement of a tattoo affects how much the procedure will hurt. “It wasn’t horrible, but it hurt. I didn’t feel good to get it on my neck,” Stimmel said. “When they went over the bone, it hurt a lot.” Hogan said the most popular tattoos for men are located on their upper back and upper arms. For women, the lower back and ankle are most popular. Enhancement Stimmel said she has to be careful not to be perceived as sexually promiscuous because of her breast augmentation surgery. “I like my shape and I like my proportion. I like the way I look now, but there’s no reason for me to flaunt it,” she said. “I still wear normal things. I’m not going to go out and buy lots of low-cut things now.” She said she decided to get her breasts enhanced two years ago when she was 16 years old. “I saved for it for like, two years. I was extremely flat-chested,” she said. “People would ask me if I was depressed before the surgery or if I was self-conscious. I wasn’t. I just wanted to look more even.” According to a pamphlet called “Breast Augmentation Options,” from Dr. Steven Ozeran, a breast surgeon in Lewiston, there are many reasons why women choose to augment their breasts. Some reasons include making their bodies more proportional, reshaping and enlarging breasts that have lost their shape due to breast-feeding, and balancing breasts that differ in size and shape. “I guess some people think if you change the way you look, you are changing who you are,” Stimmel said. “It was something I got for myself, and I had the money to do it. I’m happier in the way I look now. My experience was good.” She was a 32 A before the surgery and came out with a D cup. “When I was about 16, I got to the point where I was like, ‘Wow, I’m really going to stop growing there.’” According to “Cosmetic Surgery Epidemic Among Young Adults a Myth,” featured in the February 2005 edition of Plastic Surgery News, 5 percent of college-aged women have had cosmetic surgery. The study surveyed 559 women, ages 17 to 24, at six universities. More than 60 percent of the participants said they could envision having at least one procedure in their lifetime. More than two-thirds reported knowing someone who had cosmetic surgery and one-third indicated that a family member had undergone surgery. “My dad was very against it initially. It took a long time of me explaining why I wanted to get it done,” Stimmel said. “But my mom was completely OK about it. She’s the kind of person who says she is getting a face-lift when she’s 90.” The day of her surgery, she said she was having doubts. But that was before the anesthesiologist gave her “the best cocktail she’s ever had.” “The ceiling started to spin and I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, I woke up and had two nurses around me, and I thanked them. I don’t even know why I did that,” she said. “Normally, it takes an hour for them to release you, but 15 minutes later they said I was ready to leave.” According to the pamphlet, breast augmentation surgery usually lasts one to two hours. The doctor makes an incision and forms a pocket in which the breast implant is placed. When the implant is in its proper position, the incision is closed with stitches and then taped. “It was a week of lying on the couch and sleeping. The drugs make you tired,” she said. “The second week I was moving around. The third week I was still swollen. After four weeks, I was back to normal.” During her recuperation process, Stimmel said, she panicked and wondered if she had done the right thing. “I was still swollen and when I sat up, my boobs were up to my chin. I thought they were too big,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh God! I look like Pamela Anderson. This is horrible.” Today, she says the surgery was worth the $6,000 and four weeks of recovery. “Some people are very anti-surgery, very anti-change. I only wish people wouldn’t judge me without knowing me,” she said. “I mean, I’m not a pair of boobs.”  Add as favorites (154) | Views: 7818
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