So what's wrong with piercing then?

 

...clueless 18 y/o girls getting random wavy lines etched across their "look here when you doggy style me" spots

I think the universally accepted term is Tramp Stamp. Although there has not been a conclusive study, my local radio station claims that excessive watching of Jerry Springer can result in the spontaneous appearance of them. The same radio station also makes the claim that teen pregnancy rates among women with them is %98,000 (I think %98,000 may be a bit high, but I would guess that the principle is right) higher than women without them, although they have no evidence to back their claim.

The tribal and Chinese character tattoos are entirely out of hand where I live as well. The tribal ones are invariably on pasty white twenty year olds, which seems odd, since the town I live in has one of the highest Native American population rates (by percentage) in the nation -and not one of them has a tribal tattoo.

I really enjoy the Chinese character ones though, at least I used to. One of the people I worked for was a Chinese immigrant. The first one of those tattoos that she saw was on the neck of a guy that was just released from one of the nearby prisons. When she asked him what it meant, he said it meant "fierce dragon", after he was gone she started laughing and said that the characters weren't exactly anything, but that the closest match she could come up with would be "beautiful flower rabbit". Another person, a girl this time, had one on her arm that, by her own admission, she had no idea what it meant. She had seen the characters on a sign in a magazine and thought it "looked cool". What did it mean? "Closed Sunday". Now if only she had that tattooed on her lower back, could give her a few points for creativity at least.

 

So what's wrong with piercing then?
Nothing at all mate - many people who get tattoos are deadly afraid of getting a non-ear piercing. However - with most piercings they can be removed and the hole closes, and though it does leave a little scar tissue, its a lot more reversible.

 

I know, I have 2 piercings myself and am planning on getting a third at some point.

I just wonder why Flux ascribes all this majesty to tattoos and is sad about them being 'hijacked', yet doesn't seem to have any opinion on piercings at all.

If tattoos are now so commonplace, why not look at piercings instead?

 

piercings pretty much gone the same way. I recall male earrings being quite rare and sort of cool when I was about 13, and by the time I was old enough to maybe get one myself it seemed like everyone had them, and i didn't want one anymore.

I still think pierced eyebrows are sort of cool, but not for me, and I think a little diamond stud on the side of the nose is very cute on some girls. The big dangling nose rings and those guys who make holes in their ears just make me laugh, though. Too much of a cry for attention/appropriation of culture most often seen in National Geographics. Not that such people give a damn about my opinion...

 

One must be careful not to take the body modifictation too far though. If you look like this, it might not be so reversible. Although being an author and a bit of a hermit, this might be a good look for Flux.