Do you find the term "self expression" slightly offensive?

Hi all,

Does anyone else find the term "self expression" slightly offensive. I don't get mad about it, but I think its naive. Usually it some older, well meaning person's attempt at being accepting. They'll say something like, " I understand tattoos(or piercings, etc) are a very important form of self-expression for you."

The term bothers me because it suggests that some ink under my skin or a piercing somehow embodies and expresses some virtue of my personality. I think it is almost condescending to suggest that something superficial can represent me.

I describe my piercings and tattoos as the "way I feel most comfortable." However, it doesn't say anything about my personal virtue. Modified peole are so diverse that its impossible to say a mod expresses a certain characteristic. Its similiar to a lady with normal long hair. I don't think she thinks of her ponytail as "self expression" but she would feel weird or naked with a buzz cut.

Does anybody understand what I'm getting at?

Peace

 

I agree with you on this one.

 

DSOTM,

I guess what i object to is the fact that saying that someone feels the need to have "self -expression" is a loaded statement in that it implies that the modified person has some characteristic that is against or malaligned with the societal norm. I think this is the underlying implication especially because the majority of people who use it are people who disapprove but feel they should be accommodating. It's kinda of a compromised.

When I said "normal long hair" I was just suggesting a hairstyle that wouldn't grab peoples' attention. Yes, whatever hairstyle/clothes/mods you chose to wear or not wear is a commentary on something about you. However, I still find the whole self-expression line a little loaded and offensive when used in the context of body mods.

"Modified peo[p]le are so diverse that its impossible to say a mod expresses a certain characteristic." Not true. The fact that there is any form of mod at all says something about you (us)."

Yes, the fact there is a mod says something about you/us. However, it does not say the same thing universally. It could mean someone really loves the beatles, they had a punk rock phase, the are a member of a culture that tattoos/scars/etc, they were in a gang/prison, the wannt to "express themselves" artistically. So, to chock all mods up to "self-expression" is a rather dismissive attitude to have towards mods. It means that the sayer is not interested in the specific motivation. Its like say " I know that book has some interesting things I could learn from it, but I'm not going to read it. I'll just know it has some interesting things"

DSOTM, I guess we couldd still disagree, and thats ok. I wasn't clear before, however, I do think that mods can have personal signifigance. I wasn't objecting to that. I was objecting to the fact that the context "self-expression" is usually used(or how I usually here it) is with implications that the mod is somehow a manifestation of an abnormal trait. Please note I said "slightly" offensive.

Cheers,

PS my 60+ hours of ink and various piercings were all because I thought they would look good, and any deep meaning I gave them was given after the fact, so maybe I just don't understand.

 

I'm trying, but I really don't understand what your trying to say.
To me, body mod is expression of the self.
If I get a tattoo, it's definitely going to mean something to me
because, IMO, there wouldn't be a point to sit down & pay gobs of money
just to be pricked repeatedly with a needle.
And, honestly, same with piercings.
A big part of the reason I want to get a nose piercing is because
I want to express myself.
I think that nostril piercings are beautiful
and it's something I want to associate myself with that beauty
which I'm drawn to.
Why would you go through the pain and cash otherwise?
I don't find that term offensive. I'd probably use it myself, even.
No offense to you.. you obviously believe strongly
what your trying to get across
and I respect the hell out of that
but.. I agree with DSOTM here because I fail to see what you're saying.

 

I usually hear the term "self-expression" from someone like a neighbor or family friend who doesn't really like the fact I'm tattooed, but doesn't want to condem me. Its basically a diplomatic way of saying, "I don't like it, but do what you want."

I'm not arguing that mods can't be a form of self-expression. It's just that in my experience, the term has been loaded with the stigma of rebellion or a phase I'm going through. I am one of the more stable idividuals I know, but I always get ths attitude that I'm "searching" or finding myself.

Mods like hair styles or clothes inevitably express something about you, no matter what you are wearing/not wearing. However, the term "self-expression" is only applied to the extremes. Someone in a dress shirt and slacks wouldn't be told he is "expressing himself."

I guess its hard to explain through posts because its a very nuanced thing. It might be easier in conversation. However, often, the term "self-expression" comes loadded with implications of rebellion or not being settled. If anything, I think the fact I have permanent mods shows that I am very serene with myself and comfortable with my decisions. Still, people think its just a phase or something.

 

Oh.. okay, okay..
So you are saying that
you believe that the term
"self expression" has come to describe
someone who uses body mod simply to rebel.

I actually haven't found that people
are twisting the definition of "self expression."
I haven't heard anyone using the term "self expression" to
describe body mod who meant it as the person is displaying
rebellion or is unsettled.
I've always heard people use "self-expression"
to describe anything expressing yourself as a good thing.

In my experience, everyone who I've met who has
deemed body mod or even
anything out of the social norm as a bad thing is pretty blunt about it.

I don't feel like I'm making sense right now..
but yeah, I can see what you're trying to get across now.
I did think that you were arguing that
body mod isn't a form of self expression.

 

kind of off-topic, but I think it is bullshit that people in this country (united states) have problems with stretched ears....why, because in this country we think we are better than everyone else, so holes in our ears and tattoos are for only low life "self-expressive" people who don't want to get good jobs, and blah blah blah? bullshit, weren't all our principles derived from some sort of tribe that constitutes having such things? i am pretty sure I wouldn't get bagged on for having holes in my ears if I went to some third world country, because that IS the norm..self-expression, or comfortability, isn't this why we should not conform, because I have holes in my ears I can't be on the cover of a magazine that depicts the way you should look and supposedly defines "normal"? if by having holes in my ears I am being self-expressive, or comfortable that means I don't conform to the ways this society judges and mocks us because we don't fit in...then I am totally comfortable with that...hence the reason why being comfortable with these holes, is better than saying...i am being self-expressive

 

I'm glad we cleared that up and can all still be friends, haha. Yeah, usually I hear "self-expression" from employers or someone else disapproving. So, it all depends on context.

Cheers

PS. You'd look cute with a nose ring

 

Haha, yeah.
Oh, and, thanks.
It's a piercing I've wanted for quite a while now.
I'll end up getting one sooner or later.