Piercing is a profoundly personal experience. It changes not only the way in which others perceive a person but also the way that person perceives himself or herself. This change in both oneself identification and other peoples perception of a person is, for many, an integral part of the decision to become pierced. .
Ones appearance has been linked, often through dress, to an affiliation with a particular cultural, or sub- cultural group (Polhemus). The aim, however, is often the renunciation of the accepted norm rather than affiliation with rebellious sub-cultural sections of society. It is particularly difficult to express ones rejection of, or objection to, a culture if the culture in question already has a labeled stereotype to which any aspiring rebel conforms. This system of categorization and labeling everyone and everything is a defense mechanism to resist cultural change, which is often perceived as damaging. .
The wish, in many, to stand apart from contemporary Western society is well documented (Clarke, Myers, Polhemus, Turner). Polhemus raises an interesting issue in connection with bodily 'mutilation' and martyrdom. What, he argues, would have society cared had the martyrs, and most particularly Jesus, not possessed human bodies. By doing to the body that which no-one in a given society would do, one stands against the society. .
The way one presents oneself to society and indeed regards oneself is, however, rarely limited to aspects of social conformity. In the past such issues were of far greater concern, but as can be seen documented in the work of Turner, that there has been a general shift in attitudes resulting in increased study, and acceptance, of the human body (Turner). As such if one is not happy with the image one holds of oneself, or that which one believes' others hold, there is often far less personal stigma attached to altering one's appearance than there was in the past.
