According to the medical field body modification is a form of self mutilation and people who participate in body modification are mentally ill/unhealthy. This has been the general consensus of the medical field over time and that opinion is still in effect today.

Lots of people hold that opinion, and apparently a good portion of unmodified society feels that way. People in other cultures have modified themselves for centuries. Each culture has different interpretation's of what is considered beautiful. Everyone has their own individual motivations as to why they modify their bodies but, I think overall it is simply a form of adornment, and self expression. Maybe for some it is even about overcoming fear and/or pain. Some may modify themselves for spiritual reasons. There are many reasons an individual may choose to modify their body including, but certainly not limited to self-mutilation, but for the vast majority of people who choose to modify, it has nothing to do with self-mutilation or self-harm. It typically is the opposite, a way to improve oneself. It is a way to beautify and adorn the body as well as an expression of one's creativity and individuality.

Even though there may actually be a small minority of people who modify their bodies as a form of self mutilation but they are the minority, not the majority. It is ignorant to generalize an entire group of people based on the actions of a small proportion of people within the group. People are quick to judge others for things they do not understand or things they feel they do not, or would not participate in when in fact they are walking contradictions. For example, in our society the vast majority of women have pierced ears and it is socially acceptable.

It is done pretty much for no other reason than beauty and decoration. It is ok to put a hole through a person's earlobe and wear jewelry in it. In this day and time it is also just about as acceptable to have cosmetic surgery done such as breast implants. Cosmetic surgery is also a form of body modification. Even though it is socially acceptable in our society to have a surgeon add or remove parts from our bodies, it is unacceptable to put a hole through a different part of your ear, or elsewhere on your body and wear jewelry in it for the purpose of decorating your body because you find it beautiful. Think about that for a moment. How is that so different that one is mutilation, but the others are not? On the most basic level, it really isn't. So then, if one were to generalize based on the assumptions and opinions held by a large portion of the medical field who believe that people who modify their bodies are mentally ill, self-mutilators, then a good majority of our society is mentally ill, and into self mutilation, since the vast majority of our society has pierced ears, and an increasing proportion of our society have elected to have cosmetic surgery and/or find it to be acceptable whether or not they would themselves choose to do so.

It's all about what's considered socially acceptable. Over time there have been many beliefs and opinions held by the medical field, that in this day and time are now regarded as complete ignorance and outdated thinking. At the time people placed value in those opinions, they were highly regarded to be true until they were proven wrong. History has shown that what each society views as socially acceptable changes over time. Eventually the attitudes will shift and the ignorance and contradictory beliefs will be exposed for what they are, and those outdated opinions will fade away. As more people continue to modify their bodies, and as more people are exposed to people who are modified, it will become more and more socially acceptable in our society. I believe eventually the opinion that all modification is self-mutilation will fade away like a lot of the other prejudiced, outdated opinions that come from people being ignorant of others that are different from oneself. It is important to open one's mind and get to know others before judging them and formulating an opinion about them just because their choices are different from your own. You may find that we are not all so different after all, we just choose to express ourselves in different ways.