Body Decorations

Germaine Greer's article "One Man's Mutilation Is Another Man's Beautification," can closely be analyzed and compared to Farid Chenoune's "Jeans and Black Leather." While one story focuses on the evolution of the human body, in terms of western and tribal cultures, the other focuses on the development of fashion as a social influence. Specifically, Greer's story talks about scarification, or a term used by Greer to describe tattooing or piercing one's body, while Chenoune's story discusses jeans and the black leather jacket. Overall, it is clear that clothing and scarification can be correlated into the same spectrum of fashion and popularity, we well as their abilities to communicate collectively. Punk and rock happen to be existing genres which have surely experimented and evolved in the fashion industry as well as the tattoo and piercing field.

Perhaps one of the most common aspects of both inking and clothing, is how they transitioned into society. In essence, both were initially existing in society, but they were not brought to the spotlight of fashion until motivated by a popular cultural influence; all of these influences symbolized the tattoo or the clothing different from what it represented initially.

"For the first time, these gangs lifted jeans and black leather jackets from the drab context of America's plains and suburbs. Such garb was no longer relegated to the work or leisure sphere, but was yanked into the harsh spotlight of high fashion." (147.)

This quote, taken from "Jeans and Black Leather," is an accurate statement describing how jeans and black leather were previously worn by businesses men and other everyday people, but when worn by gang members and popular movie stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando, the clothes not only became a more popular trend, but its significance transformed to one of rebellion. Similarly, tattoos and piercing were once strictly used by tribal societies, the body are giving them distinctions or purpose of class, race or heritage. When brought to Western culture, however, body art simply became useless decoration, as Greer would say. Above all, both tattoos and piercing and black leather and jeans, still exist in the world of fashion and expression, however their significance has been blurred or broke down, in that now tattoos and jeans are both universally worn and displayed by many.

"However outré the punks may appear they are the merest beginners in the arts if mutilation." Indeed, punks and rockers have evolved their own styles and displays to identify themselves to society. For instance, punks today tend to wear plaid pants, mohawks, gaged body parts and simply the styles of bands like the Ramones and the Misfits, could easily define the punk-rock style. Rockers are similar, but differences in styles could be seen in colors; rockers tend to wear darker clothing, have more tattoos and piercing, and simply come off more raw and tough. In essence, the style of rockers tends to define them as more stand-offish, while the style of punks usually equates to them standing out more.

Overall, from tattoos and piercing to jeans and black leather, all trends may start off as having one clear definition, but as they take on another role, they can signify a totally different meaning altogether. As said by Terry and Stuart Hirschberg in "Everyday Everywhere," "both communicate feelings, moods, social status and even political alliances...they are both powerful indicators of how we define ourselves in society" (160).