Life-long body projects, high maintenance souls.
03/09/24

All people engage in body modification practices to some degree. Some are on the more socially acceptable side - using a whitening toothpaste, dying hair, getting cosmetic injections - and some are more 'extreme', like getting tattooed, or having piercings, or subdermal implants. The body as a vessel, its comfort, and its inherent signalling of who the inhabitant is, all drive people to take control of and change it, better suiting one's needs and wants.

Life-long body projects, as I see them, are the forever ongoing, forever maintained, aspects of body modification. Things like working out or keeping fit, shaving or trimming or removing body hair, manicures, tanning, and anything else that changes one's appearance while requiring frequent upkeep. Often people think of women having more things expected of them in this regard. Some have used this as a critique of society, claiming women are seen as 'less desirable' if they do not partake. While this is true, and women are often shamed or discredited for lack of participation, they are far from the only ones to be. Everyone is expected to have something going on, even if it is as simple as a haircut every six months. To not alter the body is strange in today's world, so why does it become strange to alter it severely? There is a window of acceptability in society, as far as body modification goes, like there are with many other parts of life.

I was talking to a friend of mine about this the other day after seeing a book sort of related to this whole idea that I've put together. His thoughts (through my lens and with my words) were that while women are typically expected to do more than other genders to keep within this window of acceptability, there is no harm in it. In fact, it is good to expect this from women. To keep well tidied and decent is the most basic of basic expectations, for all genders. There is no reason why someone shouldn't be encouraged to make themselves look good. I am a very big believer in bodily autonomy, allowing someone to do whatever they want to their own flesh and bones, but I agreed with him, although I think from a very different place. To modify the body is to create one's image, the version of the self that is presented to the world, and to signal (intentionally or not) who the inhabitant is. Costs of some of the procedures that women are expected to get regularly do pile up very quickly, meaning that many women learn to do them by themselves, seeing paying someone else to do it for them as a luxury. Both of these connect someone to their body, either by forming a relationship with it; working on it, learning it, altering it with your very own control, or by finding peace in having things done to the body; getting things done as a treat, thinking of procedures as an exciting experience.

Women's engagement in life-long body projects is not something to be minimised to a result societal pressure, as often they are also ways of marking identity, expressing the self, or a creative outlet. These are more pointed in 'out there' or 'alternative' people for the simple fact of standing out. The average person engages in these behaviours for the exact same reasons as well, think the way someone styles their hair, does their makeup, or dresses. While not modifications of the body, these are modifications of the way the body is presented to the world, and seen by the world. The clothes someone wears can signal community membership, like a band t-shirt or a bougie logo. It may show off identity aspects, like a coloured handkerchief in a back pocket or an overall 'aesthetic'. The very act of dressing with fashion in mind is creative and expressive. These things, which most everyone thinks of from time to time, are precursors to true bodily modification for the same purposes.

Of course, non-women are expected and encouraged to participate in life-long body projects as well, but to different degrees. Men are often expected to keep fit and tidy, meaning changing the body through exercise, eating, and some other small things. The difference between the two sets of expectations is stark! Men's body projects are also overlooked fairly regularly, though, not seen as luxuries or treats, and not often used to connect or ground one to the body. The window of acceptability is a lot slimmer, and I personally think it is in part due to misogyny. Men who do 'too much' grooming (e.g. getting manicures, hair removal, eyelash tinting) are seen as effeminate, and therefore 'undesirable' to many, and often are put down by other men. I feel there is a lot more camaraderie among women than there is among men, so a woman outside of the window of acceptability is not seen as lesser by fellow women like a man would be by fellow men.

The window of acceptability is even slimmer again in the case of transgender people. Trans men and trans women are both expected to 'pass' to be seen as their gender by wider society. Trans people that do not pass are often invalidated, dismissed, or otherwise mistreated. The nuances to body modification that trans people undergo are so incredibly complex. In the simplest terms I can find, there is even more blur between joy-seeking modification and modification done out of fear or want to fit in. I truly cannot go into all of it in this sitting.
For non-binary transgender people, there is often an expectation of androgyny, which needs quite a lot of upkeep for many to maintain, but this is absolutely not the only way to be non-binary.

The never-ending cycles of body alteration can be a beautiful thing if approached from the right angle, and if one chooses to ignore societal pressure and expectation, instead choosing to make their body into their own creation outside all rules and regulations.



Take me home!