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Body Art History

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Body art has been practiced and embraced for thousands of years throughout all cultures worldwide. History shows a broad acceptance to the practices of different forms of body art, whether it be body painting, make up, piercings, tattoos or scarification. Beauty, rebellion, conformity, status, gender or rituals are some of the reasons why people choose to alter their bodies for the display of body art. Modern society has embraced the non-permanent forms of body art, such as, body painting, which has led to the mass production and use of makeup today. Body painting and makeup gives people a chance to recreate and transform their identity using self-expression as a means. Body painting and makeup has undergone numerous cultural changes throughout …show more content…

This was a common practice in Japan and was consider to be beautiful and sexually appealing (Schildkrout, E 2001). Elaborate hairstyles and white makeup are a tradition of Japanese geishas (Schildkrout, E 2001). Within Japan, a pale face was considered attractive as it differentiated the wealthy from the poor as the poor worked outside so they had a darker complexion (Schildkrout, E 2001). The process in applying the makeup for a geisha requires skill and can be very time consuming (Birmingham City Council n.d). During the initiation of a geisha, usually a more experienced geisha, known as an older sister or the mother geisha, will apply the makeup (Birmingham City Council n.d). In this process a wax or oil was first applied to the skin, followed by a white rice paste that is applied using a bamboo brush (Birmingham City Council n.d). This is used to cover the face, neck, and chest with only a line of bare skin left around the face to give the illusion of a mask (Birmingham City Council n.d). Finally the eyes and eyebrows are drawn on and red paste applied to the lips (Birmingham City Council n.d). Makeup, similar to clothing and hairstyles, allows a person to reinvent themselves daily (Birmingham City Council n.d). Whether it be for social acceptance, or for medical and ritual purposes, people regularly transform every visible party of their body whether permanent or

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Josie Appleton’s piece opens with her introducing the fact that body modification has lost its mark of being taboo. Appleton then transitions into describing the different kinds of people that modify their bodies and why they do it. The fact that people used to mostly use tattoos to identify with a group and are now using them to define themselves is heavily enforced. The rest of the piece describes in great detail the different ways people use piercings and tattoos to better understand themselves and mark important milestones. The piece concludes with Appleton claiming that body modification should only be for fashion, because bringing significance to it causes problems.

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Despite its grounded roots in the Middle East and other parts of Asia, the West began to adopt the age-old tradition and it burgeoned into a common, but still “exotic,” art form. It all began in the early 90’s, when celebrities such as Gwen Stefani and Madonna would decorate their bodies and publicize it on album covers, MTV and red-carpet events. People in the west have embraced the ancient tradition by having their bodies, most commonly hands and forearm, adorned with henna. Today, if you go to any beach, you will most often find several stands with signs marked, “Authentic Henna Tattoos”. Some may believe that this practice of Henna can fall into the category of cultural appropriation.

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Extravagant dyes such as Cochineal would be used to redden up the cheeks and lips. Other substances such as madder and vermilion were also used to achieve this effect. For them to darken their eyelashes and eyebrows they would use Khol. Upper class women, the Nobility, of the Elizabethan Era wore makeup. Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion standards.

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They also used powder and rouge to create a flawless complexion, a new beauty trend at the time (Spivack). Overall, the

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Many people have multiple reasons and ways to change their appearance to fit into society. For example, people change their appearance through hair mutilations, tattoos, and piercings: “Individuals who change their

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This newfound accessibility meant that people from all walks of life could now experiment with new products, without any limitations based on their gender. According to Tichnor (2006), not only did this change the way individuals approached makeup application, but it also left profound cultural implications on society's perception of what constituted beauty. The use of cosmetics became less taboo and more accepted as a daily part of individual lives. Despite the overwhelming acceptance toward embracing makeup products, some critics still argued that wearing them was superficial and encouraged vanity among women. Nonetheless, many saw using cosmetics as an empowering act – a means for people to express themselves creatively while being confident in their appearance.

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I think Martin Luther purpose of writing the theses and letters was to promote peace among believer and criticized the selling of indulgences. He wanted to improve tolerance and cease the violence acts from the Roman Churches. Luther theses challenged every bad act to be forbearances and make sure the authority of the pope obey the equal laws like everyone. He questioned Churches about the selling of indulgences to reduce punishment for sins and discussed that faith can lead people to better solutions. Martin Luther realized that the key to divine redemption was not to fear God, but to believe that faith alone would bring reclamation and peaceful way of living.

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Furthermore, Browne also assumes that men hate makeup which women use to improve their physical appearances (Browne 45). Brown’s postulation conforms to the traditional depictions of masculinity barring men from altering their appearances with the help of makeup (McCarty & Kelly 238). However, the trend is changing today as more men embrace products aimed at improving their

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Introduction For a long period in the United States, the ideal woman was one who stayed at home to take care of her children and keep her home clean, while her husband went out to work. This has been the set role of women for centuries because they are historically considered inferior to men. Traditionally, women were considered weak and incapable of performing any work requiring a physical effort or intellectual capacity.

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I have always found body painting a beautiful art form although temporary. Emma Fay paints amazing beautiful images of animals using the human being as her canvas and uses illusion and symbolic expression throughout her pieces. Many body paint artists do some pretty sexy and racy art work, where her paintings are much more conservative. I really like the Giraffe and am amazed how the human body is almost hidden in the art and the lines of the painting follow along the lines of the body.

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Before the 1900s, the Rubensque women painted by Rafeal and Renoir dominated the ideal female body image. The Bathers, painted by Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1887 was also an example of what the ideal female body looked like. Women having extra weight reflected wealth and beauty then. In the early 1800s, women preferred having pale skin because it showed that they spent less time outdoors working, which reflected wealth. Also women at that time were expected to have small hands and feet as a sign of their feminism, otherwise they would be considered as masculine-looking.

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Americans bathe in secret and do not like to show of their bodies in public. There are “shrines” where people do their makeup, because people believe that the body is ugly and want to cover it up and make it look prettier. They want to hide it from the decay that is occurring. There are typically multiple bathrooms inside of a home of a rich person. Bathrooms are where makeup is usually applied, and any other modifications to add beauty to oneself.

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In today’s modern culture, almost all forms of popular media play a significant role in bombarding young people, particularly young females, with what happens to be society’s idea of the “ideal body”. This ideal is displayed all throughout different media platforms such as magazine adds, television and social media – the idea of feminine beauty being strictly a flawless thin model. The images the media displays send a distinct message that in order to be beautiful you must look a certain way. This ideal creates and puts pressure on the young female population viewing these images to attempt and be obsessed with obtaining this “ideal body”. In the process of doing so this unrealistic image causes body dissatisfaction, lack of self-confidence

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During the Post-Modern Era, many young, up-coming artists displayed their art forms on many canvases, skin being one of them. Because there was a rise of tattooing from the earlier era, many more men and women were getting them. This new fashion trend implies that social anxiety against tattoos was partly alleviated. In this Post-Modern Era of skin art, tattoos were being recognized as symbols of empowerment and sexuality. “While men [chose] visible areas for their designs, women [chose] sensual areas”, so the women could keep the tattoos hidden only for the special people in their lives (Mifflin 57).

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The practice of modifying one’s skin as a means of expression has been active for as long as 5300 years (Haskings-Winner, Collichaw, Kritzer, & Warecki, 2011). However, in modern day societies the stigma against body modification, including tattoos is still prevalent. To understand why people of a North American influence would subject themselves to this potential undermining, one must first uncover what motivates a person to permanently enhance their skin. Primarily, research into the topic, history, traditions, modern meanings, was conducted using printed resources, online databases, and online-published journals. Notes and condensed summaries of said research was used to create survey questions and a general audience was decided.

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