The Mystery Behind Corset Piercing
Body piercing is not new. It has been around for several millennia, the earliest record being that of 5,000 years back, on the ears and nose. Even facial piercings such as that of lips and tongues can be traced back to ancient African and American tribal cultures, while nipple and genital piercings have been documented as an ancient Rome practice among the gladiators and royalties alike.
Defying history and origin is a more contemporary piercing which has just recently surfaced – corset piercing.
A corset is a garment popularly worn by women of the middle ages, for the purpose of molding and shaping the body for aesthetic purposes. Modern women borrowed this fashion idea to varying degrees without actually achieving its original purpose.
A corset often features lacing and like its old counterparts, looks flattering on any woman’s body. Corset piercing also features lacing, but this time, not on clothes that women wear but rather on their bare skin. Just like its predecessor, corset piercing is also associated with aesthetics and erotic behavior.
Corset piercing is done by making two rows of surface piercings (usually at the back) and inserting rings into them. Once in place, they can be laced with ribbons, in much the same way that you lace a shoestring. Although usually done on women’s back, some corset piercings are also placed in the stomach, arms, legs and back. Most of the time, they resemble real corset lacing, but as piercers became more imaginative and daring, shapes have varied, and now they come in many patterns.
Although it cannot be denied that the piercings look beautiful, corsets are only temporary in nature. Surface piercings are difficult to heal, susceptible to infections and leads to a higher chance of rejection. The more piercings one gets, the more is the body subjected to strain, and the longer the healing time. Almost always, corset piercing is only worn for several hours and days at most before the body starts to reject the jewelry and infection sets in, which may lead to ugly scars.
"Then why", you might ask, "the seemingly senseless fascination with corset peircing, and women at that? Is the pain worth it?"
I also asked myself that question, and my extensive research paved the way for the unveiling of the mystery behind the fascination with corset piercing.
Among tatto and piercing enthusiasts, there is a common ground - they call it endorphin rush. This is defined as a feeling of well-being that a person attains when a person surpasses what he would otherwise consider to be his limit, either in capacity or endurance. This is also otherwise known as a runner's high, which is known to create feelings of euphoria and happiness.
You've probably seen pictures of Thai rituals where men pierce and mutilate their bodies to the point of insanity, and you may have wondered why. When a person deliberately stretches his capacity beyond endurance, he is actually seeking for a higher consciousness. This is nothing new. Our evolutionary ancestors survived because of this quest for excellence and superiority. Our ancestors used to hunt animals for food, and they oftentimes race with their prey, braving thorns and sharp stones as they run for vast distances in pursuit of their dinner. Without the tough qualities that make a man endure the rigors and pain of survival, early man would simply face extinction. One method of hunting is called persistence hunting, by which a tribesman hunt an animal and track it for for many miles until it gives in to exhaustion. Through it all, the fuel that propeled the early man to perform beyond his capacity to endure is this so called runner's high or endorphin rush.
Today, without knowing it, man continues to pursue excellence and superiority by trying to surpass his capacity to endure. Corset piercing is no exception. In the wake of today's equality movements, not only men but women as well are in hot pursuit of the runner's high.
But the real race is not really proving one's worth, but rather, reaching the higher level of onsciousness that everyone is subconsciously seeking for. The endorphin rush that piercing and tattoo enthusiasts experience does not differ from the high that acupuncture and meditation can offer. This is also non-different from the high that a marijuana user gets. One desire, different ways.
All roads lead to Rome, so to speak, but all this while, it is really home everyone is searching for, including corset peircing enthusiasts.
Man is heading towards the great awakening and nothing can stop the rush.
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