Sorry. I was trying to distinguish it from getting a tattoo, or a piercing.
I’m coming in far too late to all this, but I want to say thank you to **Waenara ** for starting this Pit thread. I was stunned to see my ‘ask the’ thread closed and for such a shitty reason. I’m glad someone had the guts to do what I couldn’t.
No problem. I started it a few hours after your thread was closed - I was kind of surprised that no one else had started a Pit thread yet.
And I did realize that you (and the other SIs in that thread) might be unwilling to start a Pit thread questioning the closing, as you have more personally invested in that thread than I do - I’m just an interested reader and I hadn’t even posted in that thread.
I’m glad it was reopened.
And I don’t happen to agree that the distinction is that easy to make. One of the reasons that I go for piercings rather than other forms of jewelry is that it does involve pain and there is a rush. Certain piercings are more painful than others, or the sensation differs, but they kind of all give me a rush.
I don’t get piercings done with a gun, ever, it’s always with a clamp and a needle, so I’m sure that feels different than a piercing done with a gun. Gauging them is also painful and not something I would do at all if I didn’t get a rush from it.
But society says there’s nothing wrong with me mentally, and there is something wrong with a person who scratches up their ankle with a knife. I don’t think society is necessarily right, especially considering how many ‘rites of passage’ around the world involve doing something physically painful for the sake of experiencing and overcoming the pain.
I think this point bears repeating.
I know (many) Dopers like to think that we’re hip and cutting-edge and cool and people will follow our examples, but the truth is that we’re most of us old and dorky and way behind the curve. Waaaay.
Only because society sees the results without hearing your motivation. I suspect that the more people you told that you got piercings because they inflicted pain, the more likely you would be to incur judgments that you were disturbed.
Of the people I have met with tatoos and piercings, only one before you had mentioned enjoying the pain–and she was considerd odd, even by her friends who also had permanent adornment. That does not make her (or you) sick, (and my anecdotal experience does not mean that you two are alone in the world), but society is not judging tatoos and piercings based on the minority who may enjoy the pain, but on the majority who tolerate it as a means to an end.
My point is that it doesn’t make me healthy while someone who uses a knife is automatically sick.
The lines are not as clear as some people seem to be drawing them.
Aww, it sounds bad when you say it that way!
Put it this way- I don’t come here looking for ways to fit in somewhere else. I come here because I fit in here and because I’d rather fit in here and be myself with people I think are genuinely cool than in a room full of vapid sixteen-year-olds talking about nail polish and boys and arguing over who’s prettier (“but ur so prtty!” “o pls! ur prittyer.”*)
There’s a lot of stuff that is cutting-edge (heh) and cool that teenagers don’t like or get. Teenagers thinking something is cool does not make it cool. Paris Hilton? not cool. underwear show-n-tell? not cool. Cutting yourself because some high-voiced mealy-mouthed emo boy sang about it? not cool.
*I fully believe some teenage girls actually SPEAK text talk. And some probably think in it too.
But…you’re going to a licensed professional for your pain/pleasure fix. Most people I know who are into tattoos and piercings are very serious about having them done by artists who know what they’re doing, use sterile implements, etc. I would say the same thing about most people who are into S&M–serious S&M-ers discuss their fantasies openly before acting them out and have “safe words” to keep from “going too far.”
On the other hand, an SI is getting his/her pain/pleasure fix from an angry, impulsive, exacto-knife wielding person who most likely has a mental illness.
There really is a difference.
I’m conflicted on the thread closing because of the semi-voyeuristic nature of it. I’ll take LunaV on her word when she says she’s not seeking attention, but in my experience, most people who are seeking attention will vehemently deny it. No one ever admits to doing something “just for the attention,” though many teens make no secret of hurting themselves. SurrenderDorothy writes of some who wear their scars proudly and use it as part of an image. Wearing your depression and alienation outwardly has been in fashion for a while among certain groups of teens. I think we adults sometimes forget to see it for what it is.
Of course she is seeking attention. Why the fuck would she post a thread like that here if she wasn’t seeking attention. And she is now getting the attention and validation she seeks.
Geez! I guess I am too old to understand this shit. If you want to carve yourself up, knock your fucking lights out. If you want to hear a bunch of people say “yeah, that’s cool”, fine.
I think you all are willingly blind to the fact that this disorder is a symptom of serious, underlying psychological problems that won’t get better with you people stroking this person.
You are all a bunch of enabling twits. I truly cannot comprehend some of the bullshit I have read in these two threads.
Everyone posting to this board is seeking attention to some degree. The question is whether it is your normal everyday attention seeking or something uglier. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
Just out of curiosity, what board licenses these professionals?
According to BMEZine, there really is no such thing. Licensure is only in place to ensure that sterile practices are maintained, such as autoclaving instruments and disposing of sharps, but has nothing actually to do with the ability to perform piercings or tattoos.
And we don’t know what it is any particular SI does unless we ask them, do we?
Hey Dr. catsix, what the fuck is your point? Self-injury is an acceptable lifestyle choice and we shouldn’t criticize, right? Who was it insisting that this thread wasn’t about validating SI?
Is she? And of those who get inked up, how many go to licensed professionals? Etc.
[quote]
On the other hand, an SI is getting his/her pain/pleasure fix from an angry, impulsive, exacto-knife wielding person who most likely has a mental illness.[/qiote]
Have you read any of the IMHO thread?
If you invent a situation that creates a difference, you bet there is. Otherwise, you run the risk of actually having to deal with facts that do not jibe with your view of the situation.
Not everyone who gets a tattoo is going to Dr. Surefire Tattoo-Artist, and not everyone who engages in SI is randomly stabbing angrily into her or his body, then sighing in relief as blood gushes out of the femoral artery.