Scarification in the US

  It is said that the body modification movement appeared in the United States for the first time in the mid-1980s. The practice was initially believed to be embraced by the gay and lesbian subcultures. By the 1990s the practice was adopted by members of the neotribal or ‘modern primitive’ movement. Since then it has become widespread throughout western civilizations and Australia. Part of its popularity can be accredited to nostalgia for a different type of society, says Victoria Pitts, professor of sociology at the City university of New York in New York City. She also argues that body modification is not really so strange within a culture where identity is often expressed through appearance—which in mainstream society includes fashion consumption, cosmetic surgery, and botox (news.nationalgeographic.com). People often desire to be different. Scarification is simply a way that one can express oneself and make a statement in society.