Also known in personal ads and internet profiles as tats or ink. So 'inked' means has tattoos.

What are body mods?

Body mods are a range of things that permanently or semi-permanently alter parts of the body. They range from pretty tame changes, like ear piercing, to more extreme stuff like branding and scarification, as well as things not covered in this site like cosmetic surgery implants, tongue splitting or subincision (deep cutting of the dick).

More common body modifications include tattooing, body piercing and ear lobe piercing or stretching. Some body mods have only become possible thanks to recent advances in surgical techniques; others have been carried out for thousands of years.

Tattooing and the law

Following the Operation Spanner trial in the Nineties, it was established in English law that you cannot consent to serious, lasting harm to your body. So certain, more extreme body modifications (but not professional piercing or tattooing) may be against the law to perform or have done to you.

Find out more about SM and the law in our Power room.

What is tattooing?

People have used sharp objects to inject pigment under the skin for thousands of years. Tattoos have been found on mummified Egyptian pharaohs and Oetzi the Ice Man (the 5,000 year old caveman found preserved in the Alps).

Tattooing was traditionally associated with native peoples, especially Polynesia, which is where the word tattoo comes from. New Zealand Maoris are famous for their tattoos, especially on the face. Contact with Polynesians by European sailors spread awareness of tats, making a link with sailors that lives on to this day.

Until recently tattooing was largely a taboo in the West because of its links with 'primitive' pagan cultures and groups on the edge of society. There were religious prohibitions too; tattooing is forbidden in the Bible* and Islam.

What's the attraction?

The appeal of tats lies in their links to groups seen as dangerous: 'primitive' cultures, prisoners, the military, biker gangs and the delinquent or morally suspect. Until recently, tattooing was outlawed in many US states. They've become striking symbols of masculinity, rebellion, rejecting conventional values and of 'bad boys'.

Tattoos are an expression of individualism, with designs - especially ones featuring animals - often mirroring how the wearer feels or wants to be seen. They can symbolise being part of a gang or select group: for example, some poz men wear a bio hazard symbol to signal their HIV status and 'in your face' attitude to having HIV.

Standing out and fitting in

A tattoo can be a powerful, visible and permanent statement of something important to its wearer, such as love for another person, ethnic or religious identity, political beliefs or devotion to a football team. As tattoos involve pain they're often seen as a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood or to mark an important period in someone's life.

They can be a very attractive decoration. With more sophisticated techniques, tattooing is becoming recognised as an art form - and people with them as human works of art.

Tattoos and their owners can attract attention, fascination and respect. They underline sexual appeal by drawing attention to muscles and making the owner feel sexy. Some tats are sexually explicit.

People often get a kick from being tattooed, with people saying they're addicted to being inked. For others tattooing is just a fashion. One American survey (a 2003 Harris poll) showed that about one in five people regret being tattooed and that gay and bisexual people have higher rates of being tattooed than the general population, at around a third, double that of non-gay Americans.

* Leviticus chapter 19, verse 28: "You shall not make any cuttings on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves".