Previously confined to ancient tribes of faraway lands the wearing of body jewelry rose in popularity in no small part due to the onset of punk and heavy metal music.
Having reduced its own excesses to the point that it became accessible to the public, punk rock and metal music in turn ushered in body jewelry to mainstream fashion.
Thus while geeks have their comic book and science fiction conventions devoted followers of body jewelry also hold summits or gatherings to show off, talk trade secrets and otherwise have a good time.
And while the sight of teenagers wearing earrings is passé it's still the rage among youths to wear small metal rings clipped on their lips or a shiny metal ball flicking on their tongues.
These little items and the technology used to implant them on the various parts of the human anatomy are years better than the bone, tusks and feathers worn by tribal people.
According to answers.com stated that people looked at body jewelry as a symbol of fortune and beauty during Biblical times. Apparently the same holds true for Egyptians and Romans.
The Roman men
in particular would pierce their nipples (ow) to illustrate their membership into high society and their loyalty to the Roman Empire.
According to one body piercing blog, this type of jewelry evolved into a fashion staple with teenagers trying out everything from belly button rings, tongue rings, nose rings and nipple rings.
Then there are the extreme piercings like genital piercings (double ow), neck piercings, lip piercings, hand piercings, and corset piercings (in which, if I heard correctly, metal rings are attached along the woman's spine).
Just the mention of these may make some people cringe but for devotees the pain is worth it. Maybe more so than tattoos but to them it's a source of pride and identity.
More on this subject next time.