globetrotter

yagazieemezi:

A woman carefully cuts decorative patterns on the arm of her friend while a boy looks on apprehensively. The skin is lifted with a thorn and then sliced with razor blades, leaving a flap of skin which will eventually scar. Scarification is a form of beautification for most of the tribes that inhabit the Omo Valley, a practice unchanged by the passing of hundreds of years.

Love this, yagazieemezi. I’ve had such an issue with western world’s ideas of disease and disorders. If someone doesn’t want to eat, it isn’t necessarily a fucking disease/disorder — it could be a path to higher consciousness. If someone cuts, it doesn’t mean they’re fucking depressed or even (especially) suicidal. How is cutting different than ultra-marathon running, or tattoos? Masochism comes in many forms, western world.

[Disclaimer - I am not referring to the above picture as masochism. For my argument and mental purposes, it is merely a visual representation that an act is capable of possessing multiple meanings.]