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The urologist's guide to genital piercing
Author(s) -
Anderson W.R.,
Summerton D.J.,
Sharma D.M.,
Holmes S.A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
bju international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1464-410X
pISSN - 1464-4096
DOI - 10.1046/j.1464-410x.2003.04049.x
Subject(s) - medicine , general surgery
Although body piercing has been popularised in recent years by the practitioners ‘Mr Sebastian’ (the ‘father’ of UK piercing) and Fakir Musafar, Jim Ward and Doug Malloy in the USA, the practice of piercing has been mentioned in various texts for centuries. In the King James Version of The Bible (1611), there are three references in Genesis alone to the term ‘ear ring’. For instance, Abraham summoned his oldest servant to find a wife for his son Isaac and, on presenting Rebekah, one of the gifts he gave her was a ‘golden ear ring’ [1]. In addition, there is anthropological evidence from sculptures and wall carvings to suggest that body piercing may be dated to at least 3000 BC. Piercings of the ear, nose and lips, as well as pierced sculptures and wall paintings, have been found in ancient burials of the Inka and Moche of Peru, the Aztecs and Maya of ancient Mexico, and in graves of central Asian and Mediterranean peoples [2]. Many of these piercings may have represented ‘rites of passage’, perhaps from childhood into adolescence, or adolescence into adulthood, whereas modern Western piercing usually represents a ‘fashion’ or ‘identity’ statement [3].