By Kendra Jane and Alicia Cardenas

Thanks to technology, innovations and information find their way around the world instantaneously via the Internet. Access to this knowledge has allowed worldwide connections to be made and open dialogues to be held on a vast array of topics, pertinent to our industry and not. One such topic has recently been brought to the forefront in our industry: cultural appropriation. A recent Tumblr post, “Cultural Appropriation and Body Modification,” has gotten a lot of people talking. (For those of you unfamiliar with the idea of cultural appropriation and white privilege read on for some background information, albeit very basic and simplified.) Talking is good, no matter where you stand or what your opinion—and after reading the original piece most piercers have an opinion. What we would like to propose is an open and ongoing dialogue on this subject, and to start this dialogue we offer one opinion, that of Sol Tribes’ Alicia Cardenas. We invite our readership to offer their insights and opinions for future issues. (Submit here!)

Understanding White Privilege

White privilege refers to the set of societal privileges that white people benefit from beyond those commonly experienced by people of color in the same social, political, or economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). It is used to explain the advantages that white individuals experience, and also implies the right to assume the universality of one’s own experiences, marking others as different or exceptional while perceiving oneself as normal.

White privilege functions differently in different places, and a person’s white skin will not be an asset to them in every conceivable place or situation (though it is assumed to be an asset in most of the Western world). White people are a global minority, and this fact affects the experiences they have outside of their homes. Nevertheless, some people who use the term “white privilege” describe it as a worldwide phenomenon, resulting from the history of colonialism by white Europeans. (One author goes so far as to argue that American white men are privileged almost everywhere in the world, even though many countries have never been colonized by Europeans.)

One example of white privilege that can be found in the body modification community is when white Westerners obtain extensive black and grey tattoos “borrowed” heavily from the iconography of non-Western cultures. What does it mean for a middle-class white woman to appropriate the symbols of ancient Tibetan monks? Does the self-empowerment that body modification provides come at the cost of indigenous cultural forms?

Pitts (2003) advocates for body politics informed by history and critical of power. She sees the rise of tattooing and body modification amongst white Westerners as “identity tourism,” where cyberpunks, neo-tribalists, Goths, and others appropriate the cultural practices and corporeal rituals of non-Western others (Pitts 2003). Although these individuals may be well intentioned in their desire to frame “traitorous identities” in solidarity with non-western cultures, they nonetheless reify the very modern-primitive divide they seek to displace. Rather than an act of subversion, the tattooed body (and other modifications like stretched lobes, scarifications, brandings, etc.) represent the privilege of white Westerners to name and claim the cultural other as their own.

So, while those in the body modification industry debate what I consider a pretty cut-and-dry case of white privilege (whether or not white dudes should be walking around wearing swastikas) can we now open the dialogue* on cultural appropriation in the body modification industry/subculture?

Cultural Appropriation in the Body Modification Industry: A Response by Alicia  Cardenas

Editor’s Note: You will find the complete and unedited response here.

I appreciate you [Alan]  initiating a conversation like this…it is also my hope that you read this with an open mind and heart….

I am speaking to you from the perspective of a woman, a native to north and Central America, a body piercer and essentially a “hipster white kid” believer.

Although I appreciate what you think is an attempt to magnify the “injustices” taking place in the body modification industry or rather “disrespect to indigenous people of the planet ” you have, in fact, done quite the opposite. In my opinion you have done more damage than good in the quest for higher conscientiousness and unity.

In this melting pot of a culture you live in, you have put your perspective or opinion in a place above others in an attempt to right some wrongs that you believe are occurring. Don’t you think it’s time that privileged people stop telling all the other people what to do? Isn’t that the premise of all colonization on this planet…[s]omeone with presumed privilege telling the crazy natives to act and behave in a certain way? Let me tell you something…really something about what it’s like to not belong anywhere and find a connection with anything that keeps you feeling like a human…[b]ecause that’s what tattoos, stretched lobes, body modifications, jewelry, ritual, and other earthly things do for some people…and most certainly for me.

If you want to know how a native person feels about using ancient symbols or ceremonies in a modern way for tattoos or otherwise maybe you should ask one. Instead of instituting what you think upon the situation, just pick up a stone and throw it, you will no doubt hit a person who is native to some place who uses these symbols and ceremonies. White, black, red, yellow…all the people of the earth. What you find is a person who lives connected to these symbols and is happy to share, even with the most oblivious. Symbols don’t belong to anyone–that’s what make them symbols…they can symbolize anything you want them to….

Lets talk details:



“Using culturally significant names for westernized piercings” How presumpt[ous] and white privileged of you to call these piercings western, or to identify them with modern usage before their cultural roots. A sadhu piercing is called a sadhu piercing because the first people to have large conch piercings where in fact sadhus so that means we stole it not the other way around…

“Wearing culturally significant jewelry with no regard to the culture it came from.” Wearing jewelry from another culture, without knowing the significance, are you kidding me? If you studied [the] jewelry of the world and tribal cultures you would know that one thing all the cultures of the world have in common is that many times, if not most times, jewelry is worn for adornment…to look beautiful and to express a beautification process.

“Stealing culturally significant tattoo imagery, jewelry designs, etc. ” Stealing really? Stealing is a word that doesn’t belong in this equation…to steal something means it at some point belonged to someone and was then stolen.  Symbols like the swastika don’t belong to anyone or any one culture, just like the cross…or spiral, or hundreds of other imagery items that are now used for tattoos…if they don’t belong to anyone , you cannot steal them…in fact I would go so far as to say they belong to everyone.

“Stealing the names of rituals, mimicking them, and/or taking elements from and using them outside of their cultural history. (“Kavadi” and “Sundance” rituals.)” Stealing the names of rituals? Really? Mimicking them? Taking elements? Blood rituals go back as far as humanity…they don’t have names until we gave them names and therefor[e] stealing their names is a moot point. Spiritual ceremonies belong to the people who participate in them. The ceremonies from Africa using scarification aren’t stolen from Meso Americans that also practice the same art. And mimicking? The modern day Sundance ritual is a mimick of itself at best as the ceremony has changed many times…[t[he Druids have a type of Sundance, the Lakota, the Mexicah, Mayas, Dine…about a million visions of the same intention who is to say a backyard suspension hold any less importance. These rituals are resurfacing in different manifestations all over the world, none more important than the other. Should people be respectful of ceremony in general? Absolutely. Should they feel like they don’t belong doing those ceremonies because they are white or not able to make it to the land of their origin to participate in the original mimic of their roots? Absolutely not. Any truly spiritual person will honor each individual and the movement that is needed to accomplish their spiritual quest….add these words to the list of names that don’t belong to any one tribe therefore are not needing you to defend their usage. Vision quest, Sweatlodge, Moondance, Ball dance, Spear dance, Blessing Way, Birthrites, Death dance, etc…. These ceremonies belong to the people of this earth, they are not a privilege but a birthright, at anytime any human or any cultural background can claim these rights and don’t deserve to have anyone judge them for that.

“Wearing cultural people as tattoos or on clothing, often a bastardized and racist stereotype of the culture. (“Indian girl” tattoos with headdresses and face paint, “Gypsy” tattoos, etc.)” Regardless of what you might think both the examples given here are part of a subculture here in the United States that wears these Tattoos not for the content but because of the original artist who made them popular. Both the Indian head and gypsy head tattoos come from a body of work originated by artists like Sailor Jerry who serve as a godfather of modern tattooing in North America. People get them more for the traditional style than for the content, so while trying to amplify the offensive nature you are also trying to rip apart a culturally significant design to THIS culture.

“Wearing other cultures’ clothing as costumes for events” 
This might be the only one I agree with you on but I also feel like this has been taken too far. Black face is not funny, no doubt…but does a person dressed as a Mexican Vato for Halloween offend me? No not really…and men dressed in drag for Halloween also doesn’t offend me. What offends me is how offended everyone gets for no reason.

I realize your original  post was to heighten awareness of these subjects but what it sounds like you are saying is “you should stick with your tribe and not borrow from others” or “don’t do it unless it’s from your cultural background” and what that says to me is you are more comfortable keeping cultures segregated. Expressing disgust or dislike to “white hipster” kids for learning about cultural symbols and tattooing them is so ironic since you are in fact a “white hipster” but alas refer to my initial statement that says I am a “white hipster” believer…what I mean by that is the middle American white male that has “stolen” these cultural markings has in fact given birth to the generation of piercers that I identify with. If it wasn’t for a certain few white males in western culture (Fakir, Blake, Cliff Cadaver, etc)  “reclaiming” these practices and then being published in magazines and books (Modern Primitive, Savage Magazine, PFIQ etc.) I would have never found modification and connected in the way I have to my culture and the rich cultures of the world that have been my inspiration for the last 20 years in the industry.  I believe in the movement of young westerners and their innocent quest to connect with the culture of the world. I believe it has been monumental in the resurfacing of ancient practices that in so many ways are saving lives, mending broken hearts and closing in the boundaries that separate us.

“Those of us with privileges should be using that to elevate the voices of others in our community and reaching out to those who may feel initially left out rather than asserting opinions and alienating them.” In your attempt to not alienate people you have done so. Take your own advice. In my fight to connect with other humans, to belong to the tribes of the world and to educate about compassion and awareness…I encourage you to step back, look at what has been said and realize that you are most certainly part of the problem in our industry, not the kid who unknowingly is wearing some jewelry from India , but a person who judges and presumes to know what is best for others based off [of] limited knowledge of the subject. If you would like I would love to have this conversation in person and invite others to chime in.

Since Alicia’s initial response she has also added the following afterword. We hope that, as you read this and form your own opinions on the subject, our industry can only benefit and grow from open discussion on topics that can affect all of us.

AFTERWORD (from Alicia)

We live in a culture…where suicide is the third leading cause of death in young people between 15-25, where depression is the #1 disability in the world, where 160,000 children miss school everyday because of fear of attack or intimidation. Being different and adhering to your own set of rules is not celebrated but condemned and even physically dangerous. And if that isn’t hard enough to endure we then turn our anger on ourselves. There are many things that frustrate me about our culture here in the States. What comes to mind now is the way in which we are so hard on ourselves almost to the point of self-loathing…[w]e hate how fat we are, how skinny we are, that we are too white, black or brown…we grew up with too much privilege or not enough but either way we carry these things with us everywhere and it results in making us feel more isolated instead of less. When I wrote the response to Alan’s post it was to bring a level of awareness to some of the harshness we have for ourselves and highlight the idea that maybe our approach to these subjects is flawed, that we are looking at things through eyes that have been programed poorly. That maybe the way things had been taught to us, never acknowledged us for who we are in our hearts and only acknowledged us for who we are based off ancestral background.

Do I believe that we all need to be aware and compassionate to other cultures and their way of life? Yes of course. Do I believe that being respectful and willing to educate is a part of our obligations? Absolutely. But do I believe we should apologize for “borrowing” elements from other cultures in a quest to find our own voice or path: No I do not.  In my response I said a few things that really sum up my feelings about it all.  Maybe people will say I am idealistic and have too broad a view, or maybe even to[o] inclusive, but the time has come within our community to recognize what brings us together rather than what sets us apart. We all aspire to connect, be it with people, symbols or ideas. At this point, if anyone connects with anything IN or outside of their own ancestry they should be celebrated and respected because without those connections they certainly could become a statistic or get lost in the abyss of self hate.

It always occurs to me after the fact that I should learn to be more loving in my communication, but for some reason this particular subject brings out a certain frustration in me. Maybe it’s the years and years of abuse from this culture, telling me what and who I should be, or maybe it’s th[e] fact that I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere for most of my life and certainly didn’t realize I belonged to a historically relevant subculture. I am very protective and defensive of the people in my community and I see the importance in the work we have done in the last 20 years. Some may think it means nothing but to me it means everything. A lot has changed in 20 years: transgender was not even in our vocabulary, facial tattoos were not socially acceptable, “piercing” or “piercing studios” were basically not legitimate forms of work. Now, because of all of you and the fight that you have fought to be different, to wear your symbols and to be the best version of yourself, you have paved the way for the youngsters who will be on the same quest now as they are coming of age.