Stephanie VonHütter-Thomas, PhDc
Skinethics Body Art Studio, APP Member
It is no secret that the subject of psychology has been my passion for a very long time, particularly the field of behavioral research. It is this passion for understanding human nature that ultimately drove me to embark on what has become a six-year journey in higher education.
The journey began in 2010, when I enrolled as a graduate student through Capella University, almost a decade after completing my undergraduate degree in Accounting. In 2013, I completed my masters degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology while running our studio, piercing full-time, and volunteering to work in state legislation. These were crazy times to say the least, however in the end, I could not have asked for a better experience.
Immediately after graduation I enrolled in the doctoral program for General Psychology. My thoughts at the time were that I had already incorporated study habits into my daily lifestyle so there was no point in stopping. After all, Capella was a great school and I had enough student loan debt to desensitize me from the financial fears, so what was stopping me? This move was something I viewed as a “no-brainer” because it promised to afford me the opportunity to offer a valuable contribution to the body modification community while also nurturing my own personal growth and future security.
I must admit that I was utterly terrified to enter the world of doctoral education as a modified person; rejection isn’t something that anyone enjoys. I was certain that I would be gawked at, scoffed at, judged, and possibly even shunned by my academic peers, but to my surprise, none of these things happened. In fact, I will be bold and go as far as saying that I receive more acceptance from the academic community at this level than in any other peer group I have been a part of. It was as if for the first time in my life I was being taken at face value, judged only by my merits with my physical appearance having nothing to do with any of it beyond the topic of my study. How refreshing!
After years of completing course work, residency requirements, and taking on a part-time job as a teaching assistant in Research Statistics, I am finally in the dissertation phase of my terminal degree. The dissertation process requires a study that is inferential by design as opposed to descriptive, meaning that the study must compare variables in order to demonstrate research skill at the doctoral level.
My study topic is one that I selected very early, but spent a great deal of time revising in order to meet academic requirements while also attempting to create a study worthwhile for the body modification community. The purpose of the study is to compare a series of variables using a multiple regression statistical analysis in order to report any noted patterns or relationships between age, gender, personality type, impact of life experiences, perceived spirituality, and how extremely modified an individual chooses to be. In other words, I am exploring what drives one person to be extremely modified while others within the community approach their body art more conservatively.
For those who aren’t aware, there is a great deal of misinformation in the world of Psychology regarding body art practices. Much of this misinformation is due to the use of research sampling methods that do not accurately represent the overall community. For example, how can anyone determine motivations to pursue radical forms of body art by interviewing 10 white American females, ages 20-25, on a midwestern college campus? The simple answer is that you can’t; yet, many psychologists have done exactly that, largely due to a lack of understanding. This issue has led to generalizations about our community that may or may not be true, many of which are damaging within certain social constructs. This in combination with the ongoing fascination the psychology profession has with pathological diagnosis has led to negative categorizations of anyone wishing to alter their appearance outside of social norms.
Since all respectable research is born out of need, I was essentially tasked with finding the gaps in the literature, choosing one such gap to pursue and determining a way to fill this gap scientifically. Aside from the obvious issues relating to sampling in prior studies, peer reviewed articles repeatedly indicate the need for a means to measure quantity of body modifications. This measurement tool must be simplistic while also measuring body art in a way that is meaningful with corresponding language to describe it consistently. This gap in research resulted in my development of the first instrument for quantifying body modification known as the Unorthodox Elective Body Modification (UEBM) Dimensional Assessment. The approach used in this instrument is definitely simplistic by design, using formulas already seen in science and medicine, yet promises to change the way psychologist study the body modification community. This instrument will be used for the first time in my data collection process to be conducted at this year’s annual APP Conference in Vegas. The results for each individual will be compared to their determined personality type along with the other psychosocial constructs previously mentioned to determine if there are any relationships or visible patterns. While this study will not remedy all our struggles, it is my hope that this research will serve as a foundation for future research relating to the modified community. I hope that many of those attending Conference will consider participating in this study, if not for me, but for the betterment of the community and it’s future.
The moral of this story is that you can be anything you want, regardless of your appearance. In my case, it was the love and support of my family and close friends that got me through the rough spots and believed in me even when I struggled to believe in myself. There are always opportunities to make a difference; it is simply a matter of deciding where you fit into the mix. Find your gifts, then find ways to incorporate those gifts into your pursuits and never let your body art be a problem or an excuse. We often allow others to stifle our dreams based on choices we made when we were young without ever actually putting ourselves out there to see what actually happens. If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have told you that the idea of enrolling in graduate school was insane because I truly thought those days were over. At the very least, I would have said “not for me,” laughed and walked away shaking my head. I decided to become more moderately modified during my late 20’s and early 30’s so at that time I saw my commitment to body art as closing the door to more mainstream pursuits. Later it became clear to me that the only person stopping me from pursuing everything I wanted in life was ME, not my body art. Today, I can’t imagine being anything other than a scholar, a scientist, a professor, a writer, and a psychological researcher. My dissertation mentor once said to me, “you are not a modified person who happens to be getting a PhD; you are a research scientist who happens to be modified.” I can live with that.
Stephanie Hutter-Thomas, PhDc
(a.k.a – Stephie Von Hütter Thomas)
Co-Owner/Piercer/APP Member
—Skinethics Body Art Studio
Founder/Co-Owner
—Bodies of Knowledge
Girard, Ohio
http://www.skinethicsbodyart.com
http://www.bodiesofknowledge.net
stephaniehutterthomas@gmail.com