Asked by Teresa Salina on Jun 12, 2024

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The body is adorned or altered in some way in every culture. Decorating the self serves a number of purposes. According to information provided in the text, what are these purposes?

Decorating The Self

The practice of embellishing or adorning oneself with clothing, accessories, tattoos, or other forms of physical decoration to express identity, social status, or affiliations.

  • Determine the causes for body adornment and modification throughout different societies.
  • Comprehend the importance and objectives of body decoration and alteration in manifesting identity and group association.
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JR
Jordan RickerdJun 13, 2024
Final Answer :
• To separate group members from non-members: The Chinook Indians of North America pressed the head of a newborn between two boards for a year, permanently altering its shape. In our society, teens go out of their way to adopt distinctive hair and clothing styles that will separate them from adults.
• To place the individual in the social organization: Many cultures engage in puberty rites wherein a boy symbolically becomes a man. Young men in Ghana paint their bodies with white stripes to resemble skeletons, symbolizing the death of their child status. In Western culture, this rite may involve some form of mild self-mutilation or engagement in dangerous activities.
• To place the person in a gender category: Western women wear lipstick to enhance femininity. At the turn of the twentieth century, small lips were fashionable because they represented women's submissive role at that time. Today, big red lips are provocative and indicate an aggressive sexuality. Some women, including a number of famous actresses and models, receive collagen injections or lip inserts to create large, pouting lips (known in the modelling industry as "liver lips").
• To enhance gender-role identification: The modern use of high heels, which podiatrists agree are a prime cause of knee and hip problems, backaches, and fatigue, can be compared with the traditional Asian practice of foot binding to enhance femininity.
• To provide a sense of security: Consumers often wear lucky charms, amulets, rabbits' feet, and so on to protect them from the "evil eye."
• To indicate desired social conduct: The Suya of South America wear ear ornaments to emphasize the importance placed in their culture on listening and obedience.
In Western society, some gay men wear an earring in the left or right ear to signal what role (submissive or dominant) they prefer in a relationship.
• To indicate high status or rank: In our society, some people wear glasses with clear lenses, even though they do not have eye problems, to enhance their perceived status.