Hi everybody! This is my first topic! So be gentle…
I think lot of women and some men are choosing to undergo body modification for aesthetic reasons. Women know that their ears look more beautiful with earrings and so on. But there is a very deep psychological aspect of body modification. Humans are treating simple body adornments and permanent body modifications very differently. Wearing make-up for a woman or wearing a suit for a man is not that intimate like getting their ears pierced or getting a tattoo. Body modification is marking and changing the body possible forever. Although nearly everybody is silent about this, but body modification is very much about submission and penetration. But this submission and penetration is not a sexual act, it is an act of “self-love”, it is narcistic. It can be of course erotic (some women can have an orgasm while being tattooed).
Seemingly independently from this “fashion” the evolution of organic and non-organic machines are much quicker, than human evolution. In the near future we must integrate our technology into our body. But who is willing to let modify his/her body to become a “cyborg”? It is obviously painful and unattractive. But we can wear a cell phone like an earring. So maybe humans will be ready to modify themselves if there is an aesthetic and erotic desire to do it.
My question is: is it possible, that the desire of being modified is a new evolutionary path for humanity?
The two factors in human evolution which are constantly at efforts to make more efficient are consumption and communication. I imagine a human being in the future that is connected neurologically to an internet, and also recieves his daily allowance of nutrition in a single serving of green goo.
I’m not sure what sexual overtones will be expressed with such modification, but I will say confidently that sexuality in its most perverse terms is exhibited in organ enlargements and/or sex changes, also cosmetic surgery.
I think you’ve nailed it there in regards to body modification being linked to narcissism. It’s just another fad of the masses to feed the ego and elevate their social ranking through superficialities. It’s a short cut in an attempt to be admired by the ‘other’. So to answer your question, it’s not a new evolutionary path. It’s a well worn path that has been tried and tried again by shallow humans to elevate themselves above the ‘other’, this is just its latest mainfestation in what, 4,000 years of human history?
Also, I am very sceptical about the term ‘evolution’, but that’s another topic.
I would say the interesting point - in my opinion - is to have an intimate erotic relationship with an object. If you are pierced, your jewelry is not only a beautiful, aesthetic thing, but you have a special erotic connection to it. This erotic connection is very important in my opinion. Because if you have no “instinct” or subconscious drive to maintain this “relationship”, in the future you maybe unable to adapt to (integrate with) technology. Is it possible that women are more capable of becoming one with technology?