Analysis of Social Bodies

English 101 T/Th 10/14/08 Analysis of “Social Bodies” Mrs. Deborah A. Sullivan is a well established author. She teaches at Arizona State University teaching sociology. She is the co-author of Labor Pains: Modern Midwives and Home Birth. She also has written a book of her own; Cosmetic Surgery: The Cutting Edge of Commercial Medicine in America. The piece of writing that I have to Analyze and Critique is a passage out of her book The Cutting Edge. The first sentence of the passage is her thesis. Every culture has customs that prescribe deliberately changing a body’s natural appearance. I believe that Mrs. Deborah A. Sullivan is correct in her beliefs, as well as her findings. Adults have the right to do what they choose to their bodies. Whether that is surgery or a tattoo, we need to respect that they can make decisions for themselves. If they want a full body tattoo then let them have it. They can make their own decisions about their body. Some of society actually tries to set themselves apart from the rest. The punks or the Goths are the most profound of them all. They go out of the way to get every piece of their body pierced or tattooed just to be different. They dress in all black also to be different. I think they were the people who started it all. Nobody liked tattoos until people started to set themselves apart. It was actually looked down upon until the 1980’s. My beliefs are the same as Mrs. Deborah Sullivan’s. I think people get tattoos and piercings just to fit in or actually to set themselves apart. But competent adults can make their own decisions about what they want their body to look like and there is nothing we can do about it but respect their decisions. I believe that her article is true in all aspects. All in all, my beliefs are the same as Mrs.