Paper short abstract:

The following paper focuses on the relation between body modifications and the power of emotions. It will be looked through different examples, where people try to convey their emotions by getting a tattoo or a piercing and that way, making a mark on their bodies, serving as a permanent reminder.

Paper long abstract:

The following paper is a part of a bigger research, focused on the permanent aesthetic effects on the human body in Bulgaria. In other words the research is focused on body modifications, such as tattoos and piercings. This phenomenon has its own roots in the whole Balkan area, but the its legalization and its professionalization haven't happened before the nineties of the twentieth century. In Bulgaria most of the tattoo parlors are registered as "beauty saloons", so part of the research is focused on the controversial idea of the beauty of body modifications. Most of the people in society are not used to this "new" concept and tattoos and piercings are often considered as ugly or an indication of a criminal past. The main idea of the proposed paper is to represent some of the changes and the new ideas about body modifications during the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first century. There will be presented some results and answers to questions such as: How do people started to accept tattoos and piercings during the new millennium? Are body modifications considered as a new fashion trend? Do emotions have any effect on the choice for a new tattoo? And last, but not least is there a relation between gaining body awareness and deciding on making changes sometimes considered as radical.