"Mark and Shawn: Flagrantly Queer"

This part of the essay talks about a couple of two gay males, who are very interested in body modification. They own a body modification shop together to help other people obtain similar experiences to those that are very significant to them. Mark and Shawn believe that body modification is a very intimate, symbolic ritual. I feel like i keep learning more and more from these essays that we read... Mark and Shawn are into piercings, brandings, tattoos, and they each have extenders in their ears. They do these things to be different, and to display a part of themselves to the community. I guess some people have very different motives when they take part in body modification. I never really realized it was such a big experience and such a big part of some peoples' lives. At one point in the interview Mark talks about how it's even an emotional experience, and how they do it surrounded by lots of people who care about them. Because of this significance, Mark also talks about his disapproval of frats taking part in activities such as branding. I can see how if this is such an important experience for him that it can be frustrating or even upsetting to see college kids participating in this ritual which for them has no real significance beyond a hazing activity. When these students walk around with brandings that mean nothing, this inadvertently decreases the significance of their personal body modifications, which mean much, much more. They no longer seem any different because it becomes a common practice, just like piercing your ears is. Everyone has it, so their purpose is now completely defeated.