This article examines the phenomenon of nonmainstream body modification in contemporary United States, with an emphasis on genital piercing, branding, and cutting in several West Coast cities. Based on participant observation and interviews over a 2-year period, it discusses the pleasures and problems of fieldwork with nonmainstream body modifiers, describes the events at a series of San Francisco body modification workshops, and ends with an explanation of what motivated the individuals in the study to involve themselves in a behavior that is not only physically painful but is considered repugnant and even psychopathological by American society.
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