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The urge to pierce the human body is an inherent part of human nature and in one form or another has touched every civilisation and culture known to man.
Types of piercing have varied widely as indeed have the reasons for the practice. For many it is the result of an innate desire to decorate the human body along with other forms of body art such as tattooing, branding and scarification. In some societies it can be a sign of wealth, position, status or even ownership, and in others it can be a rite of passage signifying a major event in a person's life.
Piercings can also be used as a means of heightening sexual pleasure or imposing chastity on a partner.
Whatever the reasons, body piercing has undergone something of a western revival in modern times, although it never really went away. It just went underground as a result of western societies' attitudes and morals. It has now become socially acceptable again and continues to increase in popularity in a wide cross section of the community.