"Once a hallmark of Western deviance, body modification has undergone drastic redefinition in recent decades. If body modification is increasingly seen as being an aspect of mainstream culture, it begs the question of what will happen to the subculture which once claimed the practice as its own. This dissertation investigates how members of a body modification subculture are responding to the mainstreaming of body modification through a qualitative analysis of a virtual community designed for those with an interest in these practices. By researching how and why the body techniques of the subculture's members have changed following the mainstreaming of body modification, I hope to further the understanding of how group boundaries are actively (re)defined‒‒ particularly within an internet context. I also discuss the role of style and non-body modification related phenomena in the subculture's efforts to remain a distinct group."--From abstract.
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