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The Real-Life Ukrainian Barbie Doll-- Valeria Lukyanova, most commonly known as the Human Barbie, is the most famous woman on the Russian internet. Many debate whether she is a real person who underwent various plastic-surgeries, or appears to be real due to the amazing abilities of photo-shopping. If she truly is real, how many plastic surgeries has Ms. Lukyanova, a 21-year-old, had?
"I use my appearance to promote my spiritual ideas. If a nun starts talking about spirituality, will anyone notice her? No. But if a beautiful, inspiring young woman starts talking about it, many people will start thinking." -- Valeria Lukyanova "I never intended to look like Barbie, it just so happened that dolls are based on the image of refined girls." -- Valeria Lukyanova The modern day woman has to have an "ideal body". That is: to be skinny with a figure-eight shape, big breasts, big buttocks, perfect nose, lips, eyes, skin, essentially perfect. In this modern day and age, this ideology is being introduced at a young age. When Barbie first came around, play suddenly became about dressing up Barbie, doing her make-up, doing her hair and looking right. This role play eventually played a role in how these young girls, teenagers, and women wanted to look in real life. |
The Catman--Dennis Avner, a 54-year-old US Navy veteran underwent fourteen different operations to morph himself into a tiger. Avner's operations included the splitting of his top lip like a feline cleft lip, the flattening and upturning of his nose, elongating his ears, implanting silicone into his cheeks and forehead, filing his teeth into sharp points, and tattooing his body and face. Catman is complete with ears, whiskers, and even a mechanical tail. Avner states he has loved cats his whole life and has always had a strong relationship with them. He began his transformation over 30 years ago in different countries around the world, due to certain body modifications being illegal in the United States. Avner had a well paying job as a computer technician, allowing him to afford all these body modifications. He believes, "Why be human when you know you're not?"
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The Lizard-man-- Erik Sprague is a 41-year-old freak show/ sideshow performer who underwent a series of body modifications. Sprague has had over 700 hours of tattooing green scales across his whole body including the word "freak" across his chest. He has had Teflon subdermally implanted on his skull, bifurcated his tongue like one of a snake, has had his teeth filled down into sharp points and much more. All his life, Sprague had an interest in body art, sideshow performances, and reptiles, especially lizards. Like most of the modern day "freaks", He carries a message. A message more powerful than many can even imagine. Here are some of Erik Sprague's thoughts on his very meaningful transformation:
"If you can see my entire life, as my family and long time friends can, you can see the very organic development of how I ended up here."
" For me as an artist, I believe very much in commitment. One of the reasons I don't work in traditional media is because you can paint a painting and walk away from it. You don't even have to see it again if you don't like it. You can even destroy it. But when your body is your medium, you must commit for a lifetime."
"I do enjoy reptiles, and lizards in particular. I find them more aesthetically pleasing than anything else. The choice that I made to do a reptilian theme was not there at the forefront. Originally this was a conceptual art piece where the idea was transformation via body modification. And it actually came out of an idea in linguistic philosophy. When you decide you are going to transform your body, the next question is, 'into what?' I made lists of designs. I considered a full body maze, I considered a story, I considered polka dots, I considered all sorts of things. and eventually I settled on the reptilian motif because it just felt right to me. It's the same way you would pick out an outfit."
"Whether it's the serpent in the garden of Eden, whether it's the giant snakes in dream time from the aboriginal people, the Native American serpent that carved the Mississippi...no matter where you go, no matter what period in time, reptiles are powerful elements in human culture and symbolism. So as an artist, I have taken that powerful symbol and become it. I've used it to make my image more powerful."
"If you can see my entire life, as my family and long time friends can, you can see the very organic development of how I ended up here."
" For me as an artist, I believe very much in commitment. One of the reasons I don't work in traditional media is because you can paint a painting and walk away from it. You don't even have to see it again if you don't like it. You can even destroy it. But when your body is your medium, you must commit for a lifetime."
"I do enjoy reptiles, and lizards in particular. I find them more aesthetically pleasing than anything else. The choice that I made to do a reptilian theme was not there at the forefront. Originally this was a conceptual art piece where the idea was transformation via body modification. And it actually came out of an idea in linguistic philosophy. When you decide you are going to transform your body, the next question is, 'into what?' I made lists of designs. I considered a full body maze, I considered a story, I considered polka dots, I considered all sorts of things. and eventually I settled on the reptilian motif because it just felt right to me. It's the same way you would pick out an outfit."
"Whether it's the serpent in the garden of Eden, whether it's the giant snakes in dream time from the aboriginal people, the Native American serpent that carved the Mississippi...no matter where you go, no matter what period in time, reptiles are powerful elements in human culture and symbolism. So as an artist, I have taken that powerful symbol and become it. I've used it to make my image more powerful."
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Would these individuals call themselves modern day "freaks"?
Dennis Avner, and Erik Sprague are known as modern day animal imitators. In the past, animal imitators usually performed in circus sideshow performances most of the performers were not imitating animals, they actually suffered from a tragic disability, deformity, but used those disabilities to earn a living. Both the performer and the owner of the side show act worked on how to package their deformity and present it in a way that was fascinating yet acceptable. Side show performances began to die down as medical care became more popular. Medical care eliminated the amount of so called 'freaks of nature', but a different kind of "freaks" rose to dominance in the 19th century; the "self inflicted freaks". According to Richard Zibun "Freaks are cool. Freaks are out there, they are the new rebels! Freaks are like Rock 'N Rollers! Freaks are like movie stars... you want to be a freak. Get your freak on!" |
Vampire Woman-- Maria Jose Cristerna is a 35-year-old woman from Mexico who transformed herself into a Vampire. 98% of her body is covered in ink, she has multiple facial piercings, had six Teflon implants in her chest and arms, four horn on her head, four fangs, and a bifurcated tongue. Why has Cristerna, a former lawyer, done what she has done? Like Erik Sprague, she too has a powerful message for women who are suffered from domestic abuse.
Maria Cristerna grew up in a Catholic family and felt like she could not express herself fully because of her upbringing. Cristerna later stated that she was not interested in religion at all, which could have lead to her transformation. At age 17, she thought she had met her "ideal man". Cristerna realized he was a drug addict and came from a troubled family. She states, "A few years later, I was supporting four children and being beaten by the same man who'd made me laugh. I felt as though I was going to die." Cristerna began to put all her stress into art, and started her own tattoo business. She states, "Everyone is modified by things such as pregnancy, aging or losing teeth, but getting tattoos and body mods helped me to think of myself as a warrior.” Maria's goal with her body modification is to promote awareness of domestic abuse through art. She has written and directed a dance show about her life with the intent of giving people hope.
Maria Cristerna grew up in a Catholic family and felt like she could not express herself fully because of her upbringing. Cristerna later stated that she was not interested in religion at all, which could have lead to her transformation. At age 17, she thought she had met her "ideal man". Cristerna realized he was a drug addict and came from a troubled family. She states, "A few years later, I was supporting four children and being beaten by the same man who'd made me laugh. I felt as though I was going to die." Cristerna began to put all her stress into art, and started her own tattoo business. She states, "Everyone is modified by things such as pregnancy, aging or losing teeth, but getting tattoos and body mods helped me to think of myself as a warrior.” Maria's goal with her body modification is to promote awareness of domestic abuse through art. She has written and directed a dance show about her life with the intent of giving people hope.
Sources: Article, Videos, and Links to Images
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