How to give yourself elf ears

michealpaige

gross.

Jerril

#81, Nora Rocket, “5. To paraphrase, the only difference between non-modded people and modded people is that modded people don’t care whether you’re modded or not.”

I have no idea ’bout modded people, but as a woman who had one set of standard issue ear peircings, now grown over: I don’t give a fart if you’ve modded yourself or not. Your point #5 has a subtext of hostility towards the unmodded community that UTTERLY contradicts your point.

“We are all unique and inclusive beautiful flowers. You are all haters.”

What does give me concerns is suggesting that hacking cartilage is something for the home user to do.

ill lich

I think the comparisons with boob jobs and other common plastic surgery is funny. Arguably boob jobs would help one’s employment opportunities (indeed, at least in porn it’s practically required, although I can see it helping any woman in a male-dominated company, whether that’s fair or not); I can’t think of any job where the ears would help, except perhaps at Disney World or the Android’s Dungeon comic book shop.

Just thinking out loud.

NickeyRobo

unicorn chaser, now, plz!!!

the specialist

good lord why?

i just dont get this ‘body mod’ thing. i mean, do you think you are improving upon nature? or trying to ‘express your individuality’ (like everyone else thats doing it?). these things are rarely if ever an ‘improvement’. what an irreversible waste.

you are not a unique snowflake. no matter what they told you.

Anonymous

I really like this, I think I’d love to have this done…if I lived in a world where it would actually make me an elf. Oh well. Looks like only in my dreams.

The Lizardman

@1 – Valid point and all candidates need to be evaluated with a consideration for the future. That said, nothing is promised for the future and not pointing your ears doesn’t mean they still won’t ‘fall apart’

@2 – Sometimes that time when it seems good lasts quite awhile, like the rest of your life.

@3 I completely understand that as an honest gut reaction. Now here is my honest gut reaction to seeing your comment: ‘Grow Up’

Antinous

I should point out that, if I ever get that dodgy ear more firmly attached, I might have the doctor sharpen ‘em up a mite.

Nora Rocket

The best thing that comes out of any non-mod/general media coverage of the modified community is that the modified community gets a peek at the enemy outside of the community and can maybe think about fighting less within itself. At least, that’s always my hope when things like this, and a recent NYT Well blog article, get filled with the same old array of comments: “gross,” “good luck getting a ‘real job,’” “I have tattoos and a real job,” “it’s just like boob jobs,” “your [sic] retarded,” “people who do this are mentally ill,” “people who do not do this are sheep,” “people who do this are sheep,” “you think you are rebelling but you’re not,” “I don’t want to rebell, I just want to be me,” “you can do what you want, but by the same token I can say you are dumb,” “normal people don’t do this,” “I know I guy who somethingsomething,” “ancient cultures blah blah,” “it’s fine for African tribes,” “I have no mods but I feel confindent in saying you’ll regret it,” “I have mods and I regret it so you will too,” “I regret nothing,” etc.

So here is a brief selection of comments, in the vein of my above list, from which you may select the final bit of my comment. Since it’s the same shit, over and over and over, there and here and everywhere, it doesn’t really matter which you pick:
1. If you don’t like it, don’t do it; the end.
2. I have facial piercings and visible tattoos and a mohawk and I work for a Big Square Corporate Employer in sales, and they judge and reward my results, not my looks.
3. You can’t tell me what to do with my fucking personal meatbag.
4. The idea that we all share the same body ideal and the same internalised image of physical completion is false.
5. To paraphrase, the only difference between non-modded people and modded people is that modded people don’t care whether you’re modded or not.
6. Thank you for your opinion, for which I never asked.
7. Let’s all meet up here in 30 years, when I’m sixty, and I’ll tell you what I regret.

minTphresh

steve haworth of HTC was doing this sort of mod with a cautery scalpel back in the mid 90′s. he’s an amazing modder and did several of my brandings.

zuzu

Personally, I see no need to “improve” on Nature,

i just dont get this ‘body mod’ thing. i mean, do you think you are improving upon nature?

Appeal to nature aka Naturallistic fallacy

Appeal to nature is a commonly seen fallacy of relevance consisting of a claim that something is good or right because it is natural, or that something is bad or wrong because it is unnatural. In this type of fallacy nature is often implied as an ideal or desired state of being, a state of how things were, should be, or are: in this sense an appeal to nature may resemble an appeal to tradition.

c.f. Is-ought problem, Open Question Argument

n

#11 anonymous: I appreciate the unicorn chaser! that particular one is teh awesome.

jimh

Am fully grown, and second the “gross” sentiment.
(Mostly because of the in-progress photo.)
We can has unicorn?

BadKittyM

I’m with Pipenta. I’d love to have a prehensile tail (that extra hand I always seem to need) and kitty-cat ears, but *not* unless they are the real, working deal. Cut and sew imitations…nah.

The picture didn’t bother me in the slightest – didn’t find it gross or offputting. Whatever a person wants to do with or to their own body is completely not my business. I may do a double-take, but that’s about it. Now if I saw someone sporting a working tail, I would be insanely, instantly jealous. No, the pictures of that guy with the skin tag above his tailbone doesn’t count.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

GR8DV8, don’t even try to pretend that that was inoffensive, or was meant to be.

skramble

maybe I did not look in the right place, but I did not see any pics of the ears before they were modified. Also the piece does seem to get into the specifics of the procedure. If they are going to show that much then they might as well show the whole gory process. imho!

dragonfrog

Antinous @48

This isn’t an argument at all, much less one of desperation.

I think this is awesome and beautiful (O brave new world that has such creatures in it, and all that). I’m just curious what the effects would be.

And yes, many mammals have pointy ears on top of their heads, and can point them in different directions to keep track of different sources of sound. Others have tiny round ones, and still others have floppy ones that are cutely expressive when they beg for pancakes. But humans come with one kind of ear, and the bits of their nervous system that process sound are made for that kind of ear; so I’m curious what would happen when you fit a different kind of ear to a human nervous system.

Antinous

dragonfrog,

I realized after I commented that that argument came from the hoax plastic surgery story and was being touted as a benefit. Natural variations between human ears varies as much as the difference between elf ears and any given human ear. Hell, the difference between my pre-surgery ears and post-surgery ears would have a bigger acoustical effect that her modification.

OM

…Quick! Someone call Leonard Nimoy and get acomment from him on this one! :-)

Tensegrity

nothing is promised for the future and not pointing your ears doesn’t mean they still won’t ‘fall apart’
lizardman@5 — completely separate from the pros/cons of this procedure, you are not good at math.

Takuan

more tentacles

Tsuyoi

I like the look on her. And barring any scars she could try to play them off as natural if required to for a career, IMO. Particularly since her hair can cover them quite easily.

All the angst related to the subject of “modding” shown in this thread just reinforces my notion that we are all still tribal beasts at heart.

#81, Nora Rocket, “5. To paraphrase, the only difference between non-modded people and modded people is that modded people don’t care whether you’re modded or not.”

I agree with your assessment overall except for this point. There are assholes in every group, including the “modders.” Judgmental attitudes are alive and well across the board from what I’ve seen.

zuzu

I like weird mods more than boob jobs/botox because I don’t feel any pressure from them. Boob jobs/botox feel like – aging isn’t cool so you need to ‘do something’ about your looks. Or only large chested women are beautiful so go out and buy a D cup. Pointy ears feel like – ‘hey wouldn’t it be fun to . . .’ It feels like they come from a place of security rather than insecurity.

I think the comparisons with boob jobs and other common plastic surgery is funny. Arguably boob jobs would help one’s employment opportunities … Just thinking out loud.

Here’s one woman’s personal story that runs the whole gamut of body modification issues discussed so far:

Anyway, I have 2020cc salines now but Iâ€™ll be downsizing and going with silicone next. Iâ€™ve been getting a lot of e-mails and questions about my situation and why Iâ€™m downsizing. So I thought Iâ€™d share my story here.

So here goesâ€¦..

First my stats: Iâ€™m 5â€™8â€, normal weight is anywhere from 145-152lbs, 32â€ ribcage, natural 36D.

Now on to my storyâ€¦.Iâ€™ve always loved the huge, round, fake lookâ€¦ the bigger and faker looking the better is the way I saw it.

So in 2005 I had my first BA, along with a Crescent Liftâ€¦. I got Inamed saline implants, round, smooth, overs, 800cc overfilled to 1000cc. I went from a natural 36D to a 36G. They looked greatâ€¦big, round and fake looking â€“ just how I like them. At that time though, I didnâ€™t think they were big enough.

So in 2006, I had my second BAâ€¦ enlarged my pockets and added more saline to my implants, all the way up to 2020cc! I went from a 36G to a 36H. I was huge!! In the beginning I was in love with them. They were amazing, beautiful, huge and fake looking. I totally loved them.

Then around 4-6 months post, I developed CC first in my right boob, then it spread to my left. As time went on, it got progressively worse in my right and a little bit worse in my left.

Fast forward to todayâ€¦.Iâ€™m almost 2 years post nowâ€¦..the CC has gotten extremely bad on the right side and a little bit worse on the left side. At this point, the right side is very painful and both implants are ROCK HARD and just plain uncomfortable. I am miserable and extremely unhappy with my boobs. I am also getting really dissatisfied with the size as well. They are getting to be too cumbersome for me.

I still LOVE huge boobs (in the 2000cc range) but I have come to the conclusion that I love huge boobs on other women! Iâ€™d prefer to look at them, NOT live with them! While I still feel that this size looks good on me, it is just not practical living with such huge boobs on a day to day basis and leading a â€œnormal, not-in-the-spotlightâ€ life.

Iâ€™m not in the adult industry, I just got huge boobs for myself, not for anyone else or for a job or whatever. So literally going ANYWHEREâ€¦whether it be to the grocery store, mall, movies, out to dinner, the park, a club, the casino, walking around outside, ANYWHERE â€“ guaranteed I will be gawked at, pointed at, laughed at, whispered about, stupid girls trying to fight me, sexual rude comments yelled out to me, guys purposely bumping into me in order to â€œcop a feelâ€â€¦..seriously outrageous behavior like this I go through on a DAILY BASIS. Iâ€™m a very unique person (lots of piercings, tattoos, distinctive makeup, etc) so Iâ€™m used to being stared at and whispered about. But having huge boobs brings the attention to a whole different level. Iâ€™m the type of person who really doesnâ€™t care about what other people think and who can ignore people for the most part, but after awhile if it becomes too ridiculous, it starts to eat at me and piss me off. Especially when Iâ€™m with kids, family or a friend and I get reactions like that â€“ thatâ€™s when itâ€™s totally crossing the line.

The only time I donâ€™t get outrageous reactions is when Iâ€™m with my brother (whoâ€™s 6â€™4â€ and built) or Iâ€™m with my big bodybuilder male friendsâ€¦.then people will keep a lid on it. But when Iâ€™m by myself or with other girls, thatâ€™s when people act the worst.

I can deal with attentionâ€¦.like I said, Iâ€™ve been getting a lot of attention since I was a kid. But attention like this is unreal. Iâ€™ve been in so many scary, threatening situations with strange men before, I should seriously be walking around with a bodyguard every single day. Every day when I go out I feel like a celebrity whoâ€™s in the spotlight being trashed all the timeâ€¦.and not in a good spotlight, in a very bad spotlight. Itâ€™s not fun at all when it gets to be threatening. When I have children with me, I STILL get sexual comments thrown at me, which is outrageously inappropriate.

The way I dress is nowhere near over the top eitherâ€¦..I wear a lot of loose fitting t-shirts/layered polos/hooded sweatshirts, etc, and when I do wear tighter tops or tank tops, I always layer on 1 or 2 shirts and then usually Iâ€™ll even wear a cropped sweater/or cropped hoodie over the tight shirts so my boobs arenâ€™t hanging out and exposed. From the crude reactions I get, youâ€™d think I walk around naked or something, but I actually dress pretty conservative. I totally expect people to look because some people have never seen boobs my size beforeâ€¦..but looking is one thing, openly staring is another, and being downright stupid and nasty is beyond unacceptable.

Aside from the publicâ€™s ridiculous reactionsâ€¦.day to day living with 2020cc is a bit too muchâ€¦.theyâ€™re pretty heavy…and because they’re so firm and un-squishable, they’re uncomfortable to sleep with, intimate situations are a tad tricky, finding clothes that fit right is a nightmare, etc.

So because I have to get this CC fixed now, which will require another surgery, I want to switch to silicone and downsize. So for my third BA, Iâ€™ll be getting the CC fixed, getting a full lift, and switching these totally overfilled 2020cc salines out with Natrelle silicone gels Style 10, round, smooth, overs, 800cc.

That wonâ€™t be the end for me thoughâ€¦.800cc is not my final desired sizeâ€¦.thatâ€™s just the biggest size in silicone (off the shelf) that I can get right now. Eventually, I will be getting custom made silicone gels 1200-1400ccâ€¦.which will give me the round, fake busty look that I love, but wonâ€™t take me too huge to where I canâ€™t dress them down. Iâ€™m pretty tall and very curvy, so I need a lot of ccâ€™s to make me bustyâ€¦..not super hugeâ€¦.just nice and busty.

So, while this huge size didnâ€™t personally work for me, Iâ€™m very happy that I got to try this size out and experience it for myself. If I had never went this big, I wouldâ€™ve always wondered what it felt like. It just really sucks that I got CC so bad, because thatâ€™s what made the experience a lot worse as well.

Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to share my experience. For people who arenâ€™t into the huge sizes and are just curious about women who go huge, then I hope my story helped some. And for women who are into the huge sizes, Iâ€™m definitely not trying to scare you away from going hugeâ€¦.thatâ€™s the last thing Iâ€™m trying to do actuallyâ€¦..Iâ€™m just sharing MY personal experience that *Iâ€™m* personally going through.

I still *LOVE* huge boobs most definitely, I think they are so damn gorgeous and sexyâ€¦. it just didnâ€™t work out *for me* having huge boobs and trying to live a â€œregularâ€ life. If I was in my risky, troublesome teen years and I was going through all of the BS that Iâ€™m going through now with my huge boobs, Iâ€™d be getting a total kick out of everything and thereâ€™s no way Iâ€™d be going smaller. But where Iâ€™m at in life now, and the more laid back, reserved and serious Iâ€™ve gotten since my teen years, I have a totally different mindset now and my safety is more important to me now. All women who go huge *I assume* arenâ€™t going through everything I amâ€¦my situation is pretty extremeâ€¦.so it may be way less drama that other women are going throughâ€¦.my case is just totally crazy/drama filled. I have stories that I could tell! Thinking about all of the situations and altercations that Iâ€™ve been going throughâ€¦and all centering around my huge boobsâ€¦.I could write a book, seriously.

So having boobs that arenâ€™t too small (for me) but that are smaller than 2020cc will work out best for me! If you have any questions for me, just let me know. Thanks for reading all of this!

minTphresh

pseudopodia?

V

@91: “I can’t think of any job where the ears would help, except perhaps at Disney World… ”

Nope – per Disney’s “The Disney Look” dress code:

” Body Alteration or Modification

Intentional body alteration or modification for the purpose of achieving a visible, physical effect that disfigures, deforms or similarly detracts from a professional image is prohibited. Examples include, but are not limited to, visible tattoos, brands, body piercing (other than traditional ear piercing for women), tongue piercing or splitting, tooth filing, earlobe expansion, and acquiring visible, disfiguring skin implants.

Methods to conceal an unacceptable piercing or tattoo, such as using a bandage, are not permitted. For tattoo coverage, opaque makeup will be permitted if it completely conceals the tattoo. Spacers or retainers are not permitted in any visible body piercing while working. Jewelry worn in non-visible piercings that may pose a safety risk because of costume design and/or job responsibilities will not be permitted.”

mouthyb

You can actually be fairly heavily inked and have all the ink places your average suit and gear will cover. Not to mention I see nose rings, eyebrow rings and bars, even lip piercings everywhere I go. I can’t see, since they’re everywhere (including business jobs around here) where modding immediately spells the end of being employed. It helps if you have specialized skills, certainly, but it really isn’t a big deal.

I’m covered in ink (working on a left arm sleeve, back covered, right arm beginning to have coherence) and a few metal-ly bits. I’m also teaching. I suppose arguing from example is not the best argument, but it’s equally bad as ‘no one will ever employ you, ever’ or ‘if you get a tattoo it will be bad ink and it means you’re immature’.

The Lizardman

@55 – try because you prefer it – much modification is done for the same reasons that styles of clothing are chosen over one another. it is a matter of ornamentation – making something more pleasing to one’s self.

@58 – ?? there is no math involved my post there, do you think there should be?

PixelFish

I used to wear my braces rubber bands over my ears in junior high to get them to go pointy. (You can only do it for a few hours before it starts to ache though.)

Anonymous

Hey. Awesome elf ears. I always wanted elf ears, I’m gonna get ‘em done..

As far as everything goes with all the opinions etc. (apart from those directed solely towards the aesthetic outcome of the mod, method etc.) are just the same as every other instance of verbal manifestation of a very strong aspect of human nature and interaction. There’s nothing to analyze :p

As far as jobs go, I’m gonna agree with all who say it doesn’t necessarily close doors everywhere. Maybe some places, because you can never escape prejudism or (perhaps unfairly, open to interpretation) application of conservative notions of beauty and nature (coz, then again, the very fact that there are people who think of modifying their bodies, and eventually do, is only a happening sprung from nature ;p).

As far as it being ‘gross’, ‘retarded’, ‘dumb’ etc., go ahead and say what you will, just like those who will praise it. I’m just glad to know the person with the modification doesn’t care about what people say ;) (I didn’t assume she would in the first place.)

MITTZNZ

Anything that will give you an advantage in this economy towards a career in landscaping, I guess.

Anonymous

Unicorn chaser for those who are throwing up a little after seeing that photo:

http://marklisanti.tumblr.com/post/44834468

Landowner

Hey Lizardman. I’m not sure what you think grown-ups do, but I can tell you it’s not modifying your body to make yourself look more fictional. The trend for the youth of today to not give a f*ck about what they will look like in the future is quite disturbing.

dragonfrog

I wonder what that would do to one’s ability to locate where sound is coming from.

That’s the purpose of all the little wavy bits of the ear – they apply different distortions to sound depending on whether they come from in front, behind, above, below. (I remember reading a while ago about a sound system that applied these distortions digitally, so a sound in front of you could be made to sound like it was behind you)

Nora Rocket

#90, Jerril: I disagree that my point 5 has a subtext of hostility of the modded towards the unmodded; none was meant. Also, all of the numbered points I made are just as tired and just as overplayed as the arguments I listed above, and I made them only as a matter of course. They’re arguments that *someone* always makes when this stuff gets discussed – I got selfish and tried to make them all.

I also give no farts about your now-grown-over ears and I respect any decision you’ve come to of your own free will about your personal body integrity. I’m sorry if you’ve ever heard or experienced otherwise from me or anyone else who participates *with* his or her body to a different extent than you choose to; that would certainly reflect badly on a subculture that, in my experience, wants body freedom for all–including the freedom to stay just as one came into the world–which only sometimes is the prevaling desired body format (circumcision, anyone? piercing baby girls’ ears? yeah, those are tired old points too).

If you came factory perfect *according to your conception of yourself*, then you are a complete body. I didn’t, and I’m not, and I relish the freedom to participate with my physical body to build the best, most representative picture of me. That doesn’t make me a lovely and unique snowflake, but I sure am happy and confident in myself–as I am sure you are with the no-mods you prefer to have, which makes you also not a unique valuable flower.

So yeah, let the giving of no farts begin, please, by all people on all sides. :)

cyan

Much ado about nothing. Spock on! ^(o.o)^

V

Having had an inadvertent ear-cartilage body mod in grade school (softball bat and a broken glasses bow punched a hole through my upper ear), I can speak for scarring and malforming of the cartilage as it healed, so I’d assume that could be a risk here if not done right.

And, of course, the memory of listening to sutures being pulled through my ear cartilage while in the ER still gives me willies after nearly 30 years.

Tommy

Looks cool. Not something I’d like to do myself. But that’s true of many other things. Lack of personal desire shouldn’t equal judgement of the same desire in others.

I do wish the Instructable actually showed the steps from start to finish. It’s not much of an Instructable otherwise.

coldspell

DO NOT WANT.

arkizzle

Axel: flaccid-honesty win!

mouthyb

I always worry, when I read harshly negative comments about body mods, about the pressure to conform and the effects it can have on morale. I’ve always thought that jobs who put heavy emphasis on conformity tend to result in highly dysfunctional workplaces and a workforce that is being reminded (by the uniform effect) that they are replaceable. But perhaps that’s my experience with the service industry.

And I modded myself for the first time when I was 15, with a safety pin. You know, I’m 30 and I’m still not sorry about it. (Although the lectures about DIY dangers when I go in to change out jewelry do get tiresome.)

semiotix

So a surgeon can give you pointy ears like an elf. Big deal.

When a surgeon can give me infravision, 90% resistance to sleep spells, and +1 to hit with a bow, then I’ll get excited.

Takuan

why can’t they graft on more tissue instead?

Lucifer

I think it’s a wonderful idea for people to take themselves out of the game of life that way. It’s very empowering to disqualify yourself from such stuffy and boring careers that require one to go through a mildly selective process. That’s showing the world the middle finger and living one’s own dream. I encourage that.

Anonymous

i dont really mean to make this anon. i just dont wanna create an account bc i prob wont venture here again. the process looks painful but the outcome sounds neat. i kinda have a natural elf ear on one side. the cartilige is flat and kinda pointy on top (family trait thingy) so this body mod is unattainable for me. but thumbs up on the elf ears! theyre cute!

Tommy

#11: “Hey Lizardman. I’m not sure what you think grown-ups do, but I can tell you it’s not modifying your body to make yourself look more fictional”

I don’t know about you, but for me growing up meant making my own decisions about life and what I wanted to do with mine. Meeting your expectations wasn’t on the radar.

That said, it would be wise for all folks to think about what the future holds for them. I can assure you that an obese childhood had a worse affect on my long-term health than most body modifications. I’d gladly trade any of the resulting problem for pointy ears.

lectroid

Am I the only one amused by the calls for unicorns immediately following a post of a would-be elf?

other note-

Lizardman- I don’t always agree with you, but I always enjoy reading your comments. You bring an uncommon and much needed perspective to the recurring body-mod debates.

Hooray for mostly reational conversation!

alphagirl

I don’t think this modification is any more “fictional” than most of the plastic surgery common these days (wrinkle-free middle age?). It seems like a pretty cool option for self expression, and if it was well meditated, I say go on with your elf self. Personally, I couldn’t even decide on a tattoo.

Also, seconded on the Instructable fail, not enough steps shown to qualify, methinks.

noen

Lucifer
I think it’s a wonderful idea for people to take themselves out of the game of life that way. It’s very empowering to disqualify yourself from such stuffy and boring careers that require one to go through a mildly selective process.

Ya know Lucifer, you sound like a businessman. Oh….

Manooshi

Ew. NOT hot at all.

This is just as sick and twisted as the clipping of dog ears and tails.

Ahh…. so lovely when mental illness becomes the ‘normative’ consensus ‘reality’.

Lauren O

I have a ring at the top of my right ear to give it a sort of pointy vibe without dropping the atom bomb of nerdy body-mods on myself.

But really, that is unimportant. The real reason I wanted to post on this entry was to give Landowner the Old Curmudgeon Award that’s been collecting dust at the back of my closet. Landowner, you are allowed to give an acceptance speech if you want, but its content must be limited to “Get off my lawn,” “Kids these days,” or similar.

Anonymous

Cutting and stitching of ears to create a point is a relatively crude way of achieving the pixie look, and the final ear can seem quite fake. I have seen far better results by Samppa von Cyborg, who actually peels away the skin and shapes the underlying cartilage before carefully trimming and folding the skin back over. The result is immediate pointy ears that look very realistic and I’m sure would pass muster at any white collar job interview, should the elfin human wish to take one.

One gory photoset is found here: http://www.cremaster.org.uk/galleries/psychocyborgs/psychocyborgs.htm

But there are more for bmezine members.

AGF

Manooshi – Clipping/pinning animal ears is entirely different because they can’t consent. Same as piercing baby ears. If a person choses to mod themselves they chose the pain and chose the risk.

Adaminvillani – I like weird mods more than boob jobs/botox because I don’t feel any pressure from them. Boob jobs/botox feel like – aging isn’t cool so you need to ‘do something’ about your looks. Or only large chested women are beautiful so go out and buy a D cup. Pointy ears feel like – ‘hey wouldn’t it be fun to . . .’ It feels like they come from a place of security rather than insecurity. ‘Hey I’m hot I bet pointy ears would look good’ – as opposed to – ‘I’m too old let’s zap my wrinkles.’ I also feel like botox and fake boobs are somewhat deceptive. I know tatoos and pointy ears are a modification. Maybe if botox turned you green I wouldn’t mind . . . In any case people have every right to do what they want to their own bodies. I don’t think someone is bad for doing any of them – but this is why I like pointy ears and don’t like fake boobs.

jsauter

Personally, I think it is pretty hot.

alphagirl

Oh, also, for those commenting about career options, firstly this seems easily hidden with hair, and secondly many corporate jobs are increasingly less uptight about appearance stuff that doesn’t matter. I work at a large tech firm and my boss’s boss (male) has large black tunnel-type plugs.

cubey

If it still looks good when the band-aids are off, then it’s hot. At least it matches her facial features. For others, it probably wouldn’t work at all. For example: I don’t think this would look good on Dick Cheney.

eustace

Oh, I disagree. I think Cheney’s look would be immensely improved by elf ears.

adamnvillani

The point is not that people should not be allowed to modify their bodies, the point is that there are many of us who think it’s a dumb/ugly/lame/ill-advised/etc. thing to do, and it’s just as much our right to criticize your decision as it is yours to make in the first place.

Permanent body mods like this seem like a way of pissing yourself off in the future. Not necessarily because you won’t be able to find a job or something (there are plenty of job options open these days to modified people) but just because I think it’s pretty likely that at some point in the future you’re going to wonder, “What the hell was I thinking?”

And furthermore, how many of you who are into body modification will criticize a woman who gets a boob job, botox, or face lift? It’s the same thing, just a different aesthetic.

GregLondon

OOOOWWWWW!!!!!!

ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

Shannon

Regarding long term consequences, as you can see from the article, and as is normally the case with this procedure, the end effect is quite subtle and most people wouldn’t notice it unless it’s pointed out… There are some people who take it further, with a larger fold, but this example is unlikely to be noticed by anyone that doesn’t have a very good idea of what the person’s ears used to look like.

I think most of the “gross” response is due to the freshness of the operation and the sutures, rather than the effect itself…

TheBuckett

So if people can be refused a job based on the fact they have a visible piercing or tattoo. I can refuse to hire someone based on the fact that they don’t have a visible tattoo or piercing.

I think it is fun, and glad I now only work in places that allow visible tattooing. Funner and happier coworkers it always seemed.

Evil Jim

Beats carving holes in them & sticking sewing machine bobbins inside.

Guysmiley

Now here is my honest gut reaction to seeing your comment: ‘Grow Up’

My honest reaction to your comment: Do the same.

joanna

A chestnut from Neil Gaiman:

“If teenage girls put on elf ears,” I said today, back in the VIP room, pondering the unfairness of it all, “no matter how gawky they think of themselves in real life, they become beautiful. Whereas if I put on elf ears, I would look like a dissipated Vulcan.”

And everyone looked at me and mentally sized me up for elf ears, and agreed.”

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2003/04/more-reflections-on-pointy-ears-and.asp

mdhatter

Not for me, but I’ll bet those ears are attached to one interesting person.

Kendra

I would’ve loved to see what it looks like when healed. It really might suit certain faces.

It is a pretty extreme mod — not your average eyebrow ring. I think that people should give it some real thought before diving in… but if it’s your cup of tea, go nuts.

MITTZNZ

Oh wait, it’s gnomes that go on lawns.

angryhippo

Job Interview: Pointy-ear person vs. non-pointy ear person

Place your bets.

brainologist

Dragonfrog (#12) is right on track: The pinna is critical for filtering sound: it helps create the “spectral notches” that allow sound to be localized in the vertical plane. By changing the shape of your pinna, you also likely change the frequencies that get attenuated in the spectral notches. I imagine this could lead to quite a bit of disorientation when it comes to sound localization.

Moreover, since the neural circuitry responsible for processing these spectral notches resides largely in the dorsal cochlear nucleus, a brain structure very early in the brainstem auditory pathway, it might be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to adapt to new spectral notch / spatial location correlations.

Maybe only an annoyance as long as you have your eyes to navigate too, but this could lead to serious navigational disabilities if you ever lost your eyesight and had to rely entirely on sound.

funeralpudding

#66: agreed. You have every right to modify yourself however you want. And I and the rest of society have the right to tell you what a friggin idiot you look like. You have the right to make yourself abnormal, we have the right not to hire you for jobs where you’ll be seen in public.

gretagretchen

Actually it turned out pretty awesome. I bet most people wouldn’t even notice it.

ThatOtherGirl

@LANDOWNER

Totally agree with you. Perhaps in 20 years these people will still be proud of their elf ears/tunnels/piercings/tattoos, but I doubt it. There’s not a single tattoo (something I considered) that I could’ve gotten at 20 that I’d still want today, and I know several people who are, at the very least, mildly regretful of their tattoos.

minTphresh

kendra, go to the story, it has some nice healed shots. i think she looks damn good. i am a big fan of redheads tho.

zuzu

And furthermore, how many of you who are into body modification will criticize a woman who gets a boob job, botox, or face lift? It’s the same thing, just a different aesthetic.

Wholly agreed on that last point. The botulism nerve toxin and temporary effect of botox treatments always seemed a bit too much like radium baths in my perception. But I’ve actively underscored in the body modification community that breast implants fall inside that umbrella just as much as brass knuckle chest implants do. I think this has been more accepted as people have recognized that there are some women who actively seek the large perky “fake” or “super tart” look (e.g. Pamela Anderson, Jordan) in juxtaposition to other women seeking to pass off a mild augmentation as “real” or “natural looking” (i.e. normative).

It’s a spectrum. Body modification / morphological freedom also extends into the transgender community.

As well as reproductive rights such as abortion and reprogenetics.

thegr8dv8

I get the distinct vibe that most of the people focusing on body-modification’s affect on career choice actually considered some type of modification (maybe just a simple tattoo), but then chcknd t s thy rlzd tht thr wrk ddn’t stnd t s mch s thr mdfctn wld, nd decided not to do it.

As a previous commenter said, most people I have met who are into body modification are either (not necessarily in this order):
A. Very creative and able to work outside the normal career paths;
B. Not interested in normal career paths; or
C. So good at what they do (whether it be corporate, technical or whatever) that the mods have no affect on their job prospects.

S, ll y wh pssd t n yr wn mds, bt y n-nm drn t yr jb nd r sly rplcbl wth ny thr ck-cttr mdl. T bd yr wrk sn’t gd ngh t stnd n ts wn.

Kristin

I’m so happy to see this sort of work still going on.

I was in contact with Haworth about ten years ago to get this procedure done but it fell though at the last minute due to financial reasons.

File this under something I still want to get done…

bobkat

@ #18 Tommy:

Yes, indeed, on all counts.

Elf ear mod: meh.

wylkyn

Fairies wear boots and you gotta believe meeeee…

I would like to think that this mod came out of a sense of whimsy, rather than just a perverse desire for attention. It does seem a bit extreme, and I have to wonder if there are going to be moments in her life when she no longer wants to look like an elf? Still, if it makes her happy…

Keneke

I love my Tolkien, but this is just too weird.

lewfr

Has anyone ever seen pig ears up close? Yipes!

toxonix

I don’t think pointy ears when I think elf-ish, elf-like or even ‘elven’. The eyes, the face and build have a lot more to do with it. That and being Not Ginger would help.

mellowknees

oh ye gods, would it have killed you to use a not-disgusting-post-op photo? there are people in the world who nearly faint when they see stuff like this…namely ME.

I have to admit, though, that I’m sure it would look really cool on the right person. I also agree with many folks here that such body mods might limit career choices. However, if you do this to yourself to look like an elf, you might already be pretty creative and be able to figure out how to make an honest living without having to have some corporate, button down type job.

And, you know, you could always change your outfit, call yourself Vulcan and probably get a job in pretty much any computer company with ears like that.

Anonymous

Hello. I am the girl with the ear modification.

I was very well aware of the criticism (and praise) that would be directed at me for getting this surgery. If I truly lost sleep over people’s negative opinions, I would never have got it done. This was done for myself and myself alone.

For the record, the ears healed quite nicely and have a lovely, subtle point. Russ Foxx did the mod and is a good friend of mine- google his name check out his other work!

Speaking of work, I have had NO issues with employment before, or after the surgery. I work in childcare and as a CBI for autistic individuals. I have a resume spanning 12 years in the field and my employers all encouraged my modification- not to mention the kids love it! The mod is subtle and often goes unnoticed for quite some time and many people just assume I was born with it. In the future I am opening up my own community daycare and shall be my own boss. However, as previously stated gaining employment since the surgery has not been an issue.

I have set for myself solid career foundations and I was so sure that the modification was not going to interfere and I have been right. I am an exceptionally lucky, happy individual, living the life I love! The mod has not put any limitations on being able to live a happy, healthy and very fulfilling life! I love it!

zuzu

The Politics of Morphological Freedom by Dale Carrico

Morphological Freedom — Why We not just Want it, but Need it by Anders Sandberg

c.f. Cyborg theory by Donna Haraway

Anonymous

id rather have vampire fangs and red eyes…..that or like the elf ears echidna has from queen’s blade

alowishus

Wow, they really did heal up quite well, didn’t they? The human body is amazing.

Anyway, aesthetic body modding is all good, but I’m waiting for functional body mods. You know, memory implants, retractable claws, electromagnetic field generators, a third arm.

Mister N

ewww..eww…eww…eww…… it needs a picture of the after the whole operation thing to create some sort of balance….eww….ew…ew..

zuzu

I’m not sure what you think grown-ups do, but I can tell you it’s not modifying your body to make yourself look more fictional.

Clearly you’ve never worked in an adult industry.

The Lizardman

@11 Actually heavy modification is an adult (at least in the legal sense) activity in most of the western world and the average age for surgical procedures beyond tattoos and piercings is easily late twenties or beyond. Body modification is what grown ups do and for people on the cusp of adulthood part of its appeal often lies in it being a statement of controlling one’s own self as oppposed to being ruled by parents and other authority figures from childhood

As for the multitude of all too familar and many times over dispelled job comments – most of you should be so lucky to be as secure and happy with your careers as myself and other successfull heavily modified people.

@25 I told the original commentor to ‘grow up’ for saying gross because that is what I see kids do when they see something they don’t understand and don’t like because they don’t have any insightful criticism or rationale for their disapproval. If you don’t like ear pointing thats fine but just saying ‘gross’ adds nothing

Pipenta

Who first decided that elves had pointy ears? Where did that come from, legend, literature, where?

I’d rather have cat ears, but only if they were as fabulous and delicate as a real cat’s. If I could flip them around like cat radar to hear everything and put them back against my skull to express my displeasure.

Oh, and I’d want the retractable steel claws too, right out of “The Female Man.”

But, alas, I think it will be a while before such modifications are possible.

Zuzu,

Thank you for sharing your story.

slywy

I have a natural ear point on one side.

Personally, I see no need to “improve” on Nature, whether it comes to body modifications or plastic surgery (most seem to turn out not all that well). I’m not sure I understand the psychology of either but then it doesn’t matter as I don’t share it.

monstrinho_do_biscoito

i always wondered if you could put a piece of wire in you ear aong the top edge and then be able to bend and style them at will. it seems, with my ears at least, that there’s a space between the skin and the cartiledge at the topn just ripe for this purpose.

Lindsay Beyerstein

If you expect to compete in the US’s anomalous “at will” labor market, body mods are just one more freedom/pleasure that our society will expect you to forgo in the increasingly dubious hope of feeding your family.

If you’ve got extra energy, what would be a better use of your time? a) Admonishing people about how their ears will kill their job propects. b) Doing something to your boss’s right to can you for any reason, regardless of how well you do your job?

Wouldn’t we all like to live in a society where discrimination applies to all the irrelevant caprices of our bosses–from ear shape to tattoos to blogging to gender to disability to race…

Wouldn’t it be nice if bosses couldn’t fire us unless we actually screwed up?

Anonymous

that looks VERY painful. I just shudder when i see it but the end result doesnt look bad but would I never in a billion years do that.

The Morgan

Surprise! Stitched together pieces of meat look gross! Shocker!

The end result is far better than the in-progress picture lead me to expect. Quite beautiful, in fact.

(Not usually a fan of body mods, but I am a fan of people being able to do what they like.)

nosarembo

Newslady #1 > “Can’t ppl just be happy with what they have?”
Newslady #2 > “Apparently not!”

Hokay, please ditch your makeup and hair dye then.

Gregory Bloom

Mods are used to announce tribal affiliation / disaffiliation. To the extent that the corporate tribe maintains affiliation markings that exclude mods, people with mods will have trouble fitting in and are more likely to be passed over in hiring and promotion. This will continue until mods are so prevalent that the corporate tribe ends up interviewing none but modded people for most positions. At that point, though, mods will have lost their original power to mark one’s affiliation and will become somewhat socially meaningless.

Though the elf ears look lame to me, I think they look better than most of the blurry, simplistic cartoons that pass for ‘body art’.

FourFiveFire

Well, hey, there’s a guy employed at Pixar who has synthetic horns under the skin in his back, and I’ll be willing to bet he makes bank. So…go out and mod thyselves, good people!

Takuan

and a vanilla body means they can’t ID you unless they already have your retina,prints etc. on file.

zuvembi

You know I’m not disgusted by it, and I’m not going to make comments like “You’ll never get a job hippy!”. But I’d just like to say I don’t think it looks that good. I’ve seen some interesting/nice looking body mods. I just don’t really think this is one of those.

Also, their presentation skills could be a lot better. They really need some before/after shots and some better sequencing.

Anonymous

I’m not big on body modifications, and when I saw this one I was momentarily taken aback – stitches don’t look good. Then after a second something went “click” inside me and I realized that she is dynamite. Ears aren’t particularly attractive, except hers, and she is gorgeous with them. I’m just going to sit here and melt.

Faceless

Tht’s th prblm #69, bdy mddrs r ntrsly brng ppl – why ls wld thy nd t g thrgh sch drstc chngs t gt ttntn?

DogStarMan

feckin’ mehtarded.

Tommy

Wow! From where does all the animosity towards body mod folks come? Honestly, cops tasering folks to death gets less.

The closest thing I have to a tattoo is a mark on my leg where Jimbo Johnson stabbed me with a pencil in high school, but I just can’t seem to build up this sense of outrage over other people wanting to mod themselves.

Lizardman’s jsut defending himself. Why are others attacking? What the hell is your problem, folks?

ill lich

Wait . . . red hair, freckles. . . it’s not an “elf mod”, it’s a “leprechaun mod!”

Lobster

Look, uh… I don’t have a problem with people who might do it to themselves. I personally would never do it to MYself and I think it’s kinda stupid but hey, if that’s their thing then more power to them.

What I do object to is calling this a “Do It Yourself.” Call it “lifehacking,” call it “body modification,” whatever, this is a surgical procedure. I would not ever advocate performing surgery on oneself. It’s too easy to screw it up, too easy to get infection, just plain too DANGEROUS.

Antinous

â˜º If this changes your hearing, why isn’t my hearing any different after having my ears pinned back? Most mammals have pointy ears. It seems to work out okay for them. That is an argument of desperation.

â˜º This wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in San Francisco. Or LA. Or many cities around the world. Do we still make our hiring decisions based on the 1973 Soviet Uzbekistan Manager’s Handbook? Outside of rural areas, which are not exactly teeming with job opportunities, nobody cares.

zuzu

If you expect to compete in the US’s anomalous “at will” labor market … Wouldn’t it be nice if bosses couldn’t fire us unless we actually screwed up?

No, that’s called slavery. You have the right to quit working at any time, and they have the right to quit paying at any time. Anything else is a forced exchange.

How this balances out in a marketplace is that companies that don’t hire/fire based on merit will be out-competed by ones that do, because (initially) the ones that hire the “funny looking” people will be able to do so at a discount.

Robert

After looking at that photo, my ears hurt now.

wangleberry

um scissors?

zuzu

This wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in San Francisco. Or LA. Or many cities around the world. Do we still make our hiring decisions based on the 1973 Soviet Uzbekistan Manager’s Handbook? Outside of rural areas, which are not exactly teeming with job opportunities, nobody cares.

Exactly.

The Rise of the Mega-Region by Richard Florida

Digital Artz

To # 14,then is that Peter Pan?

Jamie Sue

This mod turned out really pretty. I don’t think it will impede her ability to get a job (who looks at ears when they hire? If she’s worried about it she can wear her hair down.) and it flatters her face. I would love something like this, but don’t have the face to carry it off.

Strophe

Is it wrong or is it right? Is it gross or is it awesome? Only Comment Threads Know For Sure!

Join us on The Internet: Where You Can Argue About Things You Didn’t Realize You Cared About, Until You Saw Them On BoingBoing.

:)

Bender

That is… Illogical (with raised eyebrow).

Lindsay Beyerstein

Right, zuzu. If your boss can’t fire you at random, your boss is a slave just like on the plantations of the antebellum south.

You’re a credit to the libertarian cause.

Justavoice

What kind of fairy dust was she sniffing?

Meowlin

@#64

“I don’t think this would look good on Dick Cheney.”

Agreed. More like Ferengi ears for Dick Sidious.

Warren Christopher, however… they’d look pretty cool on him.

\”/

Kay the Complainer

My first reaction:

EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW gross.

My second reaction:

Hmm.

My third reaction:

Where do I sign up?

zuzu

Right, zuzu. If your boss can’t fire you at random, your boss is a slave just like on the plantations of the antebellum south. You’re a credit to the libertarian cause.

Ok, what do you call a job you can’t quit? If you have to keep paying someone, that’s effectively the same thing.

Would you advocate forbidding being able to quit a job without providing some arbitrarily “sufficient” reason?

Antinous

I would just like to point out that ear cartilage doesn’t always hold up that well to intervention. My right ear is mostly held on by skin at this point. You have been warned.

Perilous

This is awesome. I would totally do this.

justONEguy

Um… eeew.

ill lich

#25 SHANNON : “the end effect is quite subtle and most people wouldn’t notice it unless it’s pointed out”– (italics mine) = PUN of the day!!

All I want to know is:

1. “How does it affect hearing?”

and

2. “What’s this she-elf’s phone number, and does she date ogres?”

cajunfj40

NORA ROCKET @#81:
3. You can’t tell me what to do with my fucking personal meatbag.

I think that’s the coolest phrasing of “It’s my body” that I’ve ever read.

@comment thread:

Personally, I don’t think her pointed ears fall very far outside whatever is considered “normal morphological variation” for human ears. They haven’t been made longer, for example, so they remain proportional to the rest of her face.

Were I to meet her in a context that invited casual conversation, I’d probably want to talk to her. If the context did not invite casual conversation, I’d hope my curiosity wouldn’t manifest in staring, though I’m sure she’d notice me noticing!

se7a7n7

File this under ideas that seemed good at the time.

How to give yourself elf ears

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