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Latest Piercing Rage: Tongue Splitting

Posted on 05/19/2003 5:15:14 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford

Latest Piercing Rage: Tongue Splitting It's called tongue splitting and involves slicing the tongue right down the middle to create a forked look. Those who do it, call it body modification. Many others call it body mutilation.

Either way, it's not for the squeamish.

Why would anyone split his or her tongue? The Associated Press interviewed several people who did it, and there were three reasons typically cited:

The shock value is enormous. Some actually find the experience spiritual. They just like the way it looks and feels. While tongue splitting is edging up in popularity, it's still relatively uncommon. By some counts, about 2,000 people worldwide have done it, but curiosity is growing fast.

AP interviewed 19-year-old James Keen, pictured above, and asked him why he did this. "When I first saw it, I thought tongue-splitting was the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life," he said. When he couldn't find a surgeon to do the deed, he enlisted a body piercer from his hometown, Scottsville, Kentucky. The cost? $500 with no anesthetic. "People are very curious about how it feels." Keen says he can move both sides of his tongue independently of the other.

What are the side effects? Infection from bacteria in the mouth is quite possible. In addition, tongue splitting almost always forces people to learn to speak all over again and typically causes a lisp that may not ever go away.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers are so outraged by the procedure they are using the power of their office to make it illegal. One such person is Illinois state Rep. David Miller from Chicago's south suburbs who has authored a bill that requires tongue-splitting to be performed only for medical reasons and only by a doctor or dentist. AP reports that the bill passed nearly unanimously in the Illinois House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. Miller is fully aware of individual rights and personal freedom, but he told AP, "But I'm not sure the people getting this done understand the risks. We're choosing safety over cosmetics." Those who oppose the bill say it will only force people who want the procedure to go underground and that could mean unsafe conditions.

In addition to lawmakers' efforts to stop the trend before it really takes off, several branches of the armed services have banned the practice. The Air Force gave one young airman a choice: Get his tongue sewn back together or be kicked out the Air Force.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: tongue
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To: sine_nomine
Hey, people are always telling me to keep my mouth shut. This might help.

Just kidding.
21 posted on 05/19/2003 5:28:45 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (There are two kinds of people in the world: Idiots, and those who take advantage of them.)
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To: Cathryn Crawford
Why not? Come on! I think it'll be so attractive!

I'll tell ya what Bill Bennett would tell ya: "I'll bet you won't!"

22 posted on 05/19/2003 5:29:06 PM PDT by Scenic Sounds
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To: Cathryn Crawford
More evidence that we are witnessing the end of western civilization…....
23 posted on 05/19/2003 5:30:23 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
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To: Scenic Sounds
Touche! You just know I can't resist a dare.

Somehow, I'll resist this challenge. Ol' Bill will actually win this one.
24 posted on 05/19/2003 5:30:28 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (There are two kinds of people in the world: Idiots, and those who take advantage of them.)
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To: Cathryn Crawford
Where is the picture?
25 posted on 05/19/2003 5:31:02 PM PDT by ItisaReligionofPeace ((the original))
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To: Cathryn Crawford
His brains are all in his tongue. Er, tongues. Er, tongths.
26 posted on 05/19/2003 5:31:08 PM PDT by JennysCool
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To: Sub-Driver
I just can't wait till they start actually cutting off the tongues of some of these people! Then we'll know that Western civilization is rising again.
27 posted on 05/19/2003 5:31:32 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (There are two kinds of people in the world: Idiots, and those who take advantage of them.)
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To: ItisaReligionofPeace
Check out the second post. If you have a strong stomach.
28 posted on 05/19/2003 5:32:01 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (There are two kinds of people in the world: Idiots, and those who take advantage of them.)
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To: Sub-Driver
Those who've never experienced evil....

Why not just get it cut out? Or how about replacing your skull with plexiglass? Think of the shock value in that!

29 posted on 05/19/2003 5:35:35 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: nunya bidness; bayou_billy; Sir Gawain; geedee
Check out this thread.
30 posted on 05/19/2003 5:36:10 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford
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To: JennysCool
Sheesh! Some peoples kids!!
31 posted on 05/19/2003 5:36:24 PM PDT by mylife
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To: Cathryn Crawford
It won't be long before they will demand that Medicare pay for the procedure. And if it proves unwanted, painful or life-threatening in the long run, they will demand federal dollars for research to correct the condition -- with many touching sob stories.

I bet they even come up with their own color ribbon.
32 posted on 05/19/2003 5:38:19 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (Fighting for Freedom and Having Fun)
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To: Cathryn Crawford
Youth peopleth donth appricateth bodyth arth.
33 posted on 05/19/2003 5:40:44 PM PDT by Blue Screen of Death
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To: ElkGroveDan
They'll probably have a name for the psychological reprecussions...like, maybe, tongue-splitting self esteem depreciation. What do you think?
34 posted on 05/19/2003 5:41:23 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Kill all the lawyers - except for mine.)
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To: Paul Atreides
I think that a some people see native cultures doing stuff like this and think that they must do it in order to be cool.

Stretch out ear lobes, yes. Stretch out lips, sure. Poke bone through nose, why not? But no native culture that I know of is stupid enough to voluntarily split their tongues. (Save the americanis weirdis)

There is one that does it as a punishment for liars I think, or they cut the tongue out. One or the other.

35 posted on 05/19/2003 5:41:23 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Never hand someone a gun unless you're sure where they'll point it.)
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To: Blue Screen of Death
Slither!
36 posted on 05/19/2003 5:41:59 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Kill all the lawyers - except for mine.)
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To: Cathryn Crawford
I hear the Democrats are all for this. It gives new meaning to the Indian term "speaking with a forked tongue".
37 posted on 05/19/2003 5:43:21 PM PDT by caisson71
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To: caisson71
We should make it mandatory for all ultra-liberals. Oh, and Hillary, too.
38 posted on 05/19/2003 5:44:24 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Kill all the lawyers - except for mine.)
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To: Cathryn Crawford
New meaning to "speak with forked tongue"
39 posted on 05/19/2003 5:45:55 PM PDT by CGASMIA68
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To: Cathryn Crawford
Some actually find the experience spiritual.

Yeah, the ones who worship Satan.

40 posted on 05/19/2003 5:46:22 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (Never forget: CLINTON PARDONED TERRORISTS)
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