Anthropologist Robert Brain examines the universal human need to transform the body. One of his principal aims is to diminish the traditional gap between how “primitive” and “civilized’” body art is understood; our need to express group belonging or rebellion through hair style, clothing, and cosmetics is as urgent as that of the Senegalese, who stretch their children’s skulls in infancy to ensure their beauty as adults.
This book not only wanders through the social, ritual, sexual, and symbolic roots of body decoration in cultures around the world, it cajoles you into experiencing the power and mystery of the primary human language — that of the body.
Well illustrated with great photos. — Jeanne Carstensen
