Guest MrRant Report post Posted June 21, 2003 By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - Despite the bone through his nose, his shaved head and pierced face, the 25-year-old pacing a seedy stretch of New York sidewalk admitted he was terrified of what he was about to do. But after a few minutes, a couple cigarettes and several deep breaths, he sat in the basement of a storefront tattoo parlor, closed his eyes and let a friend split his tongue down the middle with a scalpel. The latest trend among teens and 20-somethings who indulge in so-called extreme body modification, forking one's tongue like a serpent's "is an art form," said T.J. McGillis, who offers the service for a $250 charge. "Everybody wants to get it done. It could be the next mainstream thing aside from piercing," he said. That may be an exaggeration. The number of people with split tongues is estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 people by the editor of a Web-based magazine devoted to body modification, but the trend is attracting enough attention that a few U.S. state legislatures have moved to ban the procedure. Ian, the young man with the bone through his nose who did not want to reveal his last name, opted for tongue splitting after earlier adventures left him with huge rings in his ears, silver barbells piercing his face, myriad tattoos and who-knows-what-else under his baggy shirt and pants. "I like the way it looks," he said, listing his reasons. "Two, I think it will be more fun during oral sex and the girls will get a kick out of it. Three, everyone and their mother has their tongue pierced and four, I'm an idiot." FRESHLY CUT MEAT The process is nothing short of gory. In Ian's case, his tongue was clamped in place, numbed and slit 2 inches up the middle, looking uncomfortably like a piece of raw liver freshly cut by a butcher. Other methods entail tying increasingly tighter pieces of thread through a pierced hole or cutting with a laser. Blood gushed out of Ian's mouth and over the silver barbell in his lip for a few minutes, then abated with several doses of mouthwash. "Go home and pull it apart," McGillis ordered him, suggesting a regimen of separating the two halves each morning and night to prevent reattachment. After splitting his tongue, Emrys Yetz, 20, said it wasn't long before he could move each half independently and do party tricks like picking up pens and pencils. "It's done to better yourself," he said, opening his mouth to wiggle each half like a snail waving its antennae. Yetz argues tongue splitting is no different than a far more socially acceptable face lift or breast enhancement. The only downside, he said, is eating ice cream, since it's harder to make a scoop of your tongue when it's split in two. NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES... Not surprisingly, doctors say there are more downsides to tongue-splitting than dripping ice cream. "There's the potential for life-threatening hemorrhage and the potential for life-threatening infection," said Dr. Lee Pollan, an oral surgeon based in Rochester, New York. If that's not enough, he added, tongue-splitting can damage speech and taste and cause permanent numbness. And reattaching a split tongue can be a complex process of reconstructive surgery and skin grafts, he added. Dire warnings notwithstanding, tongue splitting is kids being kids, said psychology professor Stephen Franzoi at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who specializes in issues of physical attractiveness and body esteem. It's a form of self-expression, alienation, rejecting mainstream culture and asserting independence, he said. Comparing tongue splitters to young people wearing long hair and ragged jeans in the 1960s, he said: "This is the same psychological process, albeit more extreme. "We encourage kids to be independent and express themselves and find their own personal identity," he said. "Every generation has a different way to find themselves in our culture. Some of them are more extreme than others." After splitting his tongue, Ian made plans to pierce each tip, even as one waiting friend dampened his hope that the girls would love it. "I think it's gross. It creeps me out," said hairdresser Jill Johnson. "I've dated guys with tattoos all over. I've seen it all, but that's too much for me. Imagine when you're 60 years old and you have your tongue like that." But for believers in modification, a split tongue is merely a start. Split penises, sliced lengthwise in half, are not unheard of among aficionados. --------------------------------- I would like to point out this paragraph... in bold, italics and freaking in large goddamn letters so you get the point. But for believers in modification, a split tongue is merely a start. Split penises, sliced lengthwise in half, are not unheard of among aficionados. WTF? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vyce Report post Posted June 21, 2003 This ain't nothing. I saw an article in Bizarre magazine a couple years back about a craze amongst the neo-primitive extreme body fetishists to cut their pinkies in half, Yakuza-style. I'm sort of with you, Rant. Personally, getting a tattoo is pretty much the limit to the amount of body mutilation I'm willing to perform. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I hope their penis's become infected and fall off.Fucking idiots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dangerous A Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I guess I too am not "cool". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest treble charged Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Didn't some guy that was on Dog Eat Dog last week have this done? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rendclaw 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Thank god I never had a desire to be "cool" or "extreme". I'll settle for being Joe Average, thank you very much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest AlwaysPissedOff Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Good GOD... I feel sick to my stomach after reading that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Metal Maniac Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Well, one good thing can be said for the guy... and four, I'm an idiot At least he's honest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted June 21, 2003 The sad thing? I'm lumped with this guy as a representive of my generation... God...Our future is fucked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jobber of the Week Report post Posted June 21, 2003 GODDAMNIT! I so didn't need to know about this shit! I comfort you all with this knowledge: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smell the ratings!!! Report post Posted June 21, 2003 So if you can control both halves of your tounge, can you control both halfs of your dick? Cause if you're going for party tricks the tounge would be kiddy shit. Just in case anyone does not appreciate sarcasm, PLEASE DO NOT CUT YOUR PENIS IN HALF. thank you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sandman9000 Report post Posted June 21, 2003 ::Looks up with a panicked look and a bloody knife in hand:: Don't? ::Looks down and gulps:: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I've been considering getting a sixth vestigial finger sewn onto each hand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest kkktookmybabyaway Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Rant, have you seen pictures of these snake tongues? Blech. Let 'em slice up their privates -- just means one less idiot able to breed... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted June 21, 2003 oh, I don't know about "blech" If I saw a girl with this done, I'd probably fall in love. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tyler McClelland Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I'll feel really bad for them when it goes back out of style. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest kkktookmybabyaway Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I won't. I'll laugh... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tyler McClelland Report post Posted June 21, 2003 ...yeah, so will I, actually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SP-1 Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I'm not sure whether I should laugh or feel sorry for these idiots. That's not self expression, it's a cry for attention. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted June 21, 2003 I can't even bear to look down at my guy and go "CUT YOU HALF? WHY?" Me thinks it's 4-5 inch repressed losers doing the splitting deal...just to feel like "I got two cocks"... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ace309 Report post Posted June 21, 2003 JESUS FUCKING CHRIST SPLIT MY TONGUE AND/OR PENIS?! WTF. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Satanico Report post Posted June 21, 2003 bunch of band wagoneers...get some creativity and stop following us that are leaders. :flicks forked tongue at flyboy: Would you care for an apple Aaadaaam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Geez...whatever happened to just shaving parts of your head? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted June 21, 2003 Can you go any more "Xtreme" them spliting your penis? what's the next level of stupid kids trying to be "expressive"? Taking out their Eyeballs and putting Oranges in them? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jobber of the Week Report post Posted June 22, 2003 Can you go any more "Xtreme" them spliting your penis? JESUS GOD MY BRAIN IS ON FIRE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest KanadianKrusty Report post Posted June 22, 2003 Now wait a second, some guy split his dick in half... I'm sorry, but that's just too much for my brain to handle, nevermind understand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MrRant Report post Posted June 22, 2003 How do you pee?!?! How do you pee?!?! Think of the mess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Bannable Offense Report post Posted June 22, 2003 I can figure somebody justifying it by saying to themselves, "Well, I got it circumsized..." but dammit at least circumcisions actually have some functionality. I'll take a steel toed boot to my member before the surgical scapel 10 times out of 10, thank you very much. Fuck trendiness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted June 22, 2003 I've always thought things like split tongues -- and the other silly modifications people get to try and look like lizards and such -- are exceedingly stupid and repulsive. I guess I'll just have to be uncool with my single earring and two tattoos. There's a difference between "being an individual" and being an enormous fuckhead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tyler McClelland Report post Posted June 22, 2003 But you still conformed enough to get the earring? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
