Fashions in Bio modification

[Astromancer]

What it says on the tin. Given the ease of relatively profound modifications, some people would get fashionable bio mods. We've been told in cannon that fashionable couples take turns being pregnant. So changes that we would see as profound are a simple matter of fashion in this world.

So what fashions would you put in the setting? What minor fashions and what avant guard insanity fashions?

Myself, from both my reading of the setting and certain trends among the deeply fashionable, I think many people would become androgynes to some level or other. Having it be no biggie for a guy to be pregnant (it's a running gag in the books) strongly supports this.

[Astromancer]

Given that cosmetic viruses in the setting can freely change skin, hair, or eye color, on a whim, and unlike tattoos, can be changed just as freely, I expect that games with color would be common. Humans don't have the kind of skin color patterns some reptiles and mammals do. For example the stripes on tigers are on their skin as well as their fur. I could see patterns like tiger or zebra stripes becoming fashionable. If someone reads Parfazal, then they'll become aware of his brother who is marked like a magpie (the medieval German author was unaware of what the child of a European and an African might look like).

Given the weirdness of the setting, hypertrichosis could be fashionable. We have furries now. Picture what happens when they can have fur for real. Some will even modify parts of their bodies to fit their chosen animal. A "satyr" might grow horns and swap his feet for hooves. A tiger might get fangs and swap out his eyes for eyes with slits like a cat. As any of it can be reversed, few would really care.

[whswhs]

There used to be a fellow in the San Diego area who had had himself modified to have a catlike appearance; for example, he had prosthetic vibrissae. I used to see him at conventions. I don't know where he would have gotten the work done, as I would think surgeons in California would get in trouble professionally for such procedures. But it seems that at least prosthetic versions are available already.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by whswhs

There used to be a fellow in the San Diego area who had had himself modified to have a catlike appearance; for example, he had prosthetic vibrissae. I used to see him at conventions. I don't know where he would have gotten the work done, as I would think surgeons in California would get in trouble professionally for such procedures. But it seems that at least prosthetic versions are available already.

Agreed. And what an extreme few do today, people in Transhuman Space ( where it's all as fully reversible as a dye job) would do for kicks.

[Shostak]

If I recall correctly, one of the main characters in Alasdair Reynolds's Chasm City sports zebra stripes early in the book and then abandons them. And I'm pretty sure that one of the Ultras in his Revelation Space has a cosmetic hole in their chest.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Shostak

If I recall correctly, one of the main characters in Alasdair Reynolds's Chasm City sports zebra stripes early in the book and then abandons them. And I'm pretty sure that one of the Ultras in his Revelation Space has a cosmetic hole in their chest.

The chest hole is a perfect example of a fashionable look that is physically bad for you. I remember a Sci Fi novel were the lead character had his eyes modified to see deep into the infrared and ultraviolet. The new wavelengths simply confuse the visual centers of his brain and make the world look like a crude attempt at an impressionist painting. He switched back to his normal vision. There were characters in the book who went temporarily blind because they burned out their retinas with fashionable attempts at Super Vision.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The chest hole is a perfect example of a fashionable look that is physically bad for you.

Self-harm doesn’t seem to have been much of a deterrent for all sort of fashions historically or in today’s world, so I doubt that would be a concern in the future. Perhaps the cavalier attitude toward the possible detrimental effect is part of what makes a fashion appealing.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Shostak

Self-harm doesn’t seem to have been much of a deterrent for all sort of fashions historically or in today’s world, so I doubt that would be a concern in the future. Perhaps the cavalier attitude toward the possible detrimental effect is part of what makes a fashion appealing.

There's always the peacock tail theory, where the ability to carry around something so awkward and conspicuous and survive shows what a stud you are.

[Shostak]

Here’s an idea that stems from an amusing conversation I took part in back in art school: what if the appeal of symmetry lost? That would likely produce a culture in which body builders specialized in just one arm for instance, producing people who had a resemblance to fiddler crabs.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Shostak

Here’s an idea that stems from an amusing conversation I took part in back in art school: what if the appeal of symmetry lost? That would likely produce a culture in which body builders specialized in just one arm for instance, producing people who had a resemblance to fiddler crabs.

In Larry Niven's "Know Space" sequence, there were whole schools of art devoted to asymmetry. There were fashionistas of many sexes who had asymptomatic beards. You needed to be very careful how you commented on their look.

The book " The Unfashionable Human Body" would probably fascinate you and Bill. When you aren't wincing in pain.