Human Skin Branding

Many people would view human skin branding as a very callous and barbaric act that should just better be left in the primitive era. Ages ago, human branding was part of the European people’s culture, a way of life as dictated by the society. During the time where human rights are virtually nonexistent, is a popular dehumanizing treatment for slaves. They are practically treated like livestocks that can be sold and abused by masters who own them. The Greeks have branded their slaves with the delta sign, while runaway slaves were marked with the letter F, for fugitive by Romans.

Human skin branding was also prevalently used as a form of physical punishment for criminal offenders. With the aid of a hot iron, a permanent mark is made by burning the skin that would result to a visible scar usually on the forehead of a person. The burn is not only painful it is also an effective tool for public humiliation, a mark that an offender will carry for the rest of their lives, along with the social stigma that comes with it. However, for offenders and prisoners who have high ranks in the society, the cold branding was used instead of the hot iron. This inflicted a lesser degree of pain but still capable of making a permanent mark.

It might be surprising for some people to know that human skin branding still persists even until today, albeit voluntarily rather than a form of punishment. This is usually done under extreme social pressure, and as a form of test or a rite of passage. Some gangs and fraternities use human skin branding to test their member’s mettle and also as a mark of exclusivity and membership a certain group. It was even reported in BBC news that even US president George W. Bush, while he was the presiding officer of the Delta Kappa Epsilon introduced the branding on buttocks. This later became a very popular practice among many youths from affluent families who attend school in an Ivy League College.

There are also some people in organized crime syndicates who use human skin branding to mark the number of crimes they have committed. A few unique and creative people who have no qualms of voluntarily branding themselves are part of the body decoration, much like tattoos. A fraction of sadomasochistic people in the society who use human skin branding to mutilate their body and actually find some enjoyment in inflicting physical pain.

It would seem that branding on human skin became a persistently prevailing practice even in modern times. Whether it is an extreme act of self-expression or for any other reason, it still doesn’t discount the fact that it is highly inhuman and cruel.