Editing Status symbol (section)

== Body modifications ==
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Nuku Hiva Warrior1.jpg|thumb|Warrior tattoos]]
The condition and appearance of one's body can be a status symbol. In times past, when most workers did physical labor outdoors under the sun and often had little food, being pale and fat was a status symbol, indicating wealth and prosperity (through having more than enough food and not having to do manual labor). Now that workers usually do less-physical work indoors and find little time for exercise, being tanned and thin is often a status symbol in modern cultures.

[[Dieting]] to reduce excess body fat is widely practiced in Western society, while some traditional societies still value [[obesity]] as a sign of prosperity. Development of [[muscle]]s through [[exercise]], previously disdained as a stigma of doing heavy [[manual labor]], is now valued as a sign of personal achievement. Some groups, such as extreme [[bodybuilder]]s and [[sumo wrestler]]s use special exercise and diet to "bulk up" into an impressive appearance.

Ancient Central American [[Maya society|Maya]] cultures artificially induced [[strabismus|crosseyedness]] and [[head binding|flattened the foreheads]] of high-born infants as a permanent, lifetime sign of noble status.<ref name=Mayan>{{cite web|title=Maya Culture|url=http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_culture.htm|work=Guatemala: Cradle of the Mayan Civilization|publisher=authenticmaya.com|access-date=2012-04-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507011502/http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_culture.htm|archive-date=2012-05-07}}</ref> The Mayans also [[tooth filing|filed their teeth to sharp points]] to look fierce, or inset [[precious stone]]s into their teeth as decoration.<ref name="Mayan" />