Scars That Bring Pride Instead of Shame

Still another clue in search of the elusive self image was
the fact that not all scars or disfigurements bring shame
and humiliation. When I was a young medical student in
Germany, I saw many another student proudly wearing
his "saber scar" much as an American might wear the
Medal of Honor. The duelists were the elite of college
society and a facial scar was the badge that proved you a
member in good standing. To these boys, the acquisition
of a horrible scar on the cheek had the same psychologic
effect as the eradication of the scar from the cheek of my
salesman patient. In old New Orleans a Creole wore an
eye patch in much the same way. I began to see that a
knife itself held no magical powers. It could be used on
one person to inflict a scar and on another to erase a scar,
with the same psychological results.