As a social presentation of the body, the act of displaying the body in a conscious and voluntary way in relation to a situation of social interaction we understand by means of all that is done in it and all that is done with it. Among other aspects, this has to do with clothing, adornment and body modification. From the anthropological viewpoint, there are different theoretical approaches concerning the body, which are essential in order to understand its social presentation. The following three are fundamental :1. The body as a source of representation, that is, the body as a text that can be read and interpreted. 2. The body as a product of representation. This concerns the Foucaultian perspective of considering the human body as a tool of domestication and discipline, of identification but also of resistance.3. The body as the basis of “being in the world”. In this view, the body is not considered as an object or as just a product of a social order, but rather as subject to sensations and experiences, as a source of subjectivity.In my presentation, I will illustrate and discuss these different but complementary approaches, mainly based on empirical data concerning body modification gathered in fieldwork that I carried out in Equatorial Guinea.