A Paper On Tattoo Culture

The earliest information shows Native American tattoos have many functions, like communication and identification. The tattoo’s extent indicated the individual’s social class and military achievement. From the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some ethnological studies declare a alteration toward impermanent face painting to end the symbolic role formerly indirected by tattoos. “During this time the formerly tattooed Yuchi, Creek, and Chickasaw used face painting to communicate membership in towns and societies.” However, after the mid-twentieth century, most traditional tattoo decoration and theirs meaning had been lost. Until the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, especially the cultural movements of the 1960s and 1970s, people restart to search their lost tradition, including

She further perpetuates this notion through her statement that “those…were an indication of control”, and “a sign that the bearer has a value that hovered somewhere between property and machine” As such, Day conveys that tattoos debased humans as inanimate objects, capable of no humanity and thought, and hence the reader may be incited to view such tattoos as offensive due to their historical meanings, complementing her contention that tattoos originally had more “power” and significance in the past.

“On Teenagers and Tattoos” is an informational article, written by Andres Martin, which discusses the reasons and psychology behind the rising popularity of tattoos amongst adolescents. Martin (2000) starts by identifying the simple reason of causation concerning the spike, stating that “tattoos and piercing can offer a concrete and readily available solution for many of the identity crises and conflicts normative to adolescent development” (p.143). Martin then details the strenuous nature of adolescence, and shows that tattoos have more of a symbolic meaning than just a skull, and provides 2 examples of such cases. Afterward, Martin explains in further detail,

Tattoos are a source of self-expression, and there are countless of ideas that one can forever ink on their body. There are people whose life story is captured and told by the inking that scatters their physique, yet there are others who believe this is a representation of a bad character. When I began digging, I knew that starting off with an individual's clashing experience with their tattoo would be

Traditionally, tattoos were meant for sailors, soldiers, bikers and gangs. Along with several changes in the industrialized and technological society of the twenty-first century, the standard for getting body modifications have altered as well. Everyday, people are willing to get permanently marked as an individual choice rather than the customarily perception of belonging to a certain group. Tattoo and piercing shops are not seen as “the backstreet” of the commercial civilization today, it is somewhat an expected sight in all public places. Josie Appleton in “The Body

On the most basic level, tattoos acted as a badge of social and cultural differentiation that separated the tattooed from the non-tattooed. On a deeper level, however, social and cultural homogeneity did not unite the tattooed, for the subject matter and aesthetic style of the tattoos created a fault-line that divided the classes. (Caplan, 2000, 148)

Tattoos have been around throughout our history, from Egyptian times to the present day. Many people may say they know the history of tattoos, and where they originate from, but do they really? Does one know that there were reasons that some people had tattoos? There may be people who know the actual history of tattoos and body art and why one would decide to get one; however there are people who do not. To be able to understand the idea of tattoos, one should educate themselves to the history of tattoos. Although tattoos have been considered taboo and a stereotype, history reveals that this particular form of body art has been used for self expression, status and

For as long as there have been people, there have been methods of distinction amongst them. Throughout the years we have discovered ways in which to express our beliefs, our ideals, and our passions. Tattooing has been one of forefront methods in expressing our humanity, or in certain cases, our lack there of. For so many, they have taken on many different representations, each with an equal level of significance. The importance found in the symbolism of tattoos and their cultural relevance has consistently been a trend found throughout history, religion, and art.

The tattoo is a very old form of body modification, but in spite of that there is still a certain rejection towards those who carry them in a visible area of the body, for some it disfigures what has been created in the image and likeness of God while for others associates this with convicts or gang members mainly because they were one of the first groups to use tattoos to differentiate themselves from the rest of society. But also it is true that there is a very limited understanding about this corporal modification that could be one of the reasons why it can not be appreciated as for how it should be. However, modern society reflects the current popularity of tattooing because it has acquired an entirely artistic meaning to a social expression and a way of identity.

The negative relationship that exists between age and having a tattoo best exemplifies the complexity of tattooing’s existence in today’s society. Tattoos are much more prevalent among individuals of younger generations than they were among individuals of older generations. This illustrates both tattooing’s growing popularity and its failure to gain full social acceptance. Indeed, tattooing has become increasingly prevalent since its advancement during the tattoo renaissance. However this growing popularity appears to have only occurred amongst the youth. Youth have always been considered the vehicles through which social and cultural change take place. The tattooing phenomenon has employed the youth to expand its acceptance as well. The commodification

Tattoos firstly appeared among “American sailors, prisoners, bikers, and other gang members” (Sullivan, 543) during the twentieth century. Tattooing became more popular after the mid-1960s and “By the 1980s, they were de rigueur among heavy metal and rap performers seeking a following among adolescents and young adults.” (Sullivan, 542) However, in 1990s, tattoos “became a badge of youth.” (Sullivan, 542) Because of that, the “most alienated subgroups added other forms of body modifications” (Sullivan, 542), which was the piercing on almost everywhere of their bodies.

The Samoans are an ethnic group that reside in Oceania, on the islands of Samoa, in an area of Polynesia. Samoa has been occupied by these indigenous people for about 3000 years, when they came from the west, occupying the islands of Fiji and Tonga around the same time (Barnes and Hunt 2005, 243). They carry many traditions with their culture, however, I will be discussing their tradition of tattooing. Tattooing is the process of inserting ink pigment into someone’s skin to create a permanent design on them. For Samoans, tattoos are much more significant than just a pretty piece of artwork, they are, according to Ryman (2004), a right of passage. I will be reviewing the importance of cultural tattoos, the process of being tattooed, and the varying origin stories of how tattooing first came to Samoa. Samoan tattooing matters because it is a cultural tradition that has been practiced in Samoa for over 3000 years (Ellis 2006, 698).

In the past, tattoos were commonly thought of as trashy or bad. One would often relate them to bikers, rock and heavy metal stars, pirates, or gangsters. That has considerably changed over the years. According to Swan, "In 2003 approximately 40 million Americans reported to have at least one tattoo." Today's culture is still fascinated with tattooing. In the 1990s, tattoos were the sixth fastest growing retail behind the Internet, paging services, computer and cell phone services. 28% of adult’s ages 30-39 were tattooed and that number rose to 36 percent in the 25-29 age group. 31% of the gay, lesbian and bisexual population, regardless of age, was inked as well. Tattoos are significant because they

Body modifications, with the focus of tattoos, have existed in our society for centuries and the way in which it is perceived has changed somewhat over the years, yet certain dishonors still remain our modern day. Like most body modifications, tattoos are an often misunderstood form of body modification. Despite the stigmas, tattoos have become a unique object of desire to endless diverse groups of people. But are the popular assumptions of tattoos out of sync with the true meaning behind them? Further explanation and exploration of the history will reveal the social and cultural practices of tattooing and the causal connection between the mind and the tattooed body, in addition to providing answers as to why tattoos stimulate uneasiness

There is a long list of cultures that utilised tattoos as a form of decoration and communication (Swami, 2011). That said, within some western societies, that historical connection to the tattoo is not that strong. However the art of tattooing has seen a steady growth of its popularity and acceptance, and since the early 1990s, that growth has accelerated dramatically (Caplan, 2000; Cash, 2011; DeMello, 2000; Swami, 2011). The current estimated incidence of tattooing amongst the populations of North America and Europe is approximately 25 percent (Laumann & Derick, 2006; Swami, 2011), with one researcher suggesting those rates could continue to increase to as much as 40 percent of the population (Anderson, 2006).