I Am A Canvas Of My Life

Tattoos in today’s business society are a lot of times frowned upon for being unprofessional and not acceptable. Businesses assume if a possible future employee of theirs has tattoos or piercings they may not be as intelligent as one without tattoos. Society associates people with tattoos as bad people and they judge them based on how they look which is wrong. “In a study 31 percent of human resource managers said visible tattoos could have a negative impact on their decision whether to hire someone, but bad breath weighed even heavier in the survey. Employees with chewed fingernails and dark suntans were offered fewer promotions, the survey said.”(Burlington)

My senior project was over the History of Tattooing, I chose this as my topic because Tattoos really interest me with all the different styles and meanings behind them. Some things I already knew about Tattooing is a lot of tribes used tattoos to symbolize things, but I didn’t know what.

Depending on the style one wants, it is said that some cultures may have rules as to what requirements need to be met to get certain tattoos. Polynesian tattoos have been a tradition that has been carried on from about two thousand years ago. “Tattooing is a sacred ceremony in Polynesian culture. The tattoos and their location on the body were determined by one’s genealogy, position within the society and personal achievements.” (PolynesianTattoo). This quote clearly displays the concept that only certain people, depending on their position in society, have the privilege to get certain tattoos and in certain areas of their body. This also allows others to recognize and identify that person’s position in society. In Polynesian cultures, tattoos

Before one can truly understand the stance of an argument, you have to understand the topic. After carefully reviewing reliable resource it was discovered that the art of tattooing can easily be dated back to the 4th millennium BC (Before the Common Era) mummified bodies discovered in ancient Egypt. Archeologists found themselves identifying tribes as well as historical information the marking and body tattooing. It became clear and concise that ancient rulers would brand their bodies to inform others of their rank and accomplishments, whereas other royal family alleged that tattoos meant magical talents. On the other hand, tattoos replicate a standout amongst the most trustworthy known categories of communication.

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

- Ainu people (western Asia) also used tattooing to show social status, for example a married women would have a specific tattoo. The Ainu people soon introduced tattoos to Japan who used them for religious rites

Before the mid 1960’s, tattoos were viewed as self-infliction and are deemed simply as unnecessary.

“The nicest people I have ever met are covered in tattoos, while the most judgment people that I have met are the once who don’t have tattoos” (Earl Dibbles). When someone sees a person with a bunch of tattoos, maybe the first thing that comes to their mind is Thug, stupid, thief, or maybe even crazy. Judging a person off of first feeling with tattoos can lead to false allegation and potentially hurt a person’s feelings. Tattoos have existed since the beginning of civilization and although widespread now, there are still misconceptions about them. I have come across many people with tattoos, especially my friend which is MMA fighter; his name is Nasratullah Akhunzada. He has a bunch of tattoos on his body. First of all, he loses his job cause of his tattoos

Tattoos have been around since 450 BC, it was used to mark the criminals and those fallen from social grace. But since then or since the Europeans discovered the “New World” and the tattooed tribes, its concepts has changed many times. You could classify the different changes in six eras in the tattoo history; the colonist or pioneer Era, the circus or carnival Era, the working-class era, the rebel era, the new age era and presently the supermarket era. The colonist or pioneer era was between the 1760s and 1870s is when the Europeans discovered tattoos amongst Native American tribes such as Hawaiians and Borneans whose tattoos had spiritual meaning, it was a way to protect themselves from physical harm and snakebite. But after their introduction with the Europeans

Tattoos were not always used as therapeutic. In ancient China, tattoos were considered barbaric practice. Criminals were tattooed as a visible mark of

In different modern culture people often express themselves with tattoos. People express their beliefs and, in some cases, prove themselves, like fight to prove that they are worthy to be in that culture. Some cultural tattoos, like ones from Japan, can tell a story or indicate one’s social status. People have to prove to themselves and the other members of their culture that they belong. Cultural tattooing has many different meanings to many different cultures.

The history of tattooing date back to the first man, Otzi, in 3300 B.C. who was found frozen in the Alps (Nat-A-Tat2) and the history piercing date back to different primitive tribes for their beliefs (Tribu). Scientists say that the tattoos he had were for medical reasons. When they found his body, they took X-rays and where there were tattoos was where his bones had started to decay. His tattoos were on his back, knees, ankles, and feet. The ink used on his tattoos was made of powdered charcoal and rubbing it into his cut skin. Many ancient civilizations did tattoos and piercings for example the Egyptians, Greeks, Japanese, Arabian and Siberians. Many mummies have been found with tattoos and are the oldest bodies to be found with gauged or stretched earlobes (Tibu). The Egyptians were also the ones who brought tattooing to Greece and to Arabia (Nat-A-Tat2). In Japan, tattoos were used for beauty, beliefs “and to mark criminals” (Nat-A-Tat2).

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 art of tattoos has been prevalent in many ancient cultures and represented many different things. In the more recent past times, tattoos were seen in a very negative light; mainly associated with circus freak shows, bikers or outlaws. Even though there are more Americans getting tattoos these days, there is still a disapproving view on tattoos in the workplace. Tattoos are continuously becoming more popular with each generation and more often have some personal meaning. Many companies that have recently started to accept appropriate body art in the workplace have seen positive benefits related to their new policy changes. This debate has also led people to file discrimination lawsuits against their employer. There are occasions that the subject matter or the placement of a tattoo on the body may not be professional for certain types of jobs. With the growing number of people that have body art, the more personal meaning behind it and younger demographics of both people working for and being served by many companies these days, having visible tattoos should no longer be damaging among many careers today. The debate needs to be evaluated by each company, and often each individual situation, to determine if body art can be accepted.

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).