Tattoo Influence On American Culture

The skin stories we learned about in class in Polynesian culture was very interesting. In their culture tattoos have a deeper meaning then some American tattoos. The origin of where they come from is a lot different, not to say that U.S tattoos are not important. Because there are plenty of passionate talented artists out there, that do a solid job at making special tattoos for people every day. But the story of Polynesian tattoos came to be is very different since it has been around for centuries. Polynesian people are carrying their family’s origins on their skin. They are representing heritage and lineage on their skin.

Tattooing is the art of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, or legends by making pricks and inserting colored ink. The word itself has its origins in the South Pacific. The art had been referred to as pricking, scarring, or staining until explorer Captain James Cook encountered the indigenous peoples of Tahiti. (Wilkinson 6)

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

Question 1: There are many factors that have enabled MMBC to create a strong brand. These include: taste, perceived quality, image, tradition, and authenticity. Taste is achieved through a selection of rare Bavarian hops and unusual strains of barley creating a defined Mountain Man quality. In addition, Mountain Man Lagers’ distinctively bitter flavor and higher alcohol content sets this beer apart from its competitors, which uniquely contributes to the company’s brand equity. To complement the richer stronger taste, a dark colored bottle

monster hanging above his layer. The layer was deadly it was simple steel platforms with rails above an endless pit, with chains and other uneasy objects hanging from the ceiling. “Ok Ill distract him you go for the door that's right there. It hast to be the exit” She made a mad dash as I start screaming at the know awake monster.

“I have a dream.” This phrase is a nationally known. Many people have heard and/or know about Martin Luther King Jr’s speech that he gave in Washington D.C. On August 28, 1963, King gave one of the best inspiring, literary speeches in history using assonance, metonymy, and ethos. Martin Luther King Jr’s father was a methodist pastor.

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 since 3,000 B.C. The oldest discovery of a tattooed mummy was the “Iceman”. The frozen body was discovered by hikers in 1991. The tattoos discovered on the body had no specific drawing there were just straight lines and small crosses. This led to believed that tattooing was used as a therapeutic to relieve pain. The Egyptians hold the true claim to fame regarding tattoos. It was common practice for Egyptian women of high status to received tattoos for the same sort of therapeutic reasons. “Tattooing of ancient Egyptian women had a therapeutic role and function as a permanent form of amulet during the very difficult time of pregnancy and birth” (Line berry 2).

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.

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

This was something highly personal to do, identifying a seaman. Later certificates identified tattoos and scars with other specific information on the seamen. This led to an increase of tattoos among American seamen. “Frequently their ‘protection papers’ made reference to tattoos, clear evidence that individual was a seafaring man; rarely did members of the general public adorn themselves with tattoos”

When the instructors at the Art Institution began to espouse asinine diatribes concerning my chosen subject matter, I quit, the moment, Tommy Hadsmight, who owns a chain of ‘Tattoos and Body Piercing Salons’ hired me, Homer Scooter as his apprentice. Needless to say, only a fool would have turned down an opportunity to have Tommy mentor them. Since, anyone who knew anything about tats has heard of Tommy, the legend, the guru, and the master of masters. The grapes on the rumor vine swear that people showcase his ink in all seven continents.

Tattooing was also popular amongst Maori men of New Zealand, who covered their buttocks, thighs, and faces. Maori men had their faces tattooed by a “moko“ artist, a technique that is unique to the Maori. The pattern was slowly carved into the skin with a chisel, much in the same way a design might be carved into a plank wood. Ink was then be placed in the fresh wounds to create the tattoo. The process, which was extremely painful, was typically done in stages,

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).

Tattoo artist were mainly middle-aged men, who worked at the hole in the wall tattoo parlors. Body art also became known to be seen at circuses, and “freak shows” sometimes being next to people with disabilities or natural born wonders (DeMallo). Until the golden age of tattooing, which took place in the twentieth century, when parlors were actually next to things like barber shops, and retail stores. Margo DeMallo describe body art at the end of the sixties as “fragmented into different forms that corresponded to different social groups: servicemen, gang members, convicts, bikers, and working class men and woman” (DeMallo).