Tattoos : Culture And Culture

For some people tattoos are being used as a known accessory, the reason on why do people make the decision to get them is hardly if ever even questioned. The pain, the stereotypes, and the misconceptions that are often associated with tattoos would pose the question as to why would you choose to get a tattoo. Tattoos can be personal and good way of expressing yourself. Most people, they are shown as different symbols that each have an equal level of significance. The essential of each tattoo have each found the symbolism of them, and their cultural relevance has consistently been a trend found throughout history, religion, and art.

Tattoos have been dated back to 5000 BCE. Tattoos have played the role of being badges of honor, ceremonial markings, signs off social rank, forms of punishment, and of course ways for people to beautify themselves (The Cultural History of Tattoos). Over the past years, tattoos has increased and continues to increase significantly in popularity. According to statistics, 36% of American adults in the U.S. between the ages of 18-25 and 40% of American adults in the U.S. between the ages of 26-40 have at least one tattoo (Seth). While the trend of getting tattoos are increasing, the concerns of the employers starts to increase. People who have tattoos should not be discriminated because it is unethical, a form of self-expression, and art.

Different cultures tattoo for different reasons like, protection, rank in society, adornment of the body and coming of age. Regardless of why people are tattooed, they have been tattooing since before the birth of Christ.

Among Bedouin women the tattoos symbolize beauty, sex, and protection. It was once thought that tattoos protected people from evil spirits. The facial tattoos serve mostly to decorate and beautify women. Tattoos in scandalous places such as the upper thigh are meant to be seen only by sexual partners thereby having an erotic function (DeMello 51). Another source states that the Berber women tattooed because of their belief in supernatural energies and used tattoos to protect against the dark energies. These tattoos are placed near places on the body deemed to be vulnerable to evil; they were placed around the eyes, mouth, nose, belly button, and vagina. The tattoos are intended to protect against illnesses and spirts; for example, tattoos placed on the feet defend against possession from evil spirits (Krutak). For Algerian women tattoos signified healing and fertility, along with beauty, and female identity (Bendaas). Tattoos may have also been used to identify oneself as belonging to a certain tribe, displaying bravery and celebrating big life events. This source also claimed that women used tattoos to make themselves beautiful to the men in their tribe while deterring attention from men of other tribes. The author noted that Iranian men used tattoos to demonstrate strength and masculinity, but reports of this phenomenon were rare in my research (Laura). In fact, a different source

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.

I’m going to bring up viewpoint of why people think the way they do. Since my topic is views on how corporations see tattoos and piercings it would help to know why they see them in a negative aspect. So first starting with the history of why tattoos are viewed in a negative way and how it is a rapidly changing society. Also I am going to show the psychological and sociological viewpoints about why some may discriminate against others based on their physical appearance. In the sociological journals it talks about how people with tattoos fit into society differently from those who don't have any because of the ways they flaunt their self expression.

Tattoos have not only risen in status to become popular and acceptable, in some environments, tattoos have achieved an elevated degree of artistic value. Tattoo art and artifacts have value. Tattoo, a previously ignored and downgraded practice, is undergoing a process of cultural re-inscription. New meanings of tattoo are being generated by exhibitions that reframe tattoos as art Some contemporary cultural anthropologists have interpreted tattooing as a vital part of a larger phenomenon of body modification, including branding, scarring and piercing, inspired by the global breakdown of cultural

The first noticeable piece of the tattoo is the transparent glass and its position. First of all, its position is at the center of the tattoo. Everything is surrounded it, such as: two roses on its left, and right side, and the words which are “Positive” on top and “Outlook” at the bottom. It may be the main point which the tattoo owner wants viewers to focus on. Secondly, the glass’s brim is inclined on the left. As viewers look close to the bottom and top of the glass, they can easily observe that the brim is inclined to the left, and the boom is pulled up. It is very weird that the glass is not standing straight as usual. Moreover, the glass seems similar to the microscope. A microscope is used to observe minor thing which our eyes cannot

Tattoos are marks with an indelible designs that is perminant to the body. Some Tattoos could have some meaning behind it, other could be because they like the way it looks. Tattoos were viewed as bad, but as time has progressed it has changed people’s attitude against them. Tattoos has define the emergin culture. It has defined our culture because it expresses how people are, it act like a tribute, and it shows diversity.

Reed, Carrie E. (2000). Tattoo in Early China. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 120(3)

In accordance to Professor David Isaacs, body art originated in Europe nearly 7,000 years ago. Nearly 5,300 years ago, in the Otztal Alps, a mummified remain of a human called Otzi had be found with over fifty-seven tattoos from his neck to his toes. Since the remain of Otzi was found, tattoos took off and started developing generation to generation. In David Isaacs article, “Tattoos,” he states that tattoos have been able to show a societal impact within our society, such as how they have changed and adapted into today’s

Many people now have tattoos since they are so widely accepted throughout many cultures. Tattoos have been around for a very long time and were used in many different ways. Montserrat states that tattoos were a part of the cultures in North America, Europe, Japan, China, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Greece. Many modern cultures have learned to accept the fact that tattoos do not mean the same things they used to. In the past, they were used as identifying slaves and criminals (Montserrat). Tattoos were used to remind people of the journeys they had taken and was used by members of the military (Montserrat). According to Montserrat, “From the late 20th century, many American and European celebrities had tattoos, as did many members of youth culture,

The stigma associated with tattoos are often viewed as deviant and frowned upon by people with long held religious beliefs. “Persons who have tattoos remain stigmatized as deviant people, and commonly are stereotyped as having poor decision-making skills, rarely attending church, easily swayed by peer-pressure, having had unhappy childhoods,

Society is more accepting because we value individualism. Tattoos are a way to set each other apart. Tattoos are a way of expression for people. As The Atlantic group said, “ Tattoos, research suggests,

Not only have attitudes towards tattoos changed from their historic start but also the reasons for getting them. As time progressed so did the art of the tattoo, it has largely always been a favorite of individuals serving in the armed forces but outcast archetypes began to use tattoos as an outlet for artistic expression and shock value. Biker gangs all along the West Coast used tattoos to signify which gang they belonged to. Rock stars began to paint themselves with tattoos to illustrate their outlaw ways. Rock n’ Roll was the devils music to those unfamiliar ears listening to it in the mid 20th century and so anything deemed “cool” by them were from then on out banned by most middle to upper class citizens. It was not the act itself of painting your body it was what it represented. Teenagers acting out