Tattoos : Tattoos And Tattoos

The former is whose tattoos are visible by everybody, while the latter one gets the tattoos are easy to hide by cloth. He finds more than ninety percent of American belong to “the people who have tattoos”. So, there is a principal reason for tattooing, demonstration. For me, If my parent allows me to tattoo, maybe I will want to get a Leo symbol to show myself, or a little picture about something I like, such as rose, sunflower, or a new moon. We can summarize three purpose for people tattooing. First, some people are simplex for art, who just paint a small pattern or a big picture for good looking. Moreover, many people said every tattoo has its own story. That sort of pattern is for commemoration. Usually people like to remember their past, so they put something they don’t want to forget. According my personal survey, Xuanzheng, a sophomore student in University of London, got his first tattoo just few days, and that is several Roman numerals, which means his two twin sisters’ birthday. Another group get tattoo for a virtue. Yue Fei, who is a hero in Chinese history, bear four Chinese characters “Jin Zhong Bao Guo” on his back. Those four words, which means he was willing to devoted to his country, signifies his loyal and patriotic heart. Similarly, in the United States, there are many people getting a flag or totem to

People, a lot of times get tattoos to express themselves. Tattoos may also be very important to someone, meaning it may represent the loss of a loved one or their religion. “If a woman in New Guinea has a swirl design on her face it indicates her family’s ancestors. Dark scrawls on a Cambodian monk’s chest reflect his religious beliefs. A gang member’s sprawling tattoos describe his street affiliation.”(Tucker) Tattoos show who you are and what you’ve experienced in life. People

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.

The rising popularity of tattoos and body piercing is more than just the latest fashion craze. This type of body art has been a part of this world for thousands of years. Tattoos and piercings have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, adornments and even forms of punishment (Smithsonian.com). In the later years (1940 – 2000) tattoos and piercings were more common among teenagers and young adults, but now, people of all ages are expressing themselves through body art. To try and understand this rise in the desire to permanently mark ones self, we must first determine the origin and history of tattoos and piercings.

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

- In ancient Greek and Rome tattooing was used in order to brand slaves and criminals. Greeks also used tattoos to identify and communicate with spies. It was during this period tattooing spread to central Europe and tattoos were used for medical purposes such as acupuncture which would later on influence the Chinese acupuncture society.

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).

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 story we know goes back to the Stone Age. In 1991, one hunter man was found in a glacier from the Neolithic era; his back and knees tattooed. Before the hunter mummy, the oldest person with tattoo that was discovered was the Egyptian priestess, Amunet worshiper of Hathor, goddess of love and fertility. She lived in Thebes around 2000 BC, and her tattoos, were pretty much the same style as the mummy of the hunter, linear with simple designs of dots and dashes. In the prehistoric cave of Aurignac small pointed bones were found and were believed to be use for tattooing at that time.

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 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 forever. Otzi the iceman, who lived during 3,300 BC, is one of the most well preserved mummies to exist. After being discovered, scientists later learned he had sixty one tattoos. How is this possible if technology for tattoos didn’t exist for years to come.

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).