The view of the world and the people in it are constantly changing. Cultures practice different traditions but one tradition or art that has continues to be practiced is the art of tattooing. Tattooing is thought to have been started in Egypt were the Pharaohs were tattooed to show rank. Tattoos have been around for a long time and will continue to rule the world.
Tattooing was once a difficult thing to accomplish because of the lack of technology. The word tattoo is a combination of the Polynesian word “ta” which means to strike something repeatedly and the Tahitian word “tatau” which is defined as marking something permanently. The first tattoos were found on Ӧtzi the Iceman in 1991. He is thought to have existed during the Bronze Age nearly 5,000 years ago. He had a total of fifty seven tattoos located on his body; due to the placement of these tattoos archeologists and scientists believe that the tattoos were used for therapeutic reasons.
As time progressed people used tattooing to represent a variety of things. In the Pazyryk and in India cultures, they believed that tattoos gave them magical powers. The images marked on their bodies were also a symbol of strength when on the arms and legs. In the Polynesian culture tattoos had multiple meanings. Tattoos represent sexual maturity, genealogy, and social status. Tattooing there started as early as puberty and once the tattooing started the tattoos began to look like clothing.
Tattoos were starting to control the world. Although they were painful to get and could get infected easily people all around the world were getting them. The first tattoos were applied by sharpening needles or of animal bones, dipped into the ink which was made of soot, oil and water. For colors they used plants that were very colorful. Later on in the 16th through18th century only criminals and military servicemen were tattooed. Common tattoos among criminals were teardrops under the eye and spider webs on the elbows told that a person was a murderer.
China Diamond
Tattoos and Body modification
Tattoos Changing the World
Have you noticed that in today’s culture things are a lot different from 20, 30 even 40 years ago? I have and what I noticed was the way people dress has changed drastically and the things they do to their bodies have also changed for the good and bad in my opinion. In today’s society I see that people are not afraid to express themselves. The form that I am seeing more often however is body modifications. There are many forms of body modification or body mod for short which include but are not limited to tattoos, piercings, scarification, and other things such as implants. I am more focused on tattoos because they are directly affecting my life now and my future. Tattoos are changing the world.
Personally I believe tattoos are a form of self-expression and anyone old enough to make a legal contract should be able to get any tattoo they want. I have a tattoo and it has a lot of significance to me. I love tattoos because it allows a person to get creative on their own bodies. Yes, I do feel that some tattoos look hideous and shouldn’t have been thought of but at the same time I will not object for a person to get it. Tattoos to me represent a sign of freedom to show how you feel. Whether anyone else likes them or not is that persons own problem. Tattoos have not hurt anyone before and they never will. I can understand though how in a professional scene tattoos could be a major problem for specific types of clients. Tattoos are changing the world.
Career wise I want to be a doctor. Because of this I have to be careful and watch how I portray myself through my body image. As a doctor, visible tattoos are a problem in the work environment because it does not show a professional mentality. I already have one tattoo so the others have to be well thought out and the locations must be concealed as well. My doctor has about 18 tattoos and they are visible but they are small and could easily be covered with make-up. Other professions such as tattooing for a living more than likely want a person to have visible tattoos. The perception that people get of you based on tattoos mean a lot when you are working for a business or corporation. Due to this many companies won’t hire a person if they have visible tattoos and if they do decide to hire that person their tattoos must be covered. Tattoos are changing the world.
Tattoos have been around for a very long time and will not be leaving. Back in the bronze age everyone had tattoos and the represented many different things depending on your status. Today just about everyone has tattoos. Now in today’s society we have a many types of tattoos besides the old fashioned black ink tattoos. There are black light tattoos, Heine tattoos, even glow in the dark tattoos which are becoming popular among teens. I don’t see tattoos fading out anytime soon.
In conclusion tattoos are becoming more popular each and every day. People are becoming more comfortable expressing themselves in more ways than just one, tattooing at the moment happens to be the most popular. Sooner or later I believe that tattoos will be even more widely accepted than they are today because tattoos are changing the world.