Tattoos Essay

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“Tattoos” Frank Demorrow Aug 18, 2013 CRMJ-415 Cheryl Reyes

Tatttoos in our society have long been associated with deviant behavior. It is true that some tattoos have deviant roots such as gang and prison tattoos that may send messages to rivals, but this is not the case in all tattoos. To fully understand the reasoning behind tattoos, one would have to start with where the tattooing concept came from, what are the roles of tattoos in our society today, and how are tattoos percieved in different cultures as well as our own. According to the Smithsonion, the earliest evidence of tattoos has been traced back to the Egyptians dating back as far as 2000 B.C. The tattoos that were discovered were on female bodies that had been mummified. There are many theories as to what the tattoos meant ranging from marking these woman as prostitutes, to the tattoo were there to protect the women during their pregnancy. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html?c=y&page=2
Many of the negative views that are associated with tattoos stem from the bible itself. In the book of leviticus chapter 19 and verse 28, it clearly states that one shall not cut themselves of make marking on ones skin. Throughout history, tattoos have long been associated with demonism and the worship of satan. http://www.biblebelievers.com/watkins_tattoos/pagan.html
The actual word tattoo comes partly from the polynesian word, "ta" which means to strike something, and the tihitian word, "tatau" which means to mark something. One of the theories of how tattooing was discover, it that early mankind might have used ash to cover up wounds and later discovered that when the wound had healed, that it left a mark. http://www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html. Depending on the time period and culture, there are many reasons why people have adopted tattooing into their society. The reasons may range anywhere from marking one as a prostitute to identifying one as having a high social status such as a family crest. There are many different reasons why one may get a tattoo. Reasons for getting tattoos could be self expression, sexual pleasure, religious, to commemerate someone, or maybe just a spur of the moment on a drunken night. Tattoos have slowly become more and more accepted as the norm because of the advancements in communication such as television and the internet. The more that people are exposed to something, the less likely that that behavior is going to be considered deviant. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/reef-karim-do/psychology-of-tattoos_b_2017530.html Tattoos are becoming more and more popular espically among women. It is estimated that 19 percent of men have tattoos while among women it is 23 percent. In the book, "Bodies of Subversion," Margot Mifflin dives into the contriversial topic of tattooing from a womens perspective, and give insight as to why women have been slowly becoming more and more tattooed over the years. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/books/bodies-of-subversion-explores-womens-tattoos.html?_r=0. Tattoos can also be a means to identifying one with a certain group. This type of tattooing is espicially evident in the gang communities. Gang members are often required to have their gang logo tattooed somewhere on their person in order for them to be considered part of that group. Popular gang tattoos that arent particular to a spefic gang could be a tear drop coming from the eye representing that they killed someone, or spiderwebs on the elbow stating how much time they have done in prison.