Tattoos: Reasons, Responsibilities
The message on the body: personal and political
Wearing a tattoo means taking on a lot of responsibilty. Before going ahead, consider the history, the many functions and meanings of tattooing.
Tattooing is a usually permanent form of body alteration with inked or painted marks. Most cultures have, at one point or another in their history, attached crucial importance to tattooing. In the US, tattoos are becoming popular again: in 2004, no less then 32 percent of adults were sporting at least one tattoo.
The body and the world
The body as a canvas is always immediately at hand, visible (to varying degrees), and easily covered up again. It is also intimately connected, indeed literally attached, to a person, mind or self. Therefore it is the most obvious place for self-expression. We all use our bodies for self-expression: our dress, shoes, make-up, hairdo, nail polish indicate who we are, or rather, who we want to present to the world.
Everyone does it
True, on the scale of increasing permanence, all the above sit down there on the left – I guess hairdos would be the least temporary. On this scale, tattooing sits pretty far to the right, followed by piercing and more drastic body kinds of reshaping. The point is that they all sit on the samescale, and thus that we are all of us at it.
Even not making a conscious effort about our body adornments says something about us. It’s as in politics: also passivity is action and has consequences. Tattooing too is a politics of sorts, and not wearing a tattoo is as revealing as getting one.
The body as interface
Personhood is a play (hopefully joyful) between an individual and a society. Every person is unique yet has many things in common with the groups to which he belongs. The body is the interface between those two worlds, and as a result the marks upon it reflect both sides. Tattoos – the particular images you choose – are loaded with this powerful double meaning.
If you want a tattoo to express your personal, inner self, you need an image that is unique to you. At many tattoo parlors you can pick images off the wall, and some are more generic than others. Or you might work with the tattoo artist to design your own image.
Even if you choose a tattoo to indicate the group to which you belong, you don’t want a generic image to represent that belonging. Also remember that belonging to a group means not belonging to another group – the group of the non-tattooed people, to begin with. A tattoo excludes as much as it includes. What you might intend as a positive assertion of your fitting in, others – who do not bear that mark, or who don’t fit – can experience as a negative challenge of their values.
Memory and Amulet
Another often cited reason for getting a tattoo is the celebration of the passing of an important moment or a rite of transition. The tattoo then serves as a reminder or memory, for yourself, but most of all for others, to whom you choose to show it.
Many cultures, past and modern, attach to tattoos the belief that it protects the wearer against danger. The anchor on the sailor’s arm is such an amulet. It might be connected to war and violence, or pain. You might find comfort in this function of the tattoo.
Responsibility
Whatever reason you have to choose tattooing and a particular tattoo image, keep in mind that
each tattoo image is not a word, nor a sentence, but an entire pamphlet on who you are, what you think of yourself and of others, what group you do and do not belong to, the beliefs you hold, the memories you wish to broadcast.
Like any language, each tattoo is complex and open to many interpretations, many of which are not in the wearer’s control. And like any language, it can also be misunderstood, its meanings go back a long way, and they change over time.
A tattoo is for ever. You might change: your body changes cells naturally, your self is constantly adapting to new experiences. But your tattoo is forever (more or less), and it does not change with you. As such, getting a tattoo is a grave implications and thus responsibility.
Good reasons and bad reasons
If you get one without proper thought and for bad reasons, you may regret it. But if you feel a tattoo will mean this much for you, as long as you live, are aware of its message to others, have researched the rich history into which you are inserting yourself, and choose it for all the right reasons, you may be doing something admirable. Not everyone wears their souls on their sleeves, and maybe our society needs that kind of transparency.
Other articles:
- History of tattooing
- Tattoo advise for parents and teenagers: the “talk”: good and bad reasons for getting a tattoo
- Tattoo tips, resources, and fFacts
