In these modern days, tattoos are becoming more popular in our culture, especially in western nations. Tattoos are a growing trend and many different kinds of people, from bikers to celebrities, are getting them. Today, tattoos are widely spread, but in the past when individuals got tattoos, it brought many negative cultural associations with it, and these people were perceived as criminals, gang members, and/or the “bad guys”.
These days, you see many young successful professionals and celebrities with tattoos, and the fact that they have tattoos does not affect their daily life nor corrupt their image as it did in the old days. If we look at the entertainment business for instance, there are many actors and artists who got tattoos specially made for them like the rapper Lil Wayne for example. Lil Wayne has full body art on his face, chest, arms and back. Other celebrities who also got ink done are: Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, and Chris Brown. Still, even though they have tattoos, it does not affect their reputation and fan base. Also, the tattoo TV shows like “Miami Ink” and “NY Inc” became really popular and boosted the tattoo cultural trend.
Tattoos come in many different forms and sizes and there are many reasons why individuals get tattoos. One reason why people get tattoos is because it is a way of illustrating ideologies that are important to them. The ink of the tattoos is used as a tool to show important values and beliefs for these individuals.
Many of the tattoos that people get represent ideologies of love, religion/spirituality, cultural, rebellion and organization. For example, love tattoos such as heart or a persons’ name is way of expressing and symbolizing love for their mothers, boyfriends, family and friends. For religion/spirituality, many people get tattoos of crosses to show their love for Christ or like the some Japanese tribes which get tribal tattoos because they believe it is a way of connecting with the spirit world. In quite a few African tribes, there are cultural tattoos like for instance when a woman has given birth to a male baby; she will get a tattoo on her face. Moreover, when the male is older, he will receive tattoos as these tribes believe that the male’s painful tattoo proves his masculinity. Also, tattoos can be a form of rebellion or revolt against something, and this is not only for adolescents; an example is teenagers using tattoos to demonstrate their disagreement with their parents’ thinking and attitudes. Other persons’ tattoos have the purpose to show that they belong to an organization such as gangs and bikers groups where tattoos are mandatory to identify themselves as members of the group.
Sources:
15 Reasons someone could become addicted to tattoos. (2010, June). Retrieved March 2012, from New Look Houston: http://www.newlookhouston.com/blog/2010/06/28/15-reasons-someone-could-become-addicted-to-tattoos/
Veal, E. (2012, February). Tattoos: A trend and a symbol . Retrieved March 2012, from The A&R Register: http://www.ncatregister.com/business/local_business/tattoos-a-trend-and-a-symbol/article_73dcf558-5d76-11e1-b1c9-001a4bcf6878.html
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