HW 32 - Tattoos & The Presentation of the Self

What does tattooing signify to me? Hmmmm… I have to admit that I haven’t given a lot of thought to tattoos. The first thing that comes to my mind is sitting captive in a subway car observing someone with a tattoo and wondering how long it takes before the tattooed person becomes bored with the tattoo. I think that I would get bored seeing the same tattoo on a person. This reaction makes me think that I have to get a larger perspective on the subject. I googled the history of tattooing and looked at a Smithsonian site. I read that tattoos have been found on female Egyptian mummies and on Chinese mummies, especially on the bodies of criminals. Tthe modern name “tattoo” came about after the British explorer James Cook’s expedition in 1769 to Tahiti where the islanders had tattoos “featuring highly elaborate geometic designs.” Following this trip this website says tattooing became popular in Europe especially among sailors and coal-miners. Because the common tattoos for sailors were anchors and the common tattoos for coal miners were miner’s lamps, it seems obvious that these tattoos were like amulets for good luck. This idea for a tattoo makes sense to me. Also, I can understand that if you are stuck a ship for a long time or in a coal mining area getting a tattoo might be something to do to pass the time.

I am asking myself why I really haven’t been tempted to get a tattoo. I’ve never walked by a tattoo parlour and been at all tempted to go in. Today I think I got a little insight about why I might not feel as strongly about them from Mr.Fanning and from a friend of our family I interviewed on the subject earlier today. First, Mr.Fanning. He said he grew up in a small conservative town in Maine which I’m guessing did not have a very diverse population. He said that he got his first tattoo at age 17 to be an anti-conformist. His tattoos were part of his rebel identity, and when he joined a punk rock band they were probably almost like part of his costume. He said that one tattoo he had was a tiger to represent strength and courage. When he said tattooing for him was a rite of passage, it made me think that his tattoos were in the tradition of African or Asian boys getting special markings when they became warriors.

The friend of our family I interviewed told me that she got her first tattoo when she was 18 and was about to go to college. Like Mr.Fanning, she also grew up in a small conservative town, and she wanted to be different. She also said she was a nerd in high school, and this made her different but not in a “cool” way. When she arrived at her all girls’ college, Barnard, she was the only ones to have a tattoo, and she felt good about that. She said that getting that tattoo was definitely an act of rebellion that her mother made her promise never to get another one. Now that she is over 30, she says that she regrets having gotten them. The main reason is that she is tired of them and that because she has gained weight they have stretched.

My feeling right now is that maybe because I have a black father with dark skin and a white mother, I already look different from a lot of people. Altough I have to admit when I went to Brazil to play soccer, everyone said I looked just like their cousin. As far as my identity goes, I guess I have used sports to give me a sense of who I am. I was going to say that I didn’t think I would have the patience to sit still to have a tattoo, but then I rembered that I have sat still several times for multiple hours to get my hair braided. I think I prefer hair braiding to the idea of getting a tattoo because after two weeks the braids come out without pain and without cost—not the case with tattoos. There are obviously many ways people like to adorn their bodies, I guess I prefer the non permanent ones.