Why Do People Get Tattoos?
Tattoos have become widespread across the globe and there are many reasons as to why people have tattoos. Tattooed people see their tattoos as unique aspects of themselves, but sociologists who study tattooing focus on group patternss and overall trends. These sociologists examine the influence of media and consumer culture and the influence of gender, sexuality, race and class on "body politics." (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). There however, is no single explanation for the increasing popularity of tattoos. Researchers have found out that people use tattoos to express who they are and also what they lived through. Tattoos are also used to express how people see themslves in relation to others and to their social worlds (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). Even though people may get a tattoo for a specific reason or meaning, studies show that people cannot fully control the meaning of their own tattooed bodies (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones).
"According to a 2003 survey by Scipps howard News Service and Ohio State University, 15 percent of the U.S. adult population has tattoos, and the figure rises to 28 percent for adults younger than 25. In addition, 88 percent of those interviewed said they know at least one person who has a tattoo. According to U.S. News and World Report, tattooing was the sixth fastest-growing retail business in 1997."
Tattooing WomenWomen's interest in tattooing has also been increasing in the United States since the 1960s. Today almost half of tattooed people are women (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). As mentioned earlier tattoos allow women to exhibit control over their bodies. Some tattooed women have used tattoos to challenge the limited roles of wife and mother and to explore other ways to define themselvs. Besides that, tattoos have been a sign of resistance within the working class. Even though women may get tattoos for these reasons there are still negative perceptions out there regarding women with tattoos. There are perceptions that include, women with tattoos are sexually promiscuous and apart of the lower-class (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). These perceptions have been around for a very long time, dating all the way back to the 18th century.
Even though men and women both get tattoos, it is said that men are more likely to use tattoos to reinforce traditional notions of masculinity, whereas women often both defy and reproduce coventional standards of femininity (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). Women believe that they can do whatever men can do and they can do it better, and this also includes tattooing. |
Tattoos allow women to challenge traditional gender norms and tattoos demonstrate a deep and tangible commitment to alternative gender definitions. Even though women use tattoos to seek freedom and power over their own bodies, the meanings women attach to their tattoos are "culturally written over" by the larger society (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). Other than using tattoos to show control over their bodies, women have used tattoos to reclaim their bodies from traumatic experiences (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). For instance, women recovering from breast cancer began to get tattoos to creat a new aesthetic for mastectomy scars and to show the horrible effects of the disease. Besides this, women also use tattoos to reclaim their bodies from violence, illness, and even from feelings of being unattractive, weak, or different.
For many women, tattooing is a complex practice that involves both conformity and resistance to the expectation that their bodies are suppose to be attractive to men (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). However, as the popularity of tattoos increase, tattooing is no longer seen as only a way to go against gender norms, but are signs of feminine beauty. |
The Message is Not Always Understood
As mentioned earlier, women get tattoos to show control over their bodies, but the message that they intend to communicate through the tattoo is not always the message that is recieved by others. Someone can try and try to explain the meaning behind their tattoo, but even no matter how hard you explain it, people are still not going to get it. Some members of society may understand the meaning behind what a person does, but of course not everyone does. The motivations of people who get tattoos are filtered through historical and cultural lenses that usually lead to unintended and unwanted meanings of their tattooed bodies (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones).
So even though tattoos are becoming popular, they still carry many stigmas and they can provoke discrimination (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). There are so many stereotypes not only against women with tattoos, but people in general. Some of the stereotypes even include that people with tattoos must be gang members, drug users, dropouts, and they're always in trouble with the law. This is why many people with tattoos cover up their tattoos when looking for a job or even when they're in the court of law. Defense attorneys often advise their clients that visible tattoos can have a negative influence on middle-class jurors and judges (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). These negative views carry on throughout society and even sometimes at home.
There are so many stereotypes in our society and one is that if a man shouldn't do it, then a women should especially not. Many people out there still believe that tattoos are not an act of creative expression and that they're just another form of rebellion, which in some cases they're, but not all. In the end, people get tattoos to express themselves and tattooed bodies serve as a canvas to record the struggles between conformity and resistance, power and victimization, individualism and group membership (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). Yet, the reasons behind getting a tattoo is not always understood by certain members of society. This leads to the misinterpretation and the stigma that is still attached to people with tattoos.
There are so many stereotypes in our society and one is that if a man shouldn't do it, then a women should especially not. Many people out there still believe that tattoos are not an act of creative expression and that they're just another form of rebellion, which in some cases they're, but not all. In the end, people get tattoos to express themselves and tattooed bodies serve as a canvas to record the struggles between conformity and resistance, power and victimization, individualism and group membership (Kang, Miliann, and Katherine Jones). Yet, the reasons behind getting a tattoo is not always understood by certain members of society. This leads to the misinterpretation and the stigma that is still attached to people with tattoos.