Jeepers Creepers Meepers

(Okay, not that guy on TV!)



On Tuesday, Darrell posted a photo and critique of a young man who had chosen to cover himself in tattoos whose content was rather off the beaten path. Well, weird and a little unnerving, to be precise. In the ensuing commentary, Darrell states:

A lot of people get tattoed, pierced, dyed, augmented, boob-jobbed, etc, to make no statement more complex than this one: LOOK AT ME! NOW!!.

While I agree that there are some people with that very intention, I disagree with Darrell’s generalization and I take issue with his later commentary:

It's a phase that most people go through. It's called "childhood." A lot of us grow out of it. Some of us don't.

I’m writing with the purpose of arguing against the idea that tattooing’s primary benefit is to generate public interest and is a hallmark of immature personalities. There are many people out there whose feelings are similar to Darrell’s and this is for them. This is also for those wonderful guys that worked at Slave To The Needle in Seattle when I was a regular. We had some really great times, and though we’ve all scattered to the wind, I will forever remember them and their families with fondness because of what I learned and the good times had.

Tattooing has a very long and culturally significant history. According to the Wikipedia entry for tattoo, the practice can be dated back as far as 3300 BC, on the remains of a corpse dubbed “Otzi the Iceman”. Also noted in the entry is the fact that “tattooing has been a practice of almost every known people”. Notably, especially with regards to American puritanical sentiment toward the practice, Leviticus 19:28 prohibits heathen tattooing as a form of self-mutilation. It doesn’t say anything about the practice being juvenile or immature, though. Of course, immediately before that Leviticus 19:27 prohibits a man cutting his beard. The prevalence of tattooing, or tatau as it is traditionally known, is pervasive across all continents and for as long humanity has been “civilized”, which I believe gives it some credence as a valid form of human expression.

By now most, if not all, of us are familiar with ta moko, or the traditional form of tattoo practiced by the Maori tribe of New Zealand. If you’re not, here’s the rundown: primarly men, and to a smaller degree women, of the tribe are tattooed with designs concentrating around, though not limited to, the facial area. The male version covers the entire face with a combination of designs, and each component has a meaning and a name. The female version is on the lips and chin only. From the survey reading I've done, ta moko is fairly representative of the style and purpose of most tribal tattoo, be it Hawai'ian, Polynesian, North American Native, or any manner of others that range across the globe. According to a historical reference about tattoo by Steve Gilbert, “an elegantly tattooed face was a great source of pride to a warrior, for it made him fierce in battle and attractive to women”. Generally, being attractive to women and being a fierce warrior would be part of adulthood, for finding a mate and then protecting that mate and any progeny. These don’t sound like circumstances most adolescents undertake consciously. Interestingly,Library Journal's review on Amazon recommends Gilbert’s book, and says “While the text is not academic in tone, Gilbert supports his research with an extensive reference citation list and bibliography”. Sounds like this might be an interesting read with great pictures for anyone actually interested in learning about tattoo.

In our own country, tattooing isn’t legal on a person under 18 years of age, with the exception of a couple of states that allow it for minors 16 or older accompanied by a parent. Now, most of us weren’t all that mature at 18, so just about every decision we made had negative consequences and became an opportunity to learn. Though I didn’t run right out on my 18th birthday and get one, I did put down a little cash to get a tat on the back of my neck the week my best friend and I moved to Seattle. It is a combination of flash art, so it isn’t terribly original either. The pain was intense, but I was hooked. Since then, I’ve only bothered to allocate enough funds to get a second tattoo, but the plan is to get many more down the road. My second, a three-line triquetra about four inches on a side, is on my sternum just below my breasts. In the future, Joe and I would like to tattoo our children’s footprints on our forearms, and I really want to get the back of my right calf done in a phoenix holding a broadsword. I haven’t chosen to walk this path as a means of getting attention, but rather I enjoy the process and what each tattoo represents.

My own mothers are both opposed to the art of tattoo, though for different reasons. Actually, my mom-mom hasn’t shared her reason with me that I know of, but when I first started talking about getting a tat when I was twelve (I was a little fixated on being a grown-up) she told me I could count on her to kick me out of the house if I ever came home tattooed. It was the only thing she disapproved of so totally that I would no longer share a roof with her if I did it. Best friend’s mom, my other mother, comes from a very hippie perspective: she believes the human body is beautiful just the way it is, and hates to think of her babies getting themselves permanently drawn on. She also feels that make-up is unnecessary, to say nothing of plastic surgery, or my favorite, piercing. Their opposition really hasn’t stopped the rest of us: both my sibs and my father have tats, and my best friend and her husband have several. If Jack ever decides he wants something permanent, my only prohibition will be that he puts together enough money to get a really good one (that was my mistake with my first), and if he wants I’ll help him with finding an artist and payola.


Year of the Dragon 

I can think of so much more that I want to say, but I’m finding it hard to fit into one little post. I don’t want to write a novel here, that would just bug everybody. I’m going to do the next best thing; I’m going to start a series and from now on Tuesday will be dedicated to the subject of tattoos. Tat-Tuesday too cheesy?