Living in London (as opposed to other places, especially my home-country of France), I have lots of friends who have tattoos. I consider myself as a tattooed person as I have 2 rather big “pieces”. Opinions can be quite polar about tattoos – somehow though “tattoo-virgins”, like my mum, do understand, more or less, what actually happens when you go through the process of marking the skin with indelible ink.
Cultural aspect
Tattoos have always had a place in humanity. I will deliberately pass on the “forced” tattoos that some have had to suffer in the more shocking parts of history. Tattoos have always been around most civilizations as rites of passage. I believe it’s still the case today, as even with a slightly changed technique (my tattooist was explaining to me how his electric tattoo machine works in the same way as the first machines built around the end of the 19th century), and a different social dimension, tattoo is still a way to own your existence through a visual & permanent mark on your body.
The community
Tattoos mean a lot. For some older generations tattoos may refer to some bad things, like prison, prostitution and all that kind of stuff. To be honest, luckily, it doesn’t mean anything like that anymore. However, the tattoos you may have do show a lot about yourself. For instance, if you think about it as a form of art, tattoos have lots of different styles and schools. To name a few: tribal, Japanese, cyber & biomechanics (tattoos making the body look like half organic half machine), portraits, old school (proper 50’s pin ups and anchors), new school etc… A tattoo shows which sub-culture or neo-tribe you belong to.
Personal engagement
Getting tattooed, the act of spending several intense hours (or minutes) under the needle is a very pertinent moment in ones life. I remember earlier this year, during the UX London workshop, a fellow attendee engaged in a conversation with me about my tattoo. He concluded very wisely that a tattoo is like a milestone in life. When you’re getting tattooed you are not considering it as something – a mark – that will stay forever, but as a symbol of a step in your life. My first tattoo, a tiny star, symbolized the wish that I will do anything to go wherever I want to go. My second tattoo, on my back, marked an engagement to myself to be whoever I want to be. Finally, my third and last tattoo to date, shows the world (yes, it’s on my arm) that I am who I am.
Some people don’t like showing their tattoos, but then what’s the point? Unless you regret getting it, or maybe you only show them to the world when you want to show a different side to your personality. Having a tattoo does categorize you as a certain type of individual, but nowadays, what’s more important than being who you are, within a community, but also within yourself.
You may think that I am a fool but I’ve never thought about how my tattoos will look when I am old, it doesn’t really bother me. I will still treasure them as I will have had an amazing life behind me, and a good reason to tell stories to my grandchildren.
What’s your opinion on tattoos? Do you have one (or more)?
Picture: Yoanna (c) Julien Lesur
I respect what you say, and totally agree that for most people a tattoo represents a milestone in a lifetime, but as for myself it is a totally different story.
I had always wanted a drawing made by me on my body, and decided to do it not as a change in my life, but when I landed on a proper occasion, in this case my mom offered it to me as a graduation present (I had no money to afford it myself then).
I made it in a place where it doesn’t show, on the top of my left buttock, as in my opinion only the people I pick deserve to know me well. It is a way of keeping surprises open, and opening when I decide it, choosing who I allow to know me really. My attitude is my real tattoo – and as convinced as I am about my values and what I stand for, that’s the reason why I can choose to adapt to a situation.
However, recent major changes happened in my life, and I know I will get a new tattoo sometime soon. Not because those changes occurred, as I wouldn’t know how to artistically represent them, but because I have changed and have added bits to my personnality. In this case though, it won’t be a quick drawing I made during CRM class, but a nice piece, and probably in a more obvious place – but not too obvious either. Just because it is what I’ve feeling like for this one.
And who knows? Maybe in a few years from now I’ll get an even more obvious one :]
What I know is you change through life, and you just have to be proud of what you do whenever you do it – whether it’s a tattoo or ordering those damn french fries in the cantine.
Cheers
thanks for sharing your experience shalx