There goes my lung transplant, guess i just gotta die.
Not exactly what is meant by that JMC. I, too have had many surgeries, have pins and screws holding my body together, have a plate in my skull. The difference is having doctors do this for medical reasons, not by choice to mutilate your body.
From the onset of my research, my intentions were to venture into sociologically uncharted waters - by talking with tattoo enthusiasts in an attempt to grasp their experiences with this form of body modification...The goal is to analyze tattooing practices sociologically, exploring how this body project is a deeply social act.
Humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. These permanent designs—sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal—have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, adornments and even forms of punishment. Joann Fletcher, research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain, describes the history of tattoos and their cultural significance to people around the world, from the famous " Iceman," a 5,200-year-old frozen mummy, to today’s Maori.
While I can't say that I personally find them attractive, saying they are mutilations, against God's wishes, gotten by trailer trash or criminals, or just recent generations rebelling doesn't seem to be taking the act of tattooing, or the complex reasons behind doing it, into a long-term, comprehensive perspective. It's passing critical judgment on those unlike yourself without taking into consideration their religion, culture, or personal circumstances/freedom of expression. I'd guess that at least since the time that we started drawing on walls and thinking more abstractly, if not earlier, Homo sapiens have been adorning themselves with symbols for a multitude of reasons. It appears to be a natural process/creative outlet that has probably gone through cycles of greater and lesser acceptance. I look at it as a way for like-minded individuals, and not-like-minded individuals!, to better identify each other and more quickly find common friends and mates; more power to 'em.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Surely we must not pass judgement. Heaven forbid! The "don't pass judgement" montra has produced a culture that now has no shame or sense of decency.
I say, "PASS JUDGEMENT WITH A VENGENCE!". Call a thief a thief; a bastard a bastard; a crook a crook; a tramp a tramp; a piece of trash a piece of trash.
I don't care for tattoos on either gender, but it's everyone's right to express themselves as they see fit.
I've wondered if it has something to do with the sheer number of people concentrated in a small space and the need to feel 'unique'. I have no clue if there is any basis to this idea, but it does seem that when there are many people (like in a city or prison) something emerges that distinguishes the group as being individuals in a herd sort of way.
Maybe it's simply a way for people to feel a sense of unification via the adornment of their bodies. The idea (to me) that it is an anti-God movement just makes me laugh!
My understanding is that tattoos in our culture come from 1800 Russian Prison traditions. It, like LSD, was introduced to the general pulbic by the govt.
I agree it is cyclical. Kind of like right now it is in style to be highly opinionated about aspects of other people's bodies and property (to the point of giving up our national traditions of ownership and rights) and to try and insist that your made up religious ways are the right way in the 285 corridor. Perhaps soon tattoos will be out of style and property rights and obessive religiousity will diminish. I bet it takes more like 50 years given the recent past. Tattoos have been in for about 30 years now or more and are only increasing in popularity. Perhaps some of you would like the states where tats were illegal, but even that is ending because restricting such things is completely unAmerican.
Who the heck cares about tattoos? Most people you look at on tv (or denver) get plastic surgury, boob jobs, etc. etc. Many of you are on psycho drugs (more than you think).
Any of you hippocrits out there pierce (or God forbid, peirce your little child, ewwww), whiten your teeth (or even just use whitening toothpaste), or that "do" your hair each day. Anybody wash their car for vanity (both wasting our water and polluting the river). Tats a relivant topic. Really.
And I hate to break it to you, everything you do is perminant, you cannot take it back. A tattoo can do far less harm than a stupid statement (even against other religious beliefs) and most do.
Anyway, if you care about tats, it says more about you than the one with the tat. It says your life is so perfect, and I mean so very perfect, that you have time and attention to complain about someone elses tattoo (which is almost always meaningless), even a better use of time than calling your mom or son (yes I just did). Even worse you could pass along to your children this harmfull judgement attitude (you know the thing ruining our country as we type) ..and I thought for christians that only god can judge, and isnt that the group most complainers belong to around here?
major bean wrote: Surely we must not pass judgement. Heaven forbid! The "don't pass judgement" montra has produced a culture that now has no shame or sense of decency.
I say, "PASS JUDGEMENT WITH A VENGENCE!". Call a thief a thief; a bastard a bastard; a crook a crook; a tramp a tramp; a piece of trash a piece of trash.
Way to go mb
