I really enjoyed our discussion in class on 9/13 and particularly thought the concept of ritual was very interesting. In our worlds that are constantly changing, we need some sort of continuity to ground us. Tattooing as a practice is one of those rituals that people keep turning to in order to connect the exterior and interior, as Alfred Gell described. I also think it’s interesting how tattooing can give us a sense of agency over our own bodies, as we can’t always control how history marks us. But it’s quite disturbing how people tattoo others against their will, which completely deprives them of agency in marking their own body and serves almost as a way that history marks them instead. I feel like that takes away from the spirituality and expression of tattooing as a ritual.