I found Atkinsons work interesting and easy to read. His methods of interviewing people helped to show individuality but also how some ideas were the same among different people. If I had enough time, I would’ve loved to interview people with tattoos. The idea that the process of tattooing as an important part seemed like a no-brainer to me. But perhaps it is because we have been discussing the importance of the pain and ritual-like process as part of getting a tattoo. I thought the compilation of negative reaction interviews was the most interesting to read because its hard to think that people will end relationships because of tattoos they got on their own body (and maybe the tattoo itself? For example, I don’t think I could continue to be friends with someone with a rising sun or nazi symbol. )But breaking a friendship because jealousy or because it breaks the image you had of that person don’t seem like justifible reasons. In the end is all about the individuals’ beliefs and relationship with the tattooed person although sometimes the reactions seem to be out of nowhere. This reminded me of those tattoo shows where pairs choose tattoos for each other and they always end up being really bad in placement and imagery.
Author: syhong25
As I was researching some of the more popular and historically relevant tattooing styles but I realized that it would be a good idea to present on a less popular style. Maybe a style I would be interested in getting tattooed. So I turned to Instagram and started scrolling through. As I started taking this course, I have been getting a lot more targeted ads about tattoo artists who are now booking. I came across this one Korean artist, who only recently started tattooing, that was followed by two of my classmates from middle school (what a coincidence!). I thought about the topic of trends when it comes to tattooing styles. How does tattooing trends start and die out? When I look at hwin.tattoos style, I can’t help but think that it is a very contemporary tattoo that would not last long in terms off a tattoo and a style. But what actually determines how long a trend/style lasts?
My presentation was on the History and Culture of Tattooing in Japan.
I thought it was interesting to see the tattooing culture of indigenous groups with tattooing that ended up dying out because of the tattoo bans and general animosity between people of the islands and mainlanders.
The Ainu People and the Ryukyuan People both had really interesting customs and a history of tattooing. Compared to more recent Japanese Tattooing, it was way more gendered, focusing on women. A part of me wishes that I had focused more on these two groups instead of irezumi.
But the long history of irezumi made it hard to ignore. It also showed that because of the long history of tattoos in certain groups, the stigma against tattoos is so hard to erase for civilians. I wonder how long it would take for the majority of the people to break free of that hold. We are slowly seeing change as places that accept tattooed people increase.
Inscribing the Body stated that the body was a canvas where culture and the individual is defined. So tattoos are a way of expressing yourself and telling your life story. I really liked the idea of “writing one’s autobiography on the surface of the body” through tattoos, piercings, and others modifications when they are voluntary. But at the same time these practices of body modifications through one’s culture or tradition still tells a story about a part of your life. Skin is cool and a little freaky if I think too hard about it.
Ideas regarding my topic:
- Medical tattoos are also very interesting as they are a growing industry that has evolved with the not only the tattoo industry but also the medical field.
- How does tattoo change how a person is perceived depending on age and gender?
- Maybe something about tattoo artists themselves or the evolution of tattoo styles
- Tattoo style that I am most interested in: Suminagashi tattoos
I am curious enough about ink wash technique and that style of tattoo already. I am interested to know how the art form of ink and water gets translated into a tattoo style. There isn’t much information on suminagashi as a tattooing style but I am interested in pursuing it as a topic of research.
Chapter 10 felt like was about the whole idea of tattoos and criminals and the argument of nature vs nurture. Chapter 11 was about penal tattoos mostly, but also the way tattoos represented that you were part of the “other” This and the codification of tattoos have been continuous themes. In Chapter 12, Omai was mentioned once again in regards to displaying exotic people with tattoos, as were the savage people. Those who practiced cannibalism were the most savage. Tattoos are used as something that separates the savage and the civilized. But when it came to being exotic, people saw profit in it and would tattooing themselves to sell their stories. Chaper 13 was more about american tattoo history and once again how non-western culture are perceived cultures that practiced tattooing. The growth of the tattooing industry during this time was because more people like soldiers were getting. But despite being civilized bc they were soldiers with tattoos this meant they were still regarded as savage. I thought the idea of the circus and carnival industry was the most interesting where we see another continuing theme – tattooed bodies are exotic and put on display.
All the chapters had similar themes and we can see that the West had a very similar idea of how they perceived those who were tattooed. If they were of another culture, Non-Westen, they were seen as savages, uncivilized, and something of interest, to be shown off, and exoticized.
As I continued to read through the chapters there were some similarities throughout different chapters. We see that people of the Western world trying to understand tattoos and studying them but also putting their own interpretations and ideas into tattoos and tattooed people. Chapter 6 mentions the curiosity of the European people that lead to the exoticization of people like Omai.
In Chapter 7, talking about the Godna tattoos in India. We see people whose culture didn’t stigmatize tattoos, get colonized and have part of their culture used as punitive measures. Godna tattoos were originally caste related and in a sense similar to the symbols in Chapter 4. The tattoos were believed to help their next life in a similar way that some believed that the symbols could change their fate outside their current realm. But as India was colonized, the meanings and usage of tattoos changed. The British thought tattoos were directly related to caste and eventually many places in India adopted the use of tattoos as markings for criminals.
Chapter 8 has parallels to the Christians in chapter 2. To prove your devotion to your religion with pain and something permanent is shown in chapter 2 and 8. As someone who grew up very Christian household, I was always taken aback by the way pain is glorified.
Tattoo is one of the oldest forms of body modification. However, too caught up in the aesthetics of tattooing, I have never really wondered about the history of tattooing, especially with Western tattoos. According to Jane Caplan in the introduction, there is evidence that supports the pre-existing practice of tattooing but finding the origin of it in Europe is hard to pinpoint.
Chapter 2 and 3 felt very similar. Like how the Romans adopted much of what the Greeks’ culture. Similarly to how the Greeks tattooed prisoners with their crime, the Romans did the same. However this was not the only purpose of tattooing. There was a lot of intertwine between tattooing and religion and its other functions: mark of status, decoration, as well as, unknown functions within certain groups of people and cultures. Overall, the act of getting tattooed and carrying a tattoo was mostly negative.
It is interesting to see how far back the history of tattooing is but also to see the function that it served. One comparison that really caught my attention was “The Settling of the Manor of Tara”. The saints themselves were the book and thus their skin was the manuscript. And so the idea that when the saints died, the skin was collected and ‘stitched together’ like a manuscript. A little grotesque but I thought it was the most interesting part of this chapter.
For the Celtics, history was not properly documented through writing making it unknown if there is a connection between the symbols and the actual practice of tattooing.
Where did tattooing in the Western World originate? Chapter 4 asks of the origin of tattooing inside of England. It is possible it came from outside cultures, the indigenous people or even from someplace within England? But according to the reading because of unreliable documentation, it is hard to pinpoint it to a specific time or place.
I thought that magic being a part of the larger history of tattooing was truly something I wouldn’t have guessed. When the Church of England became unreliable to the people, they turned to magic. Magic was about the virtues in the things made by god and exploring the purer forms created by god. One belief they had was that every being was made with a virtue or multiple virtues from god. For example a cock, like the chicken, represented confidence. So to be more confident, one would take the the innards of the animal and keep it on the body to be connected and imbued with the confidence or virtue of the animal. Symbols were a large part of the magic. Since obtaining parts of an animal wasn’t reliant, the used symbols. Celestial symbols were believed to have power that would help change their fate in the earthly world and the after life. However these markings were mostly on cloth and didn’t leave permanent marks on their body. So, celestial magic wasn’t fully regarded as tattooing because of it didn’t fully penetrate the skin to leave a permanent mark. But it is also important because of the belief and power behind the symbolic markings.
Nobody really knows the origin of the tattoos but magic in England played a culturally significant role in symbolic markings and the meaning and belief behind the inked markings. Many modern people with tattoos use it in a similar way to empower themselves, imbed some virtues, and have all sorts of meaning to the the markings.