The Body as a Canvas

For the past couple of days, probably out of a bizarre coincidence, the topic of tattoos has fluttered into my conversations. I'm not talking about in passing here, I mean I've had some deep discussions about them and about the perceptions that society has about them.

Here's a bit of an outline as to what I've encountered on the topic of tattoos this week:

Friday: while at a club, me and a group of friends witnessed a hot young man that had his forearms completely tattooed. To me this isn't a big problem...in fact I thought that it was fantastical. As my title indicates, I think that the body is my own canvas that I can decorate as I see fit and yes permanent ink is my personal choice of preference! Now upon seeing this young man's sleeves (thats what the technical name would be), a friend of mine said that he must be a good-for-nothing thug (that's me paraphrasing!). Upon the hottie with the sleeves asking me to dance and consequently my phone number, the same friend asked how would I be able to introduce him to my family? Better yet, wasn't I afraid of him?

Saturday: I went out with said hot guy (Eric) from the club. And my friend's stereotypical view couldn't have been further from the truth. Eric is a well educated young man, who just happens to enjoy expressing himself through body art. Nor at any point during our evening did I have visions of him being some crazed ax murderer. However, part of our conversation obviously revolved around tattoos because we both have them and we shared the same view that society is insanely narrow-minded society is in its perception about people with tattoos. We also discussed parental perspective on them and how that has and does affects us.

Sunday: I decided that I wanted to get another one which would bring my total to three! So while chatting about what I wanted to get and where via msn, a number of friends were trying to dissuade me getting more than I already had. They told me that too many wasn't lady like and would be detrimental to my image as a future teacher.

Monday: during our tutorial break the topic came up again. This time the topic was the idea that certain people (i.e.. smart and clean cut students) do not have tattoos. Yet another stereotype about who has tattoos! Also mentioned was health concerns, their addictive nature and about growing old.

After tutorial, it struck me how this relates to this weeks topic. The professor indicated that our current society wasn't faced with many changes but I believe that to be false. Much like the Victorians had to deal with a world of change in terms of inventions, our society is dealing with changes but in terms of societal perceptions. This blog will focus mainly on the aspect of tattoos and the misconceptions that surround them, but some other social anomalies have already been touched upon. One that was discussed was the change in the realm of sex, and gender and how we as a society are becoming more accepting and understanding of queer culture and all that comes along with it. However we don't offer the same consideration to people with tattoos which I find odd.

In recent years, an epidemic has swept across North America...the tattoo! Almost all young people desire to have one, and most actually go out a get one done. In spite of this trend, there are still a number of negative connotations that surround this art form and make it seem taboo. Society has a preconceived notion about the type of person that gets a tattoo. Typically those young men and women that are smart, well-educated and have what I will call a preppy image would definitely not be the type of person to get one. Its the thugs, gangsters and trouble makers that get them. Well wake up and smell the coffee society because most people that have a tattoo are not those 'bad' people!

Nevertheless, when a man has a visible tattoo(s), he is instantly pegged as bordering on being a menace to society, or he is in a gang, has done prison time, is a rebel without a cause, or some other horrible type of person. If a female has a tattoo, no matter where the darn thing is, she is seen as being unlady like. The tattoo itself is called grotesque and takes away from her purity. Its an array of colour on the skin for heaven's sake! So why do we label people with tattoos? They have merely elected to use their bodies as a form of self expression that doesn't hurt anyone else. Yet we slap them with a label to make ourselves feel better about the whole situation without actually taking the time to understand that person and the motivation for getting the tattoo. Just as an FYI: most tattoos are selected for a meaning, and aren't often done on a whim!

Most parents have a huge distaste for the whole tattoo culture or in their opinion the sweeping epidemic. They see them as horrible self-mutilations rather than the display of art that tattoos really are. My parents have threatened that if I ever got one that they would promptly take me to get it removed! I understand that they're from a different generation when tattoos weren't prevailent in their society, but regardless of what I've done to my body, I will always be their daughter. By putting an image on my body I haven't really changed that fact, just added to the beauty that is my body. Better yet they should be thankful that all I'm doing is putting ink on my skin! I could be doing a whole lot worse like drugs, being a prostitute or something of the like. But no, I've decided to do something that doesn't affect anyone but myself and they're against it.

Now with respect to my parents and their potential for meeting Eric and seeing his sleeve of tattoos...yes my father would jump to insane conclusions about him! I love my father but he's really not the most open minded person ever to walk the face of the earth, and I hazard that there are more parents out there like him. So even before Eric could open his mouth to say hello and make a verbal impression, my father would dislike him based solely on the fact that he has a number of tattoos. My father would be judging Eric solely on his physical appearance and nothing that he could say or do would change that because he has tattoos and must be just like the stereotypical person that gets them...good for nothing and not good enough to date his daughter. On my part, I would also receive the third degree for even thinking of bringing home someone like that...thanks for being open minded dad =)

People judge others based on appearance and there is no way of getting around that, it is a fact of human nature. But I just find it weird that we have learned to accept people's sexual orientation and that it has absolutely no bearing on who they are as a person, how they perform in the work place or interact with other members of society! Yet we don't offer that same type of consideration to someone with tattoos because lets be honest, whether or not I have one doesn't affect my work ethic or how I play nice with the other children in the sand box!

To me tattoos are a way of self-expression but in pictorial form. Isn't a picture supposed to tell a thousand words? Now what would have happened if poetry was looked at in the same way that tattooing is? Completely frowned upon by society, surrounded by negative ideas and forced to be kept a secret. We would be lacking things (works of art) that make the world more beautiful and pleasurable to the senses and humanity as a whole. Art is not meant to be suppressed but enjoyed by all without prejudice! So why can't we just roll with the punches like the Victorians did and accept tattoos for what they are...ART?!

sv