Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tattoos
This part first interested me because tattoos interest me. I only have one, but how I wish my body could just be covered head to toe in tattoos. And I mean every inch, no skin showing, just an array of colors and shapes, and trust me, each and every tattoo would have some special meaning to my heart. Ackerman says it perfectly in her line "Ultimately, tattoos make unique the surface of one's self, embody one's secret dreams, adorn with magic emblems the Altamira of the flesh." (100). Tattoos have been around forever, and as time goes on they become more popular. With tattoos first starting out to mark what tribe you were in, to marking who was trouble, to now, when people get them for an array of reasons. I can't see tattoos becoming something that we teach in history that no one sees anymore. Tattoos can tell us more about someone than they could tell us. They tell us a story, a story of the person's past, or where they want to be. Tattoos can show us the happy and sad times of a person's life. I believe that's why in Tokyo the University has the skins of people that are tattooed, so that they can tell us what they can no longer say.
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"they can tell us what they can no longer say."
ReplyDeletegreat line, succinct but provoking.
I'm never getting a tattoo, but I think they can be attractive on others. I was on Reddit today and saw this girl got her first tattoo done by her boyfriend, and it was pretty appalling.
http://i.imgur.com/ugZIptu.jpg (maybe don't click at work or in the library, almost nude bodies)
When you say "head to toe," do you honestly mean that? I think you (and just about everyone I've ever seen) would look much worse with some guy's name dominating your face.
Thank you for the heads up on the link: I'm in the library right now. Whew, close call...
Delete"each and every tattoo would have some special meaning to my heart"- Now I understand this reasoning but I also think that part of the reason you may be saying this is because people expect you to have a good reason to place something permanently on your body, however it's totally your prerogative. I have nine tattoos. Some having really important, deep meaning and others are just things i like (e.g. I have M*A*S*H tattooed on my hip-because I loved that show and watched it with my mother-- I have my name written in phonetics on my shoulder just because I think it's cool). I'm just curious if society is sneaking in here--often enough society tells us tattoos are not acceptable unless they have a really deep meaning to them. Well I say, it's your choice.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see an essay on these tattoos Mary. Could be funny and touching.
DeleteOkay, maybe I wouldn't get them head to toe, but I would love to just have all the ones I want. I don't think I would ever get a guys name tattooed on my body, unless it was my dad or grandpa. I am not a big fan of face tattoos, and think that people with them just look trashy.
ReplyDeleteMary, I just believe in having a good reason. I hate when I ask someone about their tattoo and the response they give me is "just because", I feel like that is just not a good enough reason to get something so permanent on your body. But I do agree that is the persons choice to get what they want, and I wish more people felt that way.
I agree with Mary. Tattoos ultimately are prompted by human vanity, they are a purely physical experience in life, so it's not wrong to have a tattoo simply because you think it looks cool. Except tribal ones. I find tribal tattoos to be unbelievably tacky when I see meat heads with cut-out shirts strutting around with them. They have them because of UFC and couldn't tell you who or from where the Maori are.
ReplyDeleteAgain, cool response, but I'd love to see you responding to Ackerman a bit more. Just a couple targeted sentences that tell a lay-reader what the chapter was about and what the author's main point is. And then you can move on to your stuff.
ReplyDeleteGood job.
DW