Krystall Fasel
English 101
Polished Rough draft
05/17/15
TATTOO ETIQUETTE
Position Paper
It is in false belief of something that we do not know or
understand that we begin to call it wicked or bad. In grade school we should
have been taught not to stereotype a person based on appearance. Individuals
come from all over the world, they speak different languages and have diverse
customs. I was taught to embrace all of what makes each person an individual,
respecting other beliefs and living free of judgmental thoughts against people.
Most people hearing these words will probably stop and look inside themselves.
Maybe questioning if their morals keep them from a judgmental free lifestyle.
Individually we may be following this path, until we are driven into crowds of
other people with other ideas and their own personal judgments, forever stuck
in a spiral of how your parents believed, what society’s impressions have
ingrained into you.
There are some things a person cannot change about
themselves, skin color, nationality, gender to name a few, and then there are
things people can change, hair color, skin art, clothing style etc. Personal
choices should not reflect any differently in what changes and what does not
change. Personal choices are just that, personal. I have begun my subject of
study on body art. I will dive into the history of where our American culture
began its love of the art and why it became taboo. Weaving through the history
of our national love for virtuosity yet negatively labeling what
we do not recognize.
I have learned in research that American Tattoos have
become prevalent from our military service people. The Navy traveling around
the world learning customs from other worldly arts and gathering ideas, though
service people in the army and marines have also popularized the tradition,
spreading this phenomena with interest in unfamiliarity. Around the globe we
are met with vast historical accounts of tattooing. Beginning with the Iceman
found in the Otztal Alps between Austria and Italy, with 57 tattoos. This
mummy dates back to 3300 B.C. proving that ancient people have practiced the
art of tattooing long before America recognized it. So in using Asian,
Polynesian and Ancient Egyptian art forms as guides to fashion the modern
methods of the American tattoo.
The late 1850’s proved to be a historical point in which
tattooing went somewhat mainstream for the military. With the invention of the
first electric tattoo machine in 1891 by Samuel O’Reilly, in New York City. He
opened a tattoo shop in China Town, on Bowery in 1875. He saw men coming and
going from combat of the Spanish-American war. He took in both sides of the
warfare for whatever art they chose. At that time 80% of enlisted navy
men were getting tattoos. In 1908 Charles ‘Charlie’ Wagner took over O’Reilly’s
shop. His work began the influence of a classic American style, trending flash
that would stay popular for men in combat come the Second World War. With the
ideals of patriotism, defiance of death, family and courage.
1:
2:
In the midst of WWII, 1941 after over 2,000 service people
were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the military went into a
state of self-perseverance. Hawaii was soon considered a state and so declared
in 1959. Thus becoming an intermediate destination for many service people.
What once harbored hundreds of military men now had to service thousands. In
the attraction to “paradise before Hell” men were allotted privileges. Finding
everything a young sailor wanted on Honolulu’s Hotel Street. Full of sleazy
bars, brothels and tattoo shops. In this sordid district you could find drugs,
alcohol, prostitution, gambling and many tattoo shops. With a local curfew that
required the military personnel be in before nightfall most of the local bars
had a four drink maximum, implementing those drinks with immediate time frames.
Sailors would take four shots at a time and then wait in line at the next bar
for four shots more. Finally finding themselves in line at either a brothel or
tattoo shop.
It has been said that the diversity in tattoos comes along
with a sailor wanting to pin point something in his life that sets him apart
from the rest of the crew. On a ship with a uniform, speaking the same way and
answering the same manner they wanted to find a way to be apart from one
another. Often times coming from boot camp knowing one another, aboard the same
warship and sleeping next to each other the goal on the island was
freedom. Finding direction in their ink to make them a little different from
each other. This longing for a variety in life follows American history for
many generations.
Next come the ‘Beatnik’ generation of the 1950’s, the
‘Hippie’ movements of the 1960’s and the ‘Punk Rock’ movements of the 70’s and
80’s. Each illuminating a hipster vibe while preaching a life of
non-conformity. Reaching for a realm between rebellion and self-expression.
These anti-establishment groups were finding direction in literature, film,
dance, music and art. Sometimes taking the art as far as getting tattoos of
icons or related beliefs. Peace signs, anarchy symbols, skulls and nature
related images. Post war the ideals of the American people changed, more
and more people were beginning to test the limits of what conforming should mean.
Bringing about an almost bohemian lifestyle of people living the way they chose
to live.
In
today’s culture, having excepted our predecessor’s investments in change, we
come to find our own way of living.
Tattooing today is among the
mainstream. There are however, still widespread doubts to why it should be
allowed and the negative outcome to getting inked. There are a number of
arguments against body art or creative personification. Sexist reasons, age
precaution, medical cautions and even religious beliefs. The most compelling
issues against body art may come in form of professionalism. Although todays
applicants have become more open minded with one in five Americans sporting a
tattoo, many of our corporate professions have not adapted. The slowly changing
views on self-expression are still on hold in most conservative offices.
According to carrerbuilder.com a 2011 survey conducted shows that
‘tattoos are the third most common physical characteristic that hold an
employee back from hiring’.
In
corporate America, finding a job in most office environments you will be up
against certain guidelines. Dress codes reflect the need to be visually
expectable in front of supervisors, coworkers, clients and new employees. First
impressions seem to mean more then actually getting to know someone.
Inappropriate attire or personal expression are in contradiction of
conservative relationships.
“There
are no current laws that prohibit discrimination against people with visible
tattoos, body piercings, unnatural hair color, unique hairstyles and so on.” -Amanda
Haddaway, careeralism.com.
Employers do need to be careful when discriminating against
possible employees that are qualified based solely on body art. There may not
be a law that protects these policies, there is however a great chance that a
business could lose an opportunity to hire someone that would benefit their
company.
Other
worries come to mind when people think about getting a tattoo. One of the ones
that stands out the most to me are medical reasons. According to the American
Red Cross a person must wait 12 months after getting a tattoo before they can
donate blood. The fear of Hepatitis C keeps many people from accepting tattoos.
“There is no definitive evidence that [hepatitis C] infections
occur when sterile equipment is used.”
“Of note, no outbreaks of hepatitis C infection have been detected
in the United States that originate from professional tattooing or piercing
parlors.”
-CDC (Center for Disease Control and prevention) conclusion.
I think
it’s evident that if you do your research on a professional shop or location,
making sure the shop and artist are licensed and using sterile materials, your
chances are better to end up with a clean tattoo.
The last main issue coming from individuals against tattoos
arise from some religious theories. Primarily the bible, brought up many
times in my exploration of historical tattoos, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in
your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”-King
James Bible; Leviticus 19:28
This
seems to really be elusive when coming to modern times. Verifying that if a
tattoo is non-ritualistic it should be accepted.
In conclusion, it is my belief that skin art and tattoos
are completely personal choices. What is beautiful to one person may not be
beautiful to everyone. To entirely stereotype anyone with ink into a category
of sailors, criminals, gangbangers and troublemakers is completely unfair. The
times have changed and we are now living in a world more abundant and open
minded. For hundreds of years tattoos have been meaningful around the world.
The United States has come into its own after years of contradiction. I see
beauty in the old ink from our sailors and military personnel beginning years
ago. Symbols of the things people believe in and cherish forever carried on
their skin. I find no difference in a person’s journal of thoughts than in the
ink on their skin.
Photos:
1.
Charlie Wagner's first tattoo shop
2. Samuel
O’Reilly's invention of the first electric tattoo machine
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