As American society progresses, an expansion of creative expression is found throughout the culture. One prevalent expression is through the attainment of tattoos on a person’s body- this act is no longer associated with a subculture. Though they have been around for over 5,000 years, the integration of them as truly acceptable has yet to be accepted within American society. The stigma which follows ink is often degrading to the person with it, limiting them in ways that can dramatically impact their life paths. Stigmas in general are known to create produce feelings of fear, isolation, and discrimination, yet even a rise in their popularity has not hindered society from accepting them more widely as an acceptable form of body modification. However, the youth of todays American society are pushing towards its integration to be more acceptable as more and more individuals are being covered in ink. Recent studies show that roughly 20 percent of Americans have a tattoo, with 40 percent of the people in that group are Millennials, which some academics argue isn’t a coincidence. The campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is full of young people with ink showing, and the casual acceptance of it reveals just how simple it could be to drop the stigma. After all, having a tattoo, tattooed friends and tattooed family members is correlated with less stigma against tattooed persons. Instead of passing negative judgement and discriminating against their abilities, young people rarely think twice about these things when associating with tattooed people. This shows exactly how we can progress to integrate a much more extensive level of tolerance of tattooed individuals throughout society. Though the reason for attaining tattoos has varied and changed throughout different cultures over the years, they have been present through much of history. The earliest tattoos are suspected to have been used with intentions of improving health, while others seemed to act as complex symbols of identification for tribal status or occupation (Franklin-Barbajosa). However, in present day American society, tattoos can be attained with reasoning as simple as opportunity. It is not an act which provides any type of health benefits to the person who receives it, yet it can bring a renewed sense of self. When infused with cultural meaning, tattoos operate as symbolic resources for identity practices, Through the outlook of tattoos as art, they often act as a tangible expression of one’s personality. Though getting something permanently placed on your body often comes with a justification behind it, it is not required. For those who do give it a deep meaning to the individual, it is something which will literally be carried with them to the grave. Why is it then that the people who make these commitments for artistic expression are often ridiculed? Beliefs that tattooing involves health risks and pain is correlated with greater stigma against tattooed persons. In addition, the more it is examined, the more it can be found that people have simply learned to associate tattoos with individuals who lack positive and presentable personalities. The word "trashy" made an appearance in countless numbers of discussions with UNCC students, yet none of them could agree that they found tattoos to define someone in such a way. In reality, it was their elders who had placed a fear of tattoos in them simply because the "trashy" association meant that their value as an individual could be lessened with the tools of ink and a needle. When interviewed about their personal experiences, most students had very similar answers about why they were taught to think of tattoos as more of a taboo than anything else. Their elders had been raised in a society where only certain people got tattoos- and they had failed to grow out of that mindset even as the individuals being tattooed changed. Previous research has highlighted several stereotypes about those with tattoos, including being unsuccessful in school, coming from broken homes, having an unhappy childhood, rarely attending church, having poor decision-making skills, usually obtaining body modifications while inebriated, and being easy victim to peer pressure. If these young students were to (or did) get tattoos, they faced an association to the groups of the past that their elders placed them in. It was always as if they could do better- yet what is better when it comes to a form of self expression that is otherwise harmless? Ultimately, the argument of how acceptable tattoos centers around opinions Personal preference is revealed in many, many ways. In regards to tattoos, however, these personal preferences which have been inflicted upon many have led to a negative stigma surrounding the topic of tattoos as a whole within American society. Though it varies by state, at the age of eighteen an American is legally allowed to attain a tattoo at a licensed shop with their own consent. So long as the artist agrees to tattoo the requested piece, there is no further legal action required to attain this form of body modification. The unfortunate truth is that regardless of how legal it may be to attain a tattoo, society puts a pressure upon individuals which furthers a feeling of negativity. Being permanent, the visibility of tattoos is what causes the most conflict in society. The common societal distaste against tattoos seems to imply that tattoos make an individual less professional when being considered as an employee or the holder of a respectable position. For businesses which seek to hire the most capable of employees, a clean and respectable appearance is often desired. However, discrimination against those with visible tattoos limits the opportunities for both the individual with the tattoo and the employer- it is hard to justify that it is worth the chance of losing a good employee or not being able to retain a new one by having a policy that would prohibit the tattoo altogether. As far as society should be concerned, who is truly right to limit someone's capabilities based upon what is on their skin? As we fight to be politically correct and accept everyone, body modifications in the form of tattoos should be included in general acceptance. UNCC's campus exemplifies that as young people pursue a higher education and attain tattoos at the same time, their morals and capabilities are not being detrimentally altered. This campus is filled with future engineers who will leave with an ability to improve our world. Just as one would hope that the individuals who may one day find the cure for cancer will be able to pursue what they need in order to attain such an achievement, the limits which could stand in their way should be broken down. To imagine that a visible tattoo on a life saving doctor's body would keep them from being professional is no less than disappointing. As the voices of this generation shows, individuals are greatly capable of being "good" people regardless of how they present themselves physically. In conclusion, what an interaction with this generation of millennials reveals is that the time has truly come for this form of self expression to be integrated into our society as a norm. Instead of continuing the pattern of negative judgement, tattooed individuals should be considered equivalent to those with ink-free skin. As the new generation of working class Americans enters society, so do thousands upon thousands of tattoos. These pieces of inked skin do not stand in the way of their achievements and willingness to progress, so they should not be treated as if they do. Instead of being required to hide them in a way that seems to decrease their values, the should be respected as capable regardless of the ink. UNC Charlotte is filled with many ambitious young people who wear their ink proudly, and it's time that society swallows the fact that they are not degraded by their abilities. |
“I was always told that I have to get a job and look professional so I needed to keep it from showing. My dad thinks they are trashy- a conservative southern opinion of his that only a certain type of people would get them. He was raised to think that way.” -Mary Kate Davidson “I was afraid to tell my dad because I thought he would be angry because of how he was raised to look at them. He did not really have a personal experience with anyone who had tattoos.”
- Ayana Hall-Johnson “I did not tell my parents for a long time because I didn’t want them to be disappointed in me not asking for their approval.”
-MaKenzie McMahon “I do not personally want a tattoo because I feel like I would outgrow liking it. However, my opinion of tattoos is still positive. I also look at it through a military perspective since I am in the reserves and know that I have a sense of professionalism I need to keep for this job. I think it really depends on who is seeing you.” -Ian Andrews “I like that tattoos are a way to express yourself artistically. I would like to get a half sleeve on my lower arm but I am hesitant to do it because my parents think negatively of them. I am also concerned that the stereotypes against tattoos would impact how I could interact with people in a career. I do not think that there should be judgement against them, but that would be a so-called perfect world.” -Cody Griggs The author's experience:
The headlining photographs including tattoos of an evergreen and the words "grand optimist" are the two tattoos I have on my body. I got both of these in very professional environments and I love them to pieces. As someone who has always admired tattoos as a unique form of artistic expression, I could not wait to get my first tattoo. I attained them with a sense of guilt only because I knew I would be encouraged to hide them. Being a "nice girl" who intends to work in a professional business environment, tattoos could limit my opportunities. I know that an employer may turn me down if they disliked that there was a visible tattoo on the back of my neck. My father also comes from a culture that looks at tattoos as something that people with a lower standard of respect for themselves would attain. He hates that I chose to get tattoos. However, the response I have gotten from people my age has been nothing but positive. When discussed with a close friend, the concept of how much more of "myself" I feel with body modifications was brought up, and the feeling stands true. I love seeing these meaningful pieces of work on my body every day and I know that I am content with them. I would love to continue into my adult life with a more comfortable feeling towards the idea of my acceptance as a professional individual who also has tattoos; not as someone who is professional even though I have tattoos on my body. |
Additional sources:
Dickson, Lynda, Richard Dukes, Hilary Smith, and Noel Strapko. "Stigma of Ink: Tattoo Attitudes among College Students." ScienceDirect. Elsevier Inc, 1 June 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362331914000081>.
Franklin-Barbajosa, Cassandra. "Tattoo: Pigments of Imagination." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 1 Dec. 2004. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0412/online_extra.html>.
Martin, Benjamin, and Chris Dula. "MORE THAN SKIN DEEP: PERCEPTIONS OF, AND STIGMA AGAINST, TATTOOS." Markkit. College Student Journal, 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://markkit.net/untrusted/ehis.ebscohost.com_ehost_delivery_sid_67caee35-3747-434d-8d85-3336738b320f_40sessionmgr14_vid_3_hid_103.html>.
Roberts, Derek. "Modified People: Indicators of a Body Modification Subculture in a Post-Subculture World." Sage Journals. Sage Pub, 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://soc.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/12/16/0038038514554672.full.pdf html>.
“Tattoo-Related Stigma in an Era of Commodification." Wiley Online Library. 9 July 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.20727/abstract>.
All photos taken by Hannah Ramirez