A Brief Look at Modern Tattoo Culture
Tattooing has been around for centuries, but never have they been so varied and prevalent as they are today. There was a time, not so long ago, that tattooing was looked down upon as something only criminals and sailors did, but today even soccer moms and politicians sport this form of body art. For many people the world over, tattoos demand a certain fascination and curiosity. Whether beautiful or grotesque, colorful or toned, tattoos speak depths about the heart of a person.
History shows us that tattoos served many different purposes. In the Egyptian culture, tattooing was sometimes used like an amulet. Historical findings show that often pregnant women would get a series of dots tattooed over their abdomen and religious figures tattooed on their thighs as a way to provide protection during the birthing process. Other cultures also used tattoos as a way of proving their royal heritage.
To be a Scythian or Briton without a tattoo was to be a person of low society. Greeks and Romans used tattooing as marks of belonging... religious persons belonging to their god or slaves belonging to their masters. The Maori peoples of New Zealand are well known for their highly stylized and artistic head and facial tattoos. These tattoos represented personal information about the person: their rank in society, their personal history, their skills, and their rights of passage as a warrior. Lastly, many different cultures often tattooed their criminals so that everyone would know of the guilt of the tattooed person.
Although the reasons for tattooing have changed over the ages, the designs, reasons, and colors still represent something different to each person. In today's modern culture, tattoo designs often represent a person's devotion to their loved ones, their country, their dreams, their profession or their art. Tattoos are no longer the simple amulet markings of history long past, they are images of life and love put on display like a priceless painting.
Sleeve tattoos are often one of the most telling and rich tattoos a person can get. Using the arm as a canvas to display the images of life, a full, half or three-quarters sleeve tattoo is a vivid and creative form of self-expression. Many people don't intend to get a sleeve tattoo when they start out, but as the years pass and the tattoos build up, they decided to artistically intertwine all the tattoos to form the sleeve. Others start out with a very purposeful desire to create a full sleeve tattoo telling a story, displaying their own skill as an artist or creating a unique identity for themselves.
Each year countless people join the ranks of tattooed persons, whether out drunken impetuousness, or true eager desire to have a tattoo. Whatever the reason, we are truly a marked culture. Tattooing has left the ranks of historical nobility and come to mingle among modern man. Tattooing has even entered the world of practicality, offering women the option to have makeup tattooed on their face so that they will never have to fuss in the powder room again or have a visit with the Mary Kay lady. So if a tattoo is in your future you will be in good company as man will forever be tattooing symbols on his skin as a way of showing the world what kind of person he is.
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