The History of Tattooing

The History of Tattooing

The transition from ritual to art

Suzanne Wright

8/16/2009

Thesis Statement

Tattooing and body piercing have gone from being a deep and spiritual experience

with deep signifigance to being a decorative fashion that anyone can have done.

Introduction

Tattoos and other body modifications were once shrouded in mystery and part of sacred rituals. Only persons of great power and status were awarded these symbols. Through the ages, tattoos have gone from being part of a secret, spiritual ritual, to being a commonly available personal art form. The days of having to hide a tattoo in public are long gone and they have gained acceptance as an expression of one's personality or beliefs.

Tattooing and body piercing have been a part of Human culture since before recorded history. There are prehistoric cave paintings in many cultures that show body modification. Most often, spiritual leaders were the ones with these modifications. Tattooing has been used to denote rank and to attract and hold spiritual power. There has always been a mysticism associated with tattoos. It began as a way to show who had the powers or what rank they held.

"For centuries, humans have used tattoos for a myriad of reasons - for magical protection, to relieve pain, for vengeance and to declare victory over an enemy. Historically, tattoos were created to beautify, shock, or humiliate and they could proclaim valor, religious belief, group solidarity, or personal independence. Tattoos are now part of everyday society with over 60% of all North Americans aged 18 to 30 years old having at least one tattoo." (Tattoo Museum, 2009)

Tattooing has gone from being strictly a ritual with deep cultural, religious, or spiritual significance to a more superficial, decorative acceptance in the 18th Century. Sailors and other travelers brought it back and openly displayed it as decorative body art, rather than with the original meanings.

"Show me a man with a tattoo and I will show you a man with an interesting history." (Jack London, 1883)

Since it began before recorded history, details of the early evolution of body modifications are not documented. What is believed to be the oldest known tattoo was found on a mummy known as Oetzi, an Iceman dated to be at least 5300 years old. (History of Tattoos, 2009), in recent centuries, with travelers and explorers bringing back influences from other cultures, it has been adopted and spread. Widespread public acceptance of tattooing and body piercing has grown rapidly since the late 19th century. Tattooing has gone from being something done by a few special people for very deep reasons to being a decorative fashion that anyone could have.

It is still occurring. The public acceptance of tattoos is changing all the time. Today, a person with decorative tattoos is not ostracized or looked down on in most cultures. However, many employers still frown on visible body modifications in the workplace and require them to be hidden or removed during working hours. The fact that so many people have tattoos has led to a more widespread acceptance or at leas tolerance. Sometimes public opinion is swayed by a celebrity with body modifications. If the person is highly regarded, the public opinion learns to accept it. If the person is not highly regarded, or is regarded ad being extreme, often public opinion takes a step back. For example, if a well liked actor has tattoos and shows them in public, people will tend to accept them as "cool", "ok" or "nice". If a criminal is shown with the same body art is it construed as being part of his persona, therefore bad. Public opinion on many things that weren't acceptable a few years ago has changed radically and is always changing on an almost daily basis. Public opinion and acceptance has made the difference between our great-grandfather's day when only people from far off cultures or secret societies had tattoos to our grandfather's day, when military men and sailors were almost expected to have them. Progressing to dad's time when it was manly to have a few tasteful tattoos that could be covered by standard attire if necessary, to today when it is acceptable for men or women to have plainly visible body modifications in public.

Tattooing is becoming more widely accepted. The art of tattooing is practiced by millions of people in all countries and all cultures all over the world. Some people still do it with the original significance, others as a decoration, and still others as a sign of rebellion, because there are still so many differing opinions. There are three main types of opinions as far as tattoos are concerned. Those who like it, those who don't, and those who don't care.