[Arlo]
Can't resist jumping in here. For me, the art of tattooing is precisely
because the body is a "temple". They can be healing, transformational
and breathtaking.
I've seen tattoos that rank up there with the best "art" I've seen.
Trouble is, as with any "art", modern culture has turned tattooing into
a consumeristic object. I've seen people walk into tattoo parlors and
spend a few minutes browsing "examples" and say "give me that". The
impetus is "just to have ink", rather than find and express some unique,
personal, artistic symbolism. That is, people mistake "having ink" with
"having GOOD ink", and the result is that many people end up with crappy
tattoos that they regret and end up spending a lot of bucks to get
removed.
I see the same thing with body piercing. Moreover, "piercing" originated
as a very spiritual, ritual-laden act that usually carried some strong
social and cultural meaning. For a while, it became a form of social
rebellion, where the act was simply undertaken to demonstrate aversion
to social conformity.
Nowadays, it is an empty cosmetic trip towards body commodification,
where it is done "because it is cool" and that's about it. Some still
seek "shock", but this ends up being a watered-down, mostly empty shell
from the original meaning-laden experience.
Of course, there are still many who ink or pierce in very meaningful,
artistic, spiritual-transformative ways. But the majority are kids for
whom it is just another "IZOD" or "Louis Vuitton Handbag", a fashion
commodity to be pranced out for the sole purpose of trying to "be cool".
Hell, I remember the year that "lower-back tattoos" became the
"must-have fashion accessory of the year".
As for prison or gang tattoos, think of these as an "advance warning
system"
for who not to pick a fight with at the bar. Years past, you could
accidentally flip-off a Pagan (around here) and wind up jumped in the
lot as you left. Now, its obvious who they are, and it makes it easy to
steer a wide berth. Heck, that's what they WANT. But tattooing in this
regard is akin to "wearing colors", its an identity marker. I've seen in
the news where varsity football squads in high school tattoo their
mascot on their arms. It forms solidarity, group cohesion, and clearly
demarcates an "in" and an "out".
You know, maybe we should all get wrench/flower ZMM tattoos. (I'm sure
at least one among us must have already done so).
[Ron]
I agree, good post. I see young men with spiderweb tattoo's on the elbow
which symbolizes
murdering somone in the joint, usually a hate crime. I get the idea that
these fella's
have no idea what it means other than it looks cool.
Arlo, knew some Pagans, pretty nice guys for the most part but as you
say, there is a time to
give them a wide berth, they have no problem hurting people.. a buddy of
mine used to
ride with the "sons of satan" he's got some stories to tell, yikes!
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