Taboo or Tattoo?
By Jasmine Golparast
Year after year, different trends emerge in high school from shoes to clothing. This year, it seems that tattoos have became the latest trend at Galileo with many students coming back to school fresh from summer, showing off their new tattoos.
Although there are those who think that tattoos are ugly and don’t belong on bodies of students who are still in High School, however; I see tattoos as artwork that seem to always have a story or importance behind them. Tattoos are not just started becoming a trend this year also not something that was just created this millennium but, in fact has been around for centuries.
The purpose of tattooing varies from culture to culture. It originated from Egypt and made it’s way through Europe, Middle East, Asia and the Islands until it practically populated the world.
Tattoos serve all kinds of purposes in different cultures some even believed it served as protection. Polynesian tattoos were on people’s body to guard their health, and some to protect them, for example a fisherman would get a tattoo of a shark to keep them safe from sharks. In fact the word ‘tattoo’ came from the Polynesian language. The Polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something and the tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’.
Although, they just couldn’t tattoo themselves anywhere, the men were allowed to get it on their legs, torso, arms, and face while women only could get them on hands, fingers, wrists and sometimes their tongues. Eventually, they changed that rule so men and women could get tattoos wherever they pleased.
One of the joys of tattoos are that they are all diversified in some way from designs to stories. All the people I know when I ask them about their tattoos there are always something interesting behind it which makes you look at the tattoo in a completely different way.
I think it’s perfectly fine for people, and teenagers to get tattoos. It’s not as if they’re hurting anyone doing it, or doing anything that could seriously mess up their future like drugs or drinking. I’ve actually heard from a couple of people that getting tattoos is a great way for them to release their anger or pain that they feel inside. It’s as if all that emotion is bottled into themselves and the second they get a tattoo it’s like all that emotion is coming out. It’s definitely a better route to take than doing drugs.
It’s not a crime when people try to accessorize themselves with jewelry or make up, so why create a fuss when people want to decorate themselves with tattoos. It’s just another way for them to express themselves, a special work of art on their body that the meaning is their own.