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Tattoos in Society

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Tattoos in Society
Dawn Zarnfaller
The Inked Life
Monroe College

The Inked Life
Society has grown to accept tattoos every since they were first revealed over 5 thousand years ago. Some people hate them and some people live by them. Tattoos are more popular than they were thirty years ago due to television shows and peer pressure. Tattoos are life-long and once you get them it is hard to remove them. Getting a tattoo can be a life changing choice for good or bad. Being covered in tattoos can stop you from getting a job.
History:
For thousands of years people of all cultures have been marking up their bodies. Some of the markings can be dated back to the Egyptians “and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B.C. But following the more recent discovery of the Iceman from the area of the Italian-Austrian border in 1991 and his tattoo patterns, this date has been pushed back a further thousand years when he was carbon-dated at around 5,200 years old.” (Lineberry par.2) Sciencists have found that people for over five thousand years were drawing and inking up their bodies for different reasons. The earliest tattoos can be found in Egypt. While expanding their empire the art of tattooing spread all the way to civilizations like Crete, Greece, Persia, Arabia and China. The word “tattoo” itself comes from the “Polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something and the Tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’.” ("Designboom") in the 1700s Captain Cook traveled to the south Pacific and when he returned to London he brought back the art of tattooing form the Polynesian people. Until 1891 tattooing was done by hand, the first mechanical machine was created by Samuel O 'Reilly “It was based on Edison 's electric pen which punctured paper with a needle point.” ("Tattoo You") O’Reilly used the pen to puncture skin increase of paper. The tattoo machine allowed anyone from any class to get a tattoo since the prices became reasonable. During that time the



Cited: "A brief history of tattoos." designboom. Designboom, 2000-2010 Web. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html>. "A Brief History of Tattoos." Tattoo You. N.p.. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.powerverbs.com/tattooyou/history.htm>. "Argot Language Centre." The Negative effects of Body Art (Tattoos). N.p.. Web. 8 Nov 2012. <http://www.r-go.ca/tattoo.htm>. DeMello, Margo. "Bodies Of Inscription: A cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community" Duke University Press, 2000. Krcmarik , Katherine. "Process of Tattooing." Getting a tattoo. Michigan State University , April 2003. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <https://www.msu.edu/~krcmari1/individual/get_process.html>. Lineberry, Cate. "Tattoos." Smithsonian. Smithsonian media, 01 2007. Web. 7 November 2012. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html>. Nagle, Jeanne. Why People Get Tattoos and Other Body Art. New York: the Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, 2012. 22. Print. . "Samoa: Samoan Tattoos." Polynesian Cultural Center. Polynesian Cultural Center. Web. 10 Nov 2012. <http://www.polynesia.com/polynesian_culture/samoa/samoan-tattoos.html The Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2007. 142. Print. Wells-Landry, Beth. "The positive and negative effects of getting tattooed." Examiner. Clarity Digital Group LLC, 09 2009. Web. 6 Nov 2012. <http://www.examiner.com/article/the-positive-and-negative-effects-of-getting-tattooed>.

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