Just Like a Tattoo: The Meaning Behind Getting Inked

As a wise and learned relentlessly stubborn 16 year old, I had decided it was a good idea to tell all of Facebook that I thought tattoos were stupid, and that I would never ever get one--the only way you would see me near a tattoo, I claimed, was if I decided to join some sort of motorcycle gang. I'm not entirely sure if I realized that I was living in the 21st century, where tattoos are widely accepted as, y'know, art, but I have the distinct memory that I was convinced my mind would never change.

Flash forward four years, where I'm sitting in a tattoo parlor, getting a permanent OM symbol on my shoulder. I've already told the story of the om tattoo, but since then, I've become addicted to ink. After my first tattoo-ing experience, I jumped to the conclusion that I wanted to become a walking art gallery--I've since calmed down, mostly after realizing that would require me to be thousands of dollars poorer. But in preparation for my next tattoo, I wanted to examine why having ink on your body evokes such a strong negative reaction from some people, and why it's so appealing to others. I haven't met many people who are all "yeah, tattoos are alright." They either love the idea or hate it.

So in keeping with my drastic change of appearance (apparently it's never too late to become the rebellious teenager?), I'm jumping into my inked-dream and going for a second tattoo. But instead of just blindly going, "whee, there's color on my body!", I thought I would take a more academic spin on the experience. In one of my classes, we were assigned to write an I-search paper, which is basically where you search for the answer to a question that chooses you. Being, well, me, I chose to write about feminism, but halfway through the paper, I realized it would have been much more beneficial (and fun) to write about the connotations/process of tattoos.

So this is my I-search paper, part two. I don't have any answers about the meaning of getting inked, but hopefully, through casual interviews with tattoo artists, friends, and family, I'll see why there are such strong associations with those who are tattoo-ed. I didn't feel like there was a drastic shift in who I was since getting my first tattoo, but then again, I often forget that I have it because I can't turn around and look at my shoulder. So there's that.

Wish me luck on my search, friends, and if any of you have any tattoo stories/advice, please share!

Namaste.