Rachel Converse
SPCM100- Summer 2009
Think Piece #1
“Today’s social climate welcome’s body art to an extent that no other period in
modern history can rival (BookRags Staff).” This statement was made by academic
researcher Anne Velliquette explaining the significant changes taking place in today’s
culture about the emerging acceptance of body art. Today’s ideology about tattoos is a
different intake than in the 1960’s (Cupolo). Tattooing has increasingly become part of
mainstream culture, contrasted to how people perceived it only a few decades ago.
Tattoos used to be sported by only counterhegemonic cultures such as pirates, the
military, outlaws, and bikers (Cupolo). Because tattoos were not widely popular among
most groups in society, I would classify them in this time period to be low culture as well
as a spectacular subculture due to body art being linked with appearance. I would
consider tattoos in this time period to be part of counterhegemonic cultures because the
groups who received tattoos were the ones that also went against the beliefs and
ideologies of the highly popular social societies. These were the groups that showed a
resistance to cultural norms and rules to which they did not agree nor participate in.
Though tattoos in America were seen this way, tattooing in other cultures around the
world is significant in many areas and aspects of coercion as well as hegemony.
Despite the fact that tattoos were counterhegemonic only decades ago, tattooing is
now becoming more mainstream and a large part of popular culture, as we see more and
more people making it a part of their own bodies. It is now becoming physically and
psychologically more accessible due to the higher level of acceptance, as well as the
availability of body art.
In today’s society, the people who make a decision about getting tattooed usually
want it to be for significant events of their life such as deaths or relationships. The
meaning behind tattoos has evolved from the devious symbols of the skull and cross
bones to the cute butterflies girls sport on their lower back. As we know and have
discussed in this class, the counterhegemonic cultures in society that are not at pop level
standards can and are usually repackaged to become a part of society that will be taken in
a different way and become mass-produced. This has become true behind body art
because of the way it has emerged in becoming more popular today than any other point
in time in America.
Ranked the sixth-fastest growing retail venture in the 1990’s, we can see the
tattoo industry has entered the mainstream losing much of the negative stigma it brought
to those who yielded them (Cupolo). Statistics have revealed about 25 to 30 percent of
college students have tattoos, leading the popularity of tattoos to be among younger
generations (Cupolo). Myself being part of this group, I have found the media is part of
the reason this spectacular subculture is now part of popular culture. With reality shows
like “LA Ink” on TLC to “Ancient Ink” on the History Channel, the body art craze is
being shown from many aspects to influence young adults, or anyone, that this popular
trend is the “cool” thing to do, and we have the media to thank in this popularity.
Myself being tattooed, I am consuming the pop culture trend along with the
ideologies behind the permanent art set into my body. My skin has become my personal
canvas intertwining my personal lifestyle. I chose a clover as part of my tattoo, this
symbol represents my Irish heritage and I will always consume this symbolic ideology
along with the ideology of how tattoos are being seen in today’s society.
Works Cited
BookRags Staff. "Body Piercing and Tattoos: Introduction." Book Rags. 2001. 24 May
2009 <http://www.bookrags.com/researchtopics/body-piercing-and-tattoos/>.
Cupolo, Diego. "Evolution of the Tattoo." The Daily Campus. 16 Nov. 2005. University
of Connecticut. 24 May 2009
<http://www.dailycampus.com/user/index.cfm?event=displayregistrationprompt&
requiredregistration=1&thereferer=http%3A//media.www.dailycampus.com/medi
a/storage/paper340/news/2005/11/16/News/Evolution.Of.The.Tattoo-1059450page2.shtml>.