Wednesday 11 September 2013

Tattoos define you as a person...Wait, what?

Rihanna. Cheryl Cole. Fearne Cotton. Angelina Jolie. Megan Fox.
Beautiful women.
Talented women. 
Successful women. 
Women adored by millions around the world.
Women looked up to.
Women with tattoos.



These women have all, at times in their lives, been criticised by the press. Pretty much every woman in Celebville is hounded by the paparazzi, criticised for every move they make and judged for every word that comes out of their pretty little mouths. It is to be expected. However, with Cheryl Cole's new, ahem, rear tattoo making headlines worldwide, tongues have wagged everywhere about the whys and wherefores of women getting tattoos. The question of 'Are tattooed celebrities bad role models?' saw sparks flying on ITV's This Morning as reality star and professional bitch Katie Hopkins laid into pop star Katie Waissel about the 'graffiti' she chooses to adorn her body with. The Twittosphere went wild at Hopkins' latest controversies, but her bold statements were nothing new.



In January 2012, Lisa Khoury wrote an article for The Spectrum, in which she made her views on tattooed women clear: tattooed women lack class. You only have to type 'women and tattoos' into Google to find page after page of Daily Mail-esque articles, filled with a predictable and monotonous rhetoric about how women with tattoos are promiscuous, 'skanky' and unattractive. 

As a woman with eight tattoos, and someone who does not consider herself to be promiscuous, skanky or ridiculously unattractive, I feel as though I could write a book on the issue. Before I begin to work my way through the various 'anti-women-with-tattoos' arguments that I've read and heard, however, I would like to draw attention to a fact that is often overlooked when people are in the middle of a debate about women with tattoos: it is ridiculously sexist to assert that it is okay for a man to have tattoos but not a woman. We say that we are a country of equal rights and opportunities, but when a man covered in tattoos waxes lyrical about how women with body art aren't women of class, it doesn't sound very equal to me. My ex was covered in tattoos, but made no secret of the fact that my own body art was a massive turn-off to him. Why? Because I am a woman. 

More to the point, women with tattoos are perceived as being more promiscuous but why on earth does it matter if a woman is promiscuous? I fail to believe that there is a great correlation between body art and promiscuity in this day and age, but even if there was, would it matter? It certainly isn't seen as a bad thing when a man sleeps around. But I am not here to delve deep into the murky waters of feminism. If you are reading this blog and are not a total bigot, then you qualify as a feminist anyway so there is no need for me to continue pointing out the obvious hypocrisies in the argument.

(Note: the purpose of this article is not to tell people that they are wrong if they do not find tattoos attractive. It is a matter of opinion. It is aimed at those people who think that external appearance defines character in some way.)

So, here we go. 

#1 People with tattoos will never be high achievers

Central to Katie Hopkins' argument against tattoos is the fact that she personally would not employ somebody with tattoos. She says 'If you have a tattoo, you will never be a high achiever.' Now, ignoring the hundreds of successful celebrities with prominent tattoos (including some of the best footballers, actors and musicians), I would like to draw everybody's attention to a Facebook group: Tattoo Acceptance In The Workplace.

Mike, Emergency Room, RN.
Source: Tattoo acceptance in the workplace
With 1.7 million Likes, this group is growing in popularity everyday, and its page is full of photographs of people, covered from head to toe in tattoos who happen to boast extremely impressive CV's. Scroll down for just a few minutes and you will find chemical engineers, medical examiners, accountants, fire fighters, nurses, television hosts, university professors and much, much more. There are people with doctorate degrees, servers in expensive restaurants, people who work with children and care for elderly people.

Successful people. 

With tattoos increasing in popularity every day, said employers are going to have to change their outlook one day. Like it or not, it is becoming evermore acceptable to have tattoos in the workplace. In fact, some places are actually more likely to hire you if you have tattoos. And who says you cannot find success in those jobs that actively seek people with tattoos to enhance their edgy, hip vibe? Katie Hopkins, that's who.



#2 Women with tattoos lack class

This was an opinion voiced by Khoury in the article mentioned above, and though it seems to be a pretty popular consensus in our society, it does make me question just what exactly is class? For me, 'class' isn't something defined by the images that one may or may not choose to have inked into one's skin, but the way in which one conducts oneself. 'Class' is not about writing horrifically judgemental and patronizing articles, condemning anybody who chooses to adorn themselves with body art. It is having manners. Intelligence. Maturity. Grace. Respect for others. Dignity. Quality.



It is nothing to do with ink on skin, and anybody who professes otherwise is lacking that thing that they apparently deem so important. What is not 'ladylike' and 'elegant' is not necessarily body modifications, but bullying people from behind a computer screen, purely because they look different to yourself. I have tattoos. I bleach my hair. I wear make up and I have piercings. Yet I have class. Do you know why that is? Because I have manners. I study. I never reduce arguments to unnecessary name-calling. I would suggest that the anti-tattoo brigade take a look in the mirror before they insinuate that somebody else possesses less class than they do.

#3 Women are beautiful without tattoos

Another of Lisa's arguments is that women are naturally beautiful creatures and 'guys drool over us' anyway, so what is the point of getting a tattoo. Now, ignoring how incredibly patronizing this is, it is ridiculous to base an entire argument against tattoos on your opinion of what is beautiful and what is not. I don't think that Lisa is particularly beautiful, but I won't go around arguing for the banning of Plain Janes from our campuses.

 If you don't find tattoos aesthetically pleasing, good for you! I don't expect everybody to. It's human nature for us to have vastly different ideas of what beauty is. However, what Lisa terms as 'vandalizing' the body, somebody with tattoos would term as 'decorating' or 'illustrating' their body. It is not fair to presume that just because one person may see tattooing as a mutilation, everybody else sees it in the same way. I am quite sure that people actually getting tattoos don't see themselves as 'vandalizing' their body, but enhancing it.


However, Khoury isn't against all forms of beautification. She is absolutely fine with girls getting their nails done, wearing high heels and experimenting with different hairstyles. This is something a lot of people against tattoos spout out. 'Dye your hair pink instead, that's crazy!' Or 'Get a piercing, have a manicure!' Well, if you are one of those people, shame on you. Having bright pink hair or a facial piercing is exactly the same as having a tattoo. They both damage your body (dyeing your hair is one of the worst things you can do to it), and they both make you look a way that a lot of people will detest. 'But tattoos are permanent,' people cry. Well, nope, actually they're not. Yes, having a tattoo removed costs money, but it isn't impossible. You are not scarred for life when you get a tattoo. 

#4 Nothing is gained from having a tattoo

Khoury's final, and perhaps most ignorant argument, is that 'Nothing comes out of getting a tattoo. You get a tattoo, and that's it.' She does then go on to say that styling your hair differently and buying new clothes are the things to do when one craves a change in one's appearance, but personally I feel that if nothing comes out of getting a tattoo, then there is even less to be gained from wearing your hair differently. What do I know, eh?

Her opinion that nothing is gained from having a tattoo doesn't personally offend me, but I am offended on the behalf of the millions of people who have tattoos for very beautiful reasons. See, some people choose tattoos because they want to honour a loved one, or remember something. Other people choose tattoos that have no meaning per se, but look beautiful and turn the person into a walking work of art. Sometimes elaborate make up isn't enough and people want to express their personality in the form of ink on the skin. Who is anyone to judge?



Tattoos are not a new thing and they are certainly not exclusive to Western society. To imply that people just get tattoos to look 'cool' and 'fit in' is demonstrating Lisa's ignorance of the topic. Across different cultures, tattoos can serve as rites of passage, marks of status, symbols of religious devotion, pledges of love or marks of patriotism. To assert that people only get tattoos for cosmetic reasons is just wrong. There are no two ways about it. People get tattoos for artistic reasons, sentimental, memorial or religious reasons. People get tattoos to symbolize their affiliation with a particular group (including criminal gangs, and even the tattoos that people get to show that they belong to a particular fandom such as One Direction and Justin Bieber fans). Some tattoos are used for protection against evil and to increase luck. The Ainu people of Japan tattoo girls entering womanhood. Do these girls lack class because their society uses ink as a beauty standard?



Of my own tattoos, one is an extract from a poem that I myself wrote, and it is a constant reminder never to allow my emotions to control my behaviour to the point where sadness or anger tempts me to do certain things. Another is my grandmother's maiden name, 'Portelli.' She comes from a large family in Malta, but the story of her and her siblings is a tragic one, and I don't want her family name to die when she does, as her legacy deserves to be remembered. If somebody was to tell me that I was only marking myself in this way to look 'cool' and that my sentiments make me somehow less classy than somebody with unmarked skin, I would probably punch them in the face (because you know, classless, tattooed yobs tend to do things like that).

#Having a tattoo defines you as a person

Contrary to the way it sometimes seems, we are not still living in the dark ages. Tattoos are no longer exclusive to bikers, sailors and rock stars, but are a growing trend that, in my opinion, says nothing more about a person's personality than anything else about the way that they look.



I am working class. I am tattooed. But I am also a good person. I am at university getting brilliant grades. I am a published writer. I have done charity runs to raise money for Cancer Research. I always give money to homeless people. I have a settled relationship with my boyfriend and have a group of amazing friends that I would do anything for. I would say that considering I am not even 21, that makes me relatively successful. In the house that I live in, three of us are tattooed and three of us are not. Those of us with tattoos are studying English Literature with Creative Writing, Contemporary Military and International History and Aircraft Engineering with Pilot Studies. We are not criminals. We do not run around stealing money and raping women. We are respectful of others.

A person should be judged, not by the markings on their skin, but by the colour of their heart. They should be judged by the quality of their actions, their kindness and the way that they treat others. To judge somebody by the way they look does not say anything good about the quality of your character.



Does anybody know the difference between tattooed people and people with no tattoos?
People with tattoos don't care if you don't have any.



Thank you for reading!
xoxo

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Nice page, here i find the Iggy Azalea Tattoos & Meanings Really very nice page. Thankyou for providing me this information.