Deviance and Tattoo
Tattooing: Art or Deviant Act?
Introduction
The action of tattooing has caused much discussion in public. Is tattooing actually an art or only a deviant act? From different angles, different ages or even different occupation to see this issue, we can have totally distinct responses. Once upon a time, So in order to understand the present situation of tattooing and its future trend, I found two Hong Kong local tattoo sites and one Australian tattoo site with some collected data to have my analysis.
Historical Opinions toward Tattoo
In the ancient China, tattoo was treated as a kind of serious punishment. When a criminal was found guilty in committing a severe crime, the judge would probably place a tattoo on his face. The tattoo could last permanently to show the identity of this man, a criminal. For instance, in the Qin (Chin) dynasty, even some princes were found guilty and ‘tattooed’. And tattooing is one of the most severe punishments in ancient China, just like exile. Only in particular case, tattooing was given the positive response. Yue Fei, as a National Hero in the Southern Song Dynasty, helped emperor to defend the enemies but finally killed by the emperor. When he was only 6-year-old, he got a tattoo from her mother to educate him to maintain loyalty to the emperor. But the tattoo was also not on the face for everybody to see, it was on the back and provide the meaning of loyalty. As for western culture, in ancient Rome, criminals and slaves are tattooed for the sake that people can recognize their identity easily. During the time that the Christian religion ruled Europe, tattooing was also forbidden by religion. Even in 19 century’s America, when a criminal was released from prison, he had to be tattooed. Moreover, a Jewish with tattoo is not allowed to be buried in family graveyard. So, according to the information above, we can find that tattoo was treated as punishment or deviance in mainstream culture during ancient time.
Tattoo artists’
Introduction
The action of tattooing has caused much discussion in public. Is tattooing actually an art or only a deviant act? From different angles, different ages or even different occupation to see this issue, we can have totally distinct responses. Once upon a time, So in order to understand the present situation of tattooing and its future trend, I found two Hong Kong local tattoo sites and one Australian tattoo site with some collected data to have my analysis.
Historical Opinions toward Tattoo
In the ancient China, tattoo was treated as a kind of serious punishment. When a criminal was found guilty in committing a severe crime, the judge would probably place a tattoo on his face. The tattoo could last permanently to show the identity of this man, a criminal. For instance, in the Qin (Chin) dynasty, even some princes were found guilty and ‘tattooed’. And tattooing is one of the most severe punishments in ancient China, just like exile. Only in particular case, tattooing was given the positive response. Yue Fei, as a National Hero in the Southern Song Dynasty, helped emperor to defend the enemies but finally killed by the emperor. When he was only 6-year-old, he got a tattoo from her mother to educate him to maintain loyalty to the emperor. But the tattoo was also not on the face for everybody to see, it was on the back and provide the meaning of loyalty. As for western culture, in ancient Rome, criminals and slaves are tattooed for the sake that people can recognize their identity easily. During the time that the Christian religion ruled Europe, tattooing was also forbidden by religion. Even in 19 century’s America, when a criminal was released from prison, he had to be tattooed. Moreover, a Jewish with tattoo is not allowed to be buried in family graveyard. So, according to the information above, we can find that tattoo was treated as punishment or deviance in mainstream culture during ancient time.
Tattoo artists’