Tattoo Culture examines the rituals and social significance of tattooing in cultures around the world. The record of human history shows that tattoos have served in many various and diverse cultures as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talisman, protection and as the marks of outcasts and convicts.

RELIGIOUS TATTOOS
MILITARY TATTOOS
TATTOOS IN ADVERTISING & MEDIA

Check some of these famous quotes about tattoos and tattooing.

As tattooing increasingly enters mainstream culture, we ask:

Are the tattoos we see on the catwalks of Paris, Milan, London and New York in any way connected to the body art still to be found in the jungles and ancient civilizations of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific?

Why have tattoos been so important to their owners down through the ages?

Why are they a universal phenomenon?

And, finally, why are the traditions of tribal body art fast disappearing?

Find out all this and more in Tattoo Culture.

For the latest musings on Tattoo Culture, check in with Marisa at Needled.com

For up to the date information on tattoos and body art in the Media, check out Tattoos in the News.

For the history of Tattoo Culture, seek out Chuck Eldridge at TattooArchive.com.

INKEDblog takes you beneath the skin of today's tattoo culture.

Hanzi Smatter 一知半解 -- Blog dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture. Be careful when you get that trendy Kanji tattoo... it may not mean what you think it does...

Behind The Ink - Tattoo Community site has pictures, flash and tattoo design gallery. Forums, feedback and more...

Kristian Misser has published numerous articles featuring well-known tattoo artists, tattoo culture and must see spots on the tattoo convention circuit, in addition to several well received books on tattooing.

Flikr: The Tattooed Girls Pool

Tattoos in the Movies

The Mark of a True Science Fan?
www.newscientist.com - November 22, 2007 by Catherine Brahic

Talk about love... Bob Datta of Columbia University has tattooed his wife's initials as seen through the prism of the genetic code on his shoulder; Kirstin says "genetics stole my heart", so had a piece of the sonic hedgehog gene tattooed on her left leg (it twists all the way up to her thigh); and Julienne recently handed in her thesis on biological anthropology, and to celebrate, she had Darwin's first sketch of an evolutionary tree tattooed on her side.

These are just a few of the personal icons that scientists have chosen to have permanently etched on their flesh. There's an astonishing collection being built in this Flickr album compiled by science writer Carl Zimmer. He has had contributions from the whole gamut of scientists (check out the mathematician who can't live without Pi, and the chemists who love their chillis and drugs.)

Read the whole article here

Thai Tattoo Tradition Draws Worldwide Devotees
NPR.org Day to Day, November 13, 2007 by Scott Carney

Can a tattoo stop a bullet? Some people think so.

For centuries, Thai soldiers have covered their bodies in protective tattoos called Sak Yant. Today, the ancient ritual is booming and thousands of people — in Thailand and beyond — are flocking to master artists to have the powerful designs inked on their bodies.

The Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple, about 30 miles west of Bangkok, is one of the most highly esteemed locations for Sak Yant. Dozens of monks and master artists, who have spend years perfecting the art, can be found there.

Read the whole article here

Horiyoshi III, Legendary Irezumi Master
PingMag, 11 Oct 2007, Written by Kevin Mcgue

This is going to be a painful excursion: On the second floor above a Chinese restaurant in a quiet shopping street in Yokohama is Horiyoshi III’s studio. An artist that paints by carving into people’s skin and inserting ink - the legendary Horiyoshi III is a traditional irezumi master and folks from all over the world make an appointment half a year in advance to get one of his colourful tattoos. PingMag stepped into his studio to get to know more about this ancient Japanese artform.

First, let’s distinguish between the terms irezumi and tattoo: In Japan, they certainly have different meanings. “An irezumi is something that is normally hidden beneath clothing,” Horiyoshi III says. “Many young people in Japan today are getting tattoos to show them off. That is very different.”

Read the whole article here

Branded with Science
www.scienceblogs.com - 6 August 2007, Written by Carl Zimmer

The other day I was pondering how scientists tattoo themselves with their science. I was at a pool party where a friend, Bob Datta, had jumped into the water with his kids. Datta is a post-doc at Columbia, where he studies genes in Drosophila flies. I noticed that Bob had a tattoo of DNA on his shoulder. At first I thought it was a generic snippet of the molecule, but then Bob told me that it actually represents, in the genetic code, his wife's initials: EEE. Geek love in its noblest form...

Read the whole posting here

Tattoos Hinder Job Search, Says Vault Survey
Vault Releases Survey on Tattoo and Body Piercings in the Workplace

July 25, 2007 NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the job search? You might want to think twice before adorning yourself with permanent body art. According to career publisher Vault.com’s (www.vault.com) new Tattoo and Body Piercing Survey, 85% of survey respondents believe that tattoos and body piercings impede ones chances of finding a job.

Said one survey respondent: “Regardless of who the real person may be, stereotypes associated with piercings and tattoos can and do affect others. In general, individuals with tattoos and body piercings are often viewed as ‘rougher’ or ‘less educated.’”

Despite such prejudice, only 16% of employers have an official company policy on tattoos and piercings. Vault found that over half of employees with tattoos and/or body piercings opt to cover up when they are at work.

Forty-two percent of those surveyed admitted to having either a tattoo and/or body piercing (besides “pierced ears”). Of that group, 40% had one or more tattoos and only 20% had one or more piercings.

Consistent with Vault’s first Tattoo and Body Piercing Survey conducted in 2001, the most popular place to get a tattoo is the arm at 25%.

Vault’s 2007 Tattoo and Body Piercing Survey, conducted earlier this month, is comprised of 468 responses from employees representing a variety of industries across the U.S.

The Word Made Flesh
Multnomah Bible College reverses its ban on tattoos. Christians rejoice.
BY PAIGE RICHMOND | prichmond at wweek dot com
[July 11th, 2007]

Matt Farlow's body belongs to God. The Multnomah Biblical Seminary grad student claims that all of his tattoos "glorify Christ," except for his first piece of ink: a small, now-faded lightning bolt. Since Farlow, now 33 and married with two kids, became "full-on Jesus-centered" in his 20s, he's marked his body with only religious imagery. And now that Multnomah Bible College (and its grad school, the Seminary) finally allows students to show off their body art, Farlow can display a full-sleeve tattoo of vibrant symbols depicting the Holy Trinity and the Greek name of God. ...  more

Symbols of love and hate: messages behind Allgier's tattoos
by Robert Walz
June 26, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News)- Curtis Allgier wears the symbols of white supremacy on his face but he told a prison Board of Pardons that he did not belong to the Aryan Empire Warriors or any other prison gang despite what the tattoos say on his body.

"I am an Aryan, I'm of Aryan descent, that's not a gang, that's a culture," said Curtis Allgier during his last meeting with the Utah Board of Pardons on April 6, 2006.

Allgier got busted for getting tattoos on his face last year and had to spend time in the Utah State Prison isolation area after a conviction on conspiracy charges. Getting a tattoo is against the rules in prison, but the inmates do it for protection and intimidation. The tattoo on the top of Allgier's forehead says "Property of Jolene," an apparent romantic reference to his wife Jolene Allgier. But the other tattoos he wears reflect an ideology of hatred espoused by white supremacy groups...  more

Bilderbuch-Frauen
Pricked Reality – Picturebook - Women
Images pricked on human skin are rather associated with self destruction or with manliness, toughness; full-body tattoos on women generally contradict the cliché of femininity in our society. The photographer Boris Schmalenberger explored this cliché and is now presenting his new series entitled “Bilderbuch-Frauen” (picture-book women).

After Internet research, Schmalenberger visited several tattooed women in different cities throughout Germany and photographed them in large-format.

Boris Schmalenberger is showing us tattooed women as human beings who differ from others because they express their individuality explicitly through their bodies; a concept which derives from a desire that fashion has long been failing to satisfy. In contrast to his earlier works, the photographer this time surprises by his choice of a documentary-like style to concern himself once more with one of the key themes of his oeuvre: human physicality. Nevertheless, these images prove to be aesthetic constructions that surpass merely copying reality by their poetically structured compositions: Thus, the title “Bilderbuch-Frauen” (picture-book women) is explicitly to be understood literary. more...

Hate On Display:
A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos
Prison Tattoos
Although many people entering the prison population are affiliated with the hate movement before their incarceration, prisoners from different ethnic backgrounds often join racist gangs once inside the penal system. They join these groups not only because they adhere to the gang's racist ideology, but also for protection and as a way to participate in criminal activity within the prison. These inmates' tattoos offer important information about gang affiliation, personal history and criminal activity... more

Taboo of tattoos in the workplace
by Harry Wessel, ORLANDO SENTINEL, May 28, 2007
At Devotion Tattoo in Orlando, a police officer recently came in with his short-sleeved uniform top to make sure the tattoo he received would not extend below his clothing, reported store manager Chava Goldman. The shop on Mills Avenue tattoos a lot of professionals, she said, who work with the shop's artists to make sure their body art can be hidden on the job.... more

Karman & Malinda's Top 11 Lesbian Fashion Accessories
by Malinda Lo, Managing Editor AfterEllen.com
January 18, 2007

Before tattoos became so popular that even sorority sisters were getting them, queer girls defiantly displayed their tats as inky indicators that they were traveling into forbidden “man” territory. Tattoos of anything — from astrological signs and Goth-like florals to the tried-and-true anchor — were far more likely to be found on a lesbian than the rest of the female population. more

A Portrait of "Generation Next"
How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics

Their parents may not always be pleased by what they see on those visits home: About half of Gen Nexters say they have either gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color, or had a body piercing in a place other than their ear lobe. The most popular are tattoos, which decorate the bodies of more than a third of these young adults.

Thirty-six percent of those ages 18 to 25, and 40 percent of those ages 26 to 40, have at least one tattoo, according to a fall 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center. more

Tattoos and Piercings Go Mainstream, but Risks Continue, NewsCenter, Northwestern University

WHO'S TATOOED?

Laumann and co-researcher Dr. Amy Derick, of the University of Chicago, found that year of birth was a predictive factor for tattoos: 36 percent of people aged 18 to 29; 24 percent of those aged 30 to 40; and only 15 percent of those aged 40 to 50 had tattoos. Sixteen percent had obtained their first tattoo before age18.

People of lower educational status were more likely to have a tattoo and also more likely to have more than one tattoo than those of higher educational status.

Drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs were related to having tattoos. Over a third of ex-drinkers and a fourth of current drinkers had tattoos, as did almost 40 percent of those who have ever used recreational drugs and 60 percent of those who have been in jail for more than three days.

Tattoos were seen in all ethnic groups but were more common among those with Hispanic ancestry than among all other ethnic groups combined. more

MORE SKIN, LESS INK
Tattoos are trendy but permanence is passé, thanks to laser removal
Paula Brook, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, October 16, 2006

A short history of tattoos.

12th Century B.C.: Polynesian cave dwellers carve symbols into their flesh to ward off demons.

18th Century A.D.: Captain Cook's crew get hip to mutilation on their South Pacific voyages.

Late 1960s: Janis Joplin lances the tribal barrier and gets branded in the name of rock.

1974: Cher splits from Sonny and celebrates with a big butt-erfly.

2004: Laser technology allows Cher to Turn Back Time.

Update: Two years later, Cher is still trying to turn back time at the laser studio, discovering that it takes a lot longer and can be more painful to remove tattoos than to get them. She is not alone.

Now that tattooing has crossed over from the mark of Cain to a full-blown hipster fad, with an estimated one-quarter of young North American adults thus branded, the race is on to remove, revise and rebrand. Isn't that the perfect definition of pop culture? Permanence is now officially passe and commitment only skin deep.  (read the whole article here)

TATTOOING BURSTS THROUGH THE COLOR BARRIER
Erline Andrews
Columbia News Service
When Monique Dillard dredged up the courage to get her first tattoo 14 years ago, she had two fears: that it would be intensely painful and that the colored ink would look dull on her light brown skin. Neither happened, and Dillard became addicted to getting tattooed. “It’s a rush,” she said. “Like sex.”

As her skin art collection grew, Dillard got strange looks from fellow black students at college. Word came back to her that a few of them thought she was "trying to be white."

"I was one of the few black people, let alone black women, who had tattoos," said Dillard, 34, a cosmetologist who lives in Washington. She now has 11 boldly colored images permanently etched onto her chest, back, stomach and arms. Most of them are tributes: five panthers, in memory of dead relatives, and the numbers 1 and 4 surrounded by flames on her inner left forearm, a reminder of the street where she grew up. "I notice now a lot more African-American people are getting tattoos, especially females,” she said.
(read the whole article here)

SYMBOLS ON SKIN CONNECT HEARTS TO HISTORY ALASKA
Natives embrace old tattoo designs in a nod to tradition

BARROW -- In a modern twist to an age-old practice, a few residents in this Inupiat town are sporting tattoos on chins and chests to honor ancestors and whale hunting.

One whaler wants to create a one-dimensional whale-tail necklace commemorating kills. Two women have chin markings that symbolize family and ancient traditions.

It's perhaps the latest development in an ongoing effort by Alaska Natives -- at least two Aleuts also have facial tattoos -- to revive language, dancing and art. (read the whole article here)

TATTOO AMONG THE NATIVES OF NEW ZEALAND
Tattoos and the art of tattooing in prehistoric societies
The tattoo, or moko, (its native name,) is done either with the sharp bone of a bird, or with a small chisel, called uhi. The candidate for this distinction reposes his head upon the knees of the operator, who drives the chisel into the skin with his hand. Each time, the chisel is dipped into a pigment called marahee, which is prepared by carbonizing the resin of the kauri-pine, and after each incision the blood is wiped off. The persons operated upon never allow the slightest expression of pain to escape them; and, after the inflammation has passed away, the regular and clear scars appear dark. The tattooing of the lips is the most painful part of the operation.  (see the website here)

POLYNESIA -- SAMOA TATTOOS
Originally, tattooing of women in Samoa was done only on women of rank. Because of this distinction, tattooing became very popular among the youths of Samoa who considered tattoos to be a mark of their manhood.

The legends of Samoa describe how two sisters, Tilafaiga and Taema were sent from Manu'a to Fiji to visit the daughter of King Tuimanu'a. While there, they were presented with a gift from the royal family of King Tuifiti which was a tattooing instrument. While swimming home they carefully held onto their precious gift while singing a chant that the Fijians had taught them translating it into Samoan. In English, the chant would say "women are tattooed and men are not." (read the whole article here)

TATTOOS, CANNIBALS and FREE LOVE
Samoa stamp request reveals island past of Margaret Mead, sexual freedom, tattoos, and a mellow lifestyle.
What is Samoa's claim to fame? We'll tell you. Easy living, tattoos and Margaret Mead.

Annexed by the United States in 1900, Samoa already had a lengthy history of tattoos and sexual practices that disturbed uptight Westerners. However, it took a little while for such things to get noticed. In 1722, the Dutch made a stop there, but decided that these tattoos, which descend from the waist to the ankles, were actually "artfully woven silk tights or knee breeches." Some French in 1768 thought it was paint. It took until 1787 for the expedition of Jan Francoise de la Perouse to discover that they were actually inkings. Unfortunately, La Perouse later decided to hoist an alleged Samoan thief up the mast of his ship by the man's thumbs. This led to what is called the "La Perouse Incident", wherein several of both parties were killed in a fracas. La Perouse later wrote, "I willingly abandoned to others the task of writing the uninteresting history of these barbarous people; a stay of twenty-four hours and the relation of our misfortunes has sufficed to show their atrocious manners." (read the whole article here)

TATTOOING IN POLYNESIA
This reference guide is for the students of BYU-H, as well as community members, in locating important historic, instructional, visual, and pictorial information on Pacific Island Tattooing. (see the resource page here)

SKIN DEEP
The history and meaning of body art is hardly superficial
Mothers and anthropologists agree: Tattoos are forever.

While they may appear to be a contemporary rage – it's estimated 1 in 10 Americans has or has had at least one tattoo, almost 5 in 10 among Americans aged 18 to 29 – humans have in fact been adorning themselves with tattoos, piercing, paint, scars and other forms of permanent and semi-permanent ornamentation for tens of thousands of years. It's likely the late-Paleolithic cultures of 30,000 years ago did more than just paint cave walls.
(read the whole article here)

GAY & LESBIAN PRIDE SYMBOLS
Common Pride Symbols and Their Meanings and Definitions

WHEN A TATTOO NO LONGER SUITS YOU
Know potential employment, removal costs before getting inked
Sporting a tattoo or two is no longer the taboo counterculture act it once was. But it can still present employment, health and financial concerns, experts said.

Once the exclusive domain of bikers, gangs and other rough riders, tattoos have gone mainstream with the help of TV programs such as "Miami Ink." Today, brokers and secretaries are just as likely as bartenders and street punks to have one. (read the whole article here)

TATTOOS, PIERCINGS SLIP INTO DRESS CODES

NEW YORK -- Colleen Harris doesn't fit the stereotype of the buttoned-up librarian. Her arms are covered with a pirate queen motif and black scrolling tattoos, which extend down the side of her body to her ankle. A black rose and the words "Dangerous Magic" adorn the back of her left hand, and the words "Anam Cara" (old Gaelic for "soul friend") letter her knuckles.

The 27-year-old — who has multiple masters degrees and a job at the University of Kentucky's research library — feels no pressure to cover up.

"It's not really possible at this point, unless I wore gloves," Harris said, adding that she thinks academia has been more accepting of her body art than the corporate world would be. "I think my qualifications should speak for themselves." (read the whole article here)

EARLY ROMAN TATTOOS
During the early Roman Empire, slaves exported to Asia were tattooed "tax paid." Words, acronyms, sentences, and doggerel were inscribed on the bodies of slaves and convicts, both as identification and punishment. A common phrase etched on the forehead of Roman slaves was "Stop me, I'm a runaway."

TATTOOS USED 'TO IMPROVE APPEARANCE'
A Central Queensland University study has found that people who decide to get a tattoo are not doing it to be "socially deviant", but do it to improve their appearance.

The research looked at the views of over 1,000 people aged between 18 and 82 in central and northern Queensland.

The study's author, Leeana Kent, says older studies used to associate people with tattoos with personality disorders and psychosis.

Ms Kent says that is now an outdated view and social exclusion is not the reason why people get tattoos.

"People are doing it because they want to be socially accepted rather than because they're rejecting society's norms and expectations," she said.

"However, having said that, unfortunately negative stereotypes of tattooed individuals still exists in contemporary society."

Ms Kent says she was surprised to find that men without tattoos are more influenced by what they see in the media.

"Non-tattooed males are perhaps reaching the decision to get a tattoo to improve their physical appearance," she said.

"The improvement of physical appearance was mainly associated with females, whereas now this indicates that it's also associated with males."

DO NOT RESUSCITATE TATTOO
(from web site Boing Boing)

Mary Wohlford, 80, has "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" emblazoned on her chest. Wohlford, of Decorah Dyersville, Iowa, got the ink in February to hopefully eliminate the possibility of any Terri Schiavo-esque controversy about her medical wishes should she become unable to communicate them directly.

If all else fails, if family members can't find her living will or can't face the responsibility of ending life-sustaining measures, she said, then doctors will know her wishes by simply reading the tiny words that are tattooed over her sternum. Find out more here

TATTOOS AND CORNROWS
A few years ago, the shoe company And 1 created an advertisement in which Latrell Sprewell said, "People say I'm America's worst nightmare; I say I'm the American dream." In the background a blues guitar plays "The Star-Spangled Banner" in imitation of Jimi Hendrix's version of the anthem (And 1 couldn't afford the rights to his version). Seth Berger, the president of the company, said that MTV created a youth market in which blacks and whites are indifferent to color: "It's a race-neutral culture that is open to endorsers and heroes that look different. These people are comfortable with tattoos and cornrows."

INKY DRAMA:
Actors find ways to hide tattoos when needed
Long time partners and Valley actors Andi Watson and Jason Barth say having tattoos — including her dramatic comedy and tragedy masks — has affected their theatrical careers.  > see the whole article here

NIKE SWOOSH
In order to demonstrate their corporate loyalty, many Nike employees wear on their legs a tattoo of a swoosh.

UNDER THE SKIN
By TONY HEWER
(from web site Under the Skin)

Despite this move into the popular cultural realm, tattoos and extreme body modification do indeed remain for many marks of difference: cultural indicators of social deviance for some, a membership in a cultural group or collective for others, a rejection of mainstream western consumer culture for others still. Subcultural groups like the neo-primitives have continued, through resisting the sanitized, safe version of tattoos and by engaging in bricolage themselves, to maintain a counter-hegemonic subculture punctuated by extreme forms of body-modification. Neo-primitives value all forms of body modification less as art and more as a spiritual and ritualistic connectedness to the earth, the body and the “primitive.” They exemplify the concept of the body as text. In an early 21st century world where bodies are sculpted to the ideals dictated by popular culture, the neo-primitives go to an extreme to claim dominion over their bodies in all forms.

See his website for a in depth look at why people get tattoos.

PRISON TATTOOS
Although many people entering the prison population are affiliated with the hate movement before their incarceration, prisoners from different ethnic backgrounds often join racist gangs once inside the penal system. They join these groups not only because they adhere to the gang's racist ideology, but also for protection and as a way to participate in criminal activity within the prison. These inmates' tattoos offer important information about gang affiliation, personal history and criminal activity. See various prison tattoo symbols and explanations here

GANG SYMBOLS & IDENTIFICATION
The goal of this website is to provide law enforcement and corrections personnel, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens, the assistance and knowledge necessary to determine if street or prison gangs are in your community or corrections facility. see site

AMAZING TATTOOS YOU CAN'T HAVE
A look at cool French tattoo artist Yann and his unique style that has caused him to become one of the "it" tattoo artists in Europe. You really should check out his gallery photos for some truly original works of tattoo art. (from SFGate.com Culture Blog)

UNMARRIED TATTOOED HEATHENS, HO!
More shacking up, more visible body art, less concern for the old ways. Is America dead?

America is dead.

No really, it is. And it's not just because we've lost habeas corpus, a bedrock protective law and a cornerstone of American freedom, to the rabid, stupid dogs of neoconservative fearmongering. That merely feels like a weird horror movie, the leatherfaced guy with the chain saw hacking off the head of the sexy college girl and laughing maniacally. The pain is simply too horrific and cartoonish to even register. Yet.

No, Bush's ambling rape of the Constitution and moral law is not the true sign of social decay and devolution. There is a far worse problem lurking, lingering, sneaking up on American values like giant snakes slithering onto a plane.

The real problem is, of course, tattoos. And piercings. And also: single people who defy the institution of marriage and choose to live together in sin. And then get tattoos. Haven't you heard? (see the whole article at SFGate.com)

SKIN DEEP:
A CULTURAL HISTORY OF TATTOOING
An exhibition at the Arizona State University Museum of Anthropology ran from March 23 to September 2006. Our technical advisor Lars Krutak was the guest curator presenting contemporary & historical photographs, rare books, engravings, postcards, tattoo instruments, documentary film & other media.

CULTURE IS SKIN DEEP
Tattoos with Asian writing is a fashion must-have, but does it symbolize cultural insensitivity?

By LYNDA LIN, Pacific Citizen Assistant Editor
Some people describe the act of plunging a needle into flesh to create a permanent tattoo as nothing short of being a divine experience. The joining of man, art and culture in one sharp point hearkens to traditional tribal tattooing rituals of the past, but the only difference is that these days, rituals are being replaced with convenience. People can now walk into nearly any tattoo shop and pick out a cultural identity of their choice and spell it out on their skin, all within 30 minutes or less. (Read the whole article)

SARAWAK MUSEUMS
The site of one of Borneo's best kept secrets! Prepare yourself for a journey into the past history of Sarawak and Borneo's heritage as a whole. Nine Museums are waiting for you to explore and visit. Most were built close to a century ago and yet they have remained and survived over the years. The buildings themselves are historical and today, serve as the custodian and keeper of all the historical documents and artifacts such as antiques, monuments, cultural landmarks, archaeological specimens, architectural, artistic and religious materials associated with the traditions and beliefs of the people of Sarawak and Borneo as a whole. www.museum.sarawak.gov.my

Urban Legends
Suffer to Be Beautiful
Women in childbirth with tattoos on their lower backs should not receive anesthetic via epidural injection. Read the whole story here...