Tattooing Tattoo Is a Word

Tattooing

Tattoo

Tattoo is a word which carries both stigma and history. The actual practice has been around for thousands of years. Throughout our own history, the practice of tattooing has survived waves of popularity and disapproval. The actual word has its original origins in Polynesian onomatopoeia. Despite hundreds of years of having a negative connotation, tattooing has made a come back in modern times. Over the past thirty or so years, tattooing has begun to regain its position within the structure of society due to its acceptance into mainstream white middle class culture beginning in the 1970's.

The actual word tattoo has two entirely different meanings. The first definition of the word, although older, has nothing to do with the modern use of the word what so ever. This definition describes the word tattoo as a call or signal for soldiers in order to prepare for battle (Babcock, 1976). However, this is not the definition of the word which has survived through the generations to carry such a stigma today.

The definition the modern world associates with tattoo is that of "to mark or color the skin by pricking in coloring matter so as to form indelible marks or figures or by production of scars," (Babcock, 1976). The word itself can be used as a noun or a transitional verb. The noun form indicates the actual product of the tattooing process. The tattoo is the mark which is a result of the process. The transitional verb indicates the actual process by which that mark is created. The definition specifically states tattoo as being a mark, making it a form of showing one's identity.

The word tattoo is a true representation of onomatopoeia. The original source of the word comes from various Polynesian languages (Random House, 2006). According to Encyclopedia Britannica, these languages held similar pronunciations for a word which essentially meant "to strike twice," (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007). The Maquesan word "tatu" or "tattow" came from the initial sound the original method of tattooing made. Also, the Tahitian "tatu" signifies a mark on the skin. The English version of tattoo was first introduced into the English language somewhere between 1760-1770. After initial contact with Polynesian tribes late in the eighteenth century, Captain James Cook brought the word back to European customs. His sailors, however, are the ones responsible for reintroducing the actual practice of tattooing back into the European mainland.

In fact the word first appeared in an English context in the journal writings of Captain James Cook after his first encounter with Polynesian tribes during a trip to the Marquesan Islands in 1769. The sailors then introduced the actual process to Europe upon their return. Tattooing had been completely absent from the countries of Europe for centuries and had almost forgotten. Upon reintroduction, however, the practice once again gained popularity, but was associated with sailors and the working class. This association also carried weight in the Americas, and tattooing was a symbol of working class up until the late twentieth century.

The practice of tattooing has had the same purposes over the thousands of years of its existence. These include decorative, spiritual, and identifying purposes (Demello, 2000). For thousands of years, people have adorned their bodies with intricate designs which were used for decorative or cosmetic purposes. Tribes all over the world have their own unique designs which signify beauty and other elaborate forms of decoration. This tradition still continues today as one of the main reasons for individuals seeking tattoos. Spiritual motivations have also been long associated with tattoos. In Tibet, tattoos are given in a yearly festival signifying spiritual protection over the tattoo holder, (Demello, 2000). These tattoos have been administered for thousands of years by monks in the traditional method of tattooing. The monk is the one who decides the design of the tattoo upon reviewing the person's spiritual protector. The tattoo is then thought to bring enhanced spiritual protection from guardians who thereafter watch over the individual holding the tattoo. This is just one example of the many found all over the globe associating spirituality with tattooing. Finally, identification is another major motivation for tattooing, and is one of the oldest. South Indonesians tribes, such as the Mori, use tattoos to identify themselves as well as to identify the accomplishments of their warriors. In previous generations, tattoos were administered in the event of a warrior slaying a worthy opponent, (Demello, 2000). Tattoos are also used as identifying marks signaling man or womanhood.

It is the purpose of identification which had given many cultures a bad image of tattoos. Along with being a working class symbol, tattoos have ostracized many foreign cultures from modern societies (Atkinson, 2004). For hundreds of years, continuing into today's world, scholarly views of tattooing have labeled the practice as deviant, abnormal, and anti-social, (Atkinson, 2004). Many Europeans and Americans frowned upon tattoos as being symbols of primitivism and heathenism. Also, tattoos have been used in prisons and in criminal organizations as marking devices. The Yakuza in Japan use full body pieces to identify gang members with their associations and accomplishments within the criminal underground. Prison tattoos have also been negatively associated with the process in Europe and the Americas. The prison tattoos of Russia are prime signifiers of criminal background and activity. American prison tattoos also represent a dark association, far outside the world of normal society.

However, despite the long standing negative associations with such ideas of tattooing, the practice has recently begun to make a comeback in the United States and in Europe. Margo Demello, in her amazing work Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community, explores over twelve years of research within the tattoo world to describe the important changes which are bringing it back into mainstream accepted practice. Beginning in the 1980s, Demello has studied the tattoo community as it went through some of its most important changes. In her work, she explains that tattoos have transcended class divisions in the past twenty to thirty years. The original associations were with sailors, primitives, and prisoners; tattoos were widely associated with the lower and working classes. However, beginning in the 1970's and early 1980's, tattoos became increasingly popular with the white middle class. With this appropriation, the practice has become more socially acceptable in many countries all over the world.

Also in the 1970's, tattooing in the United States and in Europe became more of an artistic medium than the connotations of earlier generations. Fine artists became major figures within the tattoo community. With this development, artists looked back to the exotic roots of the practice, bringing in complex Eastern and tribal elements in designs and structure. This further distances the practice from its working class backgrounds. Also in the United States and Europe, due to the newfound complexity available, the narratives behind the act of tattooing have once again become more complex. Rather than simple symbols associated with the working class, designs have once again become representations of decoration, spirituality, and individual identification. Modern day society has a much better view of tattooing, thanks to its popularity. Tattooing can now be seen on weekly cable shows, such as "Miami Ink," and "LA Ink."