Here is an interesting article that is somewhat of a critique of Goffman’s “Stigma and Social Identity” which ties into Lombroso’s ideas about tattoos. Tattoos seem to be a very popular topic amongst young people and on this blog. Many say that tattoo’s are a sign of deviance and show a lack of intelligence. Tattoo’s generally give a person a stigma, but is it a good or bad thing? Stigmas occur when something is different, whether it is a good, bad or neutral occurrence. People with physical disabilities are a common stigmatized group because we are always curious and fascinated by something that seems off. If you have ever seen someone who is blind, or with a limp and had to stare at them in fascination then you contribute to stigmatization, even if that was not your intent. Some stigmas are harder to define because they are things that can be hidden, such as homosexuality or sexual deviance. Today, some stigma’s can be ‘fixed’ with plastic surgery, such as rhinoplasty for those feeling stigmatized for having a big nose.
But what about a self inflicted stigma of a tattoo? Can something that is self inflicted be considered a negative stigma? Tattoos were generally used to brand people of deviance or to set them apart from the rest, such as slaves, criminals and the Jews during the Holocaust. Tattoo’s now can be considered a positive stigma since they are generally socially accepted and give you a sense of pride, make you part of a certain subculture or show the world what you are about. Since so many people are tattooed today, I don’t feel there is much of a stigma at all just due to its commonality. A tattooed individual would be stigmatized if they had an offensive tattoo (swastika), face tattoo, or just too many tattoos. Lizard man is the perfect example of a stigmatized individual due to tattoo choices.
I personally believe the image of the modern day tattoo, many times has been defined and redefined by western society.Even in religious scriptures there are references made about tattoos; in the colonial period tattoos were synonymous with sailors until the industrialization of society it was associated with deviancy. Nowadays tattoos can be found on just about anyone who is a fine of the craft.
In class, someone mentioned that the tattoos females have on their low backs are called “tramp stamp”; I found this funny and odd because I wonder what the image of society will be in a few 20 years. I notice that when the comment was made some females in the class seem to be disgusted with the trend; this was interesting because the lower back tattoo has become synonymous with the image of being viewed sexy. It seems that image of beauty heavily influence what people do to them selves to become more attractive the seem assumption can be made with people who wear color lens. I believe being attractive is what defines what is consider to be a stigma by society.
There are many reasons for getting a tattoo, some of which are great, and some show lack of thinking. Getting a tattoo that has deep meaning to you, or expresses something that you believe is a great idea. You can get religious tattoos to show your faith in which ever higher power you believe in. You can also get a tattoo to remember a friend or family member who is no longer with us.
I Personally think tattoo it self make no sense beside to yourself ( unless it is very explict) but since we are living in defferent social group, each society define things in different ways: of course an anti-tattoos society would oppose it. If the anti-tattoos view were support by dominating society, indeed, tattoo will be a bad stigma,
As what I know, some career, for example, lawyer, it is not acceptable to have a tattoo, some companies would have done a physical check-up to see if the potential employee has one. However, in other business like fashion industry, where the tattoo is accepted, few people would care about it if the designer has one. Therefore, it is very difficult to make a judgement about wheather tattoo is good or bad, it only matters when one is in certain group and watch by certain people.