The phenomenon of body modification can hardly be considered a recent cultural development, yet it seems to be among the most persistent. While other trends have emerged and vanished nearly without a trace, or transformed into something entirely new, the idea of modifying one’s body, particularly, being tattooed, has remained a notable one. While claiming that all people follow the specified trend would be a mistake, a significant range of the population chooses tattoos as a part of their self-expression, with new ideas for tattoos emerging quite frequently. Although on the surface, the function of tattooing might seem to have morphed into a purely decorative one, tattoos have retained their ancient purpose of signifying one’s belonging to a specific group and, therefore, still represent a part of the rite of passage for a number of niche cultures, as well as for certain age groups.
Remarkably, the concept of a tattoo may be seen bot as an artifact and a tradition of tattooing an individual. However, this essay will focus mainly on tattoos as an artifact that has survived several millennia and has barely transformed in its shape, nature, and function. By scrutinizing the material typically used for tattoos, one must mention ink as the resource that has been used since the conception of the artifact (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). Although the main idea behind the use and functions of the artifact has remained mostly the same, the constituents of ink have understandably undergone significant permutations. Specifically, in Ancient Egypt, milk was mixed with a dark pigment to produce the ink that would be injected into the skin of a tattooed person with the help of bronze needles (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). Nevertheless, the foundation for tattooing as a practice and tattoos as an artifact has remained virtually the same, with needles and ink being utilized to perform the procedure.
However, while the application of the artifact, as well as some of its constituents, have slightly changed, its functions and the original intent behind it have remained mostly the same. Specifically, in Ancient Egypt, tattoos were largely used to indicate the status of an individual and a person belonging to a specific group or a clan (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). Indeed, based on the analysis of the existing cultural relics, particularly, mummies and sculptures, tattoos could signify one’s belonging to a higher social class (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). More importantly, tattoos were used as a part of a spiritual practice and, therefore, allowed distinguishing people wearing them as members of a specific religious community (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). Thus, the perception of tattoos in Ancient Egypt was mostly religious and utilitarian, as the means of distinguishing between the member of specific cultures.
A similar phenomenon can be observed in modern culture. Specifically, while tattoos remain a part of the mainstream culture, they still suggest that the people wearing them belong to a specific community. Although mainstream tattoos are no longer related to religious ideas, they may still signify one’s support of specific ideas that would affiliate one with a specific group (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). The observed phenomenon has become remarkably prominent after the explosion of tattooing as a fashion statement has subsided, allowing tattoos to gain new meanings and be integrated into different subcultures.
Furthermore, the evolution of the perception of tattoos in different cultures across various eras can be seen not as linear, but as cyclic. Namely, while in Ancient Egypt, tattoos played a mainly decorative and spiritual role, they were shunned in Ancient Greece and Rome as a means of branding criminals (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). A similar phenomenon can be observed in modern society, where tattoos are used by prison inmates or gang members to signify their belonging to a certain clan (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). However, tattoos themselves are not associated immediately with the image of an outcast (Faulkner & Bailey, 2018). Therefore, the evolution of tattoos’ functions has been far from linear; instead, it has been moving in peculiar vignettes as people’s perceptions of the idea of decorating themselves with permanent ornaments and images shaped. Currently, even though tattoos are no longer seen as a necessary attribute of popular culture, they are still enshrined in it as one of the means of self-expression and the way of displaying one’s artistic and free-spirited nature. Thus, tattoos as a modern artifact have quite a substantial legacy, yet most of it has been evolving in cycles depending on the public perceptions of tattooing.
Having been enshrined into ancient cultures as the signifier of completing a specific rite of passage and becoming a member of a certain group, tattoos practically retained the specified function as they became a part of modern culture. Though tattoos are typically perceived as a form of self-expression, they do, in fact, allow identifying an individual as a part of a specific culture with a designated set of values. As a rule, the artifact in question is associated with the focus on originality and the pursuit of nonconformity, while, ironically, also signifying one’s allegiance to the culture in question. Furthermore, tattoos remain the means of identifying one’s belonging to a specific subculture and serve to convey a particular meaning. Therefore, the artifact in question has kept its original purpose miraculously well, carrying its significance into modern culture.
Reference
Faulkner, N., & Bailey, D. (2018). The history of tattoos and body modification. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.