Violence, Love And Redemption: Tattoos Analysis

Improved Essays
The city of Los Angeles is one of the most well know cities in the world not just for the fame and lifestyle, but because of the cultures that have been introduced and expanded into society today. In the novel , “Jumped In What Gangs Taught Me About, Violence, Drugs, Love, and Redemption” by Jorja Leap, exposes us to a culture involving gangs and neighborhoods. Culture is something that is very strong and determines what we do and what we enjoy. For instance, gang members embrace their tattoos in order to represent respect to their neighborhood they claim, life stories, important individuals, or religious purposes. Most gang members tend to get a tattoo of the gang in which they are entitled to. Considering this, Jo Such as, the members who …show more content…
For gangs “Once you get tagged- tattooed- that means you’re committed”(Leap. Pg.109). Although, many gangs have different symbols or numbers to represent them among those there is one common tattoo that exist in the gangland and that is the tear drop. Jorja Leaps gives us a beautiful description in regards to the various definitions of the tear drop. Jorja mentions the main principle behind the teardrop is to symbolize pain. In addition, Fabian an African American gangster mentions “ Three definitions come with the teardrop; you have lost someone close to you, you have hurt someone crucial to you, or you have spent time in jail or prison”(Leap. Pg 108). Thus, the teardrop is a cultural representation within the gang …show more content…
With the help of Father Greg Boyle and homeboy industries there is hope and opportunities for the farmer gang members to change their lives completely around. For example, “ This is one of the few jobs available to them, particularly with the economic downturn. At Homeboy Industries, the staff finds that living up to one of its core values, “Jobs, Not Jails”, presents an ongoing challenge”(Leap. Pg 195). For gang members overall it is hard to even get a job because society views them as criminals and thugs. Father Greg Boyle and his industrie don’t view them as criminals instead he views them as O.G’s.(opportunity givers). Offering them jobs, helping them with their personal problems and a second opportunity. Instead of society closing the doors on these individuals we need to open them and help them to the right path like Father Greg Boyle and Homeboy

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    The Stickup Kids Analysis

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In Randol Contreras’ book, “The Stickup Kids” he does an ethnographic study of what is known as the Crack Era in the South Bronx. Contreras studies how society shaped people growing up in the South Bronx that led them into the world of drugs and crime in order to fulfill the American Dream. He does so by providing detailed field notes, creating a sociological framework of how components such as culture, deviance, socialization, crime and race contribute to the society as a whole. In this book, Contreras specifically studies a small community of friends in his neighborhood and how their life changes along with the loss of jobs and deindustrialization of the economy. Contreras starts off by describing how his friends started to become “stickup”…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many religious groups believe that tattoos are against their religion and destroy the temple that is a person’s body. Jones notes that “[b]efore he could be buried, a tattooed chief in the Marquesas had to have his skin removed postmortem to be allowed in to heaven” (Jones 3). This demonstrates that tattooing was acceptable for the living but tainted an individual’s acceptance into heaven. Jones mentions tattooing “was considered erotic, bu[t] paradoxically repelled the god who ruled Paradise” (Jones 3). Although tattooing was a staple in Polynesians, the God that they worshipped was repelled by their branding of flesh.…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Semiotic Analysis Of Tattoos

    • 2648 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The designs of skulls and demons as tattoos not only symbolize evil but also of someone who is dangerous. The signifier aims to send the signal " don't mess with me" because I am evil and dangerous. To better understand let's compare an inmate with an "I Love Mum" tattoo. The image of that inmate is portrayed through the meaning of the tattoo. In the prison subculture there is a great number…

    • 2648 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The article's primary focus is the positives and negatives to getting a tattoo. Some jobs are unattainable if someone has a tattoo, whereas other jobs like a prison guard there is more leeway. My experience with tattoos isn't much, I have worked with a couple people who have tattoos, and everyone that has seen them wouldn't say anything about them. I always say to someone with tattoo(s) that’s awesome or something like that. Since I don’t have any tattoos, I feel I can't say much to a person’s experience of having them .…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the invention of spray paint people have been tattooing the walls of New York with everything from murals to gang tags. Shortly after this epidemic of graffiti the New York government started to do away with the things defacing their pristine walls by whiting them out. Unfortunately, they did not just white out the gang tags. The colorful paintings of New York’s citizens were washed out by paint itself--a very ironic way to go. Some may argue that these graffiti works were what gave New York character; they would even say it gave meaning and knowledge to its citizens.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Life altering events in an individual’s life can be commemorated through tattoos and tell their life story through illustrations on their body. “[g]etting a ritual tattoo in the pre-modern Pacific was a way of becoming a man, a warrior, [or] a chief” (Jones 3). For thousands of years receiving a tattoo signaled the commiseration of becoming a man. Levins includes that “Sports Illustrated noted ‘[t]attoos have become the sport’s world’s most flaunted form of self expression’” (Levins 5).…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mainstream… Makeup, food, clothes then instagram, snapchat, and fb but graffiti? Nope. It has been out there and although it is seen on all these social media outlets it is not done as often by every individual. Graffiti is not of the norm and mainstream because it is not popular or cool to do for all of the new generation.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Americans are always encouraged to support and enjoy art. We are taught to appreciate paintings and listen to different genres of music from a young age. We are told that being different is okay. Creativity and self-expression are constantly being encouraged. Then why are we so judgmental of body art?…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tattoo Case Study Essay

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The first steps of analysis focused on the descriptive statistics for each of the four conditions, which can be seen in Table 2. Between the two levels for religion, Sunni Islam (M = 4.34) was rated as more attractive than Methodist Christianity (M = 4.18), which did not support the initial hypothesis that Christianity would be deemed more attractive than Islam. Our hypothesis concerning tattoos held that the presence of tattoos would be rated relatively more attractive than the absence of tattoos. On the contrary, the average rating of attractiveness for the profiles possessing descriptions of tattoos (M = 4.03) was higher than that for the profiles without tattoo descriptions (M = 4.54). It was important to note that neither differences in…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Coca Cola (2015) did an experiment/ advertisement called, Remove labels this Ramadan, where six people sat in a pitch black room and engaged in conversation. They each went around the table and described something unique about themselves. One man said he is in a heavy metal band, the group then described what they envisioned him to look like, describing him to have long hair and possible piercings. Another man said he enjoyed reading and studying, particularly cognitive psychology and also spoke at Ted Talks, the group described him as someone who thinks he looks cool, but really is nerdy looking. Once the lights turned on and their eyes adjusted, they began to discover that their perception was completely wrong.…

    • 1420 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Tattoos In Society

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Everyone knows someone with body art, also known as tattoos. Tattoos come with certain stereotypes, especially in a social aspect. They have had a detrimental history of harming employment opportunities. Since tattoos are more prevalent in today's (our?) society, employers should become more lenient. In the past tattoos have been a mark of immaturity, and were looked down upon harshly.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the name suggests, name tattoo imply that they have personal appeal for both the person who has the tattoo done and the person whose name has is to be tattooed on the skin. I suggest that both parties consult each other and evaluate what design elicits the same degree of affirmation; except of course when it is meant to be a surprising thing. A name tattoo means engraving or writing words, in this case, names of person, things, or organizations as tattoos in the body of the one who is being tattooed. The name tattoos can contain the name of the one who is being tattooed.…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In present day there have been many modernizations to the culture that has been created throughout the years. For example, in the local valley there have been a few twists and changes to the name of a traditional “quesadilla.” Yet in the local small areas of Arizona, they are not called “quesadillas,” if not they are called “cheese crisps.” Nevertheless, on a serious note, our present-day Christ followers have copied the way contemporary culture does it’s things. Modern day Christian have illustrated this claim by bringing tattoos into play by getting biblical scripture tattooed onto their skin in order to represent their faith.…

    • 1627 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Street Art Movement: Facilitating Humility Since 1970 The exuberant, colorful fruit stands and local, Ecuadorian restaurants lining the streets of Central Quito, Ecuador easily deceive ignorant passersby and tourists. After turning onto Garcia Moreno Street, however, these individuals become struck by the outrageously vivid scene depicted on the side of a building. Walking from the left side of the building to the right, a story unfolds. A disfigured boy looking only 15 years old stares in pure terror at his arm--or lack thereof.…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Sitting anxiously, alone, in the car trying to come up with the bravery to go in the house and walk up the few stairs that serve as a divider between him and his parents. He knew his parents were going to be mad and disappointed but he wanted to get it, he wanted to get a tattoo. Despite his parents being against it he still got it and now he was to face the punishment. A few weeks back Diego had been glued to his phone and computer searching and searching.…

    • 2066 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays