Tattoos And The Theory Of Symbolic Interactionism In Society

Within history, tattoos have been labeled deviant based upon the behavior originally linked to the people who have them from the assessments and reactions of others in a society. Tattoos were often associated with sailors, criminals, “savage” races, and circus entertainers; therefore, based on the status of these individuals in society, tattoos were labeled with those considered socially undesirable. Also, tattoos have also been labeled deviant amongst the medical community because they see tattoos as a form of low self-esteem, linked to drug and alcohol abuse, impulsiveness, deviant sexualities, and other forms of psychiatric medical conditions. Since there are so many negative implications, this idea of linking deviance to tattoos is especially …show more content…
Therefore, symbolic interactionism applies the idea that everything is considered an interpretation, everything has a meaning, and ultimately can creates the perspective of the “looking glass self,” or a person’s ability to interpret what another person might think of us based on our appearance. Based on this definition, it is clear to see how this theory then applies to the idea of tattoos and body modification in the workplace. In my opinion and the opinions of many others, tattoos are symbols that express a form of art and symbolic meaning on a body. This means that a tattoo and body modifications are unique to each individual. For example, my tattoo of two koi fish swimming in a circle has a very personal and special meaning to me because it is a memorial dedicated to my fiancé who passed away from a tragic car accident. I relate this concept to the workplace by looking at another aspect of symbolic interactionism, Cooley’s Looking Glass Self. The “looking glass self” points out, for example tattoos, and how these body modifications that people get for personal reasons, still might come across another person’s perspective and how might that person judge you or myself based on a tattoo. This concept can also be applied to the workplace, meaning how might a workplace judge someone they hire or have hired based on their tattoos: “Do they think it looks bad? Do they understand the meaning behind it? Do they not approve of it showing? Do they look at it as deviant? However, depending on the workplace, employers also relate how might customer, patients, and other forms of people might see an employee with a tattoo and affect business. For example, one healthcare assistant, Sles Scovell, explains how her tattoo on her arm caused controversy in the