Tattoos In America Research Paper

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Why is it that tattoos are believed to be undesirable and people with them are looked down upon? Tattoos, much like graffiti, are a way for people to tell a story and express their individuality; it’s an act of visual art. Many times, people get inked to honor someone, exemplifies the struggles they overcame, or even because it symbolizes something important to them. Walter Fisher once wrote that “..narratives are fundamental to communication and provide structure for human experience and influence people to share common explanations and understandings.”(pg. 58). Tattoos were once believed to be a risky and despised by society owing to the fact that it’s generational exemplification of rebellion, hard living, etc. Peer pressure among the older …show more content…
In America, stereotyping people acts as a biological disease passed down from one family to another. There are many people are still clinging to these stereotypes that only certain types of people get tattoos and therefore they should be forbidden. In general, people seem to have a natural inclination to try and tell others how to live their lives. How Americans see tattoos is only the cause and effect of how America was raised to think. The issue is cavernous to tattoos, it’s the thought of control in general. For example, there are innumerable hetero's fighting fiercely to keep gays from getting married. But why? Because they don't agree with it or like it? It’s the same concept with religion, alcohol, marijuana, abortion, etc. In the 60's, Conservatives used to get violent with hippies because they didn't agree with their lifestyle or philosophy. It's hypocritical and yet most people don’t see it. People can't accept the fact that just because they don't like something, that doesn't make it wrong, that doesn't mean it should be illegal, that doesn't make it immoral. Tattoos are nothing more than self-expression- making a stand. One could even make the argument that a tattoo, carefully designed and created, is the way for someone who has no personal artistic talent to express themselves in an art

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