Tattoos

To some people, like my mom, NOT having a tattoo is cool. Rather, having a tattoo is not cool and is considered against our values. Because tattoos are related to violence and gang-members, my mom strongly opposes the idea of getting tattoos.

I guess five years ago, that is also how I see it. When I would see someone with a tattoo, I would quiver in fear because I would think that they are related to violence. But if you personally know someone who has a tattoo and is not violent, then you break free from the stereotype of tattoos. I see some people with tattoos and know that they are not related to any gangs, therefore, while I know that tattoos do not mean violence, my mom does not. Maybe the fact that having a tattoo and not being related to any type of violence is cool, to some people. To gang-members, having a tattoo and being a "wimp" or not being tough is against their values because they might associate tattoos with violence.

Tattoos are also cool because it makes those who have it feel rebellious. I know a lot of parents who do not want their kids to have tattoos and the kids insist on getting one. They say that once they become 18, they will get a tattoo regardless of what their parents say. For one, it seems like a rite of passage, something that must be done when you are legally an adult. Tattoos also represents rebellion against parents and the freedom from parents; the point when parents cannot tell their kids what to and not to do anymore.

Being someone who has tattoos is like fitting into another role. As teenagers, they might feel empty and feel the need to fill up that hole by being rebellious or obtaining their freedom. Therefore, at the age of 18, they express their freedom by getting a tattoo. But once they get it and the hole is "filled," they look back to the day they got their tattoo and wonder what they were thinking. That hole becomes empty again because in the spur of the moment, they rush to fill that role and then afterward, realize that getting a tattoo is not the way to fill that hole.

John's tattoos are associated with rites of passage. His tattoos represents his moments in life, moments that he wanted to remember through tattoos. One of his tattoos symbolize his joining into the band. The first time he got a tattoo was when he was 17, a time when most teenagers start to demand independence. He got his first tattoo, his mother freaked out and his father was pretty chill about it. John had more tattoos after that and he said that it was then, that his parents could not protest against what he did. His first tattoo symbolized his independence from his parents.