The Tattooed Engineer

Japan mayor: I wouldn’t hire tattooed stars Johnny Depp, Lady Gaga

Paul — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:31:07 +0000

Mayor Toru Hashimoto this week said that public employees “should go to the private sector” if they want to keep their tattoos.
City authorities carried out a survey of their staff to ask whether they had any, whether they were normally concealed by clothing or not. More than 100 sanitation, public transport and other workers admitted they had tattoos.

Asked by a reporter about Hollywood stars with tattoos, the mayor responded, “If Johnny Depp or Lady Gaga asked to become Osaka city employees, I would just say ‘no’.”

Doctors warn of black henna risk

Paul — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:55:56 +0000

If you think that Henna Tattoos are a simple and safe way to get a temporary tattoo, keep reading.

Black henna often contains the chemical p-Phenylenediamine (PPD), which gives the natural reddish-brown dye a black tint. It is also the main component in most hair dyes.
Once the body’s immune system has triggered an allergic reaction to PPD, such as after having a black henna tattoo, further exposure can be fatal.

The Illustrated Congressmen

Paul — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:14:36 +0000

What do Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., soccer legend David Beckham and conservative godfather Barry Goldwater have in common? All three men have, on more than one occasion, subjected themselves to the exquisite pain of an artist putting ink to skin. Related posts: Tatt’s very offensive: Sainsbury’s apologises to schools for ‘provocative’ Posh tattoo Life after [...] Related posts:

Catching up on the world of tattoos

Paul — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:00:49 +0000

Yet another good article on tattoos. It seems like the people who actually take the time to do their research, talk to people with tattoos, and maybe even set foot in a tattoo shop are the ones who have good things to say. It seems like most of the negativity is coming from the people who are the least knowledgeable about tattoos and base their writing purely on stereotypes.

Resnick: Some thinking about the process of inking

Paul — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:54:31 +0000

Another positive article about tattoos. Let’s hope this trend continues.

So for all the uncertainty in life, tattoos offer us the painstaking choice of permanence. They are stories to tell your kids, moments to commemorate triumphs, and ways to let rappers know how much you care about them. But whatever the tattoo reads or portrays, the decision to accept and welcome it onto one’s body is beautiful in itself.

One Million Moms Attacks JCPenney Over Ad With Lesbian Mothers

Paul — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:01:30 +0000

While not a topic I normally write about, I felt that this story needed to be shared. Jenny Block of the Huffington Post did a great job of summing up the main issues in a few short paragraphs.

Ultimately, what’s missing here is thought. OMM is not thinking about the effect of their hatefulness on their children or the world. They are not thinking about how little sense it makes to use a loving God as an excuse for hating people. When they waste their time on issues like this, they are not thinking about the fact that there are starving children to feed and homeless families to house and impoverished countries to provide clean water for. I just wish they’d use their powers for good instead of evil.
This is about ignorance. It’s about ignorance about the LGBTQ community. It’s about ignorance about God’s love for everyone. It’s even about ignorance of simple commerce. “If they want our business, then we will not be ignored!” OMM argues. What OMM is too ignorant to see is that JCPenney wants everyone’s business; that’s why they advertise to everyone. But being a responsible corporate citizen means not giving in to bigots and not giving up on their commitment to equality. In the end, it has to be people over profit.

Tattoos Losing Rebel Status Is a Good Thing

Paul — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:38:40 +0000

In response to many of the recent anti-tattoo media rants, Nick Vadala wrote this excellent article for The Philly Post, which adds a positive spin to the increasing popularity of tattoos. After reading one of my comments on a related topic, Nick contacted me and asked for an interview.

Sometimes it feels like I am the only one writing anything positive about tattoos, so I was more than happy to speak with Nick and share my thoughts as well as the story behind my tattoos. As tattoos continue to gain in popularity and lose their social stigmas, I can only hope we see more and more positive press on the subject.

Highly Evolved: Locally produced magazine provides fresh ink for an ancient art form

Paul — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:08:46 +0000

This looks like a great new magazine. Related posts: Megan Fox’s Back Tattoo Photoshopped Out For Magazine Cover Tatt’s very offensive: Sainsbury’s apologises to schools for ‘provocative’ Posh tattoo Salesman, 22, claims Next forced him off shop floor into stock room because of his 80 tattoos Related posts:

Are Tattoos Mainstream, or Still Taboo?

Paul — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:09:08 +0000

Tattoos are becoming so popular that it’s difficult to go anywhere without seeing some ink. The latest data available shows that one in five adult Americans now have at least one tattoo. With this kind of popularity, many are quick to claim that tattoos are “mainstream” and “no longer taboo in the least”, but I can’t say I completely agree.

People have been associating tattoos with mainstream culture for quite a long time. The Chicago Tribune published an article in September of 1993, talking about the growing popularity of tattoos over the previous 20 years.

Signs Of The Times: Tattoos
According to a catalog for a recent Chicago art gallery exhibit of tattoo art, in the last 20 years alone tattooing has emerged from being primarily an artistic expression of prison inmates or those in the armed services to an immensely popular art form with mainstream Americans.

Ten years later, National Geographic printed a similar story.

Tattoos—From Taboo to Mainstream
In the United States, tattoos once identified their owners as perhaps a bit unsavory. The art was often associated with rowdy sailors or prisoners, but has now become a part of mainstream American culture.

Fast forward another ten years to today and I can show you dozens of articles making the same claims. One, published recently by the Daily Beacon, the campus newspaper of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, titled ‘Tattoos lose taboo status on campus’, had this to say:

It may be 2012, Crigger said, but, “we do still live in the South.”
“Due to the more conservative population here, the impression that tattoos are favored by mostly outlawed bikers and sailors does still exist,” Crigger said. “However, having been in and around tattoos for the last decade, one can definitely see them moving in a more mainstream direction.”

If tattoos were an “immensely popular art form with mainstream Americans” way back in 1993, how can we say that they are still just “moving in a more mainstream direction” nearly 20 years later? I see proof on a regular basis that many of the old stereotypes still exist today, but the degree to which they exist varies based on where you live. The South, which has the lowest concentration of people with tattoos, seems to be holding onto the stereotypes a little bit stronger than other regions.

One of the issue I have is how the term “mainstream” is actually used.

main·stream [meyn-streem]
noun
1. the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend: the mainstream of American culture.
adjective
4. belonging to or characteristic of a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, style, etc.: mainstream Republicans; a mainstream artist; mainstream media .

There is definitely some room for interpretation here. Principal and dominant are pretty clear, but widely accepted is a rather arbitrary term. By my interpretation of the definition, you cannot call tattoos themselves mainstream until tattooed people outnumber those without tattoos, and right now that just isn’t true. 21% of adults in the U.S. have tattoos, which makes them quite popular, but far from dominant. And, the fact remains that a large portion of the un-inked population still have negative feelings towards people with tattoos.

Looking at this table from the 2012 Harris Poll is very telling:

ATTITUDES OF THOSE WITHOUT A TATTOO

“Please complete the following sentence: ‘Compared to people without tattoos, I think people with tattoos are…?’”

Base: All Without Tattoos

		More	Less	No Difference
Rebellious	%	50	4	46
Strong	%	8	10	82
Sexy	%	5	39	56
Athletic	%	5	13	82
Spiritual	%	4	25	71
Attractive	%	4	45	51
Intelligent	%	2	27	71
Healthy	%	1	25	74

How can something be considered mainstream when 50% of people without tattoos find those with tattoos to be more rebellious and 45% find them less attractive, 39% less sexy, 27% less intelligent? I can understand the results regarding attractiveness or sexiness because those are very subjective things. But the fact that nearly 1/3 of people think there is a correlation between tattoos and lower intelligence is a disturbing number to me. Until I see a significant rise in the the percentage of people answering “no difference” for most of these attributes, we still have a lot work to do.

When speaking about tattoos and mainstream culture, we need to be careful with our wording. There needs to be a distinction between saying that tattoos are mainstream and saying that tattoos are popular among mainstream Americans. Being popular among the mainstream means that pretty much anyone is likely to have a tattoo today, no matter what their social status. They are no longer reserved for just the rebellious among us.

This is not the same as saying that tattoos themselves are mainstream. There are no numbers to support the idea that tattoos are the dominant or principal trend in our culture. Some may call this semantics, but I see a distinct difference here.

The popularity of tattoos has been trending upwards for many years now, but I feel that there will be a limit and we may never reach a point where tattoos can truly be called mainstream.

Body art and self expression: Tattoos can tell personal histories and be ‘rites of passage’

Paul — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:48:21 +0000

Interesting article with a different perspective on tattoo related reality TV.

“The worst thing that ever happened to our industry was ‘Miami Ink,’ ‘LA Ink’ (and) ‘New York Ink,’” Hare said. “We’ve seen a lot more non-tattooed, non-pierced people … open studios simply as a way to make money.”

I’m not sure if I follow his logic. He’s upset because non-tattooed people are now opening tattoo studios to make money? If it wasn’t for these reality TV shows, I believe the popularity of tattoos would be significantly lower than it is today. With less demand, there would be less of a need for more studios to open. I doubt I would be tattooed today if Miami Ink had never aired.

Scott, an artist at Tattoo City in San Francisco, said she has mixed feelings about the art form’s increased popularity. From a business standpoint, Scott said the increased interest means more clients but the loss of tattoos’ subculture status makes her nostalgic for the days when ink was intimidating instead of fashionable.
“I lament the loss of that sometimes,” Scott said. “Sometimes there are people who come and get tattoos because it’s trendy – they bother me.”

I found this to be an odd statement. An artist who is bothered by people who get tattoos because they are trendy. As an artist, I can understand not wanting to do a ton of trendy tattoos if the current trend doesn’t match your style. But as a shop owner, if business is that good, you have the right to turn people away and send them elsewhere. If you don’t need to do trendy tattoos to pay your bills, make a point to only do custom work. Don’t complain about something that you have control over. Hire another artist to take care of the simple flash work. You will bring more money in and you never know who will come back for more elaborate pieces later on.