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Tattoo Culture and Influence in Society

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Tattoo Culture and Influence in Society
Tattoo culture and influence in society

Nowadays, tattoo has been regarded as a sign of fashion. “A trend that started growing in America and Europe in the early '90s, tattooing soon became so popular that 36% of Americans aged 25-29 had at least one body tattoo by 2003(Julie Genser 2007).” However, tattoo could probably bring health risks to tattoo carrier. Historically, tattoo originally is the nation’s cultural and symbolic, different tattoo pictures have own meaning and even it is a symbol of authority. This paper will argue that the ink of tattoo injecting into our skin has lead to increase health risk. And then this paper will discuss why tattoo is so popular even it is harmful people’s health. Finally, the essay will discuss tattoo is not only a historical heritage, but also stimulates the development of the economy.
Early Tattoo’s culture
The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian word tattau. It means "to mark" and was first mentioned in explorer James Cook’s records from his 1769 expedition to the South Pacific. Some scientists say that certain marks on the skin of the Iceman, a mummified human body starting from about 3300 B.C., are tattoos. In fact, tattoos were found on Egyptian and Nubian mummies starting from about B.C. One of the earliest tattoos was tribal tattoos. Tattoos have different meaning in different cultural tribes. For example, Polynesian people would add more and more tattoos to themselves even until their body was completely covered. They believed this was a sign of beauty and strength. In some tribes, boys reaching manhood received one tattoo to mark the moment, when men had another style done when they married. In ancient Japan, tattooing was main punishment. If you were a convicted criminal, you would get a mark on your forehead, convicted twice then you got another, and if you convicted a third time, you would get a final mark making the Japanese symbol for dog. Very similar in ancient China, mark on skin only for criminal that let



References: Julie , G.. The truth about tattoos: Health risks, toxicity and more. N.p., 2007. Web. 17 Jul 2012. <http://www.naturalnews.com/022073.html>. Lineberry, C.

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