It is true that in resent years tattoos have become more familiar to the common eye. However many people still have the mental block that people tattoos are one of three things; ex convicts, in a gang or possibly motorcycle rider. Seriously? What's so bad about tattoos? And why to people automatically assume that people with ink in their skin are bad people? Honestly it should be a sign of bravery and for most a symbol of overcoming.
After all, it is said that from the beginning tattoos were used as a way to either ward off pain or cure another pain and by doing so replacing hurt with beauty. This practice actually dates back all the way to 12000 BC. While according to Times Magazine New York was that birth place of the "modern" tattoo as we know it today the art of tattooing has been around practically since the beginning of time. The very first recorded image of a person with tattoos would be The King of the Maquas in the early 18th history.
On the other hand because all of our histories are intertwined at one point or other the Polynesians are know for deep meaning behind their tattoos. This was a way of expressing themselves through art and symbolism. The history behind Polynesian tattoos is frankly massive but to put it into a few simple words those words would be; strength, endurance, and perhaps the strongest word overcoming.
These two that I have mentioned are the two main trails of tattoos that have been passed down. By saying all of that you can boil the history down to those three words. The people that show their tattoos proudly are declaring that they have had the strength and courage to do something they know will be painful because they can, know they will or have overcome.
When put so I find it hard to understand people's reactions of extreme rejection to art on ones skin. But maybe by raising awareness of our own history we can change our future.
