What are tattoos and body piercing?

Indications and Procedures

Tattooing is accomplished by a variety of techniques, usually by persons who are specialists. In traditional cultures, a shaman or other religious practitioner would create a tattoo by piercing the skin with a sharpened object (such as a bone splinter or a piece of metal) or with a bundle of porcupine quills or ponderosa pine needles, or by passing a colored string on a needle through the skin. The colors were from mineral salts, charcoal, certain plant juices, and even the feces of dogs that had been fed charcoal.

Coloring inks were available from the end of the nineteenth century and are now supplied in liquid forms. They can be applied in either the so-called European fashion, in which the coloring ink is applied over a small surface and an electric vibrating needle impregnates the epidermis and the dermis, or the American procedure, in which the needle contains the desired pigment.

The skin is prepared in a variety of ways, usually by smearing a thin layer of petroleum jelly over the site to minimize the seepage of blood and tissue fluids that would otherwise obscure the artist’s view. When the tattoo is completed, the area is washed and then covered with an antiseptic ointment. Tattoos assume various geometric or curvilinear designs and can be executed over all of a person’s body or simply within a restricted area. Extensive tattooing may take several years to complete.

The most obvious forms of body piercing, by both males and females, are performed in the ears, nose, nasal septum, tongue, navel, lips, scalp, eyelids, or cheeks. In some cultures, the lips or ears may be grossly distorted by inserting over time increasingly large objects, such as pieces of horn, bone, wood, and even metal. In some cases, the particular style of body piercing may indicate a person’s marital status, group membership, or religious affiliation, or it may simply be cosmetic mutilation. Body piercing has become increasingly common in Western culture since the later twentieth century. The breasts, particularly the nipples, are another common site for the insertion of either closed or threaded rings on both men and women. Less commonly, body piercing may also be performed on the male or female genitals. An example of male genital piercing is the Prince Albert, in which a ring or curved barbell enters the urethra and exits through the underside or, in some cases, the top of the glans penis. Women may have clitoral or labial piercings.

Uses and Complications

Tattoos and body piercing of the human body have been practiced by all cultures throughout the world to serve different functions: for religious purposes, as an indication of certain status changes or the accomplishment of culturally significant tasks, as a proof of ordeal, for medical reasons, as body art, as identification marks, to signify membership in either sacred or profane organizations, or to attain visions through mortification of the flesh. Depending on the culture or specific group, men, women, and children may undergo these frequently painful rituals. Various cultures believe that the soul’s transition to a life hereafter is facilitated by having certain tattoos and body piercings. Often, the degree of pain experienced during the rituals of tattooing and body piercing, and from the subsequent wounds, not only is a proof of ordeal but also may serve as a physical and spiritual atonement for a person’s moral transgressions. Certain groups, such as the Newar of Bhaktapur in Nepal, believe that they may gain a higher incarnation when they sell their tattoos in heaven.

In the United States during the early twentieth century, it became popular for women to be tattooed for eyeliner, cheek blush, and even colored lips. Although tattooing and body piercing were once associated with motorcycle gang members, prisoners, and military personnel, these procedures have become more popular with the general public. Tattooing and self-mutilation by body piercing are gaining popularity as forms of personal expression, particularly with women, who make up approximately 70 percent of the new business.

A concern, however, is the increasing frequency of adolescents engaging in tattooing and body piercing. Today, body piercing in Western cultures is often viewed by teenagers and young adults as a rite of passage, sometimes symbolically in defiance of the established social order. When self-practiced, tattooing and body piercing can lead to infection and even septicemia, particularly when people use instruments and inks that are not sterile.

Perspective and Prospects

Some anthropologists believe that the first documented examples of tattooing were practiced in Egypt approximately four thousand years ago. These conclusions are supported by tattooed female mummies and by clay figurines that have puncture “tattoos.” Although there is not agreement among scholars, some believe that the practice of tattooing may have diffused from Egypt to other parts of the world.

Perhaps the most artistic and dramatic full-body tattooing was done by the Japanese as early as the fifth century BCE and the Maori of New Zealand; even today, many young male Maori follow this traditional custom. The Maori were noted for facial tattoos, called moko, that served to frighten and intimidate their enemies. The word “tattoo,” however, comes from the Tahitian word ta-tau; it was encountered by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European explorers in Polynesia, who introduced tattoos to Europe and America.

Bibliography

Brown, Kelli McCormack, Paula Perlmutter, and Robert J. McDermott. “Youth and Tattoos: What School Health Personnel Should Know.” Journal of School Health 70, no. 9 (November, 2000): 355–360.

DeMello, Margo. Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2000.

Gard, Carolyn. “Think Before You Ink: The Risks of Body Piercing and Tattooing.” Current Health 25, no. 6 (February, 1999): 24–25.

Gay, Kathlyn, and Christine Whittington. Body Marks: Tattooing, Piercing, and Scarification. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 2002.

Gilbert, Steve. The Tattoo History: A Source Book. New York: Juno Books, 2000.

“Support for Body Piercing Checks.” Nursing Standard 14, no. 30 (April 12–18, 2000): 8.

"Tattoos and Body Piercings." American Academy of Dermatology, 2013.

"Tattoos: Understanding Risks and Precautions." Mayo Clinic, March 20, 2012.