HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND RITES OF PASSAGE

For us as Americans, we have certain things we consider to be rites of passage. Whether it be going to the first day of school, senior prom, or many graduation ceremonies we have to endure it is just a part of our culture. In my research I've found that even if some of these things seem trivial or annoying as our rites of passage... just imagine getting a tattoo on your face or hands instead.

YEAH. TATTOO ON YOUR FACE.

The mummified image above is that of a woman from the pre-Inca Chiribaya found in Chile with a facial tattoo on her left cheek. I don't know about you but that's pretty hardcore for a woman, and would most certainly be a taboo in today's society.

The hand above is also that of a woman from the Chiribaya culture which lasted from AD 900-1350. I was surprised in my research to find that tattooing of the ancient times was almost EXCLUSIVELY bound to women. Male excavators used their preconceived notions to decide amongst themselves that the women they found with tattoos must be prostitutes. Later on, it was proven that not only where they wrong, but that most of the mummies found with tattoos on them were often royalty or in high status and that the markings probably were a symbol of fertility and health. Now if that isn't grisly enough for you, lets put it into context in pain level comparison to todays tattooing.

The Modern Tattoo Gun = Painful but the needs are relatively small so it isn't terrible. This is me getting tattooed last Spring. Not so bad right?

Now check this out.... Imagine getting tattooed with these ancient tattoo needles (HUGE!) . With a process pretty close to what is shown right below with someone repeatedly hammering the "needle" with ink into your skin several thousand times... it had to be rough.

HA! Check out these other methods, which are much closer to what ancient women would've had to go through for their body art. It HAD to be important to them because I sure don't have the cahones to go through with THIS. In context, it would be obvious that in ancient times women with tattoos would've been honored and respected with no question... just some food for thought before we get into the meat of what the "modern media" has to say about women with tattoos.

The craziest part about this historical context is that in MODERN American culture, face and hand tattoos are still considered very taboo and unprofessional. Some people even consider them to be crude or "unladylike". I have to say I'm down with the Chiribaya's!

INTRO - STUDY OF WOMEN IN THE MEDIA WITH TATTOOS

For my first blog entry, I would like to basically start out with what I would call a "proposal" for my project. My project over the course of the semester will encompass women with tattoos and will culminate to give us a greater idea of how women are shown in the media with tattoos. Being the year 2011, there are many different facets of "media" to observe when taking this into account. These include but are not limited to print, television, movies, advertisements... the list goes on and on. Rather than do what is shown in print, I will mostly show you what comes up on the Internet, because quite frankly this is an outlet almost everyone uses in some way while other media sources are a dying breed. But before I get down to the actual ads, I feel like there is a lot of research to be discussed in a historical context to get a general background of tattooing and its perception specifically regarding women and also in comparison to men.


Just as a little background information, I'm Ashley and yes.... I do have tattoos of my own. Two to be exact. Also, I come from a somewhat heavily tattooed family background, so I love the culture in all aspects. My mom for example has 7 fairly large tattoos! I hope that throughout the semester this continues to be an interesting topic of study and that you'll get a different insight too!