Tatoos: Fashion trend vs. social symbol of communication

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 2,0 (B), University of Bayreuth (Faculty for Literature Science and Linguistics), course: HS Dress Codes - Reading Fashion Cultures, language: English, abstract: In 1997, the Hartford Courant published the research results of the American Economic Information Service concerning those economic branches which have shown the highest rates of expansion in 1996. Among expected high-tech branches such as the Internet, for example, one branch, which had up to that point not even been regarded as an economic branch, appeared among first six ranks: the tattoo- ind ustry (Stirn 285). This example clearly shows that tattooing has intensely increased in popularity towards the end of the 20 th century. Tattooing is no longer a rarity, but is present in everyday life. Tattoos can be detected on various kinds of parts on the human body, and the motives appear in uncountable varieties of shape and design, with colours ranging from plain black to gaudy. Tattoos are especially popular among younger people between the age of 15 and 25. In general, the numbers range from seven to twenty million tattooed individuals for the United States, and state about two million for Germany (Stirn 285). These numbers are generally only rough estimations, because there is no reliable method of counting, and the results mainly rely upon accounts of recently developing tattoo associations. The focus of this paper shall lie on the function of the tattoo, namely whether or not the tattoo is just an ephemeral fashion trend or a lasting constituent of the human culture. It shall be analysed in what way tattooing can be regarded as fashion and to what degree it can be considered to be a social symbol in human interaction. First, a general history of tattooing shall be given, because the development is important for the comparison. In order to avoid obscurities concerning the term tattoo or tattooing a short definition shall be given here. According to Finke, several authors differ in their definition of tattoos. Some sources use tattooing as a general topic including all kinds of body modification, such as branding, scarification and body painting (Finke 15-17). In the course of this paper, the term tattoo shall only be used to describe the pemanent embedding of pigments into the skin, excluding scarification, body painting and branding. a The given definition excludes all other forms of body alteration but raises the need to differentiate further. There are tattoos which have not been obtained voluntarily, so-called compulsive tattoos which have been put on prisoners or soldiers throughout history. [...]