By: Melanie Reutlinger and Sofia Williams
Tattoos are becoming more popular and accepted in today’s society because of the evolution of their meanings, purposes, and customization. There are countless cultures worldwide that used to and still use tattooing as a form of ritual. Some tattoos and their meanings have very powerful history and stories behind them.
Have you ever seen somebody’s tattoo and wondered why that particular image they chose was worth the excruciating pain? We have found some teachers that have tattoos and they’ve told us about their experiences.
We have asked some of our teachers at what age they got their tattoos done and their responses vary from as early as their teenage years to as late as their late 40’s and 50’s. As for the pain tolerance, Mr. Server said, that the actual tattooing did not hurt that much but the aftercare was painful. Nc1 Martinez, on the other hand, said that it did not hurt while the tattooing process was going on. Mrs. Palladine and Mr. Soutullo said the process didn’t hurt because they have a high pain tolerance. Coach Drummonds said, “I’m tough, a little bit. Not really just the outlining.”
You would find the meaning behind these tattoos appealing.
Mr. Server has a few Alex Grey pieces tattooed. Alex Grey is known for his philosophical paintings. One of which is a galaxy above a human head and the person’s skull inside. He picked it because the painting depicted a philosophical image of where you are in the universe. Nc1 Martinez said that the meaning behind his tattoos are the names of his 3 children. Mrs. Padro believes “before you can get in a relationship and love someone else you have to learn to love yourself first.”? As a testament to that, she got the word “Love” tattooed on her ring finger. Some teachers have chosen to get work done to honor family members. In order to honor her parents passing, Coach Drummonds got a portrait of her parents inked. In memory of his godmother, Soutullo got a portrait of her. His godmother was basically the one to raise him, she was his best friend, his world, his everything, so when he is going through a tough time he looks to it for help getting through it.
Tattoos are a figure of art. There are different meanings behind tattoos’ that can be personal or just a painting/drawing of something a person finds cool or cute. Aside from being cute, cool, or having meaning some even get tattoos to cover scars, stretch marks, or blemishes. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that tattoos are no longer taboo.
The Watchdog 