Revision Michael corral

REVISION

 

"I think that every person with a tattoo was a gang member or in drugs"

That was Jose Corral’s thought about tattoos when he a was a young man. He works as a warehouse operation manager for a truck company. Being a manager, he always has to be on top of his game. making quick and smart decisions in his job is essential. He has a wife who he has been with for 20 years, he has two sons and I am one of them. As a young man he grew up pretty much with nothing. Born in USA but he grew up most of his childhood in Durango, Mexico. In his teenage years he left Mexico with his parents to go to USA but then a year later his parents went back to Mexico. Leaving 15 year old Jose on his own where he could only rely on his brothers and sisters because they were all he has left. He grew up in the city of Compton most of his life, where at his time gang violence was at a peak. Because of this environment he was surrounded with tattoos were not seen at all as a good thing. People at his time that had tattoos were people like drug dealers and gang bangers. This is why he grew having  negative assumption of tattoos because to him people with tattoos meant no good.

“When i grew up and saw any person can get a tattoo,  it depends why you wanna have  a tattoo”

As the years went by as he got older he learned that not all people with tattoos is a gang member, doing drugs or just a person with bad intentions. He began to change his point of views on tattoos because he saw that many good people had tattoos. Also that there is a lot of meaning behinds tattoos whether dedicated to a special individual or special memories. He liked the idea that tattoos had a deep meaning. That it depends why you want to get a tattoo, that having one doesn't make you a bad person. He saw that even many of his close friends that were responsible,hardworking and had family had tattoos. He came to realize that tattoos are for everyone. That a tattoo shouldn't define you as a bad person. This is when the idea of getting a tattoo began to fertilize.

It took him years but he finally decided to get a tattoo. He got it in a tattoo shop in Compton. He didn't have a specific day to when he was going to get a tattoo. When he finally got the nerve to get one, he just  went alone already having an idea of what tattoo he wanted to get. He dedicated the tattoo to his wife Claudia located on his left back shoulder. Its about the size of a small soccer ball. It is a heart where a sword is piercing the heart with the name Claudia on the heart. He got that tattoo because it signifies his love for his wife, that she is in his heart. That she is  everything. He choose a heart because thats where life is. Without a heart you cannot live. So the message he wants her to know is that without her there is no life because she is his heart that keeps him alive.

When I saw my fathers tattoo for the first time I knew it had meaning because it was my mothers name. But when I asked him about the tattoo, he didn't tell me much about it,  I was about 12 years old and he seem serious when I asked him about the tattoo so from there I didn't asked him until now. As I later figure out he didn't want to glorify that he had a tattoo because he didn't want me to get a tattoo at a young age. Even though he had a tattoo, he knew that when people are young they tend to do stupid things. This is why he didn't want to glorify the idea of a tattoo. He didnt want to influence me to get a tattoo. Even he he did change his assumptions of tattoos he knows that other people won't. That it can possibly limit my chance for example to get a job. Because he knows that people will have negative assumptions about me if I had a tattoo even though he knows that I am good person. He realized that not all people will change their views on tattoos. That if they have negative assumptions on tattoos no matter what they will continue to have that point of view. He knew that there will come a day where I would be interested in getting a tattoo.So he told me that if i ever get a tattoo that he  wanted me to get a tattoo with meaning, for a special reason. Not for any reason.

There are many societal assumptions about tattoos and most of it is negative assumptions. But it also depends what culture you are in and what kind of environment you are surrounded with. Tattoos in society is seen as a way to express one’s feelings to a specific person or just to describe him or herself. But to more traditional mind thinkers it seems as a bad thing. When i say “traditional thinkers ” I refer to the people that didn't grew up having technology like we young people have. They are more old fashioned people. They also think that a person with a tattoo is a “bad” person. Who is a criminal or a person that has bad intent. The media in a big way is enforcing our perceptions on tattoos. Either good or bad it influences us. Jose’s heart pierced by a sword tattoo has many connotations. Heart in its literal meaning a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation. But the connotation we associate with heart is a positive one. People in general wouldn't see Jose tattoo as a bad one because of its positive connotation and the meaning of the tattoo that it has because when people think of a heart they think of love and loyalty. The tattoo does enforce the assumptions of society, because a sword piercing a heart with a name on it represents dedication and love which for Jose exactly means that.

Throughout my life I seen tattoos having a negative effect on people. That there is this bad stigma with having tattoos. That having tattoos makes you a “bad” person with malicious intentions. People tend to think this way because of our culture and media. Culture and media affects us in a big way. Media is everywhere and in different shapes and forms. We see it and interact with it everyday from our tv, computers, and cellphones. Also culture shapes us into the persons we are and into the ideals we believe. Media and my culture shaped my thinking that tattoos is a negative thing a person to have. But also it has taught me that tattoos are not bad. Good people everyday get tattoos for meaning and purpose and they are regular average people like us. Media and culture does have big impact on us but its up to us for better or worst.