Revision of "Pride in Art"

“Pride in Art”

            Throughout many generations people have always had different views on tattoos. People in general have always had cultural assumptions on tattoos. Some of the cultural assumptions that are always being made are based on: religion, gang affiliation, and heritage. The religious assumption that is made according to my uncle is that people or society assume that he got the tattoo because of his religion. An example, “You must really be in love with your religion”, people would ask my uncle and he would respond, “I did not get my tattoo because of my religion”. Would you get a painful tattoo because of your religion? I know I wouldn’t. Another assumption that is made is that people with tattoos are affiliated with gangs. An example of this is when you’re walking down your block and you see someone with a tattoo that says “Crips” or “Bloods” you automatically assume that the person got his tattoo to represent his gang. Society also assume that people get tattoos because of their heritage. Some of the examples of tattoos because of their heritage are, when the Aztecs, Mayans, and Samoans had to get tattoos on their face or on any body part. “Pride in Art” said my uncle. He said this to show his pride for his heritage in his tattoo. The tattoo that I am learning about influences people to question the meaning of the tattoo and learn about the heritage. “What was so important about the Aztecs? What were the Aztecs and what did they do?” were some of the questions my uncle received. My uncle also told me one of his experiences with heritage. “One day I was walking to work when one of my workmates asked me about my tattoo. I told him that my tattoo was of the Aztecs. He asked, “What were the Aztecs”, so I had to explain to him what the Aztecs were. After hearing my uncle’s story it made me realize that people are always assuming about the tattoo without knowing the story behind it.

Before I asked my uncle about his tattoo I had already made some culturally based assumptions which is normal now in society. It is normal now because everyone does it. Do you always assume things? I know I do. Some of the assumptions that I made were that he was a person should not be hanging around with. I assumed this because as I grew up I was always taught by my parents that tattoos were for animals and the devil. An example of tattoos being for animals were cows and horses. These animals always get the branding iron on their body. The branding iron is used to mark animals. An example of tattoos are for the devil is because my parents were taught that your body is a “temple” so you should not do anything to it.

However, after I asked my uncle about his tattoo, it cleared up my assumptions that I had about his tattoo. I found out that the story behind the tattoo was to show people where he came from and how proud he was of his heritage. His tattoo was an Aztec warrior and an Aztec Empire. In the interview my uncle said that his tattoo symbolizes “freedom and inspiration for the Mexican people”, because the Aztecs were hard working people. My uncle also said that people always viewed him as a different ethnicity because he is white skin colored. He said he wanted to depart from being viewed as white so he got the tattoo of an Aztec which is the descendancy of a Mexican. He told me he got his tattoo from his cousin, who works in a tattoo parlor, on his shoulder to show his pride. When he first got the tattoo he was 18 years old and he got without permission from his parents. When his parents found out, they wanted him to take it off, but after explaining the meaning of the tattoo to them, they accepted his decision of getting the tattoo.

            Would you get a tattoo to show you pride in your heritage? or Would you show your pride in a different way? In my opinion I would get a tattoo to show my pride and love for my heritage which is the Aztec. Would you become the “other” to show your pride in your heritage? The “other” is society views people that are different from the normal.