Tattoos

A corruption of the Samoan word Tatau, these first caught the attention of Europeans around 250 years ago and is first referred to by Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard Cook's ship the "Endeavour" in 1769 where he mentions it in his journal.
To paraphrase,  he states, "I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humor or disposition".
It's much the same today, people (not always successfully) attempt to put a bit of their personaliy or allegiance on their skin.
They have never been more prevalent in our Western culture. We now have a number of genres to speak of, and each fulfils an (Haha!) important social function. Among the most popular is the "partner" tattoo. With these, a person permanently inscribes the name of their lover on to a (usually very visible) piece of their flesh.
An indelible way of saying "I'm yours", the tattoo can also serve as a memento of happy times, to be cherished once the relationship has irreparably broken down. Then there are Asian symbols: Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese – it doesn't matter, as long as the tattoo (apparently) means "Om" or "Tiger" and it is done on a beach in Thailand – or in Camden Market. These scream "life-experience".

Yeah, sure they do. I'm tattooed myself -several times- but these days it seems everyone is-young girls, old men, grannies, everyone. The point I'm trying to make here is this.

Choose carefully, really carefully.

Good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad