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Body Art

Origins of Body Art

Till now, there is no agreement on origins of body art. The causes of making tattoos on human vary from nation to nation. Generally, they could be categorized as follows.

Totems

In the view of culture, tattoos are seen as totem marks. In ancient times, it's believed that people originate from some animals, plants and other objects which have special genetic relationships with them. Different people regard different animals, plants and other objects as their ancestors or guardian gods and they used to paint the worship images on their bodies as permanent marks. As time is passing by, different people in one nation tend to worship only one object which become s a national symbol. For instance, one tribe in the south Australia take kangaroos as totems which symbolize the whole tribe.

Adulthood ceremonies

No anthropologists have ever denied that tattoos are closely related with adulthood. In many  ethnic nations and tribes, actually, adulthood ceremonies are same as tattoo ceremonies. When an teenager reach some certain age, he has to attend a special rite where his body would be painted with tattoos as adult marks. This custom is still popular in Australia and some African countries.

Sexual attraction

Since tattoos mark the start of adulthood, the teens with tattoos prove to be mature enough to match the opposite sex for marriage. Some researchers hold that tattoos are body decorations for attraction of the opposite sex, as tattoos make human bodies sexy and arouse heterosexual interests.

Decorations

In some nations, tattoos are seen as beautiful decorations on human bodies.It's also a kind of special art which reflects the special aesthetic consciousness of a nation.

Identity marks

In ancient times, hunting and battles are major activities for tribes. Each tribe has a special permanent mark members' bodies, that is a tattoo, to identify their own members in battle confusions among tribes. Tattoos are also regarded as symbols of bravery in some nations. The Polynesians had tattoos on their bodies by winning many glories.

Social ranks
Tattoos are used to mark social ranks. In Marquesas Islands, for example, only the noble men have the right to make tattoos on whole bodies, from heads to toes, including fingers. For the Gaoshan people in Taiwan island, there are detailed regulations on tattoos, such as age, body parts and colours, between civilians and aristocrats..

All in all, there are a variety of origin versions on tattoos which form one body art. Each version leads us to have better understanding of it.

About the Author

Jwcassie40 is the freelance writer for e-commerce website weiku.com which offers the buyers around the world to find quality supplier of comprehensive products globally.

Could an employer refuse to hire a person with body art or piercings?

Even if the person agrees to keep them hidden?

It's just a topic being discussed in one of my classes. So I'm curious.
If you could put an explanation with your answer, I'd really appreciate it.

Well yes technically they can not hire you for that even though they shouldn't. Ive had that issues a few times and i only have my lip and nose done. They told me that you have to take it out while working to look more professional and more innocent i guess. Also while working in a food restaurant they dont allow you to wear them because they fear it falling out into the food. Which i find absolutely rediculious. Most of the time i guess they find people with piercings to be a rebellious person who might cause them trouble. My best advise is to take them out for interviews and such that way it wont cause any issues.

AMAZING Tattoo Designs Incredibly SEXY TATTOO BODY ART

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 11:04 am and is filed under paintings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.