Tit for tat

There is a cultural habit that has been around since 2000 BC. It is an affront to my eyes, and one which I dislike intensely in modern times.

It passes itself of as an art form yet is really little more than cosmetic vandalism. I speak of the increasingly widespread custom of using the body as a canvas, a trend that dictates much of the human body which can be seen outside clothing must be hit with gross graffiti.

The habit of tattooing.

Society's slaves obey intensively the decrees of the herd, particularly when females flaunt their markings ranging from small pictorial promiscuity particularly around the breast area, such as the display on Miley Cyrus' left chest stating "just breathe", up to a gross display of skin sign-writing all over legs and arms.

This pervasive painting isn't a new fad or fashion. Humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for the thousands of years over which tattooing has been present in Western society from the earliest times of its beginnings in Ancient Greece. The present-day term "tattoo" is said by some to have its origins in James Cook's explorations in the southern seas, where the Polynesians he encountered indulged in this sort of body marking, naming it "tatau".

Today's growing usage indicates that fashion often is cyclic. Viewed over this last century we are seeing the similarly fashionable re-emergences of beards, moustaches, long unkempt hair, and a partial reversion to Victorian-style clothing.

But why do I scorn tattoos so much?

One reason is that they are forever a display of extrovert thoughtlessness. Yet their presence is not without comedy; when I see what would be a normally pleasing human form covered in these sometimes kitsch comics, I can't suppress a laugh, particularly if the wearer's face carries its attendant proud smirk of ignorance suggesting that this is perfectly acceptable.

A number of girls choose a display near the exposed parts of their breast or around their attractive ankles, no doubt to entice stimulated male glances.

Similar mark ups also appear on men. The branding of bogan boofhead footballers sometimes is an attempt to flaunt themselves as aggressive.

A while ago when I commented on the markings displayed by couple of young guys, they displayed stern disapproving expressions on their faces. They took their drawings very, very, seriously, feeling aggrieved that I had spoken. I could not help smirking at their sheer assumption about the desirability of what they'd done.

But I guess that my reactions are conditioned by experience. I conjure up memories of the many times spent helping out on farms when livestock were herded meekly into a race to be branded. When I see similarly-branded humans flaunt their laughable logos, often I wait to hear the bellowing moo of conformist cattle over sounds of my patronising chuckles.

On other occasions I could expect to hear their boorish yells to a similarly tramp-stamped girl: "Oi, love … show us yer tatts!", or let my mind hark back to Cole Porter's classic: "I've Got You Under My Skin".

What we see today has grown out of history. Tattooing was rife in early Greece, the Holy Land, and later on in Europe where it was an expensive and painful process indicating a sign of wealth and prestige for royalty.

Nowadays, skin signages are more accepted and popular than ever before with many being considered "fine art." They have crossed social boundaries from "low" to "high" class, at the same time changing the dynamics of gender as they become icons of fashion. However, the majority of bearers appear to come from the lower socio-economic psychographic. Usually it is under-achievers, desperate for social recognition and status that resort to them.

Others display their body art as signs of resistance to the values of the heterosexual, middle-class. Over the years the original clientele has changed from sailors, bikers, and gang members, now to include a wider range of society. It is rare to see the highly educated, the wealthy, the professionals, or people in leadership roles, sporting tatts.

Sporting tatts- now that phrase is an apt nominative determinant!

Although tattooing increased in popularity when the electric tattoo machine was created in the 1890s, it was not until the 1960s that the role, scope, and speed of tattooing radically shifted. Designs are often plain, sometimes elaborate, but always personal - an expression of some attitudinal statement.

In some ways they serve a similar branding purpose as bumper stickers and personalised number plates. They can advertise attitudes and outlook, whimsically or seriously, such as "Honk if you like noise", "I had a job but my life ate it", or registration plates such as HOT BOY, orGR8R.

Tattoos sometimes indicate a fellowship which the wearer wants known, perhaps to aid identification by others belonging to the same group who may not know the displayer. For example, Buddhist devotees taking advanced vows have three small incense burn marks placed discreetly on their forearm, whilst ordained monks receive three similar incense marks on top of their head.

Over the years, some tattoos served as amulets, status symbols, and adornments, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, marks of social positioning, and sometimes as a form of punishment for wrongdoers.

But not only wrongdoers have been unwillingly marked. I recall a delightful elderly European Jewish member of a social club to which I belonged who, when talking about his life's experiences, would show the number tattooed prominently on the back of his hand. He had been able to survive an horrific existence in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, thus I felt that this tattoo was a stark reminder to him of a being's ability to transcend some of the worst experiences of life.

That revelation, and the anger created by the extreme suffering of millions for whom a tattoo was a passport to extermination, made my reaction to present day tattooing turn to laughable derision at the casual markings of modern whimsical wearers,.

Since the 1970s, tattooing has become a part of global and Western fashion, common among both sexes, and to age groups from the later teen years to middle age. For many, it has taken on a decidedly different meaning than for previous generations, shifting from its previous sign of social deviance, to an acceptable form of expression. In 2010 Australia, twenty five percent of under thirty year olds had tattoos which stay with them for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether they were sincere in how they adorned themselves, or got marked as a result of fashion perception, peer group pressure, or simply the need to be noticed.

So much for the artform - what about those who carry out these inscriptions. How do some tattooists feel about their profession?

Some are reported as being critical of the tattoo's place in the mainstream western culture. Body art, they argue, has become too fashionable - too little thought is put into getting inked. For many tattooists the body is sacred, and they lament the seemingly cavalier attitude toward tattooing.

Yet tattoos have always survived, shocked, and linked us to our ancient human adventure. So when you note these gross adornments on another's body, think a little about the kind of person you're observing. What you see is there for life.

So does a need for acceptance or extraversion make you want to look like another brandee? Then, consider the outcomes of joining that herd… for ever!

Alternatively, you might just enjoy a view these artworks with a cry of: "Oi… show us ya tatts!"