Tattoos
I picked this article because I thought how hard could it be to analyze an article about tattoos, especially since I have one. After reading my selection, I found it to be a little mundane. I have to honestly say that I was not completely intrigued by this information.
Let's talk about America being a tattooed nation. This article reads about mainstream celebrities and suburban America consuming tattoos. It speaks little about the reality of the hardcoreness from which tattoos emerged. I do however have to agree with this writer when Kosut (2006) states, "The community of new tattooees transcends age, class and ethnic boundaries. In 2002, it is reported that 20% of the American population is tattooed. The entertainment industry also promotes tattooing. From actors and actresses to athletes, tattoos are everywhere.
The entertainment industry is chock full of tattoos whether the character be real of fictional. Kosut (2006) goes on to say that the 2002 Blockbuster film XXX starring Vin Diesel used his heavily tattooed body for advertisement to promote the movie. While XXX is fictional, Pamela Anderson, The Rock, and Angelina Jolie are not, all of whom sport a tattoo. Not to mention Cher and Johnny Depp who Kosut (2006) terms elder tattoo aficionados.
The entertainment area also includes the music industry and athletes. These come complete with tattooed people such as Axel Rose, Bret Michaels and Dennis Rodman. There are still those who can't wait to grow up to become rock stars and get tattooed, mimic people such as Dennis Rodman.
Let's finally turn to advertising. With all the gimmicks available who would have thought tattoos could steal the spotlight? It is reported in this article that NBA officials have ruled against players being human billboards, but as we all know – if the money is right… or so states Stephon Marbury of the Phoenix Suns. Visa even jumped on the bandwagon in 2001 promoting that you can charge everything, including your body modifications. This is in alliance with clothing manufacturers who let models with tattoos show them off and those who don't…well that can be fixed.
Consuming tattoos has its own appeal. Kosut (2006) states that receiving a tattoo is a lengthy ritualistic and increasingly medicalized procedure. HUH? Ok, so it may take an hour for a reasonably small tattoo but if your wants and desires have to have it big then so be it, but that goes for the time it takes as well. Besides we wait for hours anyway, well maybe not all at once, but what better way to spend an hour or two. Kosut (2006) goes on to degrade the healing process. I, however, found this process to be quite short in comparison to her detailed story. I had no constant pain every time my tattoo was touched, I had no peeling or shedding as she states is the case. Everyone heals differently and some people will go through the more elaborate healing stages than others, but then again, that will depend on the size of the tattoo you get.
Kosut (2006) continues on with what I call gibberish, but in the end what I really get out of the article is that she seems to be upset or jealous if you will, that she herself is unable to be consumer of this 'ironic fad' and consume a tattoo herself.
References
Kosut, M. (2206, December). An ironic fad: The commodification and consumption of tattoos. Journal of Popular Culture , 39(6), 1035-1048. Retrieved June 5, 2008, doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00333.x
4 comments:
This is very interesting, although I can see how you have found it boring after while. I found my article to the same in that it was interesting, yet boring. I feel like you are feeling it was a bit disjointed, which I also felt about mine, although I enjoyed the info.
Yes, some of these articles jump around from point to point. I also thought the author was negative about tattoos. I have a tattoo and I didn't have any problems healing either. It is a small one, and didn't take long to finish. There was a guy having one done too, and his was pretty extensive, so he was having it done a section at a time. Great post!
I see you had the same problem I had. The article looked good by the title and was extremely boring. It may be that we are reading someone else’s opinion of pop culture and being we already understand or have our own opinion on the subject may be what makes it boring. I have found in general reading about pop culture has been boring for me.
Your response to this article was apporpriate as I found it boring too. But I do have to say that I have a few tatoos and I don't recommend getting one on the foot. I was limping for a month and could not wear regular shoes either. Very very painful and yes it did peel! Great analysis.
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