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How To Choose A Tattoo With Meaning?

• Julia
• 12.02.2023
• 0
• 21

Choose your design carefully. –

• Make sure the design has personal meaning and that it is a reflection of yourself. The design should represent something that you love, enjoy, or are attached to. It may be in honor of another. Ask yourself why are these things meaningful to you?
• Approach tattoos with writing even more carefully. Make sure you know and understand the meanings of the words, their origins, and all possible interpretations. If you’re choosing a quote, make sure it represents you completely. And don’t forget to pick the perfect font (or make your own). typefaces create moods and feelings.
• Look at other tattoos and designs that exist already, but don’t restrict yourself to what’s already out there. Check books, posters, stationery, stickers, and anything else out there, not just the designs on the tattoo studio walls.

How do I decide what tattoo to get?

How do you come up with a meaningful tattoo?

How do you see if a tattoo looks good on you?

One way to really test out a look on your body is to book an appointment with the tattoo artist you are considering for a trial tattoo. It may cost you if you are spending a significant amount of time, so check with your artist of choice how they would like to proceed.

What does a tattoo symbolizes?

The tattooed right hand of a Chiribaya mummy is displayed at El Algarrobal Museum, near the port of Ilo in southern Peru. The Chiribaya were farmers who lived from A. 900 to 1350. Joann Fletcher Humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. These permanent designs—sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal—have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, adornments and even forms of punishment.

Joann Fletcher, research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain, describes the history of tattoos and their cultural significance to people around the world, from the famous ” Iceman,” a 5,200-year-old frozen mummy, to today’s Maori.

What is the earliest evidence of tattoos? In terms of tattoos on actual bodies, the earliest known examples were for a long time Egyptian and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B. But following the more recent discovery of the Iceman from the area of the Italian-Austrian border in 1991 and his tattoo patterns, this date has been pushed back a further thousand years when he was carbon-dated at around 5,200 years old.

Can you describe the tattoos on the Iceman and their significance? Following discussions with my colleague Professor Don Brothwell of the University of York, one of the specialists who examined him, the distribution of the tattooed dots and small crosses on his lower spine and right knee and ankle joints correspond to areas of strain-induced degeneration, with the suggestion that they may have been applied to alleviate joint pain and were therefore essentially therapeutic.

This would also explain their somewhat ‘random’ distribution in areas of the body which would not have been that easy to display had they been applied as a form of status marker. What is the evidence that ancient Egyptians had tattoos? There’s certainly evidence that women had tattoos on their bodies and limbs from figurines c.

• 4000-3500 B;
• to occasional female figures represented in tomb scenes c;
• 1200 B;
• and in figurine form c;
• 1300 B;
• , all with tattoos on their thighs;
• Also small bronze implements identified as tattooing tools were discovered at the town site of Gurob in northern Egypt and dated to c;

1450 B. And then, of course, there are the mummies with tattoos, from the three women already mentioned and dated to c. 2000 B. to several later examples of female mummies with these forms of permanent marks found in Greco-Roman burials at Akhmim. What function did these tattoos serve? Who got them and why? Because this seemed to be an exclusively female practice in ancient Egypt, mummies found with tattoos were usually dismissed by the (male) excavators who seemed to assume the women were of “dubious status,” described in some cases as “dancing girls.

” The female mummies had nevertheless been buried at Deir el-Bahari (opposite modern Luxor) in an area associated with royal and elite burials, and we know that at least one of the women described as “probably a royal concubine” was actually a high-status priestess named Amunet, as revealed by her funerary inscriptions.

And although it has long been assumed that such tattoos were the mark of prostitutes or were meant to protect the women against sexually transmitted diseases, I personally believe that the tattooing of ancient Egyptian women had a therapeutic role and functioned as a permanent form of amulet during the very difficult time of pregnancy and birth.

This is supported by the pattern of distribution, largely around the abdomen, on top of the thighs and the breasts, and would also explain the specific types of designs, in particular the net-like distribution of dots applied over the abdomen.

During pregnancy, this specific pattern would expand in a protective fashion in the same way bead nets were placed over wrapped mummies to protect them and “keep everything in. ” The placing of small figures of the household deity Bes at the tops of their thighs would again suggest the use of tattoos as a means of safeguarding the actual birth, since Bes was the protector of women in labor, and his position at the tops of the thighs a suitable location.

This would ultimately explain tattoos as a purely female custom. Who made the tattoos? Although we have no explicit written evidence in the case of ancient Egypt, it may well be that the older women of a community would create the tattoos for the younger women, as happened in 19th-century Egypt and happens in some parts of the world today.

What instruments did they use? It is possible that an implement best described as a sharp point set in a wooden handle, dated to c. 3000 B. and discovered by archaeologist W. Petrie at the site of Abydos may have been used to create tattoos. Petrie also found the aforementioned set of small bronze instruments c.

1450 B. —resembling wide, flattened needles—at the ancient town site of Gurob. If tied together in a bunch, they would provide repeated patterns of multiple dots. These instruments are also remarkably similar to much later tattooing implements used in 19th-century Egypt.

The English writer William Lane (1801-1876) observed, “the operation is performed with several needles (generally seven) tied together: with these the skin is pricked in a desired pattern: some smoke black (of wood or oil), mixed with milk from the breast of a woman, is then rubbed in.

1. It is generally performed at the age of about 5 or 6 years, and by gipsy-women;
2. ” What did these tattoos look like? Most examples on mummies are largely dotted patterns of lines and diamond patterns, while figurines sometimes feature more naturalistic images;

The tattoos occasionally found in tomb scenes and on small female figurines which form part of cosmetic items also have small figures of the dwarf god Bes on the thigh area. What were they made of? How many colors were used? Usually a dark or black pigment such as soot was introduced into the pricked skin. / This mummified head of a woman from the pre-Inca Chiribaya culture, located at the Azapa Museum in Arica, Chile, is adorned with facial tattoos on her lower left cheek. Joann Fletcher / The tattooed right hand of a Chiribaya mummy is displayed at El Algarrobal Museum, near the port of Ilo in southern Peru. The Chiribaya were farmers who lived from A. 900 to 1350. Joann Fletcher / A tattooed predynastic female figurine (c. 4000-3500 B. ) is displayed at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford. Joann Fletcher / The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is home to this tattooed predynastic female figure. Joann Fletcher / This female figurine from Naszca, Peru, is now displayed at the Regional Museum of Ica. Joann Fletcher / Small bronze tattooing implements (c. 1450 B. ) from Gurob, Egypt, can be found at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London. Joann Fletcher / This blue bowl (c. 1300 B. ), housed in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Amsterdam, features a musician tattooed with an image of the household deity Bes on her thigh. Joann Fletcher What has surprised you the most about ancient Egyptian tattooing? That it appears to have been restricted to women during the purely dynastic period, i.

It seems that brighter colors were largely used in other ancient cultures, such as the Inuit who are believed to have used a yellow color along with the more usual darker pigments. pre-332 B. Also the way in which some of the designs can be seen to be very well placed, once it is accepted they were used as a means of safeguarding women during pregnancy and birth.

Can you describe the tattoos used in other ancient cultures and how they differ? Among the numerous ancient cultures who appear to have used tattooing as a permanent form of body adornment, the Nubians to the south of Egypt are known to have used tattoos.

The mummified remains of women of the indigenous C-group culture found in cemeteries near Kubban c. 2000-15000 B. were found to have blue tattoos, which in at least one case featured the same arrangement of dots across the abdomen noted on the aforementioned female mummies from Deir el-Bahari.

The ancient Egyptians also represented the male leaders of the Libyan neighbors c. 1300-1100 B. with clear, rather geometrical tattoo marks on their arms and legs and portrayed them in Egyptian tomb, temple and palace scenes. The Scythian Pazyryk of the Altai Mountain region were another ancient culture which employed tattoos.

• In 1948, the 2,400 year old body of a Scythian male was discovered preserved in ice in Siberia, his limbs and torso covered in ornate tattoos of mythical animals;
• Then, in 1993, a woman with tattoos, again of mythical creatures on her shoulders, wrists and thumb and of similar date, was found in a tomb in Altai;

The practice is also confirmed by the Greek writer Herodotus c. 450 B. , who stated that amongst the Scythians and Thracians “tattoos were a mark of nobility, and not to have them was testimony of low birth. ” Accounts of the ancient Britons likewise suggest they too were tattooed as a mark of high status, and with “divers shapes of beasts” tattooed on their bodies, the Romans named one northern tribe “Picti,” literally “the painted people.

” Yet amongst the Greeks and Romans, the use of tattoos or “stigmata” as they were then called, seems to have been largely used as a means to mark someone as “belonging” either to a religious sect or to an owner in the case of slaves or even as a punitive measure to mark them as criminals.

It is therefore quite intriguing that during Ptolemaic times when a dynasty of Macedonian Greek monarchs ruled Egypt, the pharaoh himself, Ptolemy IV (221-205 B. ), was said to have been tattooed with ivy leaves to symbolize his devotion to Dionysus, Greek god of wine and the patron deity of the royal house at that time.

The fashion was also adopted by Roman soldiers and spread across the Roman Empire until the emergence of Christianity, when tattoos were felt to “disfigure that made in God’s image” and so were banned by the Emperor Constantine (A.

306-373). We have also examined tattoos on mummified remains of some of the ancient pre-Columbian cultures of Peru and Chile, which often replicate the same highly ornate images of stylized animals and a wide variety of symbols found in their textile and pottery designs.

One stunning female figurine of the Naszca culture has what appears to be a huge tattoo right around her lower torso, stretching across her abdomen and extending down to her genitalia and, presumably, once again alluding to the regions associated with birth.

Then on the mummified remains which have survived, the tattoos were noted on torsos, limbs, hands, the fingers and thumbs, and sometimes facial tattooing was practiced. With extensive facial and body tattooing used among Native Americans, such as the Cree, the mummified bodies of a group of six Greenland Inuit women c.

1. 1475 also revealed evidence for facial tattooing;
2. Infrared examination revealed that five of the women had been tattooed in a line extending over the eyebrows, along the cheeks and in some cases with a series of lines on the chin;

Another tattooed female mummy, dated 1,000 years earlier, was also found on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, her tattoos of dots, lines and hearts confined to the arms and hands. Evidence for tattooing is also found amongst some of the ancient mummies found in China’s Taklamakan Desert c.

1. 1200 B;
2. , although during the later Han Dynasty (202 B;
3. -A;
4. 220), it seems that only criminals were tattooed;
5. Japanese men began adorning their bodies with elaborate tattoos in the late A;
6. 3rd century;
7. The elaborate tattoos of the Polynesian cultures are thought to have developed over millennia, featuring highly elaborate geometric designs, which in many cases can cover the whole body;

Following James Cook’s British expedition to Tahiti in 1769, the islanders’ term “tatatau” or “tattau,” meaning to hit or strike, gave the west our modern term “tattoo. ” The marks then became fashionable among Europeans, particularly so in the case of men such as sailors and coal-miners, with both professions which carried serious risks and presumably explaining the almost amulet-like use of anchors or miner’s lamp tattoos on the men’s forearms.

• What about modern tattoos outside of the western world? Modern Japanese tattoos are real works of art, with many modern practioners, while the highly skilled tattooists of Samoa continue to create their art as it was carried out in ancient times, prior to the invention of modern tattooing equipment;

Various cultures throughout Africa also employ tattoos, including the fine dots on the faces of Berber women in Algeria, the elaborate facial tattoos of Wodabe men in Niger and the small crosses on the inner forearms which mark Egypt’s Christian Copts.

• What do Maori facial designs represent? In the Maori culture of New Zealand, the head was considered the most important part of the body, with the face embellished by incredibly elaborate tattoos or ‘moko,’ which were regarded as marks of high status;

Each tattoo design was unique to that individual and since it conveyed specific information about their status, rank, ancestry and abilities, it has accurately been described as a form of id card or passport, a kind of aesthetic bar code for the face.

1. After sharp bone chisels were used to cut the designs into the skin, a soot-based pigment would be tapped into the open wounds, which then healed over to seal in the design;
2. With the tattoos of warriors given at various stages in their lives as a kind of rite of passage, the decorations were regarded as enhancing their features and making them more attractive to the opposite sex;

Although Maori women were also tattooed on their faces, the markings tended to be concentrated around the nose and lips. Although Christian missionaries tried to stop the procedure, the women maintained that tattoos around their mouths and chins prevented the skin becoming wrinkled and kept them young; the practice was apparently continued as recently as the 1970s.

Why do you think so many cultures have marked the human body and did their practices influence one another? In many cases, it seems to have sprung up independently as a permanent way to place protective or therapeutic symbols upon the body, then as a means of marking people out into appropriate social, political or religious groups, or simply as a form of self-expression or fashion statement.

Yet, as in so many other areas of adornment, there was of course cross-cultural influences, such as those which existed between the Egyptians and Nubians, the Thracians and Greeks and the many cultures encountered by Roman soldiers during the expansion of the Roman Empire in the final centuries B.

Who shouldn’t get a tattoo?

Where should you not get tattoos?

Tattoos are a great way to express yourself. Aside from the endless designs to choose from, tattoos are also placed on different parts of the body. But it’s important to remember that they are a lifelong commitment which is why you should carefully consider their placement.

What does the tattoo 69 mean?

He explained the ’69’ motif with a declaration that it’s a reminder to himself to remember his origins and allow for different perspectives than his own, or as a defense against people who would look at him ‘upside down. ‘ ‘I never lost sense of where I came from,’ he wrote.

What does the 3 dot triangle tattoo mean?

There are many different versions of the three dots tattoo and many different meanings as well, ranging from simple and aesthetic to dark and complicated. The three dots can be arranged in a variety of ways, depending on the intention and can also be colored or shaded in slightly differently to allow for a number of options in design.

The three dots, arranged in a triangular shape, can represent a criminal lifestyle alluding to gang membership and serving time in prison. It’s not uncommon to see one person with the three dots tattoo with others that have similar tats.

It does not necessarily mean that they are still in gangs, but there is a pretty good chance that they were once part of gangs and proud of it. The small and simple black dots are often placed on the face between the eye and the temple making it incredibly visible. The placement serves as a representation of the prominence of crime and counterculture in the individual’s life. The reason why it is made so visible is because the owner wants others to know that they live the “hard” life. It is a way to intimidate others both inside of and outside of prison.

• It’s also a way for fellow gang members to quickly recognize one of their own, which is made much easier by the fact that they have the exact same three dots tattoos on their faces;
• The more obvious the placement of the three dots, the more prevalent crime is in the person’s world;

Some people will get the three dots tattoo right next to one of their eyes, while others might get the tat on their arm or hand. It all comes down to how easily the owner wants people to recognize their gang affiliation. In some cases, gang members don’t have a choice since everyone in their gang gets the three dots tattoo in the same area.

The dots in the three dots tattoo are a symbol of the Latin American principle of “mi vida loca”, which means “my crazy life” in Spanish, where each dot represents one word. This is one of the many reasons why the three dots are kept so close together.

The phrase is commonplace among Central American gangs all over the Americas and the numerous gangs that adopt the “gangster” lifestyle. The triangularly shaped dots can be placed in other locations on the body but generally are placed in obvious locations, like on the hand or fingers, to emphasize the lifestyle to others.

1. This style of three dot tattoo is often done while incarcerated and is taken quite seriously as a gang symbol;
2. When a gang member does get the three dot tattoo on their hand rather than their face, it could be to keep the tattoo hidden from police while also allowing fellow gang members to see that they are affiliated with them;

Tattoo designs involving three single dots do not necessarily mean that the people are affiliated with a gangster lifestyle, even if placed in triangular form. In some cases, the dots are arranged and tattooed this way simply because of the symmetry of the design. Dots can be rendered in a horizontal or vertical line, straight or diagonal. This is often done just for the minimalist aesthetic and for the simple appearance of the three dots. The dots can be the same size to keep the symmetry or vary in size, color, or shade. There are hundreds of design avenues that you can go down with the three dots tattoo when you’re not getting it as a gang tattoo.

Owners of these tattoos can come up with any number of three dot tattoo meanings since there are plenty of things that use the number three. For example, someone who wants to get a very cheap and private tattoo might get the three dots tattoo to represent three very important moments or people in their lives.

The image of three dots can hold religious significance as well. The number three is often a reference to the Holy Trinity in Christianity and represents the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Some people will get a religious version of the three dots tattoo that looks exactly like the gangster version, while others might put a lot more space between the dots.

The three dots can be accompanied by a crucifix or other religious iconography to make the intention of the tattoo clear although the additional imagery should be clean and simple so that the three dots are emphasized rather than hidden.

Moons or stars work well with the dots to create a minimalist constellation design. Interestingly, some people combine three dot tattoo meanings to make this tattoo even more personal. It’s not uncommon at all for someone to get a three dot tattoo to represent both their “crazy” side and their religious side. In a literary sense the three dots represent the ellipsis, a grammatical element used to indicate the incompletion of a thought or phrase. The ellipsis alludes to something that is not stated but possibly implied, a sentence that trails off and leaves question. The ellipsis tattoo is a symbol of continuation, a path or journey that leads to something more for better or worse. It represents something that does not necessarily need to be said or written but it better left unsaid.

1. After all, plenty of prisoners find religion while they are behind bars so it makes sense that they would find the three dot tattoo to be the perfect tat for them;
2. What’s interesting is that people often think that someone has a three dots tattoo when they actually have the five dots tattoo;

These two tats have different meanings, though they can look quite similar. With the five dot tattoo, the owner is trying to show that they are the fifth dot trapped inside of the other four dots, representing their time spent in prison. When looking at a three dots tattoo, it is important to look at the shape of the dots before coming to any conclusions about the meaning of the tattoo.

If the dots are in the shape of a triangle, they could represent any of the things we mentioned above. If they are in a straight line, there’s a pretty good chance that the owner is not in a gang. Because the three dots tattoo can make someone seem like they’re in a gang even though they aren’t, it’s always a good idea to get other designs around the three dots to make the meaning a bit clearer.

The number three itself has quite a few meanings, and the three dots tattoo might have more to do with the number than the dots. For example, someone might get the three dots tattoo to represent “motivation” because that is one of the more well-known meanings for the number three.

• This is yet another reason why you shouldn’t assume that a three dots tattoo automatically means that the owner of the tat is or ever was in a gang;
• However, if you do want to use the number three in this way, we recommend trying to find another design than the three dots tattoo to avoid unwanted confusion;

You might also find that the three dots were used because they are a cheap and easy tattoo to get. Three friends might get three dots apiece to represent their friendship, though these tattoos are very rarely on the face. These types of cheap tattoos are often done outside of a tattoo parlor since pretty much anyone could make a dot with a needle. To go even further, the three dots might represent something very personal to the owner. The dots could represent loved ones or even personal goals. It’s an inexpensive tattoo that can have multiple meanings for the owner and they just wanted anything that could represent those meanings. That being said, the three dots tattoo is generally seen as a prison tat, especially when it is drawn on the owner’s face.

We don’t recommend making your own tattoos, but it’s certainly not uncommon. That doesn’t mean you should assume that the person is gang affiliated, but it is the most common meaning. Obviously you have a lot to think about if you are planning on getting a three dots tattoo.

If you don’t want it to be seen as a gang tattoo, it would be best to not get it in a triangular shape and to avoid getting it on or around your face. You can very easily get the three dots to blend in with a bigger design if you really want to have a three dots tattoo.

1. It’s probably pretty surprising to find out that the three dots tattoo has so many meanings;
2. While it is a tattoo that was once seen as just another gang tattoo, it now has all of the meanings listed above and plenty of others;

In all honesty, it’s a tattoo that you’ll want to avoid altogether unless you’re able to find a unique design that won’t confuse people. .

What is a good first tattoo?

While upper arms, forearms, thighs, and calves are all great locations, Brodsky says elbow and knee tattooing can be ‘kind of spicy, but it’s still doable. ‘ Tattoos on the torso hurt worse, she explains, because the skin is softer and lighter.

How much do tattoos cost?

Factors of Average Tattoo Prices – There is a lot that goes into figuring out the cost of your new tattoo. It isn’t a straight forward answer. Things like materials, size, location, and type of tattoo affect the price. On average you can expect to charge $50-100 for a small tattoo, up to $200 for a medium tattoo and over $250 for a large tattoo.

When should I get a tattoo?

Time of your life: in your 20s and 30s (but really whenever you want once it’s legal) – When answering the question, “when is the best time to get a tattoo?”, it’s also worth thinking about your age, If you’re younger than eighteen years old and craving ink, know that most tattooers will turn you away, in large part because it’s illegal to tattoo minors in most US states and also because, as Elisabeth explains, many people grow to dislike the tattoos they get when they’re very young.

• Although some tattoo shops and studios will accept clients under 18 years old with permission from a parent or guardian, many won’t budge on age restrictions as a way of ensuring that everyone they tattoo is making an educated, adult decision;

Once you’re of the legal age though, there’s no right or wrong time to get tattooed. But if pain is a consideration, it’s worth noting that tattoos tend to hurt more as you get older because of thinning skin, so your 20s and 30s are the best time for tattoos in terms of the skin’s elasticity.

How painful is a tattoo?

How bad do tattoos hurt? – There’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to how much pain you’ll feel when getting tattooed. But if you’re wondering what type of pain to expect, Caranfa says the experience is comparable to the feeling of a cat scratch or a sunburn.

“Long periods of irritation and tenderness are what make you feel any discomfort,” Caranfa says. “The sensation of a tattoo needle is very dull compared to a syringe [and needle], it isn’t the needle that causes discomfort as much as it is prolonged tenderness of being tattooed.

” Importantly, different people will report varying experiences of pain based on their individual nervous systems and pain thresholds , says Channelle Charest , a California-based tattoo artist and Co-founder of tattoo scheduling platform Tatstat. Other factors that could affect pain during tattooing include:

• Age: Studies suggest aging decreases your pain sensitivity , meaning elderly people might experience less pain when getting tattooed. Researchers have yet to determine why this happens but note that the size of parts of the brain that process pain decreases with age.
• Sex: People who are biologically female are more likely to experience greater pain intensity, a lower pain threshold, and a lower tolerance for induced pain compared to people who are biologically male. However, research is still emerging.
• Psychological expectations : If you go into a tattoo expecting it to be an excruciating experience, this might affect how much pain you actually feel. Studies suggest that people who feel anxious about and “catastrophize” pain before a procedure often experience higher levels of pain intensity and distress than people with “neutral” pain expectations.

Fortunately, most of the discomfort you feel while getting tattooed will end when your tattoo artist puts down the tattoo gun. “The sensation is only when the needle is in you,” Caranfa says, adding that while it’s typical to experience some soreness, swelling, and itchiness in the days after getting tattooed, it’s “not debilitating.

What does 3 dots mean?

You see those dots? All three together constitute an ellipsis. The plural form of the word is ellipses , as in “a writer who uses a lot of ellipses. ” They also go by the following names: ellipsis points , points of ellipsis , suspension points. We’re opting for ellipsis points here, just to make things crystal clear. ) Photo: woolzian Some thoughts on ellipses are coming… Ellipsis points are periods in groups of usually three, or sometimes four. They signal either that something has been omitted from quoted text, or that a speaker or writer has paused or trailed off in speech or thought. That’s the basics. Now we’ll dig in to how they’re used.

What is the most popular tattoo?

Hearts are also a common tattoo request. – Kapowski said customers often ask for small tattoos of hearts. Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images Hearts are a simple and universally popular tattoo design that can symbolize love or simply make for fun body art. Kapowski told Insider that people are often interested in getting hearts inked on their hip or behind their ears.

What does God say about tattoo?

Tattoos have been around for millennia. People got them at least five thousand years ago. Today they’re common everywhere from Maori communities in New Zealand to office parks in Ohio. But in the ancient Middle East, the writers of the Hebrew Bible forbade tattooing.

Per Leviticus 19:28, “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves. ” Historically, scholars have often understood this as a warning against pagan practices of mourning.

But language scholar John Huehnergard and ancient-Israel expert Harold Liebowitz  argue that tattooing was understood differently in ancient times. Huehnergard and Liebowitz note that the appearance of the ban on incisions—or tattoos—comes right after words clearly related to mourning, perhaps confirming the original theory.

1. And yet, looking at what’s known about death rituals in ancient Mesopotamia, Syria, Israel, and Egypt, they find no references to marking the skin as a sign of mourning;
2. They also note that there are other examples in Leviticus and Exodus where two halves of a verse address different issues;

So that could be the case here, too. What tattoos were apparently often used for in ancient Mesopotamia was marking enslaved people (and, in Egypt, as decorations for women of all social classes). Egyptian captives were branded with the name of a god, marking them as belongings of the priests or pharaoh.

1. But devotees might also be branded with the name of the god they worshiped;
2. Huehnergard and Liebowitz suggest that, given the key role of the escape from Egyptian bondage in ancient Jewish law, the Torah originally banned tattooing because it was “the symbol of servitude;

” Interestingly, though, they write that there’s one other apparent reference to tattooing in the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah 44:5 describes the children of Jacob committing themselves to God: “One shall say, ‘I am the LORD’s’… Another shall mark his arm ‘of the LORD.

• ‘” Here a tattoo appears to be allowable as a sign of submission, not to a human master but to God;
• Ancient rabbinic debates produced a variety of different theories about the meaning of the prohibition on tattooing;

Some authorities believed that tattoos were only disallowed if they had certain messages, such as the name of God, the phrase “I am the Lord,” or the name of a pagan deity. Talmudic law developed around 200 CE says that a tattoo is only disallowed if it is done “for the purpose of idolatry”—but not if it’s intended to mark a person’s enslaved status.

What is the best first tattoo to get?

While upper arms, forearms, thighs, and calves are all great locations, Brodsky says elbow and knee tattooing can be ‘kind of spicy, but it’s still doable. ‘ Tattoos on the torso hurt worse, she explains, because the skin is softer and lighter.

What should I get as my first tattoo?

A few more tips for choosing the right tattoo design – So, you thought choosing a tattoo design was simple? Well, think again, although choosing a tattoo design isn’t rocket science. But there’s more to it than one would think, especially if you’re new to tattoos. Here are some other things to consider when picking the right design for you:

• Small, highly-detailed tattoos generally don’t age well. Your tattoos naturally fade as your body ages. Fine lines become thicker. Darker colors fade into less dominant colors. Crisp edges grow softer. Those changes look even more drastic on smaller tattoos that have a lot of detail, as well as on tattoos that are photorealistic.
• During the design-choosing process imagine your tattoo being extra large. Take a smaller element of a larger design and make that your tattoo.
• The simpler your tattoo design – especially your first design – the better. That’s especially true for smaller tattoos, but it’s a good rule for tattoos of any size. Don’t add too many things to the design, but keep it to one main subject, one secondary subject, and one background element.
• Choose a design that includes your favorite colors, favorite images, and a style that you like.
• Think it through and then think it through some more. Give yourself a few months to think about your tattoo design. If you still haven’t soured on the idea, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t get it.
• On the other hand, spontaneity is sometimes a good thing (especially if you’re in a rational frame of mind) when deciding suddenly to get a tattoo.

You should never make a rash decision about something that’s as permanent as a tattoo, even if it’s a decision you make spontaneously. But many people who made a spur-of-the-moment decision to get a tattoo end up having regrets about it. Choose a design that you won’t outgrow, such as political statements or pop culture references that will seem incredibly dated a few years from now. In today’s fast-moving world with its rapidly-changing tastes, some things seem outdated in even in a year.

Where did Billie Eilish get her tattoo?

She got her second tattoo, a massive black dragon on her right thigh, in November 2020. – Billie Eilish photographed by Craig McDean for British Vogue. Craig McDean/Vogue Fans first caught a glimpse of Eilish’s thigh tattoo in a photo shoot with British Vogue , published in May 2021, though she told Rolling Stone that she got it six months prior. The ink made its first public appearance at the 2021 Met Gala, where Eilish wore an Oscar de la Renta gown with a thigh-high slit.

What does having tattoos say about a person?

Author:  Sophia Carter – Institution:  Whitworth University ABSTRACT Research supports personality differences between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals. However, few studies have investigated whether any of these differences are associated with positive indicators for tattooed individuals.

In this study, personality differences between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals in three of the Big Five personality areas considered critical to successful employees in the workforce were examined.

Previous research has established that higher levels of conscientiousness and extraversion coupled with lower levels of neuroticism are indicators of high-quality employees. The present study attempts to augment this line of research by adding the dimension of tattoos; investigating whether individuals with tattoos report more positive personality indicators in these dimensions than individuals without tattoos.

• Thus it was hypothesized that tattooed individuals would report higher levels of conscientiousness and extraversion and lower levels of neuroticism than non-tattooed individuals;
• For this purpose,  N  = 521 individuals completed an online survey, which included the 44-Question Big Five Inventory;

An independent sample t -test revealed a statistically significant difference between tattooed ( M  = 3. 41,  SD  = 0. 77) and non-tattooed ( M  = 3. 21,  SD  = 0. 83) groups in the Big Five personality area of extraversion,  t  (521) = 0. 39,  p  =. 004,  d  = 0.

25. There were no other statistically significant differences. These findings indicate that tattooed individuals may be better employees than previously believed, as the extraversion component of the Big Five Inventory, has been found to be a critical indicator of successful job performance.

INTRODUCTION Tattoos have increased in popularity over the last two decades; almost one in five people across all age groups had a tattoo as of 2012, and one in ten people have two or more tattoos (Swami et al. , 2012). Nearly 40% of young adults (18-25) have at least one tattoo, whereas only 15-16% of members of this age group in 1990 were tattooed (Swami et al.

• , 2012);
• Despite the increase in tattoos within younger generations, tattooed individuals face discrimination, negative stigma, and lower levels of employment than their non-tattooed counterparts (Horne, Knox, Zusman, & Zusman, 2007);

Very little research has examined whether individuals with tattoos score differently than non-tattooed individuals on scales measuring personality traits perceived as positive. This study seeks to address this gap by identifying personality differences between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals and the potential implications of those differences for employment.

• Historically, the traits associated with tattooed individuals have depended significantly on the culture and circumstances of those individuals;
• Captain Cook explored Polynesia in 1769 and observed the social and spiritual significance of tattoos in Polynesian culture;

The location of a tattoo on an individual’s body and the specific tattoo design displayed social, hierarchal, and genealogical information about the owner of the tattoo, as well as signaling particular aspects of his or her character (Parry, 1933). Tattooing was considered a sacred ceremony, and most tattoos were thought to fetch spiritual power, protection, and strength.

Almost every Polynesian individual had tattoos, and many of Captain Cook’s men left their voyage with a permanent memento of their expedition, which was considered a great honor (Parry, 1933). Similarly, Native Americans report a long and extensive history of traditional tattoos.

Depending on the tribe, tattoos could signal hierarchy or a specific role within the tribe, mark a warrior’s prowess in battle, or be considered marks of beauty (Littell, 2003). Since then, through the shift towards Western culture and through changing definitions of art, tattoos have become more associated with criminals and the sexually promiscuous (Wohlrab, Fink, & Kappeler, 2005).

Recent studies have shown there are still many stereotypes attached to individuals with tattoos: academic struggle, broken homes, traumatic childhoods, rarely or never attending church, poor decision-making skills, and susceptibility to peer pressure (Roberts & Ryan, 2002).

However, these stereotypes may not accurately represent the current tattoo climate. Forty percent of 26 to 40-year-olds now have a tattoo, closely followed by 36% of 18 to 25-year-olds (Swami et al. , 2012). The rising popularity of tattoos among young to middle aged individuals suggests that tattoos may hold different significance sociologically, biologically, and socially than they have throughout the previous century (Wohlrab et al.

• , 2005);
• Research is mixed on whether the negative stereotypes associated with tattoos are accurate;
• A study completed in 2007 in Germany evaluating tattooed and non-tattooed individuals using a Big Five Personality Inventory found that tattooed individuals scored higher on the subscale of extraversion, and lower on the subscale of neuroticism (Wohlrab, 2007);

More recently, a 2012 study of 540 individuals from Austria and Germany examined Big Five personality traits in participants, as well as a need for uniqueness, sensation seeking, self-esteem, religious and spiritual belief, and demographic variables. The researchers in this study concluded that not only do those with tattoos have higher levels of need for uniqueness, sensation seeking, and thrill and adventure seeking, but they have lower levels of self-esteem, attend religious services less, and are generally much less educated than individuals who did not have tattoos (Swami et al.

• , 2012);
• For decades, businesses have attempted to identify personality traits that predict a successful employee;
• When United States federal law banned the use of polygraphs for employee selection in 1988, hirers began using personality surveys as the primary method for making hiring decisions (Stabile, 2013);

Job interviewers now ask questions designed to reveal components of an individual’s personality in order to evaluate where that individual would best fit within the company structure, how committed to the job the individual would be, and their likelihood of advancing through the company ranks (Wohlrab, 2007).

However, studies as late as 2010 have shown that despite this shift to personality-based hiring, companies still discard potential employees on the basis of their tattoos (Burgess, & Clark 2010). Researchers have also attempted to determine personality traits capable of predicting successful employees.

A 2014 ten-year longitudinal study of over 8,000 individuals working within multiple big business companies revealed that there is a significant statistical difference between the managerial and working classes in three Big Five personality dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness (Palaiou & Furnham, 2014).

1. Conscientiousness was shown to be the best predictor of overall successful job performance and individuals who scored higher in this dimension tended to be more achievement oriented (Li, Barrick, Zimmerman, & Chiabaru, 2014);

Neuroticism successfully predicted poor work performance; the lower the levels of neuroticism, the higher the level of performance from the employee (Barrick, Mount, & Judge, 2001). Finally, higher levels of extraversion were linked to higher levels of task performance and proactivity (Pearsall & Ellis, 2006).

• This study attempts to augment the area of research pertaining to tattooed individuals’ personality traits by investigating whether tattooed individuals differ significantly when compared to their non-tattooed peers in areas related to successful employee traits;

It was hypothesized that tattooed individuals would score higher in conscientiousness and extraversion and lower in neuroticism as measured by the Big Five Inventory. MATERIALS AND METHODS Participants Participants were recruited through a campus-wide e-mail at Whitworth University, Facebook psychology groups, and global online psychology research forums.

Participation was entirely voluntary, and participants could complete the study on their own time at their own pace. 521 individuals completed the survey, 411 females and 110 males, aged from 18 to 62 years old.

Materials Participants completed an online version of the 44-Question Big Five Inventory (John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991) followed by basic demographic questions addressing age, sex, education level, and university affiliation of the participant. Participants were also asked if they had any tattoos.

Participants with tattoos were asked to indicate the size and location of those tattoos. The survey measured the Big Five areas of personality: openness to experience, neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.

For example, questions measuring conscientiousness asked the participant to rate statements such as: “I am someone who does a thorough job” or “I am a reliable worker” on a five-point Likert scale. Items measuring neuroticism stated, “I am someone who remains calm in tense situations” and “I am someone who is emotionally stable, not easily upset”.

Finally, items related to extraversion included statements such as “I am someone who is talkative” and “I am someone who is full of energy” (John et al. , 1991). Participants were asked to rate their agreement with a series of such statements on a five-point Likert on a scale of one (“strongly disagreeing”) to five (“strongly agreeing”).

The Big Five Inventory has scored between 0. 73 – 0. 82 on Cronbach’s alpha test over the course of its development, giving it a high degree of internal consistency and thus, reliability (Schmitt et al. , 2007). The survey contained nine questions regarding conscientiousness, eight questions regarding neuroticism, and eight questions regarding extraversion.

The three personality subscales of conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism were scored using a formula that calculated a numerical value for each personality dimension by adding each individual’s selected scores on the Likert scale, which were then averaged between all participants for an overall mean.

RESULTS A total of N  =521 individuals completed the survey. Of that 521, 411 were female and 110 were male. Participant age varied from 18 to 68 years old. Participants were current students or alumni from 54 universities of various sizes in both rural and urban locations throughout the United States.

Two hundred sixty-six (51%) identified themselves as having no tattoos and two hundred fifty-five (49%) identified themselves as having tattoos. A two-tailed independent sample t -test revealed no statistically significant difference in levels of conscientiousness between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals ( p  =.

30; Figure 1). Like conscientiousness, a two-tailed independent sample t-test revealed no statistically significance difference on the neuroticism personality scale between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals ( p  =. 53; Figure 1). Results revealed a statistically significant result regarding extraversion.

A two-tailed independent sample t-test revealed a statistically significance difference between tattooed individuals ( M  = 3. 41,  SD  = 0. 77) and non-tattooed individuals ( M  = 3. 21,  SD  = 0. 83,  p  =.

004; Figure 1). DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were positive traits associated with individuals who have tattoos. It was proposed that tattooed individuals would score higher on the conscientiousness and extraversion domains and lower on the neuroticism domain as measured by the Big Five Inventory than their non-tattooed peers.

Tattooed individuals scored significantly higher in extraversion than their non-tattooed peers, but there were no significant differences in conscientiousness or neuroticism between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals.

Though tattooed individuals did not differ significantly in two of the three areas tested in this study, the significant difference in extraversion suggests that those individuals with one or more tattoos may display higher levels of task performance and proactivity in the business world (Pearsall & Ellis, 2006).

A growing body of literature suggests tattooed individuals display different personality traits than their non-tattooed counterparts, and this study lends further support to this hypothesis. Specifically, the present study supports the findings from several other studies that tattooed individuals consistently score higher in extraversion than their non-tattooed peers (e.

, Stirn, Hinz, & Brahler, 2006; Swami, 2012; Swami et al. , 2012 Wohlrab, Stahl, Rammsayer, & Kappeler, 2007). This study may be limited by the high proportion of female participants ( n  = 411) compared to and male participants n  = 110). A study in which males and females are equally represented could be better extrapolated to the general public.

However, a similar study, performed in 2012 with 45. 6% male participants found very similar results to the present study; tattooed individuals scored significantly higher than non-tattooed individuals in extraversion, but did not score differently in any of the other Big Five personality dimensions (Swami et al.

, 2012). Future research should be conducted with a more age-diverse sample, as the present study had a mean age of 24. 47 years old. Though this study lends itself well to explaining the personality attributes of the younger generation, it does not shed any light onto the baby boomer generation, who are currently the individuals holding CEO, managerial, and most importantly, hiring positions over the younger population (Odgers Berndtson, 2012).

Over the next decade, a mass exodus of baby boomers is expected to occur, leaving open positions for the younger generation (Odgers Berndtson, 2012). However, if baby boomers are still utilizing stigmatized hiring criteria regarding tattoos, they are excluding a class of individuals who are more proactive and task performance oriented than their age-matched peers (Pearsall & Ellis, 2006).

Gathering more research regarding generational differences in personality attributes and attitudes towards tattoos may have the potential to change current hiring criteria. Additionally, examining the final two personality domains (agreeableness and openness to experience) in the Big Five Inventory may lead to further information regarding the relationship between tattoos and personality, which could divulge more information regarding desirable characteristics in employees.

1. Agreeableness has been correlated with success in several specific job fields, such as those that require considerable interpersonal interaction;
2. Similarly, the openness to experience dimension has predicted success in fields where teamwork and training performance are important (Barrick et al;

, 2001). Finally, associations between tattoos and personality could be further explored by examining whether the effect is binary (tattoo vs. non-tattoo) or a gradient (influenced by the quantity of tattoos). Tattooing has rapidly become a prevalent phenomenon in western culture.

It may therefore be time to reexamine the stigma attached to hiring tattooed individuals. Extraversion, which indicates higher levels of task performance and proactivity in a job setting (Pearsall & Ellis, 2006), is starting, through recent research, to become associated with tattooed individuals.

The business industry stands to gain quality employees who may be well suited to long-term success and significant contributions to the company if hiring criteria regarding tattoos were to be reassessed (Sackett, Burris, & Ryan, 1989). REFERENCES

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