Uses Resources - Tribal body art (Research)

http://www.africaforever.org/african-body-art.aspx

Visitors to the various regions within the African continent are frequently surprised by the lack of clothing worn by traditional or rural people. Despite few cloth coverings, though, the locals are draped in jewellery and decorations. Indeed, using the body as a canvas for a particular type of art has long been a tradition amongst many of the world’s earliest inhabitants. The African tribes have five main ways of beautifying or decorating their bodies. These are:

1. Scarification
2. Body painting
3. Beadwork
4. Jewellery
5. Mutilation

Scarification involves cutting, burning or whipping the body to create permanent scars. These are frequently inflicted in specific shapes and sizes, and indicate something about their host. For example, the pubescent girls of the Nigerian tribe Ga’anda are scarred with delicate designs on their stomachs, backs and shoulders to indicate that they are entering womanhood. The Sudanese tribe of Shilluk uses scarred dots across the forehead to convey details about that person’s heritage.

Body painting is a common method, and is used in religious rituals, celebrations and to indicate sexual maturity. The colours frequently represent the tribe (as a sports jersey would indicate what team the spectator supports), or can be used to convey a specific message about that person. Oil, clay, chalk, ash and plant products (fruit, sap etc...) are traditionally used to create different colours and textures. The Nuba males in Sudan are painted and decorated all over their body between 17 and 30 years of age to indicate their life stage, while other tribes only use the paints for worship or mourning.

Africans are famous for their use of colourful beads, both on their body and in their accessories, hair and clothing. Certain colours and patterns usually represent certain aspects of the wearer, such as gender, number of children, power, achievements and so on. When colonialists began to arrive in Africa, they brought with them exquisite glass beads, which the Africans held in such high regard that they even traded human slaves for them. Apart from these, they also used ivory, fish bones and shells for beads.

Jewellery was made using leather, hair, grasses, beads, bones, shells and seeds. It came in the form of traditional necklaces, bracelets, ankle chains and rings, but also as headdresses, foot detail, and strings of decorations draped over the hair, back and stomach. When jewellery was made from a rare or valuable substance, like coral or certain types of woods and shells, they became more valuable to those wearing them.

Mutilation includes lip plugs, earlobe plugs, neck rings and similar methods of changing the body structure and appearance. These take years to effect, and become the identity of the tribes making use of them. They often result in a bizarre physical feature, such as bottom lips that have a disk the size of a dinner plate in the soft tissue, or elongated necks that have been stretched by gradually increasing the number of copper rings around them.

Art is a fascinating way of identifying a group of people, or of expressing personal ideas and preferences. The African people have used it extensively to establish their own identities and cultures.

http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Scarification%20-%20African%20Body%20Modification%20Clips.htm

African body art uses the human body as a way to express an individual's status, spiritual beliefs, or ethnic affiliation. It can be created on the body itself in the form of tattoos, scarification, body painting, or coiffures. Body art can also be created for wear on the body in the form of garments or jewellery.

African body art changes the wearer into an object shaped by colour, movement, textures, patterns and designs.

Sometimes body art can have protective symbolism, created to help a person during dangerous life changes such as movement from childhood to adulthood.

For centuries, the African body fuelled many Westerners' prejudices about Africans. The image of "naked savages" long poisoned the relationship between African and Western peoples and lead to many Africans abandoning their own distinct attire in favour of Western dress.

Today many Africans embrace a variety of traditional forms of body adornment, creating a sumptuous visual display and turning each decorated person into a vibrant and unique work of art.

Tribal body art is used to express beauty or social status among people in certain tribes. Depending on the method of body art, depends on what meaning the form of art has for the person. In some tribes women stretch their lips as a sign of beauty. Generally the women with the lip plugs/plates are considered to be much more beautiful than those without.


This research has been carried out to exam tribal body art in order to understand its relevance within the tribe. It will help me to understand why many people in tribes has body art and for what specific reasons. This research will also help to to examine how the body art is created.



http://www.face-painting-fun.com/cultural-face-painting.html


Tribal or Cultural Face Painting has been used for many motives. For hunting, religious reasons, and military reasons (mainly as a method of camouflaging) or to scare ones enemy. Several tribal fighting techniques were calculated to strike terror. Some warriors entered battle naked except for a loin cloth, but their bodies were streaked in bizarre examples in red and black paint. Decorating one's face in various patterns and shapes has been a part of the cultural make-up of many societies since the beginning of time. Face painting is a common theme across cultures as divergent as the Indigenous American tribes in North America and various tribes in Africa and South America. In Native American Tribes, Face Painting has been used for artistic expression since ancient times. The art of transforming ourselves with make-up and masks is a universal phenomenon. Before we sought to vent our artistic impulse on a cave wall, we painted on our faces and bodies. Indigenous peoples of the Amazon have said that in this power to change ourselves, we demonstrate our humanity and set ourselves apart from the world of the animals.
Patterns developed over time to signify a variety of cultural events and these, conveyed an emotional meaning that was attached to them. The wide range of patterns that a face painter can create, enhance the emotions and meaning of the cultural events. The patterns can be color specific or randomly geometric seemingly without any significance. The shapes and colors convey a strong bond and meaning amongst people who have a face painting tradition. They are a connection to their past and carry a very strong cultural meaning in their lives. Tattooing was practiced and known by the ancient Egyptians, starting during the Middle Kingdom. Geometric designs have been found tattooed on the chests, shoulders, arms, abdomens and thighs of the mummies of dancers and royal concubines.

The reason tribes use face art to transform themselves may be varied. Sometimes they choose to do so as a part of a tribal ritual or at other times they do so to mark their status (as is the case with some aboriginal tribes), but the colorful and dynamic language of the face painting remains the same.


Raw materials used for Tribal Face Painting
Tribal Societies, who still follow the ancient custom of face painting, choose the colors according to the available raw materials. In ancient times, only primary and locally available colors like red, blue, yellow or white were used. Sometimes by sprinkling dust or soft bird feathers, special effects were achieved. Nowadays most tribesmen choose to use branded face paints. Painting a face is an art, perhaps the very first art, going back to the origins of human culture. Artists paint bold, mask-like designs inspired by imagery from Nature, imagination, and traditional masks. Unlike dance and music where the most charming modes and sweetest strains disappear before they are understood, painting captures the emotions and expressions and retains the impact for a long period. Painting is essentially a combination of lines, forms, colors, tones, texture and space. It attempts to convey the spoken and unspoken expressions with the strokes of a brush.

Face painting is considered to be an important tradition among Native Americans. It is much more than just a beautifying practice. It’s a sacred social act of distinction and a cultural heritage. On special occasions faces of the tribe members are painted to augment one’s appearance and power. Each tribe of the Indians has its own and unique way of face painting. For Native Americans Indians, roots, berries and tree barks are most commonly used to make the dyes for face painting. These natural raw materials are ground and made to a paste to make the dye. Clay of different hues is also used in Native Indian face painting. These wonderful colors along with the ideal face painting designs do create a desired effect. The process envolved a strict ritualistic order, that is maintained during the application of these colors. The colors are first applied around the nose and only the index finger and middle finger is used for the application. The rest of the face i.e. the forehead, chin and eye areas are then carefully covered with paint. For some face paintings they would cover their face and then plaster it down with mud leaving the holes for the eyes and mouth. Generally the warriors would paint their faces with colored clay. They would then do the design of their tribe. Each tribe has its own designs for war and ceremonies. After warriors came home from a hunt, they would have a big feast, cutting up the animal they hunted and killed. They would play a lot of games, containing parts of the animal they killed. The Indians would use every part of the animal they killed.


The Plains Indians used paints to adorn themselves, their clothing, their homes and their horses. Though their culture lacked a written languages, the pictures and symbols they drew were rich in meaning and told the stories of the people. Many different colors of paint were used, originally made with the materials at hand — plants, clays, even duck dung. Reds were by far the most popular color, but early natives used brown, red, yellow, black, blue, green and white as well. With the availability of pigments from white traders, 19th century Indians used other colors as well. A yellow paint was made from earth from the Yellowstone River, as well as from bull berries and pine tree moss. Blue was obtained from duck droppings found on the shores of lakes, or from blue-colored mud. White earth and clay were used to make white paint. Green was made from plants, copper ore or mud. The pigments were placed over a fire to dry, then ground into a fine powder on mortars of stone or wood. They were then mixed with tallow. The colors, kept separate in small buckskin bags, were mixed with hot water when the artist was ready for them.


Indian artists painted with straight willow branches (which acted as rulers to draw straight lines) along with short, flat sticks that he or she used to trace a pattern onto a hide. Brushes were made from chewed cottonwood or willow sticks, or from buffalo bone. Each color had its own brush.


Significance of the Colors
Colors in Native American culture have special significance. Red is a violent color; it is the color of war. Strangely enough black, which is considered to be an inauspicious colors in most cultures, is the color of ‘living’, worn on the face during war preparations. White predictably is the color of peace. The color green when worn under the eyes is believed to empower the wearer with a night vision. Yellow is the most inauspicious color, it is the color of death, as it is the color of "old bones." Care should be taken not to wear a lot of yellow, and is worn only when a person is in mourning. Also yellow, means a man has lived his life and will fight to the finish. Each Indian tribe has its own and unique way of face painting. Face paintings can be the lightest streak of color on the face. It can also mean covering their faces completely.
19th Century Seminoles
While early 19th century Seminoles would paint their face and hands for special occasions, this practice was no longer done in public by the late 19th century. It was done on special occasions only, to augment one's appearance and power. All face painting should be done sparingly, and with high regard for the occasion. It might not be out of place at a battle re-enactment or for a serious ceremony, but would be entirely inappropriate for an encampment or for a casual demonstration. A reenactor would be misplaced if he painted himself while he lounged around camp, or while stomp dancing in any except a Green Corn Dance. It would be a big mistake to put on face painting without having a genuine reason or need. Face paint was a way the Seminole drew upon the natural powers in his world to add to his own. A rough parallel might be the personal strength many Christians find in a crucifix hung from their neck.
In India
Body painting and face painting are being practiced in Indian culture since ancient times. Men painted their bodies and faces for camouflage when they went hunting. Face painting is a ritual in Indian villages in their religious festivities, dance and drama. Face painting is very much a part of Indian folk culture and tribal art even today. People are often seen getting their faces painted in different styles during temple festivals and religious events in India. Face painting is also an intrinsic part of the rich dance and drama culture of Indian life.


Kathakali
As all the stories depicted in Kathakali relate to mythological characters and as the natural stage is nothing more than a few square feet, lit by a single coconut oil fed lap, the entire get up is designed to generate an atmosphere to suit the story. The loud instrument used, the make-up and costumes employed, the painting of the faces, the display of the 'Chutti' as part of the facial make-up, are only the instruments used to achieve this objective. Irrespective of the individual who puts on the costume of a character like Nala, the audiences sees only Nala. The individual artiste is fully submerged by the elaborate make-up. It is, however, true that the outstanding talents of an individual artiste cannot be contained within the formal frame-work of a standard costume. In course of time, the individual does make an impression on the audience, but on a basis quite different from other histrionic arts. The costumes are thus intended to make the play as impersonal as possible.
The costumes are very elaborate and fall into basic types. The make up is equally elaborate. While being made up, the actors lie on their backs as the make up men work on their faces. The facial makeup is designed in such a way as to indicate the intrinsic nature of each and every character. Pacha, Kathi, Thadi, Kari, Minukku and Theppu are the different types of make-up followed in Kathakali which are determined according to the basic qualities of the character portrayed. The underlying purpose is to create in the minds of the audience an atmosphere of the supernatural.
Henna Art
Women in India are traditionally painted henna on their hands and feet, insides of their arms and up their shins most often for a wedding, or other special occasion. Sometimes the chest, neck and throat will be tattooed. The subject matter is rather abstract, and often incorporates religious and auspicious symbols.

The history and origin of Henna is hard to trace with centuries of migration and cultural interaction it is difficult to determine where particular traditions began. There is very persuasive evidence that the Neolithic people in Catal Huyuk, in the 7th millennium BC, used henna to ornament their hands in connection with their fertility goddess. The earliest civilizations to have used henna include the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Semites, Ugaritics and Canaanites. The earliest written evidence that mentions henna specifically used as an adornment for a bride or woman's special occasion is in the Ugaritic legend of Baal and Anath, inscribed on a tablet dating back to 2100 BC, found in northwest Syria. Henna has also been used extensively in southern China and has been associated with rituals for at least three thousand years, during the ancient Goddess cultures. The use of Henna in the 4th-5th centuries in the Deccan of western India is clearly illustrated on Bodhisattvas and deities of cave wall murals at Ajanta, and in similar cave paintings in Sri Lanka. The evidence proves henna usage in India seven centuries before the Moghul invasion, and hundreds of years before the inception of the Islamic religion, which began in the mid-7th century AD.

Aboriginal Face & Body Painting
Aborigines who inhabit central Australia have inherited specific face painting designs from their ancestors. These designs are painted onto the face and body using ground ochre mixed with water. They are applied either in stripes or circles. Even the modern paintings of the Central and Western Desert are characterized by these specific designs. It seems the aboriginal tribes have devised an entirely new language of painting, using cryptic symbols for different things. Body painting, decoration and personal adornment traditionally carry deep spiritual significance for Australian Aboriginal people. Body painting is carried out within strict conventions that are primarily related to spiritual matters, although the creative nature of these activities is also acknowledged. The particular designs or motifs used by individuals reflect their social position and relationship to their family group and also to particular ancestors, totemic animals and tracts of land. People are not free to change their appearance at will; they must conform to respected patterns. In many situations individuals are completely transformed so that they 'become' the spirit ancestor they are portraying in dance.

http://chenmikehk.hubpages.com/hub/Elongated-Ear-Body-Art

The elongated ear lobe that could be found in Borneo is a dying art. Ear lobes were elongated by piercing at an early age and brass weights ear rings are put on for the sole reason of elongating the ear lobes. It was suppose to signify beauty for the wearer and men and women can be found to have elongated ear lobes. Maybe men’s grooming did not start with the modern age after all.
Elongated ear lobes also signify status. The longer it is the more significant that person is to the tribe. Perhaps the length is due to age as the ears can only be elongated over time. In Eastern tribal communities, elders are respected. So the longer the ear lobes are, the older the person is.
It is a dying art form because as the tribes emerge from the jungle to join the modern world, long ear lobes were found to be impractical in the city. Stories are told that it was cumbersome for youngster to play basketball with their dangling ear lobes. Often the ears were caught and injuries caused. Is it any wonder that it is no longer practiced in the urban society? You can still get a glimpse of such body art in the jungle villages where these tribal people can still be found.
Dayak

Dayak Tribe
The Dayak or Dyak are a people indigenous to Borneo.It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak languages are categorised as part of the Austronesian languages in Asia. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million.
Penan




More About Penan
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The Penan Tribes
The Penan are a nomadic aboriginal people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such peoples remaining. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II era when many they were settled mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district of Sarawak. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
Kelabit

Kelabit Tribe
The Kelabit people, who has close similarity to the Lun Bawang people, maintain that Lun Bawang people were once Kelabit people who originally resides the Kerayan-Kelabit highland of Central Northeast Borneo. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, they gradually migrated to the low lands near today's Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.
Orang Ulu

Ear Weights

Orang Ulu
Orang Ulu ("remote people") is an ethnic designation politically coined to group together roughly 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in Sarawak, with a population ranging from less than 300 persons to over 25,000 persons.
Kenyah

Kenyah
The Kenyah, traditionally being swidden agriculturalists and living in long houses (uma dado'), is an umbrella term for over 40 sub-groups that mostly share common migration histories, customs and related dialects. Kenyah lived in long houses in a small communities. Each long house consists of families who choose their own leader (headman)

Uses Resources - Gang Culture (Research)

White inmates who are outnumbered and less gang-organised in the prison population find it more important to assert a racial solidarity to declare a “home turf”. Often they have tattoos of swastikas or crosses signalling membership to one of a dozen or so white supremacist groups.
Almost all prison tattoos are made by artist convicts using homemade tattoo "guns”. The work is done quickly and secretly. To be caught in a cell shakedown with either a tattoo gun or the fresh ink of a new tattoo results in a "major case". If, after a disciplinary hearing, the prisoner is convicted he may lose privileges, be moved to a more restrictive wing or even be denied parole. In the regulated world of the maximum security penitentiary the handiwork of the tattoo artist is the most respected skill amongst inmates.

Like gang culture, the culture of prison tattoos is circular. Convicts bring with them the fashions of the ghetto and barrio. The motifs of rural Mexican Catholicism have similarly influenced some beautiful prison tattoos. At the same time marks obtained in prison have significance on the streets. It is almost impossible to go into a tattoo parlour without finding designs that emerged from the long, continuously evoling history of the Texas lock-up. Some convicts change their life dramatically while incarcerated and are forced to serve out sentences at odds with their body art. There are no tattoo removal services in prison. Rasheed, a Muslim serving 20 years in Huntsville’s Wyn unit, was a 15-year-old Houston Crip gang member when he killed two people in a drug deal gone bad. Now 21, he reads The Koran, prays facing Mecca and fasts during the month of Ramadan. But still displayed prominently on his chest is the barrel of a gun and the word “kill” tattooed directly above it.

Convicts of all races frequently have teardrops tattooed directly below their eyes, giving them the appearance of permanently crying. These tattoos take on different meanings depending on the place and time they were acquired. Originally each tear drop represented a murder committed. More recently they have begun to represent each of the family or gang members who have died while a prisoner is locked up. Because of the location of the tear on the face, these tattoos are commitment, an unabashed declaration of the inmate experience. Prison has literally scarred the convict, a sad fact fittingly expressed with a teardrop.
In a world where not caring about consequences is respected, tattoos declare themselves fearless. For that reason inside the confines of the prison most hardened gang members, rather than hide their markings, display them fearlessly.

In many countries around the world, tattoos developed as a way to identify prisoners and ostracize them from law-abiding society. Tattoos were imprinted on inmates to not only identify them as felons, but also to identify the crimes they committed. Prisoners capitalized on the fear and stigma associated with body art and used that as a source of pride.
Tattoos came to symbolize both the gory and the glory associated with gang life. Today it is not uncommon for gang members to tattoo their hands and arms, necks and even faces, as a demonstrated refusal to acclimate to social norms. Tattoos in gang culture represent a commitment that stays with the body even after life. Gang members are committed to the gang for life and shared tattoos are a way of unifying members of a gang.
From tear drops to religious and cultural images, check out these incredible gang tattoos.

Mexican Gang tattoos

Although the original Mexican mafia prison gang banned the practice of religion as a precondition to membership, the fact that Mexico in general is a country deeply rooted in the catholic tradition has made it impossible to discount the influence of religion completely, even amongst violent criminal gang member. This is why many mesican gang members, regardless of their particular affiliation will often be found with tattoos depicting a pair of hands clasped together in prayer. This powerful image is supposed to represent a plea for forgiveness from God for the wrong the gang members have done.

Many Mexican gang tattoos often have significant phrases personal to that particular gang member. These include phrases like Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life” and Perdoname Mi Madre (Forgive Me, Mother) which show how they are aware of their gangster life and how it is unacceptable to their family members and loved ones. There words or phrases are usually tattooed in Old English style letters.

Some Mexican gangsters also tattoo the web of the hands with drawings symbolic of their special role within the gang. Sometimes these symbols are even burned into the hand.

Most Mexican gangs prefer the colours of the Mexican flag as their gang’s colours. The colours of the Mexican flag are green, white and red. That is the reason why these colours predominate in the tattoos of Mexican gang members.

http://www.tattoo.tv/thebuzz/designs-a-styles/233-russian-mafia-a-prison-tattoos.html

I have researched into body art in gang cultures to understand what relevance this form of body art has to people in gangs. Also to look at if perceptions change when people find out what certain tattoos represent to certain people. This research includes Mexican gangs, White supremisits and Russian Mafia gangs.


http://mag.rankmytattoos.com/incredible-gang-tattoos-and-their-meanings.html

While serving to unify members within a gang, tattoos are used as a means of self-imposed segregation: segregation from other gangs and segregation from mass society. They are meant to instigate fear and serve as a “body of truth” documenting gang life. This entails everything from tallying crimes committed to memorializing the loss of a loved one, to representing a hood, to serving as the hallmark of a life-sentence in prison.
While certain designs and symbols are universally recognized as gang tattoos, most tattoos vary drastically from gang to gang. Tattoos amongst members of the same gang will often differ significantly, carrying familiar elements but in a personalized way, thus highlighting both a group mentality and an individual identity. Images of cultural pride and religious devotion appear in striking contrast with the blood, guns, and daggers which are often coupled on the same body canvas.
Gang tattoos are a study in contradictions; they reflect a culture where life is fleeting but tattoos make the record of life, and often life-record, immortal.


http://gangsorus.com/gang_tattoos.html

The dots are usually in groups of three or five small dot tattoos. The most common locations are the web of the hands, the wrist and elbows. For many,three dots in a triangular shape represent the only three places gang members go to - the hospital, prison or grave.

Members affiliated with the Sureños, or Sur 13, have been known to place three dots on one wrist and a single dot on the other to indicate the number ¨13¨.
A tattoo of three dots in a triangle, usually found between the thumb and forefinger, has several meanings. For many, three dots in a triangular shape represent the only three places gang members go to -the hospital, prison or the grave. I sometimes refer to the three dots as the 3 I´s of the gang culture: Injury, Incarceration and Interment. The dots may also stand for "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"). They may also be referred to as "party dots." And finally, they may represent a gang known as Los Vatos Locos (The Crazy Dudes or Guys) gang. Only the person wearing the dots knows what they mean to him or her.
Along with the pachuco cross, the number 187, and the slang tattoo "Thug Life", the "three dots", referred to as "tres puntos" in Spanish, is a popular "generic" tattoo, particularly among Latino teenagers, and has no positive, direct connection to gang affiliation.

Uses Resources - People Perceptions of Tattoos (Research)

by Leigh Adams: http://goarticles.com/article/People-Perceptions-of-Tattoos/1890433/

“If you were confronted with two people. One dressed in a suit and looking office smart and one who dressed in shorts and had tattoos up his neck and down his sleeves. Who would you be inclined to talk to or do business with? Would you expect these people to be different because of their appearance? What if someone you have seen dressed in a suit consequently then wears shorts at the weekend and is covered in tattoos. Would this change your impression of them?

Tattoos have been around for centuries and I see them as being part of the warrior culture. Not to make you look hard but to represent your journey in life. The various stages that you go through and the events which are often so memorable. Just like warriors are rewarded with a tattoo when they grow into adulthood.
There are so many different types of tattoos you can find. From Japanese, Chinese, Maori, Celtic, fairies, angels, demons, bull dogs, tribal. You name it you can get it tattooed. So is your perception different depending on the type of tattoo they wear?”

People often rely on each other’s physical appearance to form first impressions, and these impressions can be potent and enduring (Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall, 1996). People use seemingly trivial cues like clothing, grooming, cosmetics, hair length, and body piercings to form impressions of each other. Currently there is another seemingly trivial physical appearance cue that is growing in popularity among people of all age groups and social classes, tattooing (Stuppy, Armstrong, & Casals-Ariet, 1998).

Tattooing in U.S. has become sixth fastest growing retail business (Lord, 1997) and one in ten people are estimated to have or have had a tattoo (Gardyn, 2001). The art of tattooing has been around for centuries but people with tattoos generally are not evaluated positively in western cultures. For example, a survey done on employers in occupations of retail and office revealed that they were less likely to hire people with tattoos than those without them (Bekhor et al., 1995).

A different study on tattoos involved high school and college students viewing photograph of a female either with or without a visible tattoo on her upper arm and rating her on various traits (Degelman & Price, 2002). The results of the study demonstrated that the female without tattoo was rated significantly more attractive, intelligent, artistic, athletic, motivated, generous, mysterious, religious, and honest compared to the same female with one. This study was limited in scope as the tattoo used in the study was a “biker tattoo” and only a female model was used in the study.

To further explore how tattoos can affect our perceptions of other individuals, Seiter and Hatch (2005), two researchers at Utah State University, used a male and female model and created images of them with and without tattoos. These images were given to 148 participants who were asked to provide their assessment on model’s credibility and attractiveness. The notion of credibility was measured alongside dimensions of competence, character, sociability, extroversion, and composure.

The results of the study indicated that for both sexes tattoo wearers received lower ratings on competence, character, and sociability than those without one. These negative results can be explained by role theory, which states that all societies have expectations about how each sex is supposed to look and behave like (Workman & Johnson, 1994). Those who violate their expected roles are hindered in their social interactions. These results are also consistent with empirical research suggesting that a conservative appearance enhances one’s credibility (Seiter & Sandry, 2003).

Although having a tattoo lowered credibility rating of models, it did not affect participants’ ratings of their attractiveness. This result goes against common perception of tattoo wearers that having a tattoo makes one more attractive (Drews, Allison, & Probst, 2000). Of course, people do not perceive tattoo wearers to be ugly either. Nonetheless, the interesting point to note here is that individuals perceive and judge tattoo wearers’ internal characteristics and not their external ones, when in fact tattoos are part of external features of a person.

References:
Bekhor, P.S., Bekhor, L, & Gandrabur, M. (1995). Employer attitudes towards persons with visible tattooes. Australian Journal of Dermatology, 36, 75-77.
Burgoon, J.K., Buller, D.B., & Woodall, W.G. (1996). Nonverbal communication: The unspoken dialogue. (2nd ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
Degelman, D., & Price, N.D. (2002). Tattoos and ratings of personal characteristics. Psychological Reports, 90, 507-514.
Drews, D.R., Allison, C.K., & Probst, J.R. (2000). Behavioral and self-concept differences in tattooed and nontattooed college students. Psychological Reports, 86, 475-481.
Gardyn, R. (2001). Ink me, stud. American Demographics, 23, 9-11.
Seiter, J.S., & Hatch, S. (2005). Effect of tattoos on perceptions of credibility and attractiveness. Psychological Reports, 96, 1113-1120.
Seiter, J.S., & Sandry, A. (2003). Pierced for success? The effects of ear and nose piercing on perceptions of job candidates’ credibility, attractiveness, and hirability. Communication Research Reports, 20, 287-298.
Stuppy, D.J., Armstrong, M.L., & Casals-Ariet, C.C. (1998). Attitudes of health care providers and students towards tattooed people. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27, 1165-1170.

http://www.wnd.com/2006/10/38428/

There are children's books like "Mommy Has a Tattoo" and the "Tattoo Colouring Book." The topic of tattoos and body piercing is one of the hottest for campus speakers. Major corporations are working the "hip" new trend into their TV commercials and ad campaigns. And as tattoos and piercings become more common, some zealots are moving to extremes once unthinkable.
Just as "Heather Has Two Mommies" is now required reading for kindergartners in some school districts, how long will it be before the tolerance police mandate Phil Padwe's new books. He's the author and illustrator of the two new children's books on tattoos.
In "Mommy Has a Tattoo," a little boy, James, is afraid of a heavily tattooed neighbour – until he realizes his mother has one, too.

“WASHINGTON – You run a fashionable restaurant with a dress code for employees and customers that discourages pierced tongues and noses.
You are a personnel director at an upscale department store known for customer service and refuse to hire women with prominent tattoos.
You supervise a supermarket and require those with pierced body parts who handle food to remove the piercings before reporting to work.
According to legal experts in employment law, if you fit any of these categories, you are setting yourself up for lawsuits from members of a new activist lobby representing the ever-growing population of those into "body modification."
"Employers are getting involved in expensive legal battles as they attempt to adapt to the ever-changing workforce," said David Barron, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green Wickliff & Hall, P.C. "Long-accepted rules are now being challenged and questioned in court." “


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7034500.stm
News article purely based on opinions, statistics and discussion about tattoos in and out of the work place. Also what kinds of people have them.


http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/385.php
http://www.unh.edu/sociology/media/pdfs-journal2008/LandryEDITED.pdf
http://www.examiner.com/cognitive-science-in-national/people-with-tattoos-are-perceived-to-be-less-credible-than-those-without

I have carried out this research to find out about different peoples perceptions on tattoos and there representation. This will help me with my entire project because it will help me understand that everyone has a different opinion on tattoos.



http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_facts.htm

Manage - Log

Log

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Manage - Production Schedule

Production schedule

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Manage - Proposal

For my extended project I will be looking at how tattoos are perceived in different cultures and by different people. I will be looking into whether people’s opinions on them are bad or good and the reasons why they have this opinion. Also for my project I will be looking at tribal tattoos and what they represent to the people that have them and also different people’s opinions on tribal tattoos. Lastly I will be researching into tattoos in gang culture. Tattoos in gang culture are normally frowned upon by the general population as sometimes they represent horrific things that people in gang culture have done, such as criminal offences. I chose two look at tattoos in general and also two other types of tattoos as I will be able to get a wide range of opinions and interesting facts on each of these.
My project will need to be researched thoroughly; therefore I am going to look at a wide range of things such as books, websites and also asking people’s opinions myself so that I don’t get a biased opinion just by looking at one certain type of media or by talking to one certain group of people. I will also use the internet to find documentaries on tattoos and perceptions of people that have them, if there are any. Magazines will also be useful to my research as there are a fair few magazines purely based on tattoos.
I have many deadlines for my project.
Milestone one: Research thoroughly into perceptions of tattoos. By 31st October.
Milestone two: Research into tribal tattoos. By 7th November.
I will spend nine weeks on researching into my project. Then I will spend two weeks analysing my research so I can put it into a written project. A further six weeks to write the project up and finally 2 weeks to prepare for the final presentation.

Manage - Project Proposal forum

Project proposal form

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Manage - Ideas

Interviews
I will interview different types of people that have different interests. Such as; people with tattoos and people without. Also older and younger people to see if they like or dislike tattoos and why, as well as to see if they’d want/have any tattoos already and either regret/think they will regret them or don’t/wouldn’t regret them.


Books/magazines
A few examples of what kind of books/magazines I will look at are:
Skin deep.
Total Tattoo and Tattoo Revolution.
Into the Skin (Tattoo-U)
The Mammoth Book of Tattoo Art.


Websites
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=38428
http://deanna-roddy.suite101.com/tattoo-discrimination-in-and-out-of-the-workplace-a294344
http://www.quotegarden.com/tattoo.html
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_books.htm