Minneapolis Ink

Tattoos are a very permanent body practice, but one that is becoming more accepted with each generation. Tramp stamps, sleeves, tribal: these are all terms that when said most everyone in our generation, can conjure up a relatively universal image. When someone mentions tattoos, or "getting inked" the image I think of is my ex-boyfriend who had both arms tattooed as well as a few (as he would put it) "pieces of art" on his back.

When I first started dating him, I read his tattoos as bad-ass and manly. I loved watching shows like Miami and New York Ink because every tattoo artist was covered in tattoos and seemed so cool-they were in bands, dressed uniquely, and really seemed not to give a damn about what society thought about them. Watching shows like this was really the only experience I had with people with tons of tattoos--my parents threatened to stop paying for mine of any of my sibling's college if we ever got a tattoo because they are hard-core Catholics who feel that tattoos "violate the body God gave you."

So maybe it was the appeal of the forbidden or unknown but I was drawn to him firstly for his tattoos. However, very soon after dating him I learned the tattoos did not equal bad ass. He secretly loved High School Musical and I had to kill any bug that he found in his apartment. Now with the context of the reading I see that he had 'pursuit without a terminus' that Bordo talked about--his never-ending quest to collect tattoos was his way of appearing the world of being a tough manly-man when in reality he was just a big teddy bear.

When he first met my parents, he was super nervous about their subjectivity and strong opinions about people with tattoos. So to counteract all the time and money he put into his "art" he covered them all up to impress them and to better assimilate with my strict German Catholic family. His body turned docile when not surrounded by the young, accepting culture he found himself with on a daily basis.

It is interesting and a little odd to me to think of this situation and my ex-boyfriend as a cultural experiment. But it also opened my eyes to the fact that certain body practices may not always be as they appear. My boyfriend who was covered in tattoos loved musicals and my mom, who wears a cross around her neck and prays the rosary daily was so fascinated and amused by his tattoos, contemplated getting one for herself.