Once again, we are proud to post some of Paul King’s articles detailing the histories of certain piercings. Today? Nipple piercings. Click the picture below for the piece.
[Ed. note: Comments for this post have been disabled. Yak it up in the article’s forum. Thanks.]
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IAM: cocky_bob (who has nothing to do with this post).
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Everybody knows that the only reason to go to the mall is to pick up underage girls, or to enjoy the sweet relief of air conditioning on a ball-droppingly humid summer day, or maybe to hand out extremist political pamphlets to impressionable young children. So who in the world would go to the mall to get tattooed? The answer: People! The Wall Street Journal chimes in today with a story profiling Mario Barth and the folks behind Tattoo Nation, both of whom are looking to turn their tattoo shops into nationwide franchises. That, of course, is not a particularly new idea, but the idea seems to center on attracting people who may not normally venture into your average iniquitous den of tattooery, where things are usually on fire and the artists are snorting weed and sacrificing animals and such:
Tattoo Nation LLC had to tackle such issues when it set out several years ago to be the first mall-based tattoo-parlor chain in the country. It opened its first location in 2006 in the Woodbridge Center Mall in Woodbridge, N.J., 200 feet from Bloomingdale’s.
Early next year, it will open two stores in New York — in the Staten Island Mall and the Queens Center mall — and it is in lease negotiations at more than a dozen other malls around the U.S.
[…] So far, some traditional mall customers have responded well to the tattoo parlors. Geralyn Stanley, a 32-year-old high-school art teacher and mother of two young girls, wanted a tattoo but was leery of patronizing traditional parlors. When she came across the white-tiled, rock-music-playing Tattoo Nation in the Woodbridge Center Mall, she felt more at ease — so much so that she has gotten three tattoos in the past year. On one visit, she brought along her mother, a 52-year-old librarian, who got her first tattoo.
In all fairness though, while the negative characterization of tattoo shops is mostly silly, it’s probably a testament to the art form that even people who have no interest in — and, indeed, feel completely apart from — “traditional” tattoo culture are still hot to get tattooed, albeit in a setting that feels more appropriate for their personalities and experiences. So … probably a good business move.
There is a slight error, though, where the WSJ reporter mentions that, in addition to Tattoo Nation rebranding its shops as Inked shops, that the company has purchased Inked magazine as well. Apparently not. Inked‘s Jason Buhrmester wrote in to Gawker to correct the mistake:
“We are actually published by Don Hellinger, the owner of Nylon and Nylon Guys. We want nothing to do with Tattoo Nation and begrudge it for wasting valuable space that could be filled with a tasty Orange Julius.”
Me-OW! Tat-fight!
Tattoo Parlors Start Hitting Mall [Wall Street Journal Online]
Inked Is Not A Mall Rat [Gawker]
[BMEzine.com] Oh hey look! It’s one of those newfangled editions of BME’s Big Question that all the movie stars are talking about! Let’s go read it immediately! Yeah, good idea! No, me first!
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[io9.com] The ever-wonderful io9 has just posted a pretty comprehensive list of notable tattoos that have popped up in various science-fiction films and series over the years. To the right is a picture of Angelina Jolie from Wanted from their gallery, which I have included here because why the hell not.
[KTVO.com] Are you an adult of voting age in or around Kirksville, MO, who is planning on braving the booths on November 4? Well slap your mammy, because Dyed Hyde Tattoo and Body Piercing is offering “free” (plus $5 for equipment, allegedly) piercings to customers all day, provided they bring their identification, their voter registration card and an “I Voted” sticker!
“This is the most important election in history, as far as I’m concerned, and my idea to give free body piercings on election day is just to get voters out there, give them some incentive to get out there and vote,” said “Flash” [a shop staff member].
[…] He says Democrats and Republicans are welcome to take advantage of his offer.
So after you have navigated the mazes of imaginary 11-foot-tall black gangbangers from the planet Africa who want nothing more than to beat the piss out of you and carve you to pieces, reward yourself for having done your civic duty! Meghan McCain will be on hand, trying in vain to convince the shop owner to give her a free mustache tattoo on her finger.
[Simcoe Reformer] God, so this HORRIBLE woman is saying all sorts of terrible things about this shop, Ink Sensations, and talking to politicians about making body modification — all modification, including dyeing your hair and cutting your fingernails too short — a crime punishable by drunken firing squad, and all because somebody there pierced her 15-year-old daughter’s tongue. Wait, hold on, after reading past the headline, it seems like she actually likes piercing a lot and just wants responsible legislation in place:
“I was flabbergasted that there is no law against minors getting pierced without a parent’s permission,” said Cheryl Blake, a Waterford resident.
While most shops have their own regulations — usually a 16- or 18-year-old age of majority — it is an unwritten rule, not something mandated federally or provincially.
Blake isn’t against body modification. She’s taken her other two daughters for piercings.
“But I made sure it was done in a sterile environment and that they knew the possible risks and follow up care,” Blake said.
With her youngest daughter, she’s not sure those steps were taken as she wasn’t there.
She’s begun a Facebook group, Ink Sensations Simcoe-Unethical Business Practices, which has 131 members.
[…] She wants more regulations on the industry and is starting a petition to take to MPP Toby Barrett to introduce a private member’s bill regulating tattoo artists and body piercers.
“A governing body should set certain standards on how this is done,” Blake said. “Your hairdresser needs to be certified but someone who puts a needle in your body doesn’t?”
Body piercer George Lewis, who owns Tattoo Art in Kitchener and handles the piercing shop at Ink Sensations, said he’ll be right beside Blake in the fight.
“I’ve been trying to get better regulation for years,” Lewis said, who has been piercing for 30 years. “But it takes more than one person to move a mountain.”
He admits that his protege, who he trained to do piercings at Ink Sensations, did something wrong. His policy is that anyone under 16 requires parental consent.
“He didn’t ask for ID and he’s been severely reprimanded for that,” Lewis said. “His job is pending. But she signed a legal document saying she was 16 so she committed fraud.”
Oh. That actually sounds quite reasonable. Well, I’m still outraged.
[Contact Music] Update! We’ve discussed the ridiculousness that is the Los Angeles Fire Department banning tattoos, and I made the bold and groundbreaking declaration that firefighters can look however they damn well want. Well, it turns out that international playboy Brad Pitt and I are totally and completely simpatico:
A source close to the tattooed actor tells Star magazine, “(He) thinks it’s ridiculous that these guys who risk their lives to help people have these restrictions put upon them.
“He wanted to make sure the department heads knew that the people of L.A. don’t care about tattoos – they care about them doing their job well.”
It’s like … it’s like we’re the same person.
[Corporette.com] The self-proclaimed “fashion and lifestyle blog for women lawyers, bankers, MBAs, consultants, and otherwise overachieving chicks who work in conservative offices and need to look professional, but want to be fashionable” just conducted a readers’ poll about whether or not tattoos are acceptable among female lawyers. Well, the votes have been tallied and the results from the 1,500 participants are:
– 43% of you said a professional woman could never have a visible tattoo
– 30% of you said it was fine if it could be covered by clothes or makeup
– 12% of you said only so long as it wasn’t visible when you shook hands or interviewed
– 8% said sure, a visible tattoo was fine
Par for the course, more or less. Common remarks centered on tattoos being a “distraction” in the workplace, and one dickbag in the comments expertly stated that tattoos are for “hookers, not lawyers.” Cute! The editorial consensus, though, happily (and idealistically) enough, was that if you’re in a position where a charm tattoo on your ankle is going to hold you back, it’s probably not the sort of place you’d want to spend much of your life. In conclusion, people on the Internet have opinions about things.
[Joplin Globe] It’s pretty often that we stumble across stories of backwards school boards that have decided students with tattoos and piercings are an affront to the education system and do not even deserve access to the same crippled-by-No-Child-Left-Behind embarrassment programs as all the others, and who cares right? What have stupid kids ever offered society other than scabies and juvenile diabetes? Well, the mavericks on the Joplin R-8 Board of Education in Missouri have turned their discerning eyeballs on the swill merchants who are pushing these ideas of “body” “art” on the little scamps: teachers!
Joplin R-8 Board of Education members Tuesday night gave administrators the OK to change wording in the district’s employment policy to not allow any part of a tattoo to show.
The policy previously instructed teachers to wear clothing that “minimizes” tattoos, but it did not prohibit part or all of the tattoo from showing.
The board also wants to make that policy apply to all district employees, not just teachers.
Superintendent C.J. Huff said he brought the issue to the board because someone had raised concerns about teachers with tattoos. The board members appeared to be in unanimous agreement about tattoos not being appropriate in a professional and, specifically, a classroom setting.
[…] Joplin resident Maurice Filson encouraged the board to adopt a policy that requires teachers to cover their tattoos. He said refusing to do so would be a statement that might speak louder than the body art itself.
“You already know the problems our children are facing, so for the sake of our kids, I hope this can be properly addressed,” Filson said.
Do those problems include low test scores and problems focusing in class? Because I have a feeling that even if the subject matter of these classes isn’t engaging the little ragamuffins, then maybe more interesting individuals at the helm could be of some help. But as I’ve said before, it’s hard to argue with an employer that seeks to enforce a dress code, so … keep up the work, Joplin Board of Education. You are doing a job.
[Greensburg Daily News] So what with it being election season and all, does anybody know when we cast our ballots for mother of the year? Because, even though it’s only October, I have a feeling it’s going to be tough to beat Indiana’s proudest daughter, Jessica Middleton of St. Paul, who had herself a pretty spectacular twenty-second birthday:
According to Greensburg Police Chief Brian Heaton, Jessica L. Middleton, 22, was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of neglect of a dependent, a Class D felony. Heaton said at 10:26 p.m. Friday, the department received a call of a 2-year-old in a car unattended in the city parking lot just off the downtown square. Due to a high call volume taxing the on-duty officers he had at the time, Officer Mike McNealy didn’t arrive immediately. When he did, he found a child being cared for by some friendly passers-by.
[…] Heaton said they may not have found Middleton without thew help of a 16-year-old male who said he was friends with the mother. He told officers Middleton, who turned 22 on Oct. 15, went to Somers’ Ink, a new tattoo parlor downtown, for a tattoo at around 9:30 p.m. Afterwards, Heaton said the teenager informed officers she went to the Tiki Bar for a birthday drink. He identified Middleton to officers, who allowed him access to the bar for the purpose of making their arrest.
Booze and tattoos? Sounds like a pretty sweet birthday to me! Other than the whole borderline-infanticide thing, which really sounds like it was being blown out of proportion. When asked for a comment, Middleton told reporters that she used to babysit herself in the car all the time, eating cigarette butts and strangling herself with the seatbelt, and she turned out pretty well, didn’t she? Middleton then fell down, soiled herself and a rabid coyote ran over and licked her fresh tattoo, thus capping the greatest birthday she or anyone else has ever had.
[YouTube] No snark here, friends: The video that follows is of a ballet performed by a pair of amputees, one male and one female, and it’s about as beautiful as anything you’ll find on these here Internets:
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[Union Leader] The last time we checked in with Meghan McCain, the spunky daughter of the Republican presidential nominee, she was overheard mentioning that she wanted a new tattoo, but that she would wait until her father’s campaign for president was over. Thoughtful! But now the truth comes out — she’s waiting until after the election because she has issued an ultimatum to YOU, the voter!
If Sen. John McCain wins the presidency in a little more than three weeks, his daughter said she’ll tattoo “Live Free or Die” somewhere on her body.
Of course, he would have to win in New Hampshire, too, said Meghan McCain, who was in Nashua yesterday thanking volunteers at the McCain-Palin campaign office.
The tattoo, which would probably go on her wrist, would be her way of commemorating her father’s run for the presidency, she said. It was in New Hampshire that McCain revived his faltering presidential bid during the presidential primary in January.
“New Hampshire is so important to me and my family,” she said.
Earlier, McCain told a supporter that she would be “extremely depressed” if her dad loses in New Hampshire.
Sold. It’s up to you now, heroes: If you don’t vote McCain (especially you New Hampshire pinkos), you may as well say that you hate tattoos and that you don’t think anyone (ESPECIALLY FREE-SPIRITED YOUNG WOMEN, YOU SEXISTS) should suffer the indignity of getting one. The choice is yours.
[Macy Survey Site] Are you a man? Do you have a genital piercing? Do you love surveys? Well hot holy damn, are you ever in luck. Elayne Angel sends in this online survey being conducted by body art researcher Myrna Armstrong: http://www.macysurveysite.com/gpsurveys.htm. Armstrong has been publishing body modification-related articles in medical journals for a few years now and, says Elayne: “I believe she’s more interested in the information than in making judgments.”
[Chicago Sun Times] Ha ha, now this is a clever scam. North Sider Marcos Paiz posted a Craigslist ad offering Chicago-area tattoo artists a once in a lifetime deal: To tattoo him — get this — for free! Wait, wait, if you’re still reading this and haven’t rushed out the door to find this brave human canvas, here are the details:
“Essentially, I would really love to have my whole torso covered in tattoos,” said Paiz, a 29-year-old flight attendant from Lake View. “I think it would be good to have free art work.”
[…] He’s thinking some “greenery and flowers” down his back would be nice. But he’s open to an artist’s ideas — as long as they don’t include swastikas, Satanic symbols or “something totally crazy.”
And free would be nice, he figures.
The article then quotes Nick Colella, the owner of Chicago Tattoo Company, who gives some claptrap about this being a “disturbing trend fueling the rise of in-home and back-alley tattoo operations” and that the people who think this sort of thing is acceptable probably don’t know the first thing about sterilization or blood-borne pathogens and that you should “pay” for “high-quality work,” but get real. Paiz is a visionary, and God knows he’s got some valuable lessons to pass on. So with this in mind, I’m just throwing it out there, but if there are any chefs who would like to cook me a gourmet meal in exchange for the satisfaction of knowing you have bettered yourself and improved your craft, please e-mail me as soon as possible. It’s almost dinner time.
Ha ha, remember that brain piercing story from the other day that seemed more than a little far-fetched and which Ferg‘s medical connection thoroughly debunked? Well, Master Piercer Elayne Angel (and wife of Buck Angel) wrote in to offer her own input (it’s bogus!), including a link to this site — it’s written in Portuguese (and the translation is mostly just a reiteration of initial blog post on the subject), but it includes this abjectly terrifying Photoshoppery:
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| Photo source: Vida Universitaria |
Guhhh. I hate the Internet.
In other news, astute reader Lynette writes in to touch on the plight of our friends Bambang and Nanang, the victims of a practical joke that led to them tattooing their faces. Lynette … is not sympathetic:
I know S.E. Asia’s culture and politics well (my extended family are from Malaysia which is next door to Indonesia) and [to be honest] don’t feel in the slightest bit sorry for them …
Putting aside the beliefs in mystics/ghosts/spirits (something which exists mostly in rural areas of these nations, the urban areas are more high tech than the UK!), these scum were applying for “jobs” that would have involved spying on their own people and reporting back to the Indonesian security forces.
This could easily result in the village being stormed by cops/soldiers on “suspicion” of drug dealing/smuggling etc. When this happens, it isn’t like the politically correct West where people are [released] on bail and the worst what may happen is they get evicted or ASBOs. When the village is stormed, the menfolk (other than the spies/grass) are separated and executed (if they are lucky they are just shot, if not they are tortured), the women are used for the sex industry/forced breeding (i.e. rape) and the children are sold to rich families and the money taken by the government/soldiers.
Then the houses are bulldozed or lit on fire and the area cleared for logging or palm oil plantations (the government/soldiers’/cops’ families get the building jobs, etc.). This happens all across S.E. Asia and is rarely reported other than by activist groups and is covered up by the West, as it’s how we get our cheap furniture and “green” biodiesel.
This wasn’t a joke: it was a way of weeding out grasses/untrustworthy scum, and to deter people from taking these “jobs.”
Yowza. I can’t personally confirm these allegations, but that’s pretty damning if true. Anybody else from the Indonesia/Malaysia area that can back this up?
And lastly, we’ve just put up the latest of dreamy Paul King’s piercing history articles — this time, it’s labrets and lip piercings! Clicky below for the piece:
[Tattooique.com] So, approximately 9,000 people have sent this to me over the last couple of weeks and, even now, I can’t tell whether the original author is legit in his assurance of the efficacy of his plan:
So they will cut you hair first, then bore in your scull two tiny foramens with a drill, then drag the ring through them with the bent needle. The foramens will be done on your nucha – there is an especially sensitive range of a brain. The ring will easily massage it and keep you in the state of euphoria. The only problem you can face is that you will have to try hard to find a piercer. There are very few persons capable. And the price is $1000 for the whole procedure.
Hot damn! Where do I sign up? Really though, this seems like the sort of thing my uncle would send in an e-mail. (“Hey, I’ve got a piercing for ya — right through the brain!” Nyuk nyuk nyuk.) Luckily, the ever-industrious Ferg spoke to a doctor friend of his, and came back with the following results:
I have to say that the anatomical descriptions and descriptions of the procedure are vague and weird. Whoever wrote it would certainly not have my vote of confidence. This is what a nuchal line is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuchal_lines
As you might have imagined already, the risk of haemorrhage and death are ridiculously high as well as that of contracting meningitis (inflammation of the membranes around the brain): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meninges
There are three membranes that surround the brain. One is closely attached to the skull itself (the dura), the second – the arachnoid – is full of blood vessels and holds in the cerebrospinal fluid, then the third, the pia mater, is what’s adherent to the brain itself.
Should one accidentally rip through the membranes, then CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) would leak out and the patient would die within minutes, or, should one rupture a blood vessel accidentally, then the piercee would either haemorrhage out (to death?) or into their skull, thus compressing the brain and resulting in coma, death, seizures, etc., etc.
I would have thought that foreign bodies rubbing directly on the brain would cause irritation and thus neurological deficits as well as seizures. (Are seizures pleasant?) Anyway, I’m no specialist and I’m sure it’s totally possible to do and survive. Whether their claims are true (euphoria?) needs to be substantiated.
Well, there you have it. Maybe it’ll work and maybe it won’t, but … please don’t try to pierce your brain.
[Toronto Star, Niagara Falls Review, Guelph Mercury] There’s a lot to lose for a tattoo/piercing shop owner who doesn’t abide by the regulations outlined by the local board of health. Fines and closures are the obvious disciplinary measures, but standard operating practice in most places also includes the health board itself disseminating information to the shop’s customers, warning them to undergo blood tests, often for HIV and hepatitis. The damage to one’s reputation for actions ranging from poor bookkeeping of spore tests to actually using dirty instruments can be devastating — and for some reason, Southern Ontario has been seeing a lot of these cases lately. Last summer, Oshawa’s Longhorn Custom Bodyart Studio was the subject of a $10 million class-action lawsuit filed by former customers who had been alerted of the fact that the shop had potentially been using improperly sterilized needles:
Durham Region health authorities warned that possible use of non-sterile equipment could lead to transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C and sent letters to 2,400 people, urging them to see a doctor and get blood tests. The 530 results that have come back so far were all negative, said spokesperson Glendene Collins.
More recently, Venom Ink in St. Catharines (and Niagara Falls) and Stigmata Body Art in Guelph faced similar issues. Stigmata Body Art was fined after it “failed to comply with an order issued in July 2007 by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health to produce the results of spore tests, which check for proper sterilization of equipment,” while Venom Ink’s piercing business was shut down entirely for using non-sterile equipment.
After talking with the owner of the business, public health officials believe there are 40 customers who received piercings during the three months Venom Ink was in business – two months in St. Catharines and one in Niagara Falls.
[…] Employees working Saturday afternoon said they did not want to discuss the health department’s notice and threatened to charge a reporter with trespassing if he came by again.
In all cases, it’s still recommended that clients who received work from the aforementioned shops between certain dates seek out HIV and hepatitis tests:
– Longhorn Custom Bodyart Studio: Nov. 17, 2006-Aug. 1, 2007
– Stigmata Body Art: February, April and May 2007
– Venom Ink: It’s recommended that anyone who received a piercing from Venom Ink should seek testing
[Huffington Post] We’re through the looking glass, people — it’s the dawning of a new era. Writers are now beyond recounting their experiences with tattoos and piercings, and have moved onto the next, Falkner-approved level of body art memoir: Tattoo removal stories. Anya Strzemien over at HuffPo tells her story:
The first tattoo was a star on my wrist. Not so original nowadays, but we didn’t have Lindsay Lohan and Sienna Miller back then. [Ed. note: Slam fucking dunk.] And, sure, you have to be 18 to legally get a tattoo, but this was in the early days of Giuliani administration in New York, back when we were barely carded for anything (especially alcohol, I was elated to learn).
The second tattoo came about during my freshman year of college, and this one really marked some silly adolescent judgment on my part. I knew what I wanted it to say (and it’s something so college, so 18, and so earnest that I can’t even bring myself to tell friends what it means anymore, let alone HuffPost readers), but I didn’t want it to be in English. Arabic, Farsi and Hindi looked too linear, Chinese felt too cliché. So, naturally, I settled on Japanese. I could have lived with the star for the rest of my life, but really, Asian character tattoos are a crime of fashion that should be punishable by law. The characters themselves are beautiful, but as a tattoo…especially on a non-Asian body…well, nothing says “I Tried To Rebel In The ’90s” more.
So when I turned 29 in August, I decided it was time for me and the tattoos to part ways, and schlepped out to New Jersey to see Dr. Mitchell Chasin at the Reflections Center For Skin And Body, where I was told the cost of the removal for an average-sized tattoo like mine would be about $300 or $350 per treatment, and it would take at least four treatments (the number varies depending on the color and type of ink, skin type, and quality of the tattoo). So if the average number of treatments is four to ten, then it costs between $1200 and $3500. Note to 16-year-old self: you were wrong.
The post also includes some (inexcusably poor) photos, and assorted musings on the oozing, bubbling and general grossness that comes along with tattoo removal. But surely the erudite HuffPo commenters will have worthwhile input, right?
A tattoo just means you’re dumb enough to let ANYONE stick a needle in ya.
Oh for God’s sake.
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| Photo source: Ninemsn.com.au |
Those guys up there? Not happy. Not even a little. And with good reason! Bambang (left) and Nanang (right), two native Indonesians who were looking for government jobs, received word from a local village chief that there was a new requirement to work as an intelligence officer in Jakarta: facial tattoos. The only problem, of course, is that the chief — who received his information via text message — had been lied to, and he passed along some dreadfully poor instructions:
The official, who said it was a job requirement to have their faces tattooed with dragons, was later discovered to be a hoaxer — but not before Nanang, 30, and Bambang, 40, had already undergone the painful and disfiguring procedure.
The three men believe the anonymous trickster was a kind of “mystic”, as they didn’t feel in control of their actions when following his strange instructions.
“I was half conscious when the shop owner tattooed my face, and didn’t think it was a con,” victim Bambang said.
“I just realized it was a con on Friday night. I was shocked and I cried.”
A horrified Sawiyono realised he had been tricked when double-checking the bizarre request with a legitimate government representative.
Yikes. And somehow, this is the third hoax of its kind to go down recently in Jakarta. On the plus side, though? EPIC BURN. Eh? Am I right, fellas? Ashton Kutcher is seething with envy right now. (I’m just kidding, this is horrible.)
Fooled job seekers stuck with facial tattoos [National Nine News]
[GJSentinel.com] My status as a sports fan notwithstanding, I don’t pretend to understand the culture of college sports whatsoever. Granted, I can enjoy the occasional college football game or happily lose money on a March Madness pool, but there’s a sort of voyeurism I find somewhat disturbing in obsessing over the performance of kids in their late teens and early twenties who may very well be sacrificing their bodies for a distant shot at a future athletic career that, statistically speaking, will probably never materialize. So when stories like this pop up, I’m begrudgingly impressed and completely skeptical:
Hours into another day of practice, Mesa State College senior offensive lineman Trevor Wikre faced a life-changing decision.
[…] For Wikre, the decision to amputate his severely dislocated finger Tuesday was easy.
It was easy because it gives him an opportunity to continue playing. Surgery to repair the finger meant he would likely never play another football game.
Wikre told the doctor, “ ‘This is my senior year. If I want to go on, I’ve got to play great the rest of the way. These are my last few games, we’ve got to make this work.’
“He’s like, ‘We can’t.’ I said, ‘We can. Cut it off.’ I love football. When you face the fact you’ve played your last game, it hurts. If you love the game and you’re told that, you do whatever you have to do to play again.
“This team means the world to me. I love everybody on the team like a brother. I told them all before the Western New Mexico game that I would have no problem taking a bullet for any of these guys. I love ’em that much. This is my bullet.”
The Sporting Blog captured video of a related newscast as well:
[Kansas City Star] Along the lines of last week’s New York Times article on all the fantastic newness of a modified workforce, here’s another favorite topic: tattooed Jews! Some think tattoos are fine and that Leviticus is open to interpretation; others, not so much:
“They might as well be walking around with a Nazi flag,” said Minneapolis resident Leo Weiss, 84. “It shows a lack of respect for Holocaust survivors, Jews and non-Jews alike. It’s an insult to us. It’s offensive to people who suffered under the Nazis and lost our loved ones.”
Yikes. Well, I’m not sure about that. My favorite take on this subject comes from Lizzie.
[John W. Morehead] Morehead, a “researcher, writer, and speaker in intercultural studies, new religious movements, theology and popular culture” deftly but thoroughly takes the wind out of Linda Harvey’s book, Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism and New Spirituality in this review. Morehead was disappointed by the “alarmist [and] poorly researched” book, and notes one chapter in particular with a focus on body modification:
In her discussion of the dangers of Paganism Harvey points toward her concerns over the “explosion in ‘body modification” as a shift, in her view, toward a more tribal form of culture. One of the forms of body modification that concerns Harvey is piercing, and yet I wonder whether the author herself, or perhaps her children, have their ears pierced and yet they don’t think twice about such practices or connect them to tribalism and Paganism. Harvey is correct in noting that there is a retribalization going on in the West, and that the growing interest in body modification is significant, but more sober assessments of the cultural social significance of such trends are needed that move beyond the alarmist tone adopted by Harvey.
Morehead also cites a 2001 documentary, Modern Tribalism: Uncovering America’s Primitive Soul, as an enjoyable and level-headed resource on the topic. I haven’t seen it (I don’t think, at least), but the trailer is below. Anyone caught it?