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TATOUAGE GENERALE :

A TATTOO IS A DESIGN MADE UNDER THE SKIN WITH INK OR OTHER PIGMENT; USUALLY DECORATIVE OR SYMBOLIC. IT'S A TYPE OF BODY MODIFICATION.

The world of today has lost it's old values which framed society. In this context of loss of meaning the individuals must define their own limits in the world that surround them. And so they must create their own meaning of life. Even if the different personalities are built by the influence of society, men got more and more hte feeling that they are decideing of what they want to be. I tattooing a mean to get away from the normes or a way to get assimilate by society via a quest of proper identity.

 

We've seen that through history tattooing has been stigmatised because of the origin of those who wore it: peolple living in the margin, isolated ones...However since the 1960's social groups reversed that movment, and made of tattoo a way to isolate oneself by its own mean. In some groups tattooing is a way for people to exclude themselves but also a way to provoc the others. This need to show and to be seen as a memeber of quiet small group is born with groups recognisable to their appearance like the Teddy boys or the Mods.

 

The bikers especially the Hell's angels show their memebership to the group via leather clothing, special jewels, and often an impresive tattoo collection. They are made in a way to make the memebership visibile imediatly. It's one of the rare exemple where we can use the word "tribe". There's no aesthetical will, only th e will to show they are out of the society. Here tattoo is a volountary denial of society.

 

In the 1970's the skinheads and punks will take back the symbolic of agressive tattoo based on the bad reputation body modification. They will use this negative sign as a way to differenciate themselves from the society they hate. THey are the first to use in a provoking way their tattoos and piercings in the public space in order to show to tyhe world they exist. The skinheads are caracterised by the values they carrie on: chauvinism, racism, aggressivity.

 

If those groups are already impressive thanx to their body marks, punks are going further. In the middle 1970's in order to go away from social conventions they are piercing themselves, burning themselves, tattoo themselves, and doing multiple scarifications. Less aesthetical than the almost tribal sign of the hell's angels; the motivations of the punks are often pure provocation.

 

The body becomes a place to claim, a surface of projection of a growing refusal of existence. The body as symbolic social link is despised, it only exists through the denial of communication and the denial of any likeness to the others. And when an individual cut voluntarly it's link with society by its body, it prevent anyone to talk to him because the image of his own body impossible to identify for the rest of society.

 

So the punks found the way to close themselves to society without realy creating a group or a community.

 

The self representation in social life is totaly denigrated in this movement and tattoo becomes a standard of the hate against society. All body marks sported by the punks have this type of antisocial meaning. no future. So tatoo is a dreamed meaning to recreate the punk's language. One can find on its own body movement's slogans like: destroy, hate, no future...And the lettering tattoos are always on places they can be seen. Tattoo is at the same time a public and a private practice generating hostility and passion. It's realy easy for someone who wants to get beyond society's means to use tattoo because it is visible.

 

Even if nowadays tattoo is relatively well integrated in society, some people like to feed the legend of reject and dispise that was link to tattoo. For a dozen of years tattoo studios and tattoo conventions are blooming everywhere and the youg generation has made of body modification an essential part of their culture. But sometimes a sorte of nostalgy for this old story of marginality appears.

 

 

The tattooed all got in common the consciousness of being more fragile when they show their tattoos especially in their professional relationships. The fears of bieng discriminated is felt by all of them.

 

Some employees of the state, in cluding for exemple the policemen can't adorne tattoo in order to access those works. But some lawyers and political men are part of the tattooed; and so can follow some comical situations that gives edmont locart in his treaty of criminolgy of 1935:

"In french guiana twoulve people supected to have escaped from jail were taken to the court. the judge think he sould free the suspect cases. Which is not the the point of view of the frencg agent who wants to sentec them all:" the only fact taht they are all tattooed proves they got a criminal past". " i think you are wrong" said the judge who take up his sleeves and revaels a large design " i am tattooed too and i don't come from cayenne". And he free thelm all. This old story shows what has been demonstrated in the begining of this work; that the discrimination of the tattooed in XXth century is also o proof that since the arrival of tattoo in europe we always find aristocrates, bourgeoisie memebers and middle classes people that get their skin marked for multiple reasons.

 

 

Every public zone of the skin is to be seen by everyone. A lot of peole prefr to make their tattoo in places where only them can show it. It is more difficult socialy to create relationships with the other especially in a working relation, where the tattooed have a great conciousness of how discriminatory tattoo can be.

 

The possibility to hide the tattoo accordding to the circumptencies is important. A tattoo made "wisely" is considered as the one which you don't have to make sacrifice to hide it. "i try not to show my tattoo too much to my collegues, i avoid exposing it especially to women. In the world of selling they are few tolerant people toward tattoo"