All Tattoophobia is Local !

Getting inked: Students learn art of, reasons for tattoos in America

March 31, 2005
By STEPHANIE HUTSON, reporter

A self-described "Baylor blonde" stands in the Dream Connection tattoo parlor late one night watching a young girl get her lower stomach and hips tattooed with angel wings.
Houston sophomore Stephanie Baker watched the scene as part of a requirement for her cultural anthropology project.
When she asked the girl her reason for getting "inked," she said she had a tough week, and the tattoo reminds her that everything turns out OK.
Professor Garrett Cook is challenging his undergraduate anthropology students by requiring them to step outside of their comfort zones and the Baylor Bubble to encounter foreign cultures in the Waco community.
"The goal is to design a whole cultural environment," Cook said. "Students do exactly what an anthropologist could do in the Kalahari Desert, but right here in town."
Cook and Sara Alexander, an associate professor in the environmental studies department, introduced the project several years ago and originally did not require students to travel off campus to participate.
"The reports weren't all that interesting," Cook said. "It didn't seem like they were getting inside the culture. I came to realize that if you are trying to describe a culture you already know about, it is hard to do because you already know it, it seems like common sense, and you can't think of anything to say."
Looking for 'alien culture'
Many students would observe student culture at the local coffee house, cafeteria or in the library. Cook found a need to expand the project and require students to observe a foreign culture outside of the Baylor community.
"When we do field work, we're encountering an unusual alien culture and trying to understand it," Cook said. "I felt the best way to get the students to do this was to try to get them to encounter something different."
Many times, students will try to find an idea that they consider exotic or highly unusual. Cook tries to emphasize that any culture they are unfamiliar with can be exciting.
"Students always want to do something exotic or bizarre," Cook said. "Anything you don't know about can be exotic, and it doesn't have to be romanticized on television."
Through the years, Cook has seen groups do projects on topics ranging from high school students cruising Valley Mills Drive to observations of old men stink bait fishing on the Brazos River.
Baker and Brownwood sophomore Jill Roby are conducting their field study in local tattoo parlors.
"We attend the parlor about four times in the course of the project for two or three hours at a time to observe and ask questions to both the tattoo artists and those receiving tattoos," Baker said. "Our group goal is primarily to find out more about the culture of tattoo artists, their motivations, their feelings and attachments to their art, as well as their own tattoos they might have."
The project may pose a moral dilemma for some students; the observation process may require students to observe practices some students are against, like pagan religious ceremonies or alcohol use.
Wanted: Openmindedness
Cook stresses the need for students to approach the project with an open mind, because he says that is the best way to learn.
"This can be a challenge to Baylor students who may not approve of some practices. To learn, they must participate and be empathetic and open in a respectful way," Cook said. "Don't stand back and be judgmental; instead, try to see the culture from the inside."
Roby admitted she had preexisting ideas about the types of people who receive tattoos and the artists that design them. Some of her ideas were correct, but many individuals within the culture shattered her stereotypical views.
"There were several interesting artists who are proud of their work, and it means a lot to them that people are walking around with their artwork on their bodies," Roby said.
The students operate primarily through participant observation. Cook encourages students to find a mentor within the culture that will trust them and be willing to show them the culture. The students learn through observation and in-depth interviewing.
"For anthropology students, if they are doing their work right, it works out like an apprenticeship," Cook said. "The key is finding someone who will be their teacher to teach them about the culture."
Finding similar differences
Apart from the goal of teaching anthropology students the process of observing a culture and producing a report, called an ethnography, Cook said he hopes his students will leave the experience with a grander understanding of how others live.
"The other goal I think is important for all of us is to have an encounter with people who are apparently different than us, and then you get to know them and you recognize that there is a common humanity that underlies everything," Cook said.
Both Baker and Roby were surprised and interested by people's motivations for getting tattoos. Baker said she has learned it is easier for people to open up and talk to her if she first tells them a little about herself.
"People have stories behind the tattoos they choose," Roby said. "It may be a soldier who has returned home and is getting a tattoo to symbolize some military experience. Others want something that will represent their personality."
According to Cook, many students who traveled to Belize and Guatemala with him to study the Mayan culture had life-changing experiences.
Cook also says he sees those kinds of reactions among his students conducting observations in the Waco area, especially those studying the homeless.
"Our goal is to learn about their culture," Cook said. "In the process of doing that, we unavoidably form relationships with the people who are teaching us, and sometimes that has a transformative effect on a person. It is a real growth experience, and I want that for my students."

source: http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=23325
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Tattoo artist seeks alliance to make tattooing, piercing safer
Much to consider for those in tattoo industry

Monday, May 22, 2006
By Cindy V. Culp
Tribune-Herald staff writer

As someone who prides himself on being a professional artist, Zac Colbert hates that 40 percent of the tattooing he does involves fixing someone else’s shoddy work. Adding insult to injury, he said, is that many of those same customers also have a staph infection or some other medical problem because of their botched ink.
The public deserves better, Colbert said. That’s why he is trying to form a professional association that would hold local tattoo artists to high standards and help the public know which shops are reputable.
“I have so many people come in here that I truly feel bad for,” said Colbert, who owns Southern Culture Kustom Tattoo in Waco. “This is still kind of a taboo industry, so a lot of times people don’t want to ask questions or they don’t know what questions to ask, and then they end up with something bad.”
The group, which Colbert plans to call the Waco Alliance of Professional Tattoo Artists and Body Piercers, would be open to all local artists who meet minimum criteria. For starters, they would have to have at least four years of professional experience, a portfolio of high-quality work and references in the field, Colbert said.
But they also would have to pass a drug test and show that they have adequate knowledge of sterilization techniques and blood-borne pathogens, Colbert said. In addition, they would have to agree to attend regular meetings where members would get updates about the latest developments in the field, he said.
Those who meet the standards would be given certification papers to display at their work stations, Colbert said. Also, cooperating shops would get a logo to put on the front of their business, he said.
Centralizing information
In addition, the names of alliance members would be placed on a list made available to the public, Colbert said. That way, people interested in getting a tattoo would know which places are safe to go, he said.
“There is so much to doing this job right that people don’t know about,” said Colbert, 29. “This would be a central source of information.”
Although participating shops or artists could potentially get more business because of the alliance, Colbert said that is not his motivation. His shop has just about as much business as it can handle, he said.
Rather, Colbert said, he is forming the alliance because of a recent proliferation of tattoo and piercing businesses in the area. Within the past few years, the county has gone from having just a couple of shops to eight. Some of the newer businesses operate legally and cleanly, he said, but others are a threat to both customers and the industry as a whole.
For example, one of the newer shops Colbert visited recently wasn’t licensed, didn’t have proper sterilization equipment and was just generally filthy, he said.
“It was the most appalling thing I could imagine,” Colbert said of the shop. “The guys said blatantly to my face that they were just scratchers, that they were learning on the public.”
T.J. Strey, owner of Big Daddy’s Tattoo Studio in Waco, agreed that something needs to be done to protect the public from substandard shops. Although the state has a licensing process, it’s weak for several reasons, he said.
For one thing, licenses are given to shops, not individual artists, Strey said. So once a studio is approved, the state has no say in who is hired or whether they are competent.
Even worse, Strey said, is that the state does virtually no enforcement. Most shops see an inspector once a year, if that, he said.
“(The alliance) is a wonderful idea,” Strey said. “Whoever is in the industry needs to know what they are doing.”
Not everyone is as supportive of the idea, however. Woody, a manager at Dream Connection Tattoos and Body Piercing who goes by his first name only professionally, said he has no problem drug-testing artists or having them pass proficiency tests. But he does take issue with the experience requirement.
“I’ve seen work from new artists that is cleaner than from someone who has done it for 14, 15 years,” said Woody, 35.
Shawn Watson, a manager at Steel Concepts Tattoo & Body Piercing Studio in Waco, also has doubts about Colbert’s plan. Like Woody, he dislikes the fact that new artists couldn’t join the alliance.
“That’s kind of putting people who have been around for a while on a pedestal,” said the 33-year-old Watson.
Cramping their style?
Watson said he also thinks many tattoo artists and piercers would balk at the idea of drug testing for privacy reasons. Plus, he worries that a drug-testing requirement could make artists look like “goody-two-shoes.”
“People come to tattoo shops to go visit the wild and unusual,” Watson said. “They don’t go to tattoo shops to see preppy Baylor guys get Polo tattoos.”
Colbert, however, said he thinks most customers would want to know whether the person using a needle on them is sober. He added that he wouldn’t want anyone under the influence working on him.
As for the experience requirement, Colbert said new artists would be welcome to participate in the alliance while they wait to become full members. For example, they could take the safety tests and use the fact that they passed to bolster their business. They just wouldn’t be included on the list of members given to the public, he said.
Colbert said he wants to get the alliance started as soon as possible. Once a few artists have been certified, he will start putting out information about the alliance via brochures and fliers at participating shops and other places.
Eventually, Colbert said, he would like the alliance to hold public awareness meetings, possibly in conjunction with city officials. At such meetings, people could ask questions about tattooing or piercing and get information about local shops. Such sessions would be particularly beneficial for parents who have concerns about their children getting tattooed or pierced, he said.
“It will take the cooperation not only of the shops but also of the public wanting to be aware,” Colbert said.
For more information about the alliance proposal or to volunteer to help with the effort, call Colbert at 757-1903.
cculp@wacotrib.com

757-5744
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/22/05222006wactattoos.html
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Who in Brownwood is prejudiced against those who wear tatoos ? Who in Brownwood tries to demonize those who wear tatoos ? What reporter uses "tatoo man" over and over again (negative word association?) in his reporting of a altercation ?
Hint:
Displaying 1-1 of 1 result(s) found.
Police lecture on use of bad language slow to sink in
A Brownwood police officer lectured a man about offending people by his use of bad language, and asked the man if he had anything to say. The man told Sgt. Vince Ariaz he didn t have any (expletive) thing to say, Ariaz report states. I told him he...
2.7K - Dec. 19, 2005; scored 1000.0
source: brownwood bulletin

click here

Who in Brownwood treats tatoo wearers with disrespect, prejudice, and religious based/inspired intolerance ? Tatoo prejudice, a learned bahaviour !
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"The Army is America. We are America's sons and daughters. America's sons and daughters are getting tattoos. That means that American soldiers are getting tattoos," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.

Army relaxes tattoo rules to attract recruits
Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:27 AM ET
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, which missed its recruiting goal last year, has relaxed its policy banning certain types of tattoos in a bid to attract new soldiers who otherwise would have been barred from serving.
The Army will now allow new recruits and all its current soldiers to have tattoos on their hands and back of their necks as long as they are not "extremist, indecent, sexist or racist," Army officials said on Wednesday.
The Army said it continues to prohibit tattoos anywhere on the head, face or throat area.
But it will allow women recruits and soldiers to sport "permanent makeup" in the form of indelible eye-liner, eyebrows and lip makeup. The Army said this permanent makeup "should be conservative and complement the uniform and complexion in both style and color, and will not be trendy."
Officials said the policy change was made because the Army understands that the number of young men and women with tattoos or permanent makeup has grown in recent years.
"The Army is America. We are America's sons and daughters. America's sons and daughters are getting tattoos. That means that American soldiers are getting tattoos," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.
"The Army is continuing to update our personnel policies. We have people who are otherwise qualified who want to serve and who have answered the call to duty," Hilferty added, and it made no sense to continue to bar them from serving.
"Clearly, if you have a sexist, a racist or a gang tattoo, you are unfit for duty -- you have been and you continue to be," Hilferty said.
The tattoo policy marks the latest move by the Army to try to boost its ability to attract recruits. The Army has raised the maximum age for enlistment, offered a series of financial incentives for signing up, increased the number of recruiters and hired a new advertising agency.
The Army missed by about 7,000 its goal of recruiting 80,000 in fiscal year 2005, which ended on October 1. It was one of the toughest recruiting years since the all-volunteer military was created in 1973.
Army officials have attributed last year's shortfall in part to wariness among young people about volunteering to serve during the Iraq war. While the Army has achieved its monthly recruiting goals in fiscal 2006, it continues to lag behind the number of recruits netted compared to last year at the same time.
The Army cited a 2003 survey of 1,010 people conducted at the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University that found that roughly 30 percent of U.S. adults under age 35 have tattoos, and that the U.S. post-baby boom generations are more than three times as likely as the baby boom generation to have tattoos.
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