Yolies A. Crespo Crespo
Instr. Wilfredo Mercado
Ingl 3201 081
9 May 2008
“Perceptions on People with Tattoos and Piercing”
The goal of this study is to understand society’s perception towards people with tattoos and piercing. People sometimes misjudge other people because of their appearance and we want to know why. We think that piercing and tattoos can be art for the body and there should not be any judgment just because someone has a drawing in his or her body or a hole for an earring. Through this study we can inform other people how a person with tattoos and piercing feel. Here in the University of Puerto Rico there are a big number of people with different kinds of drawings in their body and different kinds of piercing, and we intend to find whether they feel discriminated or if they can live a normal life.
There are different kinds of opinions; some people think that a tattoo makes them look “cool” while others even use it to mark themselves as part of a group or gang. According to a survey made by Daniel Judelson; “from 446 college students interviewed 51% had piercing and 24% were tattooed.” Robin Benton has pointed out that, nowadays tattoos are very famous, but simply having a tattoo in your body may cause effect on the work area, like for example big companies only allow tattoos that support the corporate image and those that do not support the corporate image are restricted, and for an employer that works on public companies the rules are more stringent, having a tattoo may cause the person to lose his job. In similar topics, there are various texts that describe the situation of adolescents with body art and jewelry at their jobs. One of these citations is from Phyllis Hartman. Which explains that “he thinks companies are finding it very difficult to find a young person who does not have a (body art or jewelry)”,and according to a study published in the journal of American Academy of Dermatology last year, “ 30% of people ages eighteen to twenty nine are tattooed.” Further in the same text, Patterson Pope, a charlotte-base company that sells and installs mobile shelving to place such as law firms and doctor’s offices, instituted a tattoo and piercing policy about a month ago. Employees who work outside the office must now cover tattoos and remove facial piercing. In 2005, Jonathan W. Roberti and Eric A. Storch declared that “tattooing and body piercing represent a specific example of behavior that has multiple possible clinical interpretation related to risk taking.”
The problem in past time was that the people used to and still mark themselves to represent something, sometimes a good memory but most of the time people that have tattoos is because they belong to a gang or criminal, is for this reason that most of the people in this time believe that when a person has a tattoo or pierce is because they want to be in a specific circle of people or just want to call the attention. According to Maribelle Pergola, “body art is an element of decoration or beauty, like the make up or any dressing accessories used nowadays.” This thought is not heard in every corner, but it makes sense, since everyone uses their own judgment to look good even if others deny their style. As a result, the tattoo industry has grown so much that now people are starting to understand more and are beginning to give a chance to those that have tattoos and piercing.
In order to go further with the topic, we passed a survey to various college students from the University of Puerto Rico. The results varied in some of the question, revealing the general view of what people think of those with tattoos and piercing. The third question, Are you embarrassed to go out with people that have tattoos or piercing?, demonstrated that men are more embarrassed than women to hangout with people who are tattooed. It is possible that most men are not accustomed to be in company of those with body art, but most women seem to find it attractive. This statistics link to the seventh question, will you like to have a tattoo or piercing?, which determined whether or not people would like to have tattoos and/or piercing since they are the first to decide what they want to do to look beautiful, in their own perspective. In the end, both men and woman had the same thoughts of interacting with people that have tattoos and piercing. Through that thought we have realized that many are likely to put apart their differences with those who wear tattoos and piercing, which talk to them, offer them aid in any way and accept their way of life.
In the beginning of this project we thought that people with tattoos and piercing were kind of different than any of us, but while making this research we have found out that those who have drawing in their body and hole in their ears are just like us with the only difference that they are not scared to know what other people think of them.
Works Cited
Benton, Robin, and Shaw De Rosa. “The stink the ink.” Parks and Recreation 37 (2002) 58.
ProQuest. UPRM Library., Mayagüez, P.R., 30 Apr. 2008.
Judelson, Daniel, et al. “Prevalence of Body Art in University and Incidence of Medical
Complications.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 77 (Jan. 2002) 29. ProQuest. UPRM
Library., Mayagüez, P.R., 30 Apr.2008.
Pergola, Maribelle. “Grabados en la piel” El Nuevo Día. 18 Oct. 2007: 8-9.
Roberti, Johnathan W., and Eric A. Storch. “Psychosocial Adjustment of College Student
with Tattoos and Piercing.” Journal of College Counseling 8 (2005) 14. ProQuest. UPRM Library., Mayagüez, P.R., 30 Apr. 2008.
