Tattoos, body piercing and other similar body ornamentsB1 

Tattoos are very common for people to get today, and are becoming more socially acceptable.  Piercings have been seen for many years as something a woman has in her ear, but they are now becoming more popular for everyone.  Tattoos have been used for thousands of years.  Their original usage is not exactly known, but ideas are that they were used for decoration of members of tribes as well as for warriors.  Their original popularity seems to be in tribes in areas such as the Philippines and Taiwan to name but a few.  They have over the last few decades symbolized rebellion, one very prominent example being the Hell’s Angels who were known for having tattoos, along with their motorbikes.  They did seem to link together for many years; a biker had tattoos and often also a skinhead.  Prior to this they were used in Nazi camps to brand prisoners of war; some of the older generation to this day still have the markings in their skin.  Nowadays they are used for a number of reasons; some people still use them to identify themselves with a particular group, such as in prison neo-Nazi groups will have white-power or other such slogans tattooed onto their bodies.  Other uses are often for fashion.  Now, they are more popular with women, the most popular location probably being the lower part of the back.  Nowadays these fashion tattoos are not limited to the Hell’s Angel logo, but can be anything from Chinese symbols to floral patterns.  One further use for a tattoo is in remembrance of someone, one of the most well known examples being Eminem’s Proof tattoo on his left arm to commemorate one of his best friends DeShaun ‘Proof’ Holton who was shot dead after an altercation at a night club.

Tattooing is often associated with different cultures; the fashion culture would probably frown upon a model with tattoos on her body, ironic when these tattoos have been done for fashion reasons. Other jobs would also frown upon people with tattoos in prominent places; despite them becoming more accepted, many people would still find it weird to have a lawyer, for example, representing them in court who has a tear drop tattooed below his eye, as I’m sure would the judge. There has been a rise in the popularity of sleeves and large amounts of the body being tattooed. Travis Barker, who has much of his body tattooed said “I tattooed my body so I couldn't fall back on anything. I purposely did that so I couldn't get a normal job and live a normal life. I did it so I had to play music.” This demonstrating the rise in popularity of ‘full’ body tattooing and the difficulty of finding jobs if you have many tattoos. The rock and heavy metal scene, which Barker is a part of is now often associated with big tattoos, especially sleeves. A sleeve being where someone has a tattoo all the way down their arm, where a sleeve would be, people can now even purchase fake sleeves which are of a spandex material, and look like they are part of the skin. Another attraction of tattoos apart from the ones mentioned already is the addictiveness of the pain which super star footballer David Beckham has admitted to becoming addicted to. However, one must have an addictive personality to become addicted to these, and Beckham suffers from mild obsessive compulsive disorder which contributes to this addictiveness.

As mentioned earlier, ear piercings have been seen as something women often have done in their ears.  However, there are more piercings nowadays, with the popularity even being for men to have an ear pierced, Cristiano Ronaldo is perhaps one of the most famous men with his ear pierced, yet he goes for the more unconventional both ears pierced.  Now all parts of the ear can get pierced mostly for fashion reasons.  Other popular areas are nipples, eyebrows, tongues, lips and nose as well as occasional rings on both male and female reproductive organs, which for both parties must be excruciatingly painful!  Yet people continue to have it done.  They are very widely accepted in the ear, even for men and women with a multitude of piercings as well as in concealed areas.  However, again jobs can be a problem if they are too noticeable, especially on the face.  One other popular ‘piercing’ is tunneling, mostly associated with the rock and heavy metal scene where the ear lobe is stretched in some cases to several inches.  This originates from tribes, similar to tattoos.  Once stretched, the ears lobes hang, but can have plugs to cover the hole or material tunneled in to hold the rounded shape.

Other body ornaments could be classed as some implants, not the conventional ones as they are a completely separate topic, but ones such as horns that have been created.  This is also on a similar level to people having teeth sharpened and tongues bifurcated to look more like a snake.  Even though some people think that tattoos and piercings are wrong, ugly or immoral, it is pretty much unanimously agreed that tongue bifurcation, odd implants and sharpened teeth are not only pointless, but bordering on insane!