Stereotypes exist in all areas of life. As a society we deal with what boys can do but girls cannot, what people of a certain ethnicities can do but others cannot. We also encounter stereotypes according to the way we dress. Sometimes these stereotypes can make people live their lives differently. People have a hard time being associated with groups of people that they stereotypically should be with.
One major stereotype that is starting to diminish is tattoos. In the beginning tattoos were worn by people that had been to jail, bikers, and other types of roughens. But tattoos are starting to be embraced by allowing them to show their artistic side. Even though people with their bodies covered in tattoos are still looked at and stereotyped as being weird. People enjoy getting tattoos to say that they love someone, or they miss someone. People even get tattoos to cover scars, wither the scar is physical or emotional.
One way that the world is starting to diminish this stereotype is by advertisement. While reading the article, “The Cult You’re In” by Kalle Lasn, it is apparent that we live in a world that uses advertisement to help people make many decision.
“A long time ago, without even realizing it, just about all of us were recruited into a cult. At some indeterminate moment, maybe when we were feeling particularly adrift or vulnerable, a cult member showed up and made a beautiful presentation. “I believe I have something to ease your pain.” She made is feel welcome. We understood she was offering us something to give life meaning. She was wearing Nike sneakers and a Planet Hollywood cap” (Lasn, 2007, 53).
The people that we look up to often endorse brand name clothes or shoes or perfumes, so that society will see them and think that the product must be very good or very cool since this celebrity is endorsing it. The world looks to the celebrities to see what is right and what is wrong, what is trendy and what is not. For example, pop star, Rihanna, got a tattoo of three stars behind her ear. After the media stated showing this tattoo, people started getting tattoos behind their ears some of them even got stars.
Even children are being shown that tattoos are okay to have, as stated by, Mary Kosut, in the article “An Ironic Fad: The Commodification and Consumption of Tattoos”, children are being introduced to tattoo just like adults. “New generations of American children are growing up in a cultural landscape that is more tattoo-friendly and tattoo-flooded than at any other time in history” (Koust, 2006, 1036). Children come in contact with tattooed people, toy, media, and friends covered in child friendly temporary tattoos. With this new found acceptance, most children with learn to look past certain stereotypes, and even possible look at people for who they are inside.
This is a topic that I deal with often, my husband has 12 tattoos and I have 2. We both like to get them to do something artistic and unique. We try to get different tattoos that have meaning to us. Our children love the temporary tattoos and we often purchase them. We are a family that embrace tattoos to show are individuality.
References
Koust, M. (2006). An ironic fad: The commodification and consumption of tattoos. Journal of
Popular Culture, 39(6),1035-1048.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00333.x
Lasn, K. (2007). The cult you're in. In M. Petracca, & M. Sorapure, Common Culture (Vol. 5th
edition, pp. 51-55). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
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