Tattoos and piercings are a fact of life. Both traditions stretch back thousands of years, and it would be asinine to deny their historical significance and validity.
Still, why pictures on bodies? Why holes in flesh? The answer is simple: expression. We modify our bodies due to change—in emotion, the day-to-day and intellect. We want to physically express individuality unearthing itself within us.
There the absurd reality arises. In our late teens and our early 20s we are most prone to change our beliefs. We grow into ourselves and understand the world in ways we previously could not. An unfamiliar sense of identity rises with new challenges, circumstances and people.
Yet we are expected to abandon our individuality as we age. Scoff if you will, the fact remains. I have known women to refuse tattoos because they would not suit an elementary teacher. I have known men to refuse piercings because they would not suit an engineer.
This is our reality: a generation of individuals refusing to express themselves because apparently the future workforce is expected to be entirely without identity. We cannot know one’s astrology, morals, tragedies or celebrations. These are the things tattoos express, but it seems they provide bad examples. American society craves a homogenous ghost to lead its youth.
As a 20-year-old, I have two lobe piercings, a navel and an industrial, and I have a tattoo. Protocol says I am a waste. Protocol says young people inked and stabbed with needles do not deserve the same respect as others their age—the more refined, possessed types.
Yet this is my reality. I, and others like me, have the courage to express ourselves. We trust our intelligence, our skills and our logic enough to believe someone else may see those qualities beyond a silver stud, beyond a tribal design.
Body modification is judged in youth, and it is judged in adulthood. Find comfort in this: Only those driven enough to pursue body modification actually do. Trust it as a mature decision, when it is emotionally valid.
