Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Why?!?!?!

There is always the questions that i get asked about my lip ring...Why? or what made you do that? Where you drunk? There are so many reasons people get tattoos and piercings. In many cases, like mine, one may just like the way it looks and enjoys it. Two other reasons that really stand out are for religious purposes and to symbolize something memorable in one's life.

As most of you all know, DePaul is one of the most diverse colleges in the country. Now you may be asking yourself...How does this have anything to do with tattoos? Well for one, there are many religions here at DePaul that people believe in and many show the love and belief in their religion with religious tattoos. One of my friends believes in Buddhism and has the Om symbol in the middle of his back. The Om Symbol in the world's most recognized sacred symbol. In the Buddhist religion it is the sacred syllable representing Brahman. Buddhist symbols are widely known and used very often in tattooing even by people who do not follow the buddhist religion.


I got this picture from google pictures since i was unable to get a real picture of my friends tattoo.

The other reason I had mentions was to symbolize a memorable event in one's life. I have seen many people with tattoos gotten to remember a loved one who had passed. The loss of a loved one is a very hard time in a persons life and by getting a tattoo that relates to the pays a tribute to that person and in a way is a little piece of that person to remember them by.

And of course the last reason i stated that people get piercings or tattoos is just for the fun of it. Many people just like the way they look or even enjoy the sensation of getting them done so they continue to do so. As many people have said, they can be very addicting, which is why some do not stop at one.

Now looking back at the diversity of the DePaul Community, one can even say that those who have piercings or tattoos create their own little sub group of people in such i diverse place. There are many people who have them, but when compared to the student population here at DePaul, it may seem to be very little. I have even seen a few teachers who have unique ear piercings and tattoos. The topic of teachers with piercings and tattoos and DePauls policies upon that will come in a later post since i cannot find the teacher i had that had these piercings.

Overall, whether people tattoo themselves for religious purposes or just for the fun of it, they still stand out among the people here at DePaul who do not possess these unique works of art. Many times they are looked at as different and given a lot more attention, which in many cases is the whole purpose of getting these things done.

1 comment:

  1. Awesome post that I think a lot of people can maybe relate to..well..at least I can.

    The tattoo that I have is religious (a Hamsa on my wrist) that a lot of people wouldn't expect. I think its awesome that people can express not only their religion but other things through art on their body.

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