Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Lori Sass Sandy Sternitzky's tattoo of a rose and two measures of music on her left ankle.

Tattooing has become more and more popular and more acceptable in recent years. It is seen as a form of expression and a way to permanently symbolize events, people, pets, or other things in a person's life. Many celebrities are sporting tattoos including Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Nelly, and Natalie Imbruglia.

A number of Lakeland students also have tattoos or are thinking about getting tattoos. Senior Staci Abrahamson recently got a tattoo. "I got my tattoo because I really wanted one first off, not sure why. It is a rose with my greek letters, that way I can always have my sisters with me no matter where I travel," she said.

Freshman Joe Janisch recently got a tattoo of a Ranger scroll on his shoulder. "I would get a tattoo to commemorate a major event with deep meaning to me. You get a Ranger scroll for going through R.I.P. (Ranger Indoctrination Program) which is a month long, and the most painful and difficult month of my life. It changed my life drastically. It was one of those times you can point to and say 'I changed.' I've wanted to get the tattoo for some time, but I didn't have the money or the means until now," he said.

These sentiments speak a lot about why most people get a tattoo. It is a symbol of someone or something meaningful that will be with them forever. Some people do not have tattoos, but may consider them for a later time.

Junior Amanda Dumovich said "I don't have a tattoo, but if I got one it would be something related to music because music is the one thing that I've always loved and the only thing I would get permanently put on my body."

The current popularity of tattoos is not a new fad. Tattoos have been around for thousands of years. According to the Harvard University Gazette, Otzi the Iceman who was found in Northern Italy and dated back to around 3300 BCE, had 57 tattoos on his body. The Acupuncture Today Web site states that at least 15 of his tattoos could have been early acupuncturist work since they are on very specific body locations to relieve back pain and other health problems Otzi probably had.

Tattoos have served many different purposes throughout history including rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of spiritual beliefs and devotion, decorations for bravery, statements of love, a form of punishment, hopes of protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. Though tattooing is usually voluntary, prisoners and convicts have been forcibly tattooed. The Nazis also tattooed numbers onto the Jews to strip them of their identity in the concentration camps during World War II.

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