This article discussed something that hit a little closer to home for me, tattoo art. Byron Masdeu and Osmara Rodriguez, tattoo artists with two different establishments explain that many people are getting very personal and symbolic designs. They will often experiment with a few designs before they choose one and will influence the design process. Rodriguez explains that, "Customers bring their own design and idea. The tattoo artist only imposes his style." Masdeu does about three tattoos a day and explains that intricate designs may take two three-hour sessions a month for a year to complete.
The artists see people of all ages, 18 years old to seniors, and many that have wanted a tattoo for a long time. They also talk about how there are just as many women as men getting tattoos, but that women tend to get a tattoo on their abdomen, stomach or ankle where as the men are more likely to get their tattoo on their arms, back or chest. Popular for the women is permanent facial makeup that can range in price from Q600 - Q1000. Regular tattoos cost from Q200 to Q10, 000 and can be black or can include colours, blending and shading.
The personal expression and creation of symbolic art you can carry with you are some the defences for getting a tattoo, but unfortunately tattoos in Guatemala receive the same negative stigma as in Canada, for example, hindering those seeking employment.
This brings about the issue of social norms and their validity in today's society. I think tattoos should not be judged before they are understood, but I can understand how quickly they can tarnish a 'professional' image and therefore how much thought is needed before one gets a tattoo. Here in Canada, tattooed people often face discrimination and judgment in our fairly liberal culture. Therefore, with so much inequality based on other factors, and a large gang presence in Latin America is getting a tattoo just asking for trouble?
Article from elPeriodico
(Spanish) http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20100918/pais/175458/
(English) http://translate.google.ca/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elperiodico.com.gt%2Fes%2F20100929%2Fdeportes%2F177166%2F&sl=es&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8
Terra Mariah Witham
Interesting point at the end about the large gang presence in Guatemala. In Canada, I think that tattoos used to be much more associated with gangs and bikers. Perhaps this is why people of older generations still have a negative image of tattoos. I wonder if the negative stigma in Guatemala is even more prevalent than in Canada because of the huge gang presence that exists there.
ReplyDeleteRelated to this, I wonder just how common tattoos are in Guatemala. I would imagine that they are not all that popular just because the majority of the population is rural. These people wouldn't really have access to a tattoo parlour and probably many of them wouldn't be able to afford a tattoo. As a result, it's possible that the rural population would associate tattoos with gang members because the common people that they know wouldn't have tattoos.
Another thought that I had is whether the difficulties that people with tattoos sometimes have in obtaining jobs will disappear as people of our generation start becoming employers. We tend to be much more accepting of tattoos and see them as a positive form of art, not a negative symbol.
Alicia