Autoethnography Essay on Tattoo's Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Autoethnography on Tattoo's - Essay Example It was like having your own art studio with you all the time! It was the coolest thing for me. Finally, the much awaited day came. I was all grown-up and â€Å"licensed† to have a tattoo of my own. While I was on vacation in Las Vegas, I went to Hart and Huntington Ink, a tattoo art studio in Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. I had two tattoos made, one in each forearm. One forearm has the word â€Å"strength† written on it and on the other forearm, â€Å"honor† was written. I realized on that day that having a tattoo means having to undergo pain. It was painful! But that is the price one pays if he wants to be â€Å"artistic†. When I came back from my vacation I felt I was now a â€Å"real man† with real tattoos. But my parents thought otherwise. They were surprised to see the tattoos and got really mad at me. They said that I look so dirty and that people will mistake me as being an ex-convict, a drug addict and a gang member. They also warned me not to go anywhere near my grandparents else they suffer a heart attack. My younger brother thought it was so cool and told me he could not wait to get his own. When I went to visit my girlfriend that evening, she admired it. She said that I looked manlier now and that she was more attracted to me more than ever. She wished though that the next time I get one, I will have her name written on my chest. The following day at school, my teachers saw my tattoo and asked me if I just joined a gang. My friends however thought that it was very nice. So here I am all proud at having a tattoo yet I get different reactions from people closest to me. I was confronted with the problem of being stereotyped as a either a criminal or a macho man just because I have a tattoo. After graduation on my trip to Fruitland Idaho, I had another tattoo done on my arm sleeve at Angels Ink, a tattoo studio. This time I was more daring and had an angel, the Virgin Mary, a cross and a sparrow design. This tattoo hurt the most. I don’t know why but it may be because the person doing it was not really careful and he does not seem to mind whether I was suffering excruciating pain. All he wants is to get the tattoo done right away so he can attend to his other customers. Seeing these new tattoos, my parents were more outrageous this time. They said that it would be impossible for me to land a job if I have a tattoo. They said that companies do not accept men with tattoos because they have the impression that people with tattoos are violent and irresponsible. I was shocked at the very harsh words hurled to me by my parents just because of a tattoo. I thought, what harm can a tattoo do to a company’s profitability? The week after my family had a family reunion since it was the 85th birthday of my grandmother. I wore a T-shirt which flaunted all my tattoos. My parents wanted me to put a jacket on so that my other relatives would not see my tattoos. But when we arrived at my grandparentsâ €™ house, I had to remove my jacket because it was so warm. And lo and behold, my grandparents, aunties and uncles were stunned to see my â€Å"artwork†. My grandmother reprimanded my parents for allowing me to have tattoos. She said that it was a disgusting site and that it was bad for the reputation of the family. My auntie asked me since when did I become a hippie. But of course, my teenaged cousins marveled at them. They asked questions on whether it was painful, where I got it and how did I choose the designs. There was indeed a myriad of reactions for my tattoos. Instead of my grandmother