What do your tattoos say about you? - Article

It’s 2013 and if you can’t express yourself then what can you do? Tattoos to us are a way of expressing ourselves aren’t they? They don’t determine who we are, but unfortunately we live in a world where being judged is an everyday thing in modern society.

Tattoos are a way of life and self-expression is very important to everybody, we all have our own way of doing it… tattoos are our way, typically they are seen as ‘stupid’ or just drawings but the meaning and passion behind some of them is incredible. Dragons, dream catchers and daggers, they all mean something to each specific person, they are a part of who we are, they can help us move on into a new life and forget the past and make us the people we want to be, why be judged for that? Research by a series of questionnaires shows that 70% of would judge someone who had tattoos all over their bodies, thinking they are weird, scary, aggressive and stupid, I guess everyone has their opinion but these are the wrong opinions for people who are trying to express the way they feel simply through art. It needs to change but society doesn’t change but at least you will know what it’s all about right? Like I said, self-expression is important, everybody does it, whether it’s through fashion or music etc. it’s all the same, except if you’re dealing with something learning to move on, healing or wanting to remember good memories, why not have it on our bodies to remind us every day? After all it’s part of who we are!

Margaret Newlands is a 19 year old university student studying graphic design, obviously? She’s full of tattoos and she looks amazing! And of course I met up with her to get the details on her and her absolutely awesome tats!

So first of all Margaret, what was your inspiration for actually deciding to get tattoos in the first place?

It was kinda like all my friends, like my friends have musical influences and like bands I listen to, and they have tattoos and they look wicked, the bands inspired them to get tattoos and I really liked them, they looked great, so that’s kind of it basically.

Why are your tattoos important to you?

Well it’s just because it’s a way of expressing myself, and I just think they look great, like really cool. I just think a way of showing your personality and just letting other people see visually what kind of person you are I think.

Do they represent who you are, as a person?

Yeah I’d say that they do, they represent the fact that I listen to specific types of music because I have like band tattoos and yeah, I say that they do, it shows that if I want to do something I will? If you get what I mean?

What do your tattoos mean to you?

The majority of my tattoos don’t mean much to me in a sense that I think they just look cool and they are things that I like, so it kind of is showing who I am, but the ones on my feet they’re for my mum and dad and obviously parents mean a lot to you and the writing across my toes saying homesick represents when I moved to uni, and I miss my parents a lot when I’m there and that’s what that’s for, but yeah they all are something close to me, meaning they say who I am.

Do you feel like you are typically different to people who don’t have tattoos?

I wouldn’t say different, I’d say that maybe I’m not as afraid to express myself with it because you don’t have to have tattoos and you can still be into the same things as I am, but again visually it makes it obvious, that I’m like what I’m into, if that makes sense?

Do you feel like some people may stereotype and discriminate against you, because you have tattoos?

Yeah all the time! Like even if I go to a shop and I buy something like chocolate, people have said I’m surprised as how polite you are, and I’m like well just because I have tattoos and stuff doesn’t mean I’m not going to be nice, literally I get it all the time. I did work experience and again they were like I’m surprised and how polite you were and they wrote me a letter just saying that they were shocked and they actually said we shouldn’t be so prejudice against people like that, and yeah just people in the street or people are uni think I’m really rough because I have tattoos and I’m not.  

Where, from experience for the readers, would you say is the most painful place to have tattooed on your body?

oh my god my knee without a doubt, I thought it was my feet because I got my feet done the same day I got my knee done but literally he did about three lines on my knee and I was like ‘I’m done’ ‘I’m ready to finish’ but it’s one of those things where if you stop, you’re not going to do it again because it’s that painful and I’d never ever get my other knee done.

What is your latest tattoo?

It’s the arrow and the bat on my arm, I got those two last Thursday.

And finally, what are your overall opinions on tattoos? Even though you’re covered in them!

Well I love them! And I think they’re awesome, like I’m really glad they are becoming more mainstream because everybody’s getting them, like celebrities and stuff and in this generation it shouldn’t matter what you look like and I understand old people don’t like them and it wasn’t part of their thing but now it’s like a normal thing to do, which will hopefully kind of make people realize that we shouldn’t judge, but yeah I just love them and I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they have and where they have them, so I think they’re awesome I love tattoos.

So, in conclusion to this, I just think that those people who do judge other people for having tattoos should think twice, what about you? Tattoos are a form of expression and art, and clearly everyone is not what we may think they seem. Tattoos are awesome!