Rejection of Tattooing in Chinese Society

Tattoo is a permanent mark on the skin obtained by the insertion of a pigment of different colours with the help of machine. It becomes more popular in recent years. However, there are some arguments in the Chinese society about tattooing. I highly disagree that tattooing has become more socially acceptable in recent years because of the traditional mindset and the stereotype in the Chinese public.

First and foremost, the traditional mindset makes people, especially elderlies, not accepting tattoos. For Chinese people, they think we should cherish and not presume to injure any parts of our body because of so-called “our body – to every hair and bit of skin – are received by us from our parents.'' Chinese people can’t accept tattooing as the procedure creates lots of pain which is treated as disrespectful to their parents. Moreover, tattoo a characteristic of a people different from the majority population, a punishment for crimes and a mark of slaves in China in ancient times. Before the criminals re-entering the society, his or her body part would be mutilated or even removed, and also being permanently marked as a criminal by tattoo. Therefore, the history made tattoos more negative and the elderlies may think that tattooing is an unconventional act.

Secondly, there are stereotypes of people who have tattoos. When we talk about tattoos, people may think of gangsters or criminals because of the influence of mob films or dramas that they usually put a dragon or tiger on their body which makes people fear. As a result, people in the society have a bad portrait on those who have a tattoo. Some employers even don’t employ people with tattoos because of the bad impression from the public. For example, tattoos are banned from civil servants because of its credibility in Osaka. Moreover, tattoos are not allowed in so public area due to the bad impression especially in Asian countries. In some countries like China tattoos can’t appear in the television programmes which is covered by mosaic. Also people with any tattoos on any parts of body are not allowed to enter the hot spring and they are treated the same as people who are drunk. These example show that the society around the world doesn’t accept tattooing and even banning it.

Although somebody don’t accept tattooing, there are still a number of Chinese people that appreciate tattoo as an art work. Nowadays, tattoos are not only for gangsters or to threaten others, but also a form of self expression. Some people get tattoos because they think it can represent a new start. For example, some people who have a scar because of an accident or surgery may want to get a tattoo to cover it because this makes them feel like the pain has passed away and they should cheer up to have a new beginning of their life. Moreover, people tattoo to commemorate something. Words or pictures are common to mark important events or people in their lives in a permanent way. This can help people to remember a person or a thing such as family or anniversary dates. People think tattoo is fine because it is just a method to express themselves and they didn’t do anything wrong.

In short, I think tattooing has not become more socially acceptable due to the Chinese people’s traditional mindset and the ingrained prejudice, while some people may treat tattoo as an artistic expression. I think tattooing is just a personal preference that everyone should have the right to do anything they want. People with tattoos in China should not be labelled as a bad person because they may have different stories behind them. The Chinese public should give respect and accept them.