Tattoo is an Art

Tattoo is very popular among college students and young people as well. It is a way of expressing oneself, groups, identification, gangs, fraternities, or as a way of body beautification. The main reason why students get tattooed is that it is their way of self-expression and they just wanted to have one.

Tattoo is a kind of art in a way that it expresses human creative skills and imagination, typically in a visual form and it was appreciated for their beauty and emotional power. Tattoo is very common to tribal groups, religious deno- mination, organized criminals, and to a certain country they consider it as a source of supernatural powers.

Whang-Od Oggay (who also goes by Whang-od or Maria Oggay), at 102 years old, is helping to keep an ancient tradition alive in the Kalinga province of the Philippines. She's the country's oldest mam- babatok, a traditional Kalinga tattooist. The hand-tapped body art began with the indigenous Butbut warriors. For these men, the addition of tattoos had a very specific meaning; they could only be inked after killing someone. On women, however, body art fell within standards of beauty (Barnes, 2019).

Some people may think that having tattoo are scary and dangerous. People always conclude that if you have tattoos on your body, you are already a drug addict or once convicted criminal or associate it to something negative. This is the common stereotype when it comes to tattoos.

We can never judge a person based on their tattoos. Other's social status and life should not be based on the ink they have on their skin. Some used it to represent their something about themselves. Mr. Jobell Cris T. Vibal, a professor in a prominent school shared that his tattoo is a form of expression. His tattoo design is a layered books and stated, "I had a picture of layered books tattooed on my wrist since I am a teacher by profession and I find it cute to tell other people that I always bring my books with me".

This is not to encourage you or the others to have a tattoo. This is just to let you see the other side of the story. Tattoos or having one might not be pleasing for some and might not be something special to others but always remember that for some, it can be something significant. Let as just always remember that tattoos can never define a person. Let us just respect one another differences and consider each other's preferences. Tattoo is not a label, it is an art.