Guest Post: Michelle Wong

            Food and tattoos? Those two words had no correlation years ago but nowadays,
chefs and tattoos are becoming more and more prevalent throughout the restaurant
industry and a huge part of this commonality is due to the recent acceptance of tattoos
in the workplace. An article that I recently read by Amy Scattergood actually discusses
a lot of the reasons why chefs have tattoos and a main reason that kept recurring was
the idea of expressing individualism. I can completely see where theses chefs are
coming from and though I am not going to discuss the tattoo aspect of the idea behind
chefs, food and tattoos, I just wanted to say that in general, tattoos are an expression of
yourself. One that is permanent and one that carries a story, a meaning a truth.

            I’ve seen several different food tattoos and I find that food tattoos are no different
from other tattoos. They all carry a meaning and a truth and a story behind them. The
chefs in the article have vegetables on their forearms or symbols of famous restaurants
around the world. Personally, I’ve always wanted to be a chef as a side job. I’ve
always enjoyed cooking and being in the kitchen mixing different ingredients and seeing
if the concoction that I just put together is good enough for others to try. When I think
about tattoos and food, if I were a chef, I would get one too. In a way, tattoos are a lot
like cooking. Both are an expression of yourself and your creativity. In tattoos, your
creativity and personality is put into the art that is on your skin. Whereas in cooking,
your creativity and self expression is found in your food, the flavors and the
presentation. In a way, I am surprised that it took so long for acceptance of tattoos in
the food industry because they are very much related to one another. Aside from the
hygiene aspect that people may fear from tattoos and food mixing together, tattoos are
not against professionalism as long as it doesn’t go against any dress codes.

            I think that a big reason why tattoos are now more widely accepted in the food
industry is due to the fact that they are becoming more and more popular to the public.
What was once a marking on your body to allow for others to be able to distinguish what
tribe you belong to is now the same marking that tells a story of your past and yourself.
It’s amazing how something that was once a tribal ritual is now a fashion statement.
Aside from the food industry, tattoos are now more widely accepted amongst schools,
families and the general workplace. An expression of self is something that many
people have a hard time doing and in ways, tattoos allow for them to express
themselves through art. Sometimes I think about getting a tattoo too but I want it to
mean something very important and until then, I am holding off.

Tattoos, Meanings, and the Military

           Tattoos in everyday society are becoming more mainstream but tattoos in the military are also a topic of discussion which involves a long history as well as disapproval. Back then, men in the navy traveled far away to China and Japan to get tattooed. These men brought tattooing back to the states and that is why most of the early tattooing pioneers were mainly sailors (Sailor Jerry Colins). When talking about tattoos, there are many iconic tattoo images for each branch of the military such as: the bulldog for the marines, chicken and pig tattoos on the feet for men in the navy, and those individuals in the Air Force generally had wings or plane tattoos. I’ll be going into detail about different branches of the military, their rules and regulations about tattooing, and also a brief history of tattooing in the early days.

The navy introduced tattoos to the general US culture in the early 1990s, these tattoos were hand poked into the skin and were usually acquired in Asia. The tattoos that they would get were usually symbols for protection; the tattoos of chicken and pigs on the foot of a sailor were somewhat of a superstition because when a ship sank the only things that would be floating were the chicken and pig crates, so that is where that started. The navy has many different tattoos for certain landmarks which have fun and interesting meanings to them such as the following:

·         A black pearl earring for survivors of a sinking ship.

·         Golden earrings were used as a means of ensuring they were buried properly should they die at sea or in a foreign port. 

·        Anchor tattoo for sailing the Atlantic or the anchor usually noted that the sailor was in the merchant marine.

·         In modern times a brass earring denoted a survivor of a ship sinking.

·         One left ear piercing for crossing each of the Equator, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic Circle.

·         Earrings were thought to keep spirits from entering through the ear, but that's not a purely sailor thing.

·         A sparrow for every 5000 thousand nautical miles traveled.

·         A sailor would get a swallow tattoo for every 5000 miles he had sailed or because swallows will always find its way home.

·         The pig and the rooster are tattooed on either the calves or the top of the feet, to prevent a sailor from drowning. These animals were originally carried on most ships in wooden crates. When a ship goes down these crates would float and then catch currents and wash ashore with the other debris from the ship, making the pigs and roosters often the only souls to survive a shipwreck.

Some other interpretation of the pig and rooster tattoo is:

·         A tattoo of a pig on the left knee and a rooster (cock) on the right foot signified "Pig on the knee, safety at sea. A cock on the right, never lose a fight."

·         Tattoos of pigs and chickens were to make sure they always had their ham and eggs so that they never go hungry.

·         A turtle standing on its back legs (shellback) for crossing the equator and being initiated into King Neptune’s Court.

·         Crossed anchors on the web between the thumb and index finger for a boson’s mate.

·         Royal Navy tattoos of palm trees for the Mediterranean cruises in WWII.

·         Many US sailors have a palm tree or hula girl from Hawaii.

·         Hold Fast across the knuckles to keep them from falling overboard or dropping a line.

·         Full rigged ship for sailing around Cape Horn.

·         Dragon for crossing the International Date Line or serving in China.

·         Rope around the wrist for being a dockhand.

·         Two stars to ensure always knowing the way.

·         Guns or crossed cannon for military naval service.

·         Harpoons for the fishing fleet.

·         Crosses on the soles of one's feet to ward off hungry sharks. 

·         A nautical star, or compass rose was to always find your way home.

·         A dagger through a rose signified a willingness to fight and kill even something as fragile as a rose.

·         Many sailors also got pornographic images so that they would always have them with them.

There are many more different tattoos for different branches in the military but that would take too long to list! But now we’ll go into the rules of having tattoos in the U.S. Army of the military.

Tattoos weren’t always acceptable in the military so soldiers would get them in inconspicuous places where they weren’t easily seen. But now with more widespread acceptance of tattoos, the military has become a bit more lenient about tattoos. It used to be that you could not have any visible tattoos when wearing your uniform which meant that tattoos on the forearms were a no no. But even now, tattoos on the hands and back of the neck are acceptable as long as they were not “extremist, indecent, sexist, or racist” which was found under Army Regulation 670-1, CHAPTER 1-8E (1)  in the U.S. Army uniform policy site. This change that allowed tattooed individuals to join the army was due to the fact that Army officials had become aware of the growing number of people that had tattoos. If a soldier had gotten a tattoo that did not comply with the army regulations, the command will counsel the soldier on medical options but cannot force them to have the tattoo removed. Even though that is the case, if the soldier does not remove the tattoo, they will be discharged from the army.

      Learning about the different types of meaning for certain tattoos the armed forces receive is one thing but actually knowing the rules and regulations for the different lines of services is another. The army may allow their soldiers to get tattoos as long as it is not distracting or anything out of their regulations but the U.S. Coast Guards have a “limitation on the size of a tattoo in percentages of a given area that will not exceed 25 percent of the space between wrist and elbow, knee and ankle, but it does not allow tattoos on the hands or neck.” In other words, if you have tattoos or decide to get some in the future and want to join the Army, Navy, Air Force, or any other military service, do some research on their uniform regulations because it will help you in deciding which type of military service and tattoo is best for you.

Imagery Overload

Since my previous post was so long, I thought I'd just do a side post on just mainly pictures of tattoos that I found were beautiful pieces and put my thoughts on each piece. There are so many amazing artists out there it's really cool to see how the world has many talented individuals. And this doesn't apply to just artists of the tattoo industry but all over and in different lines of work as well. But since this is a tattoo blog, all of these are artworks of wonderful tattoo artists.

****Warning: Image Heavy. You will mainly see all pictures, read previous post if you are looking to read something! Thanks!****

So a tattoo similar to this is what I have in mind for my next tattoo. That is, after I finish the ridiculously huge leg piece first. The whole concept of what I want mine to look like is a feather but there is a part of it that breaks off into the bird silhouettes. This picture is just the silhouettes in the back with a feather so it's a bit different than the one I would like to get. For me, this specific tattoo gives off the meaning of freedom and being able to live freely.

 These three are most definitely one of my favorites. It was only recently when I started seeing people get tattoos without the traditional black outlines. By doing so, I think it makes the tattoos like a lot more realistic and gives them a little faint/faded look to them. Looks quite dreamy. So many tattoo ideas that I would like to have but so many hours of pain to endure!

 More photos of the bird silhouettes. These tiny little tattoos are such cute ideas for girls if they're fans of birds and want to get something small. I honestly hate birds and is quite scared of them (especially when they fly near/towards you, where the heck am I suppose to run to if you can't dodge me in time?!) but none the less, I wouldn't mind one or two of these little guys on my arm.

Leopard prints on a human? Kind of a bazaar thing but it's pretty cool. This girl wants to be a leopard! It's cool how some people think of the craziest things to get tattoos of. I would never have thought to get the prints/skin patterns of animals on my skin! It's quite a creative tattoo idea.

 

 This leg piece was kind of what made me decide to get my leg tatted up. The artwork is truly amazing and very simple. I too want to keep mine simple and have as little color as possible.

The roses on her arm very much resemble oil paintings. The tattoo itself looks like it has texture to it and the vivid colors make me think that it's a piece of art originally painted on canvas and then wrapped around her arm. Although that's not true but it surly looks that way!

Another one of those non-black outlined tattoo. Looks very subtle and faint.

Now for some meaningful script tattoos.

And lastly, a fun picture.

Tights that have the image of butterfly tattoos on your leg! No pain and it gives off the illusion of having your leg tattooed.