African American Interpersonal Communication African American Interpersonal Communication through Body Art
Tattoos make an individual’s self definition more complete by visually communicating gang membership, status, rank and personal accomplishment (Phelan 277).
Tattooing and body piercing has been practiced in almost every culture around the world, and for thousands of years. (Greif, Hewitt 367) The African American culture use body art as a method of nonverbal interpersonal communication. The word tattoo became part of the English vocabulary in 1769 when James Cook visited the Pacific Island of Tahiti.
Both sexes, he wrote, “ paint their bodies.” Tattow as it is called in their language, this is done by
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It is this sort of strictly prescribed, highly ritualistic decoration that Beckwith and Fisher depict in African ceremonies. “ We have tried to show how body art is relevant to every stage of development, from birth to death”, says Fisher. But while the traditional, often spiritually based versions of bod mod are quickly disappearing among indigenous peoples, the impulses behind personal adornment remain unchanged: attracting a mate, signaling status, declaring allegiance to a group( Lemonick 75). For men, the tattoo is a public identity symbol, and their first is usually on their arm. Women reserve their tattoo for a more intimate audience, and they usually choose their breast. For most, the tattoo is symbolic of their individuality and having withstood a painful and exciting event. Tattooees enjoy being noticed, although they reveal their tattoos selectively ( Davis 471). Anthropologists describe body art or modification as a way of identifying oneself as being a part of a group, a tribe, or a gang: of denoting one’s financial status or marital status: or even as a way of beautifying the body (Grief, Hewitt 368).
Implicit here is the theme of deliverance--the redemptive passage from pain and uncertainty wherein the tattoo serves as both silent witness and lucky charm. Yet sailors and navel men have long applied symbols to their bodies, in an almost magical way, to guide their vessels and protect themselves, to
For the curious person who wishes to know why the American pop culture has gone wild about tattoos, and whom the tattooed stars in movie, sports, and music are, this is the perfect scholarly article. Kosut explains why tattooing has gone mainstream based on her six years of "ethnographic research."
After this conversation, I felt a little bit happier because I got to talk to a friend that I haven’t spoken to in such a long time. I felt that it improved my
The process of tattooing is brutal and painful; more so in the past as it involved the chiseling of skin in some cultures. Nevertheless, tattoos have received great popularity in contemporary times, especially in America. I will therefore first explore the various reasons for which people tattoo themselves referencing Michael Atkinson’s book Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art. Meanwhile, it seems that very few scholars have examined changes in the tattoo imagery. Since around the 1990s, the increased accessibility to traditional ethnic designs from different cultures has enabled people to appropriate, mix and create
Our ability to communicate well with others is important to personal and professional success. The interpersonal communications course is planned to help us in being familiar with the system of effective, and to assess our own interpersonal ability to sharpen our critical understanding of the communication, also to improve the interpersonal skills. Mainly assess our interpersonal skills and to put in goals for improving our communications ability. To development of self-concept and identity are examined as basics for understanding personal communication. We explore our own communication behaviors and to identify areas of personal strengths and
For a long time now body art and decoration has been a custom in many cultural groups. Through research we have learned about the different types of body art and ornamentation such as permanent and nonpermanent tattooing, scarification, and piercings. These forms of body art and ornamentation are done for a variety of reasons, ranging from identification purposes to religious rituals. “Skin, as a visible way of defining individual identity and cultural difference, is not only a highly elaborated preoccupation in many cultures; it is also the subject of wide-ranging and evolving scholarly discourse in the humanities and social sciences” (Schildkrout, 2004). The process of ornamentation and body art is usually a painful experience, but it is
Tattooing is a relatively common form of self-expression in many countries around the world (Sanders, 1988;Stuppy, Armstrong, & Casals-Ariet, 1998; Armstrong, Masten, & Martin, 2000; Frederick&Bradley, 2000). Tattoos have been around for years they were once used to identify slaves, seaman, criminals and others who made their association to a particular group. Tattoos have always had a negative connotation attached to it. There seemed to be a shift in popularity as Americans seen more and more celebrities sporting tattoos. At one point, tattoos were seen as a fad or a sign of rebellion for some. Tattoos no longer were seen as bad or deviant, but as a form of self-expression. In the early 1990's there seemed to be a fascination with
My Coffey cup holder is broke! This is one of many communications that I.T. (Information Technology) professionals talk about happening. To my knowledge there has never been a Coffey cup holder installed in a computer. This is a common problem in communication between the I.T. professional and the user. Other communication issues occur between the I.T. professional and corporate managers. Corporate managers want to know what is going on with user’s computers. These managers are wanting their very expensive technology working and an explanation why I.T. is not working. This article will explain some of the common communication issues between a user’s, I.T. professional and corporate managers.
Tattoos are a very prominent piece of several individual cultures across the world today, but they are not always intended for cultural traditions. Tattoos can stand as a means for remembrance, a means for identity, and to some, a means to separate those who are willing to permanently portray something that they are passionate about. The author of Tattoos and Cultural Identity, a photo essay about cultural identity, shares many pictures centered around the topic of tattoos in relation to culture. The author is logical in their approach to a topic, describing the cultural background but not the motives, and despite the lack of emotional bias, there is still an air of compassion for the people portrayed in the photographs.
Interpersonal communication is the most important kind of communication. It happens when two individuals are in a close proximity to each other, and they are able to provide immediate feedback to one another. IPC (interpersonal communication) is the way we express our thoughts, feelings, and ideas to the people around us. Interpersonal communication is something you need to do well as it affects many aspects of your life.
Human race has always had an instinct to express their needs, feelings, and emotions in written forms as well as oral ones. Calkins (1989, p. 3) illustrates that human beings have a deep need to represent their experiences through writing. He mentions that ancient people were fond of writing stories, events, habits, or situations related to them on the walls of caves and temples. It could be said that it is a natural human desire and tendency toward drawing shapes and lines on some material's surfaces. One can observe that young children are driven to leave written marks with pens, pencils, markers, pieces of coal, or even lipsticks on walls, furniture, or bathrooms.
This essay will explore the history of tattooing as well as the modern techniques of tattooing.
“Although the practice of tattooing has been in existence for millennia, tattoos have acquired renewed and widespread currency in contemporary Western culture. Tattooing
For centuries, ink on skin has been a synonym for social markers, group identity, and perpetration of traditions. Tattoos in the past were a permanent hallmark--a stamp of authenticity and a mark of permanent fidelity to a cause, a group, or to an identity. They were a loud statement of culture and belonging. They served as amulets, symbols, and religious traditions. However, nowadays, tattoos seem just the product of a capricious and vain pop culture. They seem cheap and easy souvenirs from travel adventure, bachelorette parties, and army service. They seem a symbol of individualism and capitalism.
After defining my objectives and doing preliminary research, I have chosen to analyze and interpret the existing research about this subject through a conceptual framework. This framework indicates that tattooing is an ancient art form practiced around the world for many different reasons and has a diverse cultural and social significance in today’s societies. This framework was chosen as a result of preliminary reading and analyzing existing research about the history and culture of tattooing. This existing research has shown that the practice of tattooing dates back to ancient civilizations, as well as the different perceptions of body art in current global societies, both negative and positive.
Tattooing is one form of art used for decorating the bodies for different purposes such as to entertain the people (Ottermann, 2000), self-mutilation (Cosentino & Fabius, 2001), to assert the control of their (tattooed individuals) bodies as well as to challenge their roles in the society (Kang & Jones, 2007), to protect them from bad spirits according to their religious beliefs (Post, 1968) and also for being stylish. According to Oettermann (2000), tattooing is a culture that had been flourishing in early nineteenth centuries in the different parts of the world such as America and Europe. Thus, this culture of decorating the body differs from place to place in different societal context.