Body mod
Some extreme forms of body modification have been practised since ancient times. The Mayans compressed newborn infants’ heads between two wooden boards for the first few years of their lives, to mould the skull to the cultural ideal of flatness. In the Congo, by contrast, elongated heads were thought very beautiful.
Piercing and tattooing have always been popular. In the Pacific region, tattooing is a deeply ingrained cultural practice (in Maori and Samoan cultures for example). In Europe, tattooing can be traced back to the Stone Age - even Otzi the Iceman had them.
Tattooing in the modern era in the West has its origins in James Cook’s voyages to the Pacific. He noted the practice on a voyage to the Marquesas Islands in 1769. Cook’s crew brought the practice back to England, leading to its popular association with sailors. Cook even presented a tattooed Tahitian chief to the Royal Court.
The chief must have made an impression in royal circles. The future King George V had a cross of Jerusalem tattoo, while Edward VII was also tattooed. It was even rumoured that Queen Victoria had a tattoo in an ‘intimate location’. Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s mother, had a tattoo of a snake around her wrist, while Winston himself had a tattoo of an anchor on his arm.
Tattooing has lost its association with the aristocracy. It became linked to rebellion and self-expression, as in biker culture. In recent years, many celebrities - David Beckham being a notable example - have had tattoos, leading to an increase in its popularity. In parallel, body piercing has also become more common and socially acceptable.
Even so, tattoos may not be viewed positively, especially in women. A study carried out by researchers in Liverpool revealed that tattooed women were perceived as more unattractive, more promiscuous and heavier drinkers than their untattooed counterparts.
Random tattoo facts
- A man who suffered multiple organ failure had a tattoo on his arm praising NHS nurses
- A man from Wales had a pizza tattooed on the back of his head to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Fund
- A woman from Darlington had her boyfriend’s nickname tattooed on her stomach in Chinese. She later discovered it actually said ‘supermarket’. In the meantime, the couple had split up anyway
- German scientists are looking at tattooing as a way of delivering vaccines.
Image: A tattoo on a piece of human skin from the 19th century; Wellcome Library.