On Teenagers And Tattoos By Andres Martin Summary

Name: Tu Pham

Reading respond 3- On Teenagers and Tattoos

In the article "On Teenagers and Tattoos," Andres Martin tells a story on the rising trend of tattoos among teenagers and explains the different reasonings behind teenagers tattooing themselves. The main reasons Martin states for this existence is teenagers want to be indicated as individuals. What I agree with Martin is the relationship between tattoos and teenagers are quite widespread today, and tattoos are more for personal display rather than tattoo itself. Martin begins with bringing up his idea on the relationship between tattoos and identity. He uses the words of “autonomy,” “privacy,” and “insulation” to introduce his thought that tattoo is helping young people to reveal who

they are and show their allegiance to a certain social class. Martin’s tone directs at both teenagers and adults alike, while using sympathetic as nonverbal tools to convince his readers of the reasons of the motives for getting tattoos and piercing. He compares tattoo with common things such as “hairdo, makeup, or baggy jeans,” as an explanation of how tattoos have become so ubiquitous.

As a result, he thinks people should be able to express who they are and through any kind of body modification as uniqueness. As he mentions many teenagers went through a tough time during their adolescence in many different ways and this was the time when they find out their true self. This goes for those, who want to be different. According to Martin, “tattooed adolescents can become unambiguously demarcated from others.” I like the way Martin uses the word “demarcate” to illustrate on teenager’s personal identity and adolescent’s body. By using this word, Martin directly explains the reason of getting tattoo as teenagers want to be different from others. I also like the way Martin uses the word “radical” and “dramatic” to capture the meaning of unsafety, but his emphasis does not mean as dangerous. As he states, “at times radical and dramatic in their presentation, can be seen in terms of figuration rather than disfigurement.” On his analysis, “radical” and “dramatic” basically say that tattoos may be unsafe, most likely because it is considering as permanence modification into your body. However, he discusses on the need for individuality in a sympathetic manner by converting it into

positive thing that represents young adults as figuration.
Next, Martin develops the story by telling the reason about the imaginational process behind teenagers to define as individual.

He continuous to conveys the outlook of why adolescents adorn themselves with permanent body with a sympathetic tone. Martins states that many teenagers have gone to a traumatic childhood such as “the frequencies of divorce, abandonment, foster placement, and repeated moves,” that develop their own fear for having no sense of permanence and stability. I agree with Martin that tattooed adolescents correspond with the experiences of what they may cope with during their childhood. Because of their hardship they committed to tattoo to express their pain that was caused through life. I have seen my friends went through their hard time and decided to do some sort of body modification to release their anger. According to Martin, tattoos are “thickly embedded in personally meaningful representations and object relations.” He analyzes on the reason that most teenagers get tattoo as intend to carry with their memories or special symbolic in their lives as an example of the thirteen years old boy with his “Dead Man’s Hand” tattoo in his shoulder. I have seen my cousin who tattooed her grandmother signature into her arm as a way to remember an important person of her life. Therefore, I totally agree with Martin analysis. Besides from the purpose of getting tattoos, Martin’s ideal on the Quest for Permanence also analyzes that tattoos can help a person with an

unstable lifestyle to consider as something that will be never disappear. An example in the article is Case Vignette who mentioned of a seventeen years old father “B” had the smiling face of his four months old baby girl tattooed on his chest, explaining how he would "always know how beautiful she is today" (qtd in Martin). This can be understanding as it gives a person something permanent and comforting to hold on to for many years later in their life. Martin put himself into the teenagers’ position and speak out for their desire with a sympathetic manner Hence, Martin believes that tattoos should not be judged by appearance, but rather view as another way to see an individual.