Tattooing is one of the oldest art forms in existence.  We humans have been altering our bodies in some way for thousands of years, always looking for ways to make ourselves more aesthetically appealing, or to mark rites of passage, to show strength or courage, and to identify with certain cultures and discourse communities or to create a new self.  It's not surprising that body modification has survived for so long, considering the pains and lengths humans go to in order to morph from one identity or self to another.  And tattooing, having already undergone several incarnations within the perceptions of various cultures and societies, style, gender and class stratification, etc., continues to evolve.  What some might call the sacred art of the tattoo (studied and researched nearly to no end and it seems primarily in the area of anthropology) is an ever-intriguing avenue of interest that can be looked at from a multitude of perspectives: as text, identity, the carnivalesque beauty of body image, etc. Though tattooing has exsisted over the course of a few millennia, it seems odd that it would be perceived so negatively and by so many.  But when a person undergoes the permanent body transformation of a tattoo, experienced the process, and the pain of being inked, s/he can understand why the un-inked would question the reasons people put themselves through the torture of having something beautifully symbolic stitched onto their bodies, and essentially their souls. Background from: Teil 2 San Diego Horton Arch from: Jellybug Site is better viewed on computers with "Magik" font type installed.