When I first arrived
in Chiayi, I was told how it used to be a center for youth gang activity in the
70’s. Just like most criminal stratum around the world, tattoos were symbols of
membership and a mark to be feared. I’m not sure why, but it seemed that a calf
would get tattooed first before the upper body, usually with a green-bluish ink
and at times of the barest outlines. I noticed this when the swimming pool that
I trained in came under new management and the clientele changed. I was later
told that it was an elaborate process that sometimes lasted weeks, even months,
before the finished product would be completed.
Now, just like most
of the western world, tats have gone mainstream, sort of. Chiayi boasts a
number of tattoo parlors that proudly display skulls and wings on their signs
and windows. More and more university students are sporting small markings,
sometimes rather indistinct, on their ankles, inside wrists and shoulders. A
few days ago, while waiting to check out at the supermarket, a tall young woman
stood in the next lane. She had that aura of being a working girl, meaning the
9-to-5 respectable type. Since her short, ginger-dyed hair was tied back, I
could see three stars just behind her right ear on her neck, one red, one
green, one blue, each
about 1-2 centimeters in width. My first thought was that I realize tattoos
have become a form of expression, but these stars seemed so insignificant, what
was she trying to say? This was followed by the devil’s advocate argument that they
didn’t really need to express anything, but then again, since they seemed so
insignificant, why get them anyway? Finally, showing that I have been in Taiwan
far too long, I noticed how white her skin was, that typical pale coloring that
comes from women being very careful to maintain that ultimate in Taiwanese
beauty, and I wondered what Mom and Grandmom must have said to her when they
saw them.
Then there is the
other extreme, which I witnessed a few days ago. While buying some tea, a woman in a
black tank-top showed up with ink seemingly bubbling up from between her
shoulder blades, rising onto the top of her right shoulder and ending with a
panther going halfway down her upper arm. Though the jumble on her back was
hard to determine, the big cat was impressive, as was the eagle perched on her
right ankle bone, its wings going up her shin and Achilles tendon almost five
centimeters. There was a green circle on the left inside wrist that might have
been a yin-yang symbol or some other Buddhist symbol, as well as another
circular tat on the front of her left ankle.
The only thing I
could think was which one hurt the most. A friend said that getting one on the
sole of your foot is the worst, but why would anyone want to get one there
anyway. My
son has told me that the one he got on his lower rib cage hurt more than the
one on his belly.
Personally, I have no
desire to get one. I won’t deny that there is a bit a fear involved, but it has
more to do with indecision than anything else. They say a picture is worth a
thousand words, so what would I pick to express my … likes, dislikes, loves,
national pride (Canadians are big on this one.), strengths, desires,
weaknesses, basically, my personality.
And, though I have
seen part of a poem on a foreign woman’s rib cage, I have yet to see a Taiwanese
with “WATER”, “FIRE” or “ENLIGHTENMENT” wrapping around their waist.
No comments:
Post a Comment