SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the instructions-are-not-just-for-OTHER-people dept.
http://www.livescience.com/59353-tattoo-flesh-eating-bacteria.html
A 31-year-old man died after he went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and his tattoo became infected with flesh-eating bacteria that live in ocean water, according to a new report.
The man had recently gotten a tattoo on his right calf. Despite the common advice to avoid swimming for a few weeks after getting a new tattoo, the man went for a swim in the ocean just five days after he received the tattoo, according to the report, published [DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2017-220199] [DX] May 27 in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
A few days later, he developed a fever and chills, and his skin became red over his tattoo and on other parts of his legs. Soon after the man arrived at the hospital, the red, painful lesions on his legs turned purple, and he developed large blisters filled with fluid.
Also at CNN:
To make matters worse, the man had chronic liver disease from drinking six 12-ounce beers a day.
Jesus is my life.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday June 03 2017, @04:50PM (6 children)
While I share your befuddlement about why so many people would want tattoos, it's hardly a new fad [wikipedia.org], at least among humans in general.
If anything, it seems Judeo-Christian culture has been one of few exceptions of societies in human history that discourage tattooing, likely based on the Leviticus Bible verse that prohibits it. (The ancient Jewish codes were obsessed with all sorts of "purity," so it's easy to extrapolate that to purity of the skin.) For a couple millennia, Christian cultures have thus tended to view tattooing as a "pagan" practice. The only other cultures that seem to have discouraged tattooing historically are ones where tattoos were primarily used to "brand" slaves or prisoners, etc. Otherwise, I don't think it's a stretch to say they've actually been the norm in most human cultures through history.
As Western culture becomes less Christianized, it's not surprising at all that tattooing is seeing a resurgence.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday June 05 2017, @02:10PM (5 children)
It seems to be a new fad among the general population. Most of the other places where it's been popular throughout history are with sailors, military, and criminals. In Japan, for instance, it's mainly seen among the Yakuza (see your article), which is organized crime. As for Christianity, I see plenty of tattoos among Christians these days, so they're taking it about as seriously as they do the verses about not eating pork and not wearing clothes of different fibers (and any Christian who knows anything about their religion will tell you that stuff doesn't apply to them anyway because Jesus said so, though somehow the verse about tithing is an exception, which I'll never figure out). So no, I don't think it has anything to do with religion at all; if anything, the lower classes (who get tattoos far more often) are much more Christian than the more well-off liberals.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday June 05 2017, @04:09PM (4 children)
Let me rephrase: I didn't mean to imply that MOST people were directly thinking, "Oh, I won't get tattoos because my Bible tells me so." I meant that Western culture generally viewed tattoos as bad HISTORICALLY because of the Christian prohibition. And so we've inherited that perspective, without necessarily paying attention to the specific Bible verse about it.
In centuries past, though, EDUCATED Christian leaders (priests, ministers, etc.) had a greater role in society and could likely persuade leaders to shut down local tattoo parlors or convince congregants of their evil. But the kind of lower class Christianity you cite now, based on 19th-century bible-thumper fundamentalism and camp-meeting revivalism, isn't based on intellectualism or detailed reading of the scriptures. Paradoxically, as you note, most such "biblical literalists" cherry pick only the parts of scripture that they care about, instead of the more systematic theology that was common with the organized churches in prior centuries. That's how you get the bizarre idiocy where Christians quote Leviticus to condemn homosexuality, but ignore the different fiber stuff, etc. because Jesus said it was a "New Covenant." Except they ignore parts of the "New Covenant" too, most notably Paul's extended rant on women being required to wear head coverings... but that's a story for another time.
Anyhow, what I was trying to say is that Jewish and then Christian culture likely installed a taboo against tattoos in Western society which has stuck around for a long time. But without the reinforcement of the theological Christianized argument, there's less of a reason to hold steadfast to that taboo nowadays.
And yes, you are correct that many countries have associated tattoos with certain classes, etc. historically. But that link also contains plenty of examples where tattooing was revered for religious, ceremonial, etc. reasons. There does seem to be a broad trend that more "civilized" countries (which I'd define as having more advanced political structures) tend to get rid of tattooing. But as you note, even in such countries there are certain classes that seem to employ them.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday June 05 2017, @05:53PM (3 children)
I really think you're reaching here. You don't need organized religion to convince people not to get covered in tattoos. I'm not religious at all and I don't do it, for the same reason I don't have my tongue cut in half or other bizarre body-modifications: there's no good reason for it, and it's just inviting problems, and honestly, I like my body the way it looks now (well, there's a few little things I'd fix, but tattoos aren't going to help here; I want to fix flaws, not introduce new ones). And I don't think I'm unique; just look at east-Asian cultures which are explicitly non-Christian, and there you don't see most people getting tattoos.
But as you note, even in such countries there are certain classes that seem to employ them.
Sure, the criminal classes, the people who are already anti-social and work against the normal way society operates. Honestly, I can't think of any other societies where tattoos have had any popularity among mainstream citizens. I've certainly never seen any Indian people with them (and don't bring up Henna either; that's body art that's completely temporary and goes away in a few days).
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday June 06 2017, @01:32AM (2 children)
Now you're the one who is reaching, since any history of tattooing has plenty of examples of historical cultures that frequently used them. Setting aside the pervasive Polynesian practice from which the word "tattoo" itself is derived, the Picts in northern Britain were apparently so named (from Latin "picti" or "painted ones") by the Romans for their tattoos. In fact, the name of Britain is often taken to be derived from Greek "prettanoi," which meant "tattooed." Archeological finds around the word have turned up tattooed bodies and depictions of tattooed bodies with surprising frequency.
It's one thing to say my previous posts might be overestimating (which I agree could be true). It's a completely different thing to make it out like tattoos have only EVER been for criminals and slaves. By the way, "bizarre body modifications" have also been common in many traditional cultures around the world too.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday June 06 2017, @01:35AM
Oh, and by the way, the reason sailors are commonly associated with tattoos is because centuries ago European sailors encountered such pervasive practices in other cultures (particularly in Polynesia) that they appropriated the practice for themselves.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:32AM
There have been thousands of different cultures (if not far more) around the world over the last 10ky or so, so of course you're going to find all kinds of oddities if you look hard enough and over a long enough timespan. Just because some ancient culture did something 3000 years ago doesn't mean it's widespread or pervasive among human cultures, and certainly not among relatively modern cultures.
Over the 20th century, in what percentage of the global population was tattooing a commonplace and accepted practice? I don't think it was very much.