Media Post 5

Ever since we looked at Sarah Barnes editorial from the BG News, I have been reading them almost daily. I came across an editorial that I thought would be really good for my media portfolio. It is titled "Proud to have a tattoo", by the title you wouldnt think that it could apply to what we are learning in class but it does. The first sentence of it states "What is it that makes people rush to judgment based on our appearances?". It continues to talk about how the columnist went to Michigan to get a sleeve and before leaving his parents called him and gave him argument after argument about why he shouldn't do that to himself. Zach Franks (the author) says that his parents made him think about "all the lame ideas society has about appearance." As he continues his comments made me think about Johnson Chapter 8 immediatly. Franks talks about how we are taught that we need to go to school with our hair combed, never wear jeans with holes or tears and to "never ever get a tattoo". He asks the question are you really concerned with what people think of you? or is it your parents who are concerned that people will look at them and their child and wonder what kind of parent raises a kid that has tattoos everywhere. "I think society and its accepted norms, is to blame for their reactions to such things". It is like these things such as the color of your hair or the ink on your skin determine what kind of person you are. What really made me connect this article to our classwork is when Franks states "It kind of sounds like when people make the same judgements based on the color of your skin". Which I agree with completely because we can look at the color of someones skin and instantly wonder what kind of person they really are. He also talks about how you can ask anyone who has a tattoo that really means something to them and they will tell you that they as a person determine who they are not the ink on their skin. Continuing down the article Franks mentions that hopefully in the years to come bias against people who have tattoos will have disappeared and he finishes with saying if you are going to get a tattoo make sure it is something that has meaning to you because it is part of you forever and also you are a part of it. Concerning our class material, this editorial can be compared to many of our readings and even a movie. The first thing that came to mind was Johnson Chapter 8 "Getting off the Hook: Denial and Resistance" because it would be so easy for someone to take the path of least resistance and not get a tattoo, and not have green hair or express themselves in other ways. I also think this article can be related to Johnson chapter 6 because of the one sentence "bad in the world is seen as somebody elses fault". There was a time when I was younger and I saw people with tattoos and dyed hair and really baggy pants and my mom would always be there telling me never to get a tattoo because they were for "bad people" so in my eyes "bad people" were those people who had tattoos and dyed hair and I was even scared to look at them. But now I know that my mom was using those people as examples to instill fear in me so I would never do that to myself because it was not socially acceptable, she blamed the "bad" on someone else. In some sense it is hard to compare this editorial with some of our readings because I am not trying to downsize what African Americans or any other race has gone through to be accepted as citizens because what they went through is unimaginable compared to that of someone who has a tattoo, I am just using the material in comparison. When the author talks about how he thinks that the judgements made on his appearance or that of others with tattoos sounds like when people make judgements based on the color of your skin, I agree with him. I also think this can be related to "Eyes on the Prize", sure there are not sit ins but people with tattoos are making statements of their own. Everyone wants to be accepted, and if someone told you they didnt they would probably just be lying. By having a tattoo or purple hair you are making a statement about yourself and you want people to accept that. If we can grow as a society and learn to accept people for their differences and who they are as opposed to what they are not, whether it is skin color, tattoos, etc. we would be able to conquer anything. I say anything because I know that we are far from accepting every person as they are so when we do, if we ever do, that would be an accomplishment which would open a lot of doors for us all.