A Critical Response to Youre Thinking of Getting a What by Gray John - Book Report/Review Example

?A Critical Response to “You’re thinking of getting a what?” John MacLachlan Gray writes about the repulsive, “superior shudder” among people when there is a mention of a tattoo. Friends, relatives, colleagues can indulgently tolerate bust enhancement or hair implantation or even cutting of pouches under the eyes – but not a tattoo! As if the very thought helps to alienate the person wishing to do so from the rest of the world. John Gray tries to understand the reason behind the ever-lasting engraving on one’s body. He presumes it could be a case of defiance, revolt, a proclamation of a sexual stand, member or not a member of a certain group/tribe, calling for help and protection from the nether worlds – any of these gone to the extreme. Student’s response Even if the tattoo may seem weird to most of us, it was an ancient art form in the Meiji period of Japan. Clifford J. Kurkowski refers to “The Tattooer” by Junichiro Tanizaki and says –“he vividly describes that Japanese men, who were performing in the Kabuki Theater, received tattoos in order to satisfy their upper class audiences and enhance their beauty.” The ethical standards of permanently painting one’s body during that era in Japan was surely much above what it is today – even though it is still considered to be a form of art. I agree with Gray that the sight of a tattoo can hinder any conversation or stall further relationship building platform. As he says “people either have tattoos or they do not” there are no in-betweens. However, the same can be said about any other idiosyncrasies of a human being – a certain hair style, a nose ring, a navel ring, certain attitude, and many more. You either have it or you do not, you either fall in the same group or you do not. The only difference is that these fads and foibles do not encounter any sense of complete isolation – these are tolerated within the social network. So what is it about a tattoo that makes one feel the tattooed person is from another planet? Is it a sort of a mark to clarify that the person is different from the rest of the human populace? As Gray points out “statistically, majority of tattoos result from a momentary, possibly drunken impulse and tattoo parlors are chosen primarily on the basis of geographical convenience.” I feel this itself is the answer to the puzzling “laissez-fair craft” – the mental state of the person and the easily accessible tattoo parlors work in a conducive manner. The psychological condition of the person before going in for the drinks plays a good part in giving him or her ‘Dutch courage’ to act brazen, as in audacious. The close by parlor gives the ‘come hither’ looks and lo and behold the person is marked for life. The unfortunate part is that the fashionable statement becomes permanent – something the person never gave much thought to before having it done. The damage is done and most often done in highly unhygienic manner and conditions. It is true that as Gray points out – “the tattoo parlor is a breathtakingly unregulated industry. Although the city health inspector may call now and then to update the crumbling certificate on the wall, only the tattooist’s personal ethic prompts him or her to maintain sanitary premises…” Finally, I must say I do not agree with the “a tattoo, however, is a threat” statement. This is a result of an impetuous decision, and each one of us has taken such rash steps in our lives. Fortunately, for us from the ‘no tattoos’ segment of human kind our reckless actions did not leave any prominent and ugly scars for life. We feel the threat from the other side, the people with the tattoos do not, but it is our reaction that tends to drive them into a separate corner, away from the rest of us. Moreover, there is little knowledge about this form of expressing one’s revolt. It is necessary to have more literatures and information about tattoos. Information regarding the 'ifs' and 'buts' of getting a tattoo done and stressing on the permanent factor: explaining it is a ‘one-way ticket’ with no coming back. People should be made aware about the right ingredients that should be used and what is actually used by the roadside parlors; city health inspectors can spruce up their act and understand their lackadaisical attitude is only harming the citizens of their own city. I believe we all have our whims and fancies; it is some who seem to run away with theirs’ and bring upon themselves the title of ‘tattooed’ unwittingly. People who mark themselves so are definitely not mad or have unstable minds, but may suffer from fantasies which are enhanced with a tipple or two. And the glitzy, neon-lit commercial tattoo parlors look so attractive on such trips of delusion, that a person just gets drawn towards it in an inebriated state. The rest, as they say, becomes history, an indelible one of the fateful ‘late night’. Yes the tattoo bears witness to the person’s faltering and misdirected steps one night or day. As an after thought, we, who do not have tattoos, have this revulsion on the sight of the artificially colored skin – but why? Is it a reminder of what we might have done if circumstances were different when we “went off the hook’? Memories of the temporary ‘madness, fascinations, idolizing, weird worshipping cultures, following the crowd’ periods flash through our minds and we think of ‘what might have been’. So the shudder is not so much for the tattooed person in our presence as it is for the ‘past ghosts’ and the thought of the gruesome pain on our still unscathed bodies. Despite all the criticisms tattoo has wrought on itself, Hoag Levins paints an evolving picture of this art form in his article “The Changing Cultural Status of the Tattoo Arts in America”. He says, “The cultural status of tattooing has steadily evolved from that of an anti-social activity in the 1960s to that of a trendy fashion statement in the 1990s.” He further refers to “the ‘tattoo parlor’ that glories in a sense of urban outlaw culture …often operates with less than optimum sanitary procedures”, (a sentiment shared by John Gray) and goes on to refer to the “’tattoo art studio’ that most frequently features custom, fine art design; the ambience of an upscale beauty salon; and ‘by-appointment’ services only.” The article by Levins holds up another aspect of this apparently abhorrent artistic expression, worthy of deeper cogitation. Works Cited Gray, John. “You’re Thinking of Getting a What?” Acting on words: An Integrated Reader, Rhetoric, and Handbook. By David Brundage and Michael Lahey. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2004, 413-16. Athabasca University. http://home.mindspring.com/~blkgrnt/footlights/foot67.html Interpreting Japanese Culture in Tanizaki’s “The Tattooer” by Clifford J. Kurkowski http://www.tattooartist.com/history.html Tattoo Arts in America, The Changing Cultural Status of the Tattoo Arts in America, by Hoag Levins. 1997. Read More