Intro to Cultural Anthropology - Essay Example

There are many things that give hints and lend insight to the ideas and behaviors of people and their cultures from both the past and present. Body art, as explicated in Womack's Being Human: An Introduction to Cultural Antrhopology, is one of these things. Body art includes tattoos, piercing, body paint, bone structure manipulation, clothes, makeup, hairstyles and so forth. While these things can be done merely to follow the fluctuating trends of fashion, they perhaps more commonly identify important messages about a person or group of people.

Body art has the ability to express one's individuality as well as one's group identity. In terms of American culture, one of the things that body art is often used to portray is one's status in society. With just a quick glance, we can often tell what status someone is. While upper class people could easily wear old, raggedy clothes and not spend a lot of money on stylish hair cuts, manicures, jewelry and so forth, they choose to do so in order to portray their high status and achievements.

Another example of a message portrayed by body art in America is the rebellious stage known as adolescence. It is not uncommon to witness teens displaying body art such as hair dyed an unnatural hair color or clothes that are all black or somehow different from traditional, acceptable clothing. For other cultures around the world body art can be used not only to portray status and rebellion, but it can be used to signify the coming of age, membership in a tribe or gang, or appealing or connecting to spirits or ancestors, among other things.

One of the consequences of body art on society is its potential for misinterpretation. The messages that body art conveys to the people in one culture may not translate the same way to people from another culture. For example, a woman living in America may wear revealing clothes, such as a short skirt and a sleeveless or low-cut shirt. In America, much emphasis is placed on attractiveness and sexuality, and these characteristics are often incorporated into status in a positive way. If that woman were to travel to the Middle East, however, people residing there may find her body art to be nothing less than offensive.

In the Middle East, women cover most of their skin as well as their hair in order not to distract or tempt men. It is remarkable, but perhaps not surprising, that the same display of body art used in two different cultures produces completely different emotions and reactions. Because body art has different meanings across cultures, it can also be used negatively to separate "us" from "them" and vise versa. Body art and its accompanying meanings change over time and are often lost completely.

However, if interpreted correctly by anthropologists and other scientists, studying body art from the past can lend great insight into the cultures, societies and lives of people from both the past and present.