Reading Response

    I turned 19 last year in the month of September.  I was in a relationship with someone whom I thought I would be marrying (haha what a joke that turned out to be!).  With the idea of marriage on my mind, I thought about the possibility of never hearing my last name again being spoken to me.  "Ruby Bynum" would no longer exist!  Seeing as it was my birthday, I wanted to treat myself to something that I had long contemplated getting: a tattoo.  And what better way to ink up your body than to get your last name across your shoulder blade?

    When I read "People as Pictures" my own tattoo hadn't crossed my mind at all, there was just no comparison.  The processes are so unalike; the Japanese use gouges and chisels, something I had never known before.  The only way I knew possible was by way of different shaped needles, which was how mine was done and I strongly believe mine was much less painful.  The excruciating process of Irezumi is sometimes involuntary and can act as an initiation right that's done at the time of puberty or even as punishment.  Mine was merely a gift to myself and an experience I had often wondered about. 

    Secondly, my own tattoo can't compare to the elaborate and beautiful art displayed on these bodies.  Knowing the pain that these people go through somehow make it all the more mesmerizing.  Some of the Japanese tattoos are amazingly colorful, detailed and cover large areas, taking a much longer time than my own two hours of sitting in pain. Some of these tattoos took up to a full year!  I cannot imagine nor fathom that idea!

    Lastly, my tattoo has completely different meaning to me than theirs do to them.  The Irezumi is a cultural tradition.  Unlike myself, they probably don't regret getting their tattoo either!  (Not that I completely regret mine, just wish it was drawn differently).  I'm very interested in how they chose and who exactly will choose what they'll get tattooed, (for those that were not voluntary).  Is it similar to when you walk into a typical tattoo parlor and browse through books and books of body art and chose what you would like?  Does the person getting tattooed take time to decide what they want and how they want it?  Does an elder pick it for them or does the artist make it up for them?  It's a topic that I wouldn't mind researching.