As a society, we are too quick to judge people who have tattoos and body piercings. Although I don’t personally have any, and no one in my immediate family seems to have, that I know of, there seems to be a negative stigma, which really shouldn’t exist. I have some reasons to believe this, one is that I believe it is human nature, as we have noted with tribal peoples and many of our ancestors. Second, individuality must be obtained as a positive in our society, not as a negative. Okay, let’s talk.
Recently something has caught my attention that is somewhat annoying, it seems that the FBI wants to find out what tattoos mean about a person’s personality and what kind of tattoos certain people are more likely to get with certain personalities. That seems troublesome to me. No, I am not in favor of Iris scanners, the fingerprints of the whole world, or all this Facebook recognition technology on the Internet social networks either. I know for sure from reading research articles that the human iris changes throughout one’s life based on one’s health, diet, exposure to UV radiation, and all sorts of other things as well.
“What does your tattoo say about you? The FBI wants to know” was the title of an article that appeared in NextGov Online News on July 17, 2012 published by Aliya Sternstein that said;
“The FBI is working with law enforcement technology vendors and local law enforcement to interpret the symbolism of tattoos to catch criminals and terrorists. This will be added to Iris and facial recognition, they already have fingerprint data. The massive collection of multiple Biometric markers, which could include vocal cues and handwriting samples, have upset immigrant communities who say the FBI and DHS are misusing technology to deport innocent people. “
Still, isn’t this a stereotype? It seems that citizens are not allowed to stereotype since that is considered a politically correct no-no, and God help us if we make an inappropriate comment; Can you say hate crime? And yet the government is instituting profiles and stereotypes of anyone who is different, treating them like they are the evil prankster in a Batman movie. Why are we stereotyping and what does it all mean. Someone without tattoos could become a criminal, like someone who does have tattoos.
Some people might say that those without tattoos are more integrated into society and less likely to commit a crime, but as soon as we say that, we are attacking a minority that we need so much, that minority that they believe in. individuality, and are exercising their freedom of expression. That’s a good thing, that’s what America stands for, and we need more people to believe that. We don’t need a society that looks like the Borg, yuck, where everyone is equal and no one dares step out of line or wear bright color unless it’s Friday. Do you see my point? Consider all of this and think about it.