Blog One: Draft Three

When this assignment was introduced I had no idea what I kind of topic I was going to choose. I began to think of topics that would interest me and things I was interested in. My first idea was to explore how gender roles were developed and defined in the hip-hop society. This was my initial choice because I absolutely LOVE music. But that idea came to a screeching halt due to the fact I would have to come up with a working definition of what I understood to be Hip-Hop. It was difficult for me to explain in words what I felt REAL Hip Hop is. And back to the drawing board I went, my next I idea was fashion. I am very into fashion, as a child i had a sketch book of clothing designs because I wanted to be a fashion designer. Although I do not currently keep a sketch book I am still interested in the fashion world. This led me to my next line of inquiry. “What is the media's role in youth fashion".... Well here we go again with creating working definitions and this idea would require me to put an age group on youth. Also I thought about the fact that a lot of parents dress their youth and have restrictions to what their child can wear. With taking this into consideration there would be more than one outside factor influencing youth fashion. This too flew right out the window. I began to get discouraged because I honestly did not know what I was interested in as absurd as it sounds; I was honestly lost until I had an epiphany to look in the mirror. I came to the conclusion to do something with tattoos and piercings, all thanks to a mirror I saw what was right in front of me. My line of inquiry came to be How has Media Influenced Tattoos and Piercings?  But the focus of my research was and is not to exemplify or prove that media made of a direct influence on why people choose to get tattoos or piercing. Personally I do not feel the media played a role in the choices I made to get tattoos and piercings. But I will agree that media played a role in where I placed my tattoos and piercings. The research I conducted led me to the conclusion that media has influenced tattoos and piercings by making them more popular and accepting in society. 
 

 Final decision on my line of inquiry

        I am very fascinated with tattoos and piercings even before I had either. As a child I watched Taboo on the National Geographic and I loved to see the episodes on tattoos and piercings. They would show these body modifications from different cultures all over the world. From this I learned that tattoos and piercings have cultural meanings and also come from religious beliefs. Being raised in a Christian home it is a sin to mark and pierce the flesh, it was TABOO for me to see these body modification as spiritual backings that were not accepted in my "community".
        As I have gotten older my fascination has grown and I have a few body modifications myself. I have three tattoos and nine piercings. Although I was slightly informed tattoos and piercings before receiving some of my own I don't feel as though I was informed enough about them. I knew cleanliness was a big deal but there is more to these body modifications than a clean needle. I do feel more informed after doing this extra research, I hope that I am able to inform my audience about the media's influence on tattoos and piercings as well as the dangers that surrounds these practices.

      I especially identified with this topic because I am a part of this culture. I could lie and say that I haven't been influenced by the media but due to me research I found that I have been influenced. I say that I have been influence because of media tattoos are more accepted and more popular thus opening the door for me to be able to get my tattoos and piercings. The media made it possible for tattoo parlors to be a booming business and available to just about everyone.

         Very often in my entries I will uses body modifications interchangeably with the terms tattoos and piercings because these practices are changes made to the body. One includes piercing holes into the flesh and another includes inserting ink into the skin thus changing or modifying the appearance of the flesh or body. Having a tattoo or piercing did not change the person I am but it may have had some effect on how others perceive me. I know that people are very judgmental and there are still stigmas flowing piercings as noted in my research and from my own personal experience. I feel that it is ultimately up to the individual if their body modifications change them, but the point of these practices is not to change the individual but to express oneself through these mediums. Piercings or tattoos can be seen as attractive but this is also a personal thing.