Addressing such questions we should first realize that tattoos are not new nor are they necessarily a frivolous practice. People today take part in body piercing, tattoos, and other forms of ornamentation seeking a new aesthetic for personal expression. Society's standard for what is beautiful is not attainable for most human beings. Body ornamentation provides an attainable alternative to that standard. I will argue in this paper that body ornamentation and manipulation are ancient practices among indigenous people internationally and that the resurgence of these practices in modern industrial culture reflect the same psychological purposes, which involve the pursuit of self-esteem, social identity, and spirituality. I will discuss examples of tattooing, cicatrization, body piercing, and other forms of body ornamentation and manipulation among Pacific Islanders, Africans, Native Americans (Mandan, Cheyenne, and Sioux), and Japanese. .
The United States and Britain (London specifically) have arguably been the arbiters of the Western standard in physical appearance. It is ironic that many Westerners find body piercing and tattoos repellent, considering that ancestors of the British practiced these ornamentations. Ancient tribes of the British Isles tattooed much of their bodies with animal designs to scare their enemies in battle. Their tattoos made them blue in appearance and as Julius Caesar remarked, "frightful to look upon in battle" (Sanders, p.13, 1989). Roman soldiers who encountered Briton warriors adopted tattooing themselves, and spread the practice wherever Roman legions were sent. The Roman Emperor Constantine I banned tattooing because he felt it went against "God's handiwork" (Sanders, p.13, 1989). Constantine's response was also that of the Christian religion in general, which has opposed and repressed body ornamentation as it has heavily influenced Western standards of dress.
