Journal #4

     The societal pressure that is put on the average human to fit into a mold that is considered "average" or "acceptable" has become a problem of great proportions. From the way one dresses to the way one expresses his or her personality through body piercings and tattoos, judgement is found among people everywhere. It is important to look not only at a person for their personality, but their intentions and abilities as well. A lot of times, appearances play a big role in how a person is viewed to other people. In fact, some major companies can have a say on if a person is hired or not based on their appearance; this can mean either the way he or she dresses or even the tattoos and piercings that person has on their bodies. While your appearance has no correlation to your ability to do tasks or even your personality at all, this does not stop others from having judgmental thoughts about you with appearances that do not fit the mold of this society's social norms. 

     From the article on CNN, the author states: "The lesson I hope to teach others through my life is that it's important to see past appearances." This quote is important to recognize for people who find themselves in situations where they feel judged or are exuding judgmental vibes towards others because this society has put too much emphasis on the image of normality. Throughout this article, the author describes his experiences being a teacher while still expressing his personal tastes through his many tattoos and piercing choices. In my own opinion, the ways people express themselves do not reflect who that person is as a human. However, this does not excuse me from saying I have never fell into the category of the one who judges others. It's easy to make assumptions based on appearances because we are all brought up on the notion that there is a social standard for all humans to fit into. 

     For a lot of people in foreign places, marking your body is a cultural statement. In the second article, the author expresses some of his encounters with people in different areas and how their culture can have an affect on their appearances. He expresses that "the important part is the meaning behind the marks." In this excerpt, the author is trying to express to the reader the significance of the tattoos or piercings to people in foreign places. To us, we see it as a personal statement, because that is why people get tattoos in America. To them, the markings can mean a lot more. For a lot of people everywhere, a tattoo is something that has a lot of thought put into it and represents something that is meaningful to him or her. This notion makes sense considering that getting a tattoo is the most permanent thing a person can do to their body. As the quote says, if the markings don't have meaning behind them, then they must not be that important to the person. 

     There are plenty of people all around the world who have a genuine jokester attitude. In the third article, this can be seen as you scroll through the pictures of all of the ironic and funny tattoos that were strategically placed on these people's bodies. Just because these tattoos aren't necessarily sentimental or extremely meaningful to the person does not mean that the tattoo is something that these people should regret. Each of the pictures represented in the third article expressed the carefree attitudes of the people who got the tattoos. The fact that these specific tattoos aren't really that meaningful might cause some people to be judgmental towards them because they don't hold a strong significance. For example, my parents are both very against any tattoos or extra piercings anywhere on my body, however, if I were to get an ironic tattoo like one of the ones shown, I know for a fact that my mom would never forgive me. There is definitely a difference between a comically and emotionally significant tattoo. I believe that might be why some people can get offended when they see a tattoo with little to no meaning because it is such a permanent decision.