Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, So why exactly did folks in ancient times start
doing body art and why is it so popular today?
What motivated us then and now? A five thousand year
old mummy has offered some clues on what the old
motivation was. I'm Patty Steele. A surprising look into the
emotional and physical reasons we ink our bodies. That's next
(00:23):
on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. Tattoos are
everywhere now, from intricate sleeves to tiny, minimalist designs little flowers.
They are a form of self expression that's accepted and
even celebrated all over the world. But it wasn't always
that way. The story of tattoos through history is a
(00:47):
tale of rebellion, art, culture, and transformation as well as health.
Believe it or not, it's been used to celebrate people
and to stigmatize them. What about you? Do you think
body art is a way to share a little bit
of who you are with the rest of the world.
Or maybe you have a tiny, discrete tattoo in a
(01:07):
spot nobody can see except you and maybe your insiders,
or just maybe you totally don't get the whole tattoo
thing and wouldn't dream of getting one. But tattooing didn't
start out simply as self expression. There were physical, societal,
and spiritual reasons behind it. So what's the first tattoo
(01:28):
we have evidence of? Okay, it's five thousand years ago.
You live in the Tyrolean Alps what is now the
border region of Austria and Italy. It's really cold. Maybe
you have a little bit of arthritis pain. What do
you do for relief? Can't pop a pill? Right? So
maybe you do what Utzi did the Iceman of the Alps.
(01:50):
The Iceman's well preserved body was found by two German
hikers in nineteen ninety one. It was mummified and frozen,
with part of his upper body sticking out of the
eyes due to a very warm summer that year. Who
was he Letzee was probably a shepherd in the mountains
where he died. He was about forty five years old
and on the small side at least these days, five
(02:12):
foot three, weighing about one hundred and ten pounds, probably
not unusual in size in those days. Researchers think he
was killed by arrival, since an arrow made of flint
was found deep in his shoulder blade. For thirty years.
They have studied his body from DNA to stomach contents
to illnesses, and he had a bunch of those. The
(02:33):
Iceman is thought to have had cavities, arthritis, arterial sclerosis,
maybe lime disease, a stomach infection, and also lactose intolerance
and stress. How do they know all that? That's interesting?
So how did he find relief from all that? Back
to the tattoos. Letzee was also found to have sixty
(02:54):
one now fairly faint tattoos on his body. He had
small dots and crosses on his lower spine and his
right knee as well as his ankle joints, and those
joints all show arthritis, so voila. Researchers think he got
ink to help alleviate joint pain, not to show off
his status or even body art. So tattoos had mystical
(03:18):
powers associated with them in a lot of societies going
back in Iceman's case, well over five thousand years. But
when it comes to spiritual and artistic motivations for body art,
there's plenty of evidence there as well. Tattoos have been
discovered on mummified bodies from ancient Egypt, where there were
probably protective symbols placed on the thighs, bellies, and breasts
(03:42):
to help women through childbirth. In Polynesian cultures, tattoos were
created to tell a person's life story, who they were,
what they'd achieved, their rank and society, and their connections
in the community. In fact, the word tattoo actually comes
from the Polynesian word tatao, meaning to, and in Japan,
tattoos evolved into a really complex art form, but they
(04:06):
also sometimes had a dark history since they were used
to permanently mark criminals, and twenty five hundred years ago
in what is now Siberia, tattoos were essential if you
were an aristocrat. To not have one meant you were
of low birth, really not worth anybody's time. Moving ahead, though,
we see the darker attitude toward tattoos take hold as
(04:28):
they arrived in the Western world in the fifteen and
sixteen hundreds thanks to sailors. These guys saw tattoos on
the indigenous people of the South Pacific and Africa, and
they admired them. Sailors began telling their own stories through
body art. They'd returned to Europe with all this exotic ink,
and pretty soon tattoos were associated with the seafaring life.
(04:51):
For the sailors, tattoos were badges of honor, proof of
the places they'd been, the battles they'd survived, and even
their superstitions. Anchor tattoos symbolize stability and hope, while swallows
meant safe returns. But mainstream society saw tattoos in a
whole different light. They represented the rough and rebellious life
(05:13):
of a sailor. They marked you as an outsider, and
for a long time, that's how they remained right up
into the middle of the twentieth century, symbols of rebellion,
commitment to a subculture, or signs that you were part
of an underground community, and that attitude would only deepen.
In fact, among traditional Jewish people, tattoos were looked at
(05:34):
really negatively. They saw it as a mark of prisoners
and slaves, kind of mutilating our bodies, which were a
gift from God. The numbered tattoos given to Jewish people
who were put in concentration camps by the Nazis in
the nineteen thirties and forties only strengthen that belief. But
those attitudes are changing. In the nineteen sixties and seventies,
(05:57):
tattoos took on a whole new meaning thanks to the
culture movements. As people started questioning authority, tattoos became a
way to make a statement of saying I don't conform. Suddenly,
tattoos were cool, but only if you were part of
the counterculture. The next big transformation came in the nineteen seventies, eighties,
and nineties thanks to music and celebrity culture. Rock stars
(06:21):
and punk icons like the Sex Pistols, Motley Crew, Guns N'
Roses showed off their tattoos. They were a part of
their image and for their fans, getting inked honored their heroes.
By the early two thousands, we started to see more
acceptance by everyday people and even in the workplace. Celebrities
also played a huge role in this shift. Actors, athletes,
(06:44):
and again pop stars began showing off their ink. Everybody,
from Angelina, Joe Lee, and David Beckham to Rihanna and
Justin Bieber. Suddenly having a tattoo wasn't just okay, it
was cool and fashionable. It's hard to imagine a time
when tattoos were seen as scandalous considering how common they
are now. A twenty nineteen survey says almost forty percent
(07:07):
of Americans between eighteen and thirty four have at least
one tattoo. Wow. That is a huge shift from just
a few decades ago. Right, Tattoos are now embraced across
all walks of life, from blue collar workers to CEOs, teachers, doctors,
and everybody in between. At the end of the day,
all of this is a reminder of how society's views evolve.
(07:30):
What was rebellious, dangerous, scandalous or other is now mainstream.
Tattoos went from being stigmatized marks of sailors, criminals, and
rebels to being an art form that shows your individuality, milestones,
or simply tells your personal story. Perceptions can shift, something
marginalized can become celebrated, and the stories we tell with
(07:54):
our skin can be just as meaningful as any written word.
Hope you're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele. Follow or
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feel free to dm me if you have a story
you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele
(08:16):
and on Instagram reel Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The
Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Duran Group,
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our
writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
(08:37):
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't
know you needed to know.