TATOOS AND GANGS

deviantart.com by Umert

www.endganglife.ca

www.endganglife.ca

I think more and more people wear tattoos to remember where they came from, what they lived, what were thier choises, to have a reminder of persons or moments. Because wear a tattoo is telling a story of a life time or just a crazy moment. Because some people want to remember something, somebody, or anything, for ever. It's true that in today's society, tattoos have become a new fashion. But it's true that if you want something that you are happy enough to be permanently commited or tied for the rest of your life, then go ahead and get it. People don't just want to have a tattoo like a physical representation of something that left a scar on their heart but also for aesthetic reasons. We like to change, to take decissions, to build our personallity. And fashions, are also part of our life. And if somebody decides to have a tattoo done and then they stop liking it, this tattoo remains a reminder that you have changed and that you have to be proud of you.

It's not that unusual for young people to join a gang. Often the more excluded in society for any reason like being south american or afro-aferican, or they have family problems,etc. They want to feel they belong to something, they want to feel that they have a family or rather a surrogate family. They look for love or appreciation but usually that is not the result. One other reason why young people join a gang is the extreme facility to earn money by selling drugs or guns because of their high prices and the quantity of people that consumes or buy guns. Be in a gang it's be feared, stop following rules that are not your gang ones, have a social status and the most important, have easy money each day. 

In the gang society tattoos have a lot of meanings. Usually a gang member has a black teardrop tattoed just bellow the eye to represent the number of persons killed or how times you've being in jail. Ganster usually get plenty of tattoos, usually with the name of the gang or portraits of their family members because it's usually difficult keep the contact with your family and gang members really appreciate family ties. The more tattoos you have means the more money you have and for example with the teardrop tattoo, the more respect you have. In gangs when a person have no moral guilt or conscience it's when he starts being more respected and the tattoos can be a sign of the respect that the other gang members should have to you and often an identification mark.