Legalizing Tattooing in South Carolina

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What is tattooing?

Tattooing is the art of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, or legends by making pricks and inserting colored ink. The word itself has its origins in the South Pacific. The art had been referred to as pricking, scarring, or staining until explorer Captain James Cook encountered the indigenous peoples of Tahiti. (Wilkinson 6)

Tattooing is not just a recent fad. Tattooing has been around for a very long time. "The current first proven incident of a tattoo dates back 4,000 years B.C. a traveler was found in Italy near Austria, preserved in the permafrost of a glacier. Carbon dating and arte facts found near him suggest that he is over 5,300 years old" (Tattoos and Design). Tattoos have been used to identify a person with a particular group or just to decorate a person's body. "Some designs are symbolic: In Japan, carp mean bravery; peonies mean good fortune" (McNab 42).

As tattooing became more and more popular, tattoo parlors started opening all over the United States. In the 1950's, an outbreak of Hepatitis was blamed on an unsanitary tattoo parlor in New York City. When the outbreak occurred, it sent a panic through America. James Kilpatrick remarks on its effects in one of his articles stating, "An outbreak of Hepatitis in New York was attributed to an unsanitary tattoo parlor on Coney Island. This led to federal guidelines for tattoo artists in 1985, and to a host of state regulations." The individual state governments thought it best to stop it from spreading any more than it already had, starting with the current highlight, tattooing. All states adopted a law banning this practice. Since this ban in the 1950's, all states, except South Carolina and Oklahoma, have done awa...

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...ith the most votes wins. The people of South Carolina have not been able to vote on the issue of tattooing. The only ones that have had a say in this issue are the lawmakers. Going back to the rule of the majority, only two states out of fifty still have a ban on the practice. South Carolina is an outcast, alongside Oklahoma.

There are many qualities that South Carolina would gain by legalizing tattooing. More money and more jobs would help the state's overall well being and the well being of the people in it. Not only would it help the state but the people have the right to choose whether they want a tattoo or not. The choice should not be made for them. If they want one then they will get it one way or another. Whether they have to drive all day or just get it done illegally, people will get what they want. Why not take advantage of the unavoidable?

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