CAF Story | Tattoo
Video / May 14, 2019
Transcript
I am passionate about tattoos. Even though they're so popular now in culture, there is still a fair amount of people out there who look at you. I've been asked more than one time: "Why would you do that to yourself?"
Tattoos, they're fascinating because, number 1, I think they're beautiful. I certainly think they can be beautiful. There are certainly a lot of tattoos out there that make you go: "Hum". But for me, it's about helping me express myself. Tattoos tell us a lot about ourselves. They tell other people a lot about us.
Hawaii. I'm passionate about Hawaii. I love it from the first time I ever went there. It's just my zen place. It's where I'm my most natural self. So, I wanted some of that on me.
Something that makes me passionate about tattoos as well, it's not just the art itself, it's the ritual of being inked. It's why it's called being inked. It's a performance of identity.
And I look at getting a tattoo, it's a four-phase process and each phase, it's really interesting and it's really involving. And of course, the one phase that probably is a deterrent for a lot of people is the actual act of being inked and going through being tattooed. It is painful. That's part of it. It's something that you can't escape. Once it's done, it's this new identity that you have and it's having the ink as part of you for the rest of your life and living with that.
I know when I first considered getting my first tattoo, when I was going through that process, I was already in the Canadian Armed Forces. My husband, my partner was a senior officer and said: "Don't do it. You're an officer. Officers don't have tattoos." And I'm like: "Yeah, look around." You know, it's becoming so mainstream. Not just military, but celebrities, politicians.
So, it's becoming more mainstream, it's certainly more acceptable. When I went in, I actually drew a line on my arm where my shirt sleeve came down to and said: "If you could keep it above this, that would be great." Just because you're kind of in that in between stage, you know. The tattoo regulations are changing.
It's a big part of your identity. It affects how people see you, it affects how you project yourself.
One thing that I find, though, is that it's all well and good for someone to say: "I'm making this decision for myself. This is the personality I want to show. This is the identity I want to have." But those who are closest to us, it translates to them too. If we're walking in public, if I'm wearing a shirt like this, and you know, we're arm and arm, people may look at me and if they don't like tattoos, they look at him and they'll say: "What does he think about that? Oh, he must think that's okay." And that identity kind of translates to him even though he has no ink.
Being in the Canadian Armed Forces, and especially being now a senior officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, it's up to me to kind of show how this dress standard should be adhered to.
That being said, having tattoos, it is within the dress regulations. I think as long as we stick to the regulations, and you know, we don't have any tattoos that are offensive, because why would you want that anyway? But nothing racist, nothing derogatory.
So, it is mine and it is me. It's been a part of me for years and years now so, I don't even think about them much anymore. It's just like I may change my hair colour from time to time, change my makeup. You know, it's just part of how I present myself.