By RAYMOND ADEEKO

Staff Writer

Ever since the old days, people, particularly youth, have used different means to express their creativity and uniqueness.

They have sometimes taken up new ways of life, such as a different style of music or attire, as a way of communicating their individual personalities.

One of the ways in which younger people have shown their expressiveness is through their indulgence in the art of body modification.

Dr. Gary Stokley, an associate professor of social sciences, said tattooing and body piercing has not always been favored by the American society.

He said the practice in the 1970s was considered to be vulgar and repulsive because those who engaged in it were social outcasts such as motorcycle gangs and cultists who rebelled against the society.

"It was considered to be a deviant activity that only people who were not going along with [the community] would do to show their frustration with society," Stokley said.

He said it portrayed a negative image and attached a stigma to anyone who did it.

According to the Web site http://www.freeessays.cc/db/43/sxr41.shtml, "Tattooing and body piercing are one of the many ways through which the youth may express their identity, for they are symbolic representations of how the self is conceived or understood."

In addition, Stokley said the popularity of body art has increased and evolved over the years and has become now more widely practiced and, as a result, less reprimandable.

"It graduated from a novelty to a fad and now to a movement and, although it was not accepted in the American culture before, it did not take very long for it to become a social movement," Stokley said. "When the dominant culture begins to accept the [ideologies and ways] of the lesser culture, it makes the act less deviant to the society."

Because of this, more and more people from different backgrounds are getting tattoos, whether they are prominently displayed or easily hidden from sight.

Royshanda Jackson, a sophomore family and child studies major, added the popularity of tattoos and piercings has been fueled by celebrities.

"I think it is growing more because you see actors and singers getting them," Jackson said. "The more they get them, the more we get them."

Stokley said another reason tattooing and body piercing is trendy is due to peer pressure. It is also a chance for youths to exercise their liberty.

"I think it is a personal choice that expresses their personal freedom," Stokley said. "[In most cases] their choice of tattoos reflects their group or who they identify with."

Charles Muraya, a junior architecture major, said he agrees with Stokley but added that it should not be overdone.

"People should not get meaningless tattoos," Muraya said. "They should get one or two that actually represents who they are."

Stokley said he believes the trend will continue to gain prominence and over time "lessen the impact of negativity more than it was in the past."