The Meaning Behind Tattoos- Weber

            In this blog we will be focusing on Max Weber and what his thoughts on tattoos would be. Weber looks at the actions and behaviour of an individual or society as a whole.  He believes that by looking at the actions/behaviours he can figure out why people do what they do. A word that Weber uses a lot is Verstehen, which means to interpret or understand. This sociologist tries to understand individual’s actions and motivations. Weber explains that actions can be either observable or imaginary. When he says observable it means the physical action that has been done. Weber thinks of imaginary actions as figuring out the real meaning behind the actions that we say and do.

            Weber would look at tattoos as the actions/ behaviour that individuals do. This is an observable action that society can see on various individuals. Tattoos are becoming more familiar to today’s society, so this action would be viewed at on a society basis not so much an individual basis. You could most definitely look at why certain individuals get the tattoos that they get. This would be the imaginary action by wanting to know certain meanings behind each tattoo. Some people just get tattoos because they think it looks cool while other people get tattoos because they have some sort of meaning behind it. For an example, I have two tattoos which both have sentimental meaning behind getting them.

This particular tattoo that I have I got because my grandma and I were really close. She passed away suddenly. The writing on this tattoo is from one of the last cards that my Nanna ever gave to me, which says, “I miss you so much.” I added birds to it because she used to sit outside and watch the birds. She flew away way too soon. 

My blog partner also has a tattoo with sentimental meaning behind it. Stephanie has three calla lilies with the name Stephanie written among them, going up the right side of her spine. Her best friend Stephanie died of a very rare cancer when she was 16. They first met in a field full of flowers.

Weber categorizes social actions into four different categories: instrumental-rational action, value-rational action, traditional action and affective action. Instrumental-rational action refers to the advantages and disadvantages you receive from doing that action. Value-rational action is when you strategically make a plan up to achieve a goal. Traditional action is when a behaviour turns into a habit. Lastly, Weber describes an affective action as a display of unchecked emotions.

Every action or behaviour that we have is a result of one of these social actions and can be placed in a category. Just like getting tattoos, the meaning behind getting certain tattoos can be placed into one of those four categories. Weber would question society as to why people are getting tattoos in the first place, what is the point of it. If Weber understood why one individual got a tattoo it would help him understand why others get tattoos as well.

In today’s society the population is filled with individuals that have tattoos. Some people get them for various reasons. Some have a lot of meaning behind it, others get them just because they look good.  It is incapable to generalize why society as a whole gets tattoos because there are different motivations behind every tattoo. One thing that is correct is that every individual has their own reason behind their actions and behaviours to get certain tattoos. Everyone has a reason behind their actions and behaviours, just because individuals have tattoos on their bodies it shouldn’t make them any different then anyone else.