Gothic Tatoos, Gothic Piercings

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Each of the three X-tra-X shops is distinctive. Alexa describes them: "In Berlin, we have a big metallic-winged angel looking out for us; in Karlsruhe, the shop is decorated in vampire-comic style Purgatory with Lady Death; the Ulm shop looks like a voodoo-rocking hell for vampires, with lots of gargoyles, angels, and demons."
Alexa says she and Monaco have "both been interested in goth and vampires since we were fourteen. In Germany, there had been no way to buy clothes or accessories for gothic people, so we tried to offer everything. I love goths—we carry mystery and darkness. We're free and do what we want to do." X-tra-X is like a goth department store, offering more than 5,000 items to their customers, 80 percent of whom are goths. They also count a number of bands among their clientele: Das Ich, Clan of Xymox, 69 Eyes, Dimmu Gorgir, and Theatre of Tragedy.
X-tra-X enjoys feedback from their customers, "especially goth marriages, where they write thanking us for the beautiful clothes. It makes our day!" And while the shop has never had a bad experience with goths, they have had some frightening moments. "Whenever a sensational headline about goths and Satanic practices appears in the paper—like 'goths' killing cats and stupid untrue things like that—the normal people come in to yell at us that we're aggressive aliens, or serial killers!"
permanent PS. temporary, or, uts R us
For the mainstream, tattoos evoke images of carnival sideshow acts, tribal cultures from exotic-sounding but primitive locales, and drunken sailors on shore leave sobbing as the word "Mom" is stenciled inside a heart and inked onto the skin over a biceps. (In reality, most tattoo artists refuse to work on an inebriated body, since excess bleeding due to alcohol-thinned blood means more danger of infection, plus the tat will not hold.)
It has been argued that tattooing goes back 12,000 years B.C. "Utzi," the so-called mummified Ice Man discovered in the Alps in the early 1990s, is 5,000 years old, and he sports tattoos. The Bog People, mummified remains found in the bogs of northwestern Europe, the oldest dating to 8000 B.C., show tattoos on their preserved skin. We have drawings of Egyptian priests and priestesses from 2000 B.C. with tattoos clearly visible. The ancient Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs loved to tattoo their bodies. The Vikings preferred to depict their family crest on their skin. The ancient Romans tattooed their slaves, and both the Romans and the Americans tattooed
Tattooing Recipe from 6 A.D. Rome
Courtesy Aetius, Roman physician
11b. Egyptian pine wood bark 2 ounces corroded bronze, ground
with vinegar
2 ounces of gall (insect egg deposits) 1 ounce vitriol (iron sulphate)
Mix well and sift. Soak powder in 2 parts water and 1 park leek juice. Wash skin to be tattooed with leek juice. Prick design with needles until blood is drawn. Rub in the ink.

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THE ACCOUTRErtiEriTS OF GOTH

criminals. In the UK, army deserters were marked in this way. And the Nazis tattooed dehumanizing numbers on the wrists of those they interned in concentration camps.
The word we use for the process comes from the Tahitian word tatau, meaning "to mark something." Tattooing is simple: cut or prick the skin, insert pigment or coloring into the scratch. Anyone can do it, and some do their own. But not everyone is an artist and, because the pigment is under the skin, the color is permanent. Laser skin shaving and reinking with something close to a natural skin tone are the happiest ways of "removing" a tattoo, which still leaves a scar. Traditional implements for creating a tattoo were sharpened bones, thorns, knives, and needles. Modern practitioners use electric needles.
Tattooing not only goes back to antiquity, but has been found in most cultures, and often holds deep cultural and spiritual significance. The art has soared in popularity in the last few decades, especially among youth and members of subcultures, who reflect the modern primitive expression of what they value. Human beings will have ink and dye injected just under the skin for a variety of reasons. Ornamentation is a big one, ritual another, and emotions sometimes dictate decisions. But the deepest songs of the human heart and soul probably account for most designs.
The majority of The j- Section have tattoos, often quite a few. Goths tend to prefer their tattoos, like most everything, black. And black with grey shading is popular. Black outlines colored in are rare on goths, although red is one favored hue. So-called tribal patterns and Celtic designs are popular. Some of The \ Section, such as Cemetery Crow, Ravenheart, and Micah, designed their body ornamentation. But even for those goths who have had an artist create the image, tattoos are usually extremely personal. Sometimes, they are a way to mark life-altering experiences.
piercing reality
Every major city in the world now has a plethora of piercing shops, but not all piercers are experts. Many goths like to self-pierce, but most pro piercers say it's better to see a knowledgable professional who has studied anatomy and sterilization procedures, and has the best equipment for the job. "Piercing," says professional piercer Pierre Black, "whether for aesthetic or spiritual reasons, should be a good experience, even fun. Pain is subjective, but certainly it should not be an ordeal."
TATTOOS OF THE f SECTION
Angel "A black tribal design back of
my neck (to mark my first year of
celibacy); a black dragon on my
shoulder (victory dragon, for beating
cancer); biohazard symbol on my lower
back (reminder to keep body clean
and disease-free)."
CDedca j
"My husband and I exchanged tattoos for wedding gifts."
£or& G)A6£> "Tbe Chinese pictogram
meaning to make music. If I ever find
someone to spend my life with, I will
get two more-To make love and
to make a Family."
Zcrstoerte "I've lost count! I keep adding onto older tattoos, so they're becoming one big one! [laughing out loud]. I've probably been tattooed at least thirty-five separate times."
Beacon Sytb "I have many tattoos
but regret one of them. The NHL
Colorado Avalanche logo on my left
shoulder blade-it will be covered soon."

THE GOTH BiBLE
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Jewelry needed for the body is different from the jewelry used for pierced ears. One requirement is that the piece be smooth and seamless. Implant-grade stainless steel is often recommended, or titanium, or gold no less than 14K.
Pierre says using topical or injected anesthetics for piercing isn't a good idea. "While they may slightly reduce the pain of the procedure, ultimately they can cause more pain, bleeding, and swelling later. And applying ice before the procedure will increase the pain, and may cause bruising."
The body does not often reject a piercing—a process wherein the pierced skin slowly dies and the jewelry is pushed out. Piercing of some parts of the flesh is more prone to rejection than of others. Skin, post-piercing, must be cared for properly. If infection does occur, Pierre says there are "dozens of products that should not be used, and could prove dangerous, including Polysporin, Vaseline, aspirin, vitamin E, rubbing alcohol, to name just a few. One safe treatment is salt water, made with one-fourth to one-half teaspoon sea salt in 250 milliliters of warm water." He points out that severe infection is extremely rare. Symptoms of serious problems are: Skin around the piercing turns green, purple, or black; skin swells beyond the capacity of the jewelry; extreme pain; numbness or hardening of the skin around the piercing; pus from an infection is dark green or mixed with blood; a lump, cyst, or abscess forms near the piercing. For such extreme symptoms, he suggests not removing the jewelry, but rushing to see your professional piercer, who can likely clear up the infection easily or, if need be, recommend that you see a doctor.
Body piercing probably goes back to the caves. Museums hold fragments of pottery that prove the long history, like the image from Iraq in the ninth century B.C. of a man with ear piercings. We know the ancient Egyptians pierced, even the ears and noses of their cats, and they also used ear cuffs. Piercing has been done for beauty, for religious or spiritual purposes, and as a rite of passage. The Tlingit of Alaska used piercings to indicate social status—the more, the wealthier. Multiple piercings are not new. Statues from Iran in 3500—2900 B.C. show people with dozens of ear piercings. Stretching of earlobes has been done in a variety of cultures, and modern ear plugs and spools resemble those of the ancient Mayans. Until the nineteenth century, the Eskimos of Alaska wore bone lip plugs, called labrets. Another universally popular place to pierce is the nose, on either side of the nostril, or through the septum (middle).
Sally admits "I have only a tiny little one.
It was an allergy test for the ink, and I
was allergic. It's a spiral."

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THE ACCOUTREmenTS OF GOTH
But the most controversal piercings involve the genitals. The male version once again takes us back to Victorian England. The very same Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, had his penis pierced, and in so doing bequeathed such piercings his name. In Victorian England a pierced penis was not uncommon, and the jewelry worn came to be known as a "dressing ring." The ring on the pierced penis head attached to a hook on the inside of the trousers so that the organ could be held firmly against the leg to minimize the bulge when wearing those tight britches that Beau Brummell made so fashionable. Tailors of the day would inquire if a gentleman dressed to the left or the right, and tailor the trousers accordingly. The royally approved rumor has it that Prince Albert wore his to hold back his foreskin in order to keep his genitals sweet-smelling for the Queen, but we know his piercing was done prior to his marriage. Since we also know that Victoria loved him passionately, that she bore nine children, and that she mourned his passing for nearly half a century, we can assume that the erotic advantages of this piercing did not escape Her Majesty's notice.
Genital piercing in females is often confused with female genital mutilation, aka female circumcision, which it is not. The latter is a serious and sometimes life-threatening procedure forcibly performed on girls between the ages of four and ten in Africa, and parts of the Middle East and Asia, the most severe types occurring in the Somalian and the Sudanese populations. This ritual act goes back to antiquity, and local healers and midwives still use knives, razor blades, broken glass, or scissors to remove, without anesthesia, the clitoris and/or all the skin surrounding it, including the labia minora, and in severe cases, the labia majora. To control the bleeding from the clitoral artery and raw tissue surfaces, crude stitches are made with catgut or thorns, and mud poultices are applied. The risks are great: hemorrhage, shock due to secondary blood loss or extreme pain, local infection that fails to heal, septicemia, tetanus, trauma to the adjacent structures, and urinary retention—not to mention the psychological effects from all of the above, as well as from being seized and forcibly held during the procedure. The results are lack of sexual pleasure during intercourse, and extreme difficulty during childbirth.
Genital piercings, which enlightened women may have performed on their clitoral hood and other parts of the female genitalia, are done intentionally by the person pierced, for various reasons, including aesthetics, a private ritual, and enhancement of sexual pleasure.
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Multiple ear piercings are common among goths. Other areas of flesh The f Section have had pierced are eyebrow, frenum (fold of skin), lips, nipples, navels, noses, scrotums, throats, and tongues.
A few other types of body modification exist, like implants beneath the skin, which are exceptional. Intentional scarring through cutting is more common, and usually involves personal ritual. Branding is still extremely rare.

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