Week 6 Journal

I believe that the three most important concepts we’ve covered thus far are actually the divisions of what defines everyday writing. With my current understanding, I would say they are the importance of having a purpose (or exigence) for writing what ever you’re writing, the importance of that piece of writing not being connected to an institution, and the informality of the actual piece of writing. This being said, would tattooing be everyday writing?

Emily mentioned the difference between institutionalized tattooing of HIV/AIDS victims and tattoo culture as of now. I would have to agree with her and say that tattoo culture as of right now definitely falls under the category of everyday writing, but were we to institutionalize it and make it mandatory for victims to be tattooed, it would no longer be everyday writing. Right now, tattoos (generally) have a purpose to communicate something about the person they reside on. They are not extremely formal as they are worn everywhere. And they are created out of freewill and not because anyone else mandates they be gotten. While the cautionary AIDS tattoo would still have a purpose, when mandated by the government they would be very institutionalized and probably a lot more formal. The “Action=Life” tattoo, or the biohazardous waste symbol, have a certain personality to them, but this is because again, they were made by choice and allowed creative freedom. Were these people forced to get a tattoo of some symbol preapproved by the government to represent HIV/AIDS and then tattooed in a certain area, the creativity and informality would be gone, and so would the tattoo’s identification as everyday writing.