Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Students 'brand' themselves.

This is topic Students 'brand' themselves. in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 10-27-2009, 04:16 PM:

From the BBC.

'Fifteen university students have been permanently scarred after branding themselves with heated coat hangers.'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8327978.stm

Why? I really don't know what else I can say.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-27-2009, 04:24 PM:

Nothing new, really...

Brothers of Omega Psi Phi, the first national fraternity for Black students, have been branding each other for years.
There are lots of frats, Black and other races, which brand their brothers.

quote:

Burning Messages: Interpreting African American Fraternity Brands and Their Bearers
by Sandra Mizumoto Posey

Some members of Black Greek letter organizations voluntarily scar themselves by branding. Understanding this ritual requires going beyond the brand’s physical form and examining the personal and organizational narrative histories that often accompany it. As participants in a ongoing dialogue about what branding means today, fraternity members informally negotiate with brothers who do not support branding, family members who struggle with what it means to their own group identity, and most importantly, popular culture, which holds negative associations. The men who undergo branding, however, invert the narratives that explain branding as a mark of ownership and slavery and insist on defining its meaning for themselves.

http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voic30-3-4/burnmsgs.html

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-28-2009, 02:00 AM:

Yeah, that's one of those "body modification" fad thingies.

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 10-28-2009, 05:39 AM:

I have never liked anything enough to alter my body for it permanently. I can't imagine how stupid all of the women I know with Tweety tattoos on their hips will look when they are 80. Come to think of it, they look kind of stupid now. [Razz]

If someone wants to get a tattoo or body piercing that is their business. The only tattoo I ever thought was okay was the barbed wire around the bicep when that was the fad but I am so glad I didn't let my friends pressure me into it. Everyone seemed to get one of those tattoos and now people make fun of them on tv and in movies.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-28-2009, 10:55 AM:

The funniest tattoos to me are the "tramp stamp" for girls. So many girls were SO PROUD of those but now they probably wish they hadn't got them, since they acquired that nickname!

Wasn't it the movie "Wedding Crashers" that had the line, "Tattoo on the lower back...might as well be a target!"

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 10-28-2009, 01:38 PM:

quote: Joshua Waaland
I can't imagine how stupid all of the women I know with Tweety tattoos on their hips will look when they are 80.

By 80, I'm sure they'll be way beyond caring what you think about the tattoo. Heck, they might not even remember that they have it. [Wink]

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 10-28-2009, 10:28 PM:

"tramp stamp" for girls.
Or arse antlers.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-29-2009, 05:25 AM:

They give me a soft-on alright.

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 10-29-2009, 03:19 PM:

I print so many pictures of all kinds of tattoos. The thing that really gets me is how many women adorn bodies which clearly have been neglected. Not that I'd ever think of getting a tattoo of any kind, I'd at least work out a bit to give the artwork a better looking venue.

I mean, artists don't paint on a saggy canvas, do they? [Eek!]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-29-2009, 03:22 PM:

If you are in the Marines or something like that, a tattoo of "Semper Fi" or the like is cool. If you are a brother of Omega Psi Phi it might be cool to get a letter "Ω" branded on your arm. Theoretically, they are about the same thing.

But 90% of the time, I think tattooing, piercing or branding just for show is stupid. It cheapens the idea of tattooing.

A tattoo (or brand) is supposed to have meaning: You fought together with your fellow Marines or you lived in a fraternity with your brothers for four or more years. It's a mark of commitment.

When every idiot runs down to the corner tattoo parlor and gets some mystical symbols tattooed on his ass just because he thinks it's cool, he takes away from the meaning. Besides, those three Chinese characters that he thinks stand for "Strength, Courage and Honor" probably mean "I drink yak semen" but he's too stupid to find out what they mean before he actually goes under the needle.

When I see somebody with tattoos and there isn't an obvious meaning like the military or something, the first thought that comes to mind is, "Be a non-conformist. Everyone else is!"

Posted by Paul J. Neuhaus (Member # 3205) on 11-01-2009, 01:29 PM:

I met a guy at MCT(Marine Combat Training) that had both of his forearms branded with his fraternaty letters. He was extremely proud of it too.
I just can't understand it.
Is this branding required by some frats??