Marines Ban Tattoos

Fast on the heels of yesterday's post about banning some forms of body modification, comes the news that the Marines have banned "any new, extra-large tattoos below the elbow or the knee."

Shakes points out that this is the whitewashed front that is meant to hide the ugly core. And of course she's right. It's not unlike banning the coffins of returning soldiers from appearing on TV. But I want to add that it is a part of the creeping Puritanism that I talked about yesterday.

This culture is increasingly trying to legislate and enforce a monolithic image of whiteness and purity, even while we become more diverse and pluralistic. Frankly, it freaks me out.

The suppression of diversity among those who "fight for freedom" is more than ironic, but more insidious than that is the notion that there is only one way to have a "professional demeanor." The Corps says they "represent...traditional values" and so I must ask, whose tradition? Whose values? The values of the Marines risking their lives are expressed in the tattoos they choose.

(Semper cross-post!)