科學表示:有紋身的女孩兒自尊心更強
A few years ago, a friend of mine moved back to California after living in New York for many years. The most shocking thing wasn't her much more assertive personality - it was that she had gone from having one tattoo to someone who had inked almost her entire body.
幾年前，我的一個朋友在紐約生活多年後又搬回了加州。最令我震驚的並不是她變得更加自信--而是她原本只有一個紋身，現在卻幾乎滿身都是。She had a three-color dragon tattoo that curled down from her left shoulder blade to the center of her back, vintage pin-ups on each arm, and gardens of exotic flowers on her legs. She was a breathing canvas for art, and it took me a while to remember that she was still my friend, the woman with whom I shared my secrets.
她有一個三色的龍紋身，從左肩胛骨盤繞到後背的中間部分、每條胳膊上都紋有宣傳畫、腿上紋有奇花異草的花園。她是會呼吸的藝術畫布，我過了好久纔想起來她仍是我的朋友，那個我與之分享祕密的姑娘。A recent study found that women with multiple tattoos have higher self-esteem than those with less than four, or none.
最近的一項研究發現：與紋身少於四個或者一個都沒有的女性相比，紋身多的女性自尊心也相對更高。
But the researchers also found that women with tattoos are much more likely to have had a history of suicide attempts, though the study did point out that multiple-tattooed women do not become more depressed or suicidal as their body ink grows.
但研究人員還發現：有紋身的女性更有可能嘗試過自殺，儘管研究還指出，有着多個紋身的女性不會隨着身體中墨水量的增多而變得更抑鬱或更想自殺。
Lead researcher, Texas Tech University sociology professor Jerome Koch said, "I think women are more aware of their bodies through, among other things, fat-shaming, the cosmetics and plastic surgery industry, and hyper-sexualized imagery in media. What we may be seeing is women translating that awareness into empowerment."
首席研究員、德克薩斯理工大學的社會學教授傑羅姆·科赫說道，"我覺得除了其它因素以外，女性會通過肥胖羞恥感、化妝品和整形外科行業以及媒體中的超性意象而更加了解自己的身體。我們看到的是：女性會將這種意識轉化爲賦權。"We know women sometimes replace a surgically removed breast with elegant body art. We wonder if more tattoos might be a way of reclaiming a sense of self in the wake of an emotional loss - evidenced by a suicide attempt.
我們知道，女性有時候會用優雅的人體藝術取代被手術切除的乳房。我們思考：更多的紋身是不是情緒失落後恢復自我感覺的一種方式--以企圖自殺爲證。It's empowering to turn something that pains you or that you feel is ugly (like a scar) into art, and even if you're not someone with tattoos, they are indeed an art form. Some people use tattoos as a way of remembering a death; either of a relationship or a loved one, as tattoos can be a map of a person's emotional life. They're a coping mechanism - something that gives them strength.
將使你痛苦或者你覺得醜陋的東西（比如傷疤）變爲藝術會讓你感到十分有力，即使你沒有紋身，但它的確是一種藝術形式。有些人將紋身視作記憶死亡的一種方式；不管是一段沒有結果的戀情還是消失的愛人，因爲紋身可以是一個人情感生活的地圖。它們是一種應對機制--能夠賦予人們力量。An article in Psychology Today put it this way: "As a symbol and a behavior, the tattoo has power." If having multiple tattoos makes someone feel as if they've got their power back and gives them more self-confidence and self-love, then tattoos are more than art... they're a survival skill.
Psychology Today刊出的一篇文章寫道："作爲一種象徵和行爲，紋身擁有力量。"如果擁有多個紋身能使人們重新擁有力量、讓他們感覺更自信、自愛，那紋身就不僅只是門藝術，它也是生存技能。
