Henna artist warns about the danger of so-called 'black henna'

Body Mod Chicago moves to Chicago Now

Body Mod Chicago has moved to Chicago Now. All future posting will be on that platform. You can follow me on Chicago Now here.

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Tattoo project strengthens Ky. community

the Lexington Tattoo project founders, Kremena Todorova and Kurt Gohde hope to exhibit the final video product of the project in galleries, Gohde said.

A lot of people wouldn’t think of Lexington, Ky. as a place with a vibrant community, according to Kremena Todorova, artist and professor at Transylvania University.

But the town was home to the Lexington Tattoo Project, a community-based art project produced by Todorova and her colleague, Kurt Gohde.

The two artists had been thinking about creating artwork that involved tattoos and community pride for awhile, but they weren’t sure exactly what to do, Todorova said. 

“It was obvious to us ... that people just loved the community and the town, and were very committed to each other. ... We wanted to figure out a way to somehow capture that love for Lexington,” Todorova said. 

Bianca Spriggs, a local poet, wrote the poem that provided the foundation for the project.

Todorova and Gohde had worked with Spriggs before and it was at a poetry reading in 2012 that they decided to ask her to participate in the tattoo project.  

“There was something about hearing her voice ... that made both of us have pretty much the same realization that we should ask Bianca ... to write a poem as a love letter to Lexington and then find enough people to have one word from the poem tattooed on their bodies,” Todorova said. 

Todorova and Gohde divided the nearly 500-word poem into single words, phrases and punctuation marks that would be the tattoo options. They posted the options to the project’s Facebook group and participants submitted their top three choices. 

The process worked surprising well. Of the 253 participants, only 17 people didn’t get one of their choices, according to Gohde. 

But the tattoos aren’t just text. Every tattoo also has a number of circles and dots as a part of the overall image the poem was laid over, Todorova said. 

The image is based on New Circle Road, one of the main, landmark roads in Lexington, Todorova said. 

The project created a new community, Gohde said. 

Many people met at the project’s meet and greets, the tattoo or photography sessions, and “in the wild,” as it’s sometimes referred to, Gohde said. 

 “When they spot someone else with a tattoo that's part of this project that they don't know then they kinda connect with each other through that,” Gohde said. 

People said that the project made them proud to publicize Lexington as their home, Gohde said. 

“It gives them a way to ... say that Lexington is a really exciting place,” he added.  

The project was funded by local, private sponsors. That fundraising model has had a big impact in terms of people realizing what’s possible for community artwork, Gohde said. 

“It’s enabled other people who are interested in doing community projects ... to realize that it can happen,” he said.

The preview can be seen below.  

NY Assemblywoman sponsors bill to ban tattooing of pets

Tattooing and piercing pets is cruel and should be illegal, according to Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, who is sponsoring a bill to outlaw the practice.

Rosenthal introduced the bill in 2011 after she learned of a woman selling kittens online. 

“Those kittens had been pierced on the face, on the neck and down the length of the spine. ... She was selling them as gothic kittens,” Rosenthal said. 

“I did a little more research. ... I learned that it’s much more commonplace than one would think,” she added.   

A recent case involving a Brooklyn tattoo artist who inked his dog has added to the bill’s importance, Rosenthal said. 

“Why should an animal be subject to the owner’s whims in terms of how the owner wants to ‘decorate’ the animal? It’s really horrible,” Rosenthal said. 

Tattooing pets could potentially be considered illegal under animal cruelty laws, but Rosenthal said she wanted to make the ban explicit. 

The Humane Society of New York supports the bill, according to Sandra DeFeo, executive director of the society.

Animals should only be tattooed for a medical reason, such as identification, DeFeo said. 

“If you have a medical reason to do it, you say the medical outweighs the risk because you’re trying to make an animal better or you’re trying to help an animal,” DeFeo said. 

But cosmetic tattooing has no benefit, according to DeFeo. 

“An animal doesn’t necessarily think ‘Oh, I want to have a tattoo of a star on my shoulder.’ ... You’re imposing your will on them to do that,” DeFeo said.

Sedation risks must be considered, too, DeFeo said. 

“Sedation shouldn’t be taken lightly. ...When you have anesthesia ... there’s always risks involved," DeFeo said. 

The bill has bipartisan support and could pass when the legislative session ends, near June, Rosenthal said. 

Chicago's progressive new initiative might help teen health

Chicago Public Schools will be expanding a program that will provide high-school kids with free condoms.

The teen birth rate in Chicago is 57 per 1,000, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. This rate is higher that the New York rate and higher than the U.S. rate, according to CDPH.

WBEZ had a great segment about the issue this week.



While teen pregnancy rates have dropped in recent years, there are still disparities in terms of race. Latina and African American teens are also two to three times more likely to give birth than Caucasian teens, according to Chicago's Action Plan for Healthy Adolescents.

The issue of STDs and HIV is also still a big problem, particularly among minority teenagers.

But will this initiative actually help protect teens? It worked in New York, so the odds might be good.

Illinois began requiring comprehensive sex-ed in 2013 and to now take it a step further shows a promising progressive future on the teen health front.

Teacher allegedly calls 12-year-old girl 'sassy slut'

A teacher has been put on paid administrative leave after reportedly calling a 12-year-old girl a “sassy slut.” 

That's right -- call an adolescent misogynistic names in front of her peers, get a paid week off work. 

To apply a word like “slut” to a child barely old enough to menstruate speaks volumes about the way some - for instance, this teacher - think about women, women's sexuality and women's 'place' in the world. Why not simply, ‘brat’ if a derogatory term were in order? Not to advocate that teachers go around taking their stress out on their charges, but why the word choice here? 

From a young age, girls are taught where they stand in the world. This is more subtly done, now. But word choice matters. One blogger has even been trying to promote the Ban Bossy campaign because of the double-standards of the language. Girls are "bossy" whereas their male classmates are "assertive." 

Even dress codes can set double-standards. 

Recently in Evanston, Ill. there was wide-debate surrounding Haven Middle school's dress code which appeared to ban girls from wearing leggings. Some parent's complained that the dress code was also unfairly enforced. The school has since decided against the ban, but the girls still are required to wear shorts or skirts over their leggings. 

Adolescents learn by observation. So, what is the greater impact when girls who are still growing into themselves and figuring out where they fit in, are called bossy, distracting sluts before they can even get their ears pierced? 

Let's all just go buy some GoldieBlox blocks. 

Marketing teams take advantage of social issues for LGBT dollars.

Recently, the Supreme Court turned down a case that addresses the issue of freedom of expression and businesses' ability to discriminate against individuals in the LGBT community.

Elane Photography, a wedding photography business in New Mexico, brought the case to the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled that the company was violating the New Mexico Human Rights Act by refusing to photograph a lesbian couple's wedding.

This isn't the first time a company has tried to discriminate based on sexual orientation to little avail.

Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigned this week following a controversy on the Web about his donation to the Proposition 8 campaign.

More and more businesses are coming out in support of the LGBT community. Honey Maid, most recently, produced a new campaign with an ad that featured a two-dad family.




 Honey Maid responded to criticism with another pro-LGBT video.





As society shifts on the issue of equality, companies seem to be spotting an new in, if you will. A chance to brand themselves in a whole new way.

This is brilliant, from a marketing standpoint. After all, the 'pink dollar' market can still be tapped.

 

LGBT equality is an issue that is ever-present in the media and on the Web these days, which isn't a bad thing. These are fights that still need to be fought and if big businesses want to sign on, the more the merrier.

But people might be cheering just a little too loudly for companies that 'come out' as allies, forgetting that at the end of it, it comes down to those dollars. It's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it's just the nature and necessity of sales. Of course, voting with your dollar is practical in some sense. Almost as practical as equality, though. Rather than "hurrah," the phrase should be "it's about time."