Tattoos are not just a mark on the skin, but also a symbol that represents something or someone in a person's life. In Skin Deep, written by Alexis Keinlen, also a journalist and literary editor of Ricepaper Magazine, he wrote the article Skin Deep providing several points on the history of tattoos and also letting his viewers know his opinion on the topic of tattoos for religious or also low how the person with tattoos appears compared to someone with zero tattoos. People should look beyond how tattoos may look because when choosing the right tattoo with a meaning it shouldn't matter what others think because the tattoo resembles something special in the person's life. At the beginning of Keinlen's article she begins by writing about a mother who lost her twenty-year-old son in a mountaineering accident. In memory of the loved one, several of the mother's children, friends, as well as the mother and father, have tattooed a certain type of deer with the sun as a background on their skin. This was their way of accepting their loved one's separation from this world. For some people this may be a way to cope and deal with a loved one taken from their life. It is amazing how people have the necessary tools and manual creativity to create beautiful and inspiring works known as art, to give people the satisfaction or comfort of knowing that they always have their loved one with them wherever they go. Having a tattoo for a personal reason can be fulfilling and very meaningful. And then there are people who see tattoos as a change in appearance, but in a negative and not-so-nice way. But why should anyone care what others think of them? They shouldn't. Because people who believe that you're a bad person or that you're basically... a paper medium... hey, they remind themselves and they hold themselves so close. Overall, tattoos should not make someone feel like they are a criminal or any less than they were moments before getting tattooed. Tattoos should be seen as works of art by artists who put time and beautiful work into their pieces. And nothing less because they are truly designs captured for life and if the tattoo is chosen for meaning and love over tattoos, much better. People will quickly understand that no one's thoughts should matter when it comes to a decision regarding their body. But only with their inner self because the choice is theirs and no one else's. Works Cited Keinlen, Alexis. 2005. “Skin Deep: Tattoos Mark the Surface of the Body. But their inspiration draws from a deeper source." Herizons.com. Herizons, Fall 2005, 19 (2): 24-28. Network. February 19. 2014.