Hot Topic: Tattoos, Piercings and Colorful Hair

I come from a Catholic family. My dad works full time and my mother is a stay-at-home mom. There's nothing overtly exciting about my family and I don't think I want anything like that in my life. Mediocrity is underrated and I feel like being ordinary has its subtle charms. However, I have been raised in a box of normality. I was conditioned to believe that a clean slate of skin is normal and natural-colored hair should be kept that way. Anything that falls out of the box is considered a tragedy.

Let's get to it:

I have never dyed my hair nor do I have any tattoos or piercings outside my earlobes. I was raised 'clean' because I was taught to see the opposition as 'dirty'. I am not allowed to get tattoos no matter the meaning behind it, nor am I allowed to marry a man with tattoos. Dying my hair, even if it's a lighter shade of brown, will invite a tirade of abuse from my mother. Don't even get me started on piercings outside of the ears. They say my body is a temple and I have to treat it like so.

My individuality is restrained to my inner self. I can express myself through writing and words but never through my appearance. I have been taught that my hair should be natural, tattoos are forbidden, and anything that defies the norm of the human body should be kept at a safe distance at all times.

But the problem is, I want to dye my hair. I want to color it light blue or pink or have the tips dyed bright green. I want to be colorful because my hair is just a part of my personality as my thoughts. I am still young, but people might argue that the days of self-gratification is over. I will turn 20 soon, and I doubt that many companies want to hire a girl with green hair, and I understand that.

What I don't understand is why my parents refuse to let me experiment with my appearance at all. I don't want to live the rest of my life with boring black hair akin to over 3 billion people on this planet. There are people who have the courage to dye their hair regardless of their parents' prohibition but I am not one of those people. Because doing so will enforce the parental logic that all bad kids have colored hair and tattoos.

My parents tell me that I will regret getting a tattoo or damaging my hair, but I think I will regret the things I didn't do more than the things I did. But even if in the future I look at my inked arms in regret, it's not really anyone's burden but mine. I may look at it and wish for naked skin, but I might not. At the end of the day, if my body is my temple, then I must decorate it.

I will let my child dye their hair if it pleases them. I will let them choose what color they want to have next month because I want their personality to reflect on the outside too. If they want to have a septum piercing then get a septum piercing. If they want to get a tattoo then get a tattoo...at the right age. But sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and realize that maybe the way I look on the outside isn't what I'm supposed to look like.

As humans, we have always modified our outer selves both culturally and aesthetically. The New Zealand Maoris have tribal tattoos on their faces and arms. Some African tribes scar their bodies in patterns. The Thai use neck rings to elongate their necks. Yet, so many people think that tattoos, piercings and colorful hair are so unnatural as to forbid their children from doing so.

There's a stigma that people with crazy-colored hair and a sleeve tattoo and piercings are bad people. As if they have traded their bare skin to the devil in return for the markings of hell. I do not believe that tattooed people are bad people, because it is not the ink that changes a person, it is the heart. And I'll be damned if a couple of needles can somehow transform me into more of a sinner than I already am. If a couple of metal loops on my face and ears will scar not just my skin but my personality. That bleaching my hair will not only take away the color of my hair but also the kindness of my soul. What I do to myself on the outside will not change who I am on the inside, and I think people need to realize that.