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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.
几年前，我的一个朋友在纽约生活多年后又搬回了加州。最令我震惊的并不是她变得更加自信--而是她原本只有一个纹身，现在却几乎满身都是。
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.
她有一个三色的龙纹身，从左肩胛骨盘绕到后背的中间部分、每条胳膊上都纹有宣传画、腿上纹有奇花异草的花园。她是会呼吸的艺术画布，我过了好久才想起来她仍是我的朋友，那个我与之分享秘密的姑娘。
A recent study found that women with multiple tattoos have higher self-esteem than those with less than four, or none.
最近的一项研究发现：与纹身少于四个或者一个都没有的女性相比，纹身多的女性自尊心也相对更高。
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.
但研究人员还发现：有纹身的女性更有可能尝试过自杀，尽管研究还指出，有着多个纹身的女性不会随着身体中墨水量的增多而变得更抑郁或更想自杀。
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."
首席研究员、德克萨斯理工大学的社会学教授杰罗姆·科赫说道，"我觉得除了其它因素以外，女性会通过肥胖羞耻感、化妆品和整形外科行业以及媒体中的超性意象而更加了解自己的身体。我们看到的是：女性会将这种意识转化为赋权。"
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.
我们知道，女性有时候会用优雅的人体艺术取代被手术切除的乳房。我们思考：更多的纹身是不是情绪失落后恢复自我感觉的一种方式--以企图自杀为证。
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.
将使你痛苦或者你觉得丑陋的东西（比如伤疤）变为艺术会让你感到十分有力，即使你没有纹身，但它的确是一种艺术形式。有些人将纹身视作记忆死亡的一种方式；不管是一段没有结果的恋情还是消失的爱人，因为纹身可以是一个人情感生活的地图。它们是一种应对机制--能够赋予人们力量。
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刊出的一篇文章写道："作为一种象征和行为，纹身拥有力量。"如果拥有多个纹身能使人们重新拥有力量、让他们感觉更自信、自爱，那纹身就不仅只是门艺术，它也是生存技能。
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