I never cared about people getting tattoos (I mean, they're a thing in various cultures), but it definitely seems as common as getting milk at the grocery store now. I don't have any tattoos because of my OCD. I hate the idea of having something permanent on my skin.
Why are tattoos such a rite of passage for people?
I had a classmate freshman year of high school who got a tattoo with her mom. Even at the time I side eyed it as a very strange parenting choice.
These days people don't even think about getting tattoos. It is so common that it is unremarkable.
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Come to think of it, most people I know have small/hidden tattoos. I had a friend who was getting a few too many, one of which was really bad Naruto art...
I've personally never wanted to get a tattoo. My opinions about aesthetics are too strong and I know I would get annoyed with a tattoo especially if it was on a part of my body I could see easily. That said, I have met a few people who have really beautiful tattoos done by very skillful artists.
I've heard one theory that people view their tattoos as art, and for whatever reason it is more palatable to get a tattoo than it is to purchase a painting or drawing for the equivalent price.
The thing that is really interesting to me is how tattoos are viewed culturally. When I was growing up it would have been considered trashy and risque to get a tattoo, especially for a woman. Small, hidden tattoos, like a butterfly on the ankle, were slightly more acceptable but still indicated you were very alternative. It's why my classmate getting a tattoo with her mom at 14 was so crazy to me.
Now someone being heavily tatted isn't something people blink at. Is it because we have changed as a culture -- we are less religious and so religious bans on tattoos are not taken into consideration? Or is it because laser removal has gotten easier/more affordable so it is not seen as permanent?
I often feel like I’m the only person in my age range (young side of millennials) that doesn’t have a tattoo.
It seems almost everyone has at least a couple. If only 1 or 2, usually in an easily hidden place. If in the 5-10 range, usually in less noticeable / more easily covered places like wrists, upper arms, legs.
I knew few people with full blown sleeves or super visible tattoos.
So it’s interesting that the default sometimes seems to be that my friends have tattoos and I am often asked why not or if I will get one. But at the same time, those tattoos that my friends have seem to be fairly easily hid if they need to.
So both almost expected generationally but not fully accepted more broadly.
I was tempted to get a small one when I was 16, but I'm glad I didn't. What kind of tattoo did your classmate get? Was it something small, at least? You could regret any body modification at any age, but 14 is a bit too young, I'll admit.
I'm a millennial and also remember tattoos being frowned upon. I think the mass acceptance today is a combination of less fundamentalism (not necessarily religion) and better laser removal. People are surprised when they find out I have no tattoos. I just don't like the permanence. Removal still isn't perfect. Your skin is never the same.
She got a relatively small tattoo (maybe 4inx4in?) on her lower back. I don't think it was that ink-intense -- there was a lot of skin space within the tattoo so it didn't seem heavy if that makes sense.
Tattoos back then were (for lack of a better way to say this) associated with poor people and criminals. So the stigma was at least in part what it indicated about your family background and education. Even today face/neck tattoos are a no-no for the middle/upper middle class, even though they have embraced tattoos generally.
(Side note: Interestingly, my classmate was also one of the prettiest girls in our school - literally a beauty pageant queen - who was also very smart and classy. From a middle class family, etc. Not someone who fit the negative tattoo stereotype of the 2000s.)
Another thing I think is relevant is in the 90s and 2000s there were a lot of professional athletes and celebrities who started showing off tattoos and I think that did a lot to de-stigmatize ink and make tattoos cool.