Tattooing - Prevalence In Today’s Western World Wednesday, Dec 31 2008
Uncategorized 9:21 pm
Tattoos have recently gotten increasingly common around various parts of the globe, especially in the Western World. This rise in the number of tattoo enthusiasts has also led to a rising number of tattoo artists, many of whom have technical and fine arts training. This development in conjunction with the use of better pigments as well as technical development of tattoo machines, this has led to an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced. Common among modern tattoos are wrist tattoos. Typically female (”soft”) tatto motives could be for example flower tattoo designs. Men are mostly into more elaborate designs, maybe something like Chinese dragon tattoos.
A survey by the American Academy of Dermatology was made in 2004, with the results published in June 2006. According to this survey, as many as 36% of 18-29 year old Americans had tattoos (30-40 yrs: 24%, 41-51 yrs: 15%). These numbers were basically confirmed by another study by the Pew Research Center (September 2006) which generated the following results: 18-25 yrs - 36% with tattoos, 26-40 years - 40% and 41-64 years old 10%. Another survey from January 2008 (Harris Interactive) stated that 14% of all US adults had a tattoo, compared to 16% when they conducted a similar survey in 2003.
It is still common among criminal gangs and prisoners to display tattoos as a way to show for example criminal experiences, stays in prison, and organizational affiliation. As an example, a tattoo shaped as a tear can in some cases indicate murder, where one tear symbolizes the loss of a friend. Also, the United States military have been using tattoos for a long time as a way to show which unit they belong to, battles they have fought and more, a practice that encompasses also older Americans. This practice is also prevalent among the Brish Armed Forces.
Although tattooing among these type of subcultures (military and criminals) have historical background and is somewhat removed from the current wave of popularity, tattoos are still associated with criminality. Although the general acceptance of tattoos is on the rise in Western society, they still carry a heavy stigma among certain social groups.
The fact that more “regular people”, especially more women than before are getting tattoos , is transforming the previously negative connotations of tattoos. Keep in mind though that a study of “at-risk” (as defined by school absenteeism and truancy) adolescent girls showed a positive correlation between body-modification and negative feelings towards the body and self-esteem; however, also illustrating a strong motive for body-modification as the search for “self and attempts to attain mastery and control over the body in an age of increasing alienation.”
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