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Tattoos originated in the South Pacific, I believe, and was taught to sailors from Europe. Tattoos are still prevalent among men in the Philippines and the South Pacific and New Zealand, but rare in other parts of Asia.
I'm not sure why or how tattoos suddenly became extremely popular, particularly in America. For a long time it was a fringe action, found among sailors, soldiers, bikers, and from there slipped into parts of the working classes, both in the UK and the US. It may surprise a number of younger people today but when I was growing up people were heavily contemptuous of tattoos. It wasn't until the mid 1990s that tattoos started becoming "popular."
The growth of tattoos' popularity neatly followed the growth pattern of any fads. They are no different. I think we have already plateaued but it will probably be another ten or so years before we start seeing any decline in public visibility as we have to wait for the next generation to grow older, and the next generation will reject tattoos.
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Originally Posted by azurabug
It's entirely a cultural thing. I'm not sure where it's more prevalent but I'd probably agree with the person who said the Anglo-Saxon type cultures.
Then you, by all means, should have it. There's a personal connection to it.
My point is, that by looking at me you wouldn't know that I have a connection. So don't be so quick to pass judgement on other people's tattoos. The pasty white guy from Wisconsin may have some Maori connection that you don't know about.
Hm... let's just say you've been alive for 20,000 days in your life... and of those days you've travelled oversees a total of 100 days. I think the odds are you're going to be exposed to a lot less people from other countries and witnessing their tattoos compared to the US.
So... with that logic... then yes, you're correct!
it amuses me that people think tattoos are just a "fad" when tattoos have been around for how long?
Here is the Webster's online dictionary definition of fad: a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal
You can find an alternate definition if you like, but none of them require that the particular craze be the result of some new invention. The same can be said about fads in clothing, music or dance, since none of those things are new.
Incidentally, a scripture at Leviticus 19:28 contains a command for the people of Israel to not cover their bodies with tattoo markings. Scholars generally agree that that particular book was completed over 3500 years ago. So we know they've been around for at least that long, and were probably not anything new then either.
One of the things I like to do when I travel is people watch. In America it seems like half the people 18-35 have visible tattoos. But as I traveled in South America and in Europe this year, I saw some visible tattoos but not many at all. Is it because they can't afford them or are they smarter overseas?
What countries other than America do the majority of young people have tattoos?
We noticed the same thing when we visited Canada a year or so ago. We rode the subway a lot in Toronto and we all know how liberal Toronto is and yet, we remarked about this, especially girls. It was refreshing to see so many without their arms, legs, necks or whatever filled with what they think is art work. Sorry if I am coming down hard on those with them, it is just one of my biggest pet peeves.
We noticed the same thing when we visited Canada a year or so ago. We rode the subway a lot in Toronto and we all know how liberal Toronto is and yet, we remarked about this, especially girls. It was refreshing to see so many without their arms, legs, necks or whatever filled with what they think is art work. Sorry if I am coming down hard on those with them, it is just one of my biggest pet peeves.
Tattoos in general or people who have full sleeves? Because I don't see a lot of people w/full sleeves. A few tattoos? All the time. Not sure why it angers people so much, it's not like those tattoos have any sort of affect on them.
Tattoos are disgusting. They are mostly found on high school dropouts who are dumber than a door knob.
Nobody I know has them, or at least not in visible regions (arms, legs).
If you take public transit in a rougher area of this city you will see the white trash people covered in them.
Do you issue an IQ test to people you see who have tattoos? Demand to see a high school diploma? You must clutch your pearls quite a bit if you have to deal with the aesthetic choices of other people when taking the subway.
People with tattoos will of course disagree. No one wants to be called stupid and uneducated and trashy.
People of all income levels and education levels have tattoos. But, and this is an important but, there does seem to be a visible connection between the amount of tattoos and socio-economic factors. The higher up the education/income scales, the less likely you are to have tattoos. And not just that, but the type of tattoos you are likely to have and how you display that tattoo to the public does also seem to be affected by where you are placed on the socio-economic scales.
In a way, the type of tattoo you have and how it's displayed is probably a much stronger indicator of how you are socially classified than whether you have a tattoo or not. I'm sure this is an uncomfortable notion that Americans would prefer to dance around and ignore, but it's real.
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Originally Posted by thefragile
Hahaha! Your assessment is so wrong I can do nothing but laugh.
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