Tattoos By Linda Stowe
This morning, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole about tattoos. I believe that most people in my generation view tattoos in a negative light, assuming people who have them are people who impulsively make bad choices that could come back to haunt them. I continue to carry this bias and have never once seen a tattoo that I thought was a good idea.
However, I seem to be in a growing minority on this. A 2023 Pew Research Center Survey found that 32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one. Tattoos are more common among women (which surprised me) and among younger generations. Another assumption I held was that political leanings might influence who got tattoos, but the study shows that the numbers are evenly split.
Since we live in an era of conspiracy theories, I asked Google whether the government tracks people via tattoo ink. The reply I got was interesting: “ It’s important to note that while the FDA isn’t tracing tattoo ink, there has been research by government agencies, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in collaboration with the FBI, into developing tattoo recognition technology. This research focused on using computer algorithms to identify and analyze tattoos, but it sparked concerns about privacy and civil liberties.”
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Polly here.
Every now and again, I have a tattoo conversation with some other person, either inked or not. Our oldest grandchildren have several tattoos. Our granddaughter has way more than our grandson. She loves to get them. Her partner has plenty of tattoos, too.
As Linda mentioned, around 32% of the United States population has at least one tattoo. I have two tattoos, both of which I appreciate for their meaning. I don’t regret either one, and I’ll probably get a third tattoo soon.
The thing I think about these? To each their own.
Of course, we all have our opinions on this. Personally, I dislike when someone completely disfigures themselves with tattoos and surgery. I’m not sure why they feel the need to do this.
And yet? We all have our motivations for what we do. Some people are motivated to wear socks with sandals. And other people are motivated to jump out of airplanes.
There is no “I” in we.
And we all choose what we choose because we are who we are.
And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee. All the way home.
