# The appeal of tattoos **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556 "2012-08-25T00:47:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/1 "2012-08-25T00:47:31Z")
Someone want to explain to me this tattoo craze? Why are most of my co-workers tricking themselves out like Maori warriors? 😕 Yeah I know, none of my buisness really…except that I’m tired of seeing single moms on government assistance spending hundreds of dollars to get “tatted” up. :rolleyes: Untattooed curmudgeon just wants to know! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/2 "2012-08-25T00:50:30Z")
Because human beings are all individuals, and they like to express their individuality by doing what everyone else does. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/3 "2012-08-25T01:19:52Z")
This will end well. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/4 "2012-08-25T01:51:26Z")
I don’t think there is any big mystery here. Some people think tattoos look attractive or they like the idea of having a constant reminder of something important to them. As for your comment on welfare moms getting tatted up…yes, sometimes poor people are poor because they have a pattern of very bad judgement about how to spend their money. However, I don’t think that’s a reflection on people who like tattoos. Some of my coworkers are very well-educated professionals (physicians) and many of them have tattoos (often in inconspicuous places so that unless you knew them outside of work, as I do, you wouldn’t necessarily realize they have tats). They’re perfectly nice people. In the past tattoos may have implied deviance because of how socially unacceptable they were, but nowadays it is ridiculously mainstream and many very normal people have tats. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/5 "2012-08-25T01:54:21Z")
The only person who can explain their tattoo is the owner. I suggest you ask one of them. Sorry to be short twith you, but we’ve had many threads about this, most recently one regarding “tramp stamps”. so I’m not sure what it is you still don’t get. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/6 "2012-08-25T01:55:45Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > The only person who can explain their tattoo is the owner. I suggest you ask one of them. > > Sorry to be short twith you, but we’ve had many threads about this, most recently one regarding “tramp stamps”. so I’m not sure what it is you still don’t get. Srsly. It seems like we have an “explain tattoos” thread every fucking ten days. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/7 "2012-08-25T02:30:58Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Because human beings are all individuals, and they like to express their individuality by doing what everyone else does. This is the main reason why I grumpily wave my imaginary walking stick at modern life. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/8 "2012-08-25T03:13:16Z")
I have no tats, but there is on I regret not getting. When I was an Army draftee, I went downtown Augusta, Georgia, and there was a tattoo shop in the midst of the carnival like atmosphere. There I saw a Picasso sketch of a dove of peace. I’m still pissed at myself for not getting it. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/9 "2012-08-25T04:28:38Z")
> [@stegon66](#): > > Someone want to explain to me this tattoo craze? Why are most of my co-workers tricking themselves out like Maori warriors? 😕 > > Yeah I know, none of my buisness really…except that I’m tired of seeing single moms on government assistance spending hundreds of dollars to get “tatted” up. :rolleyes: > > Untattooed curmudgeon just wants to know! Yes, this will end well. I have somewhere around 80 square inches of my dermis inked. For those 80 inches I spent less than $200. Prison tat prices. And art gallery results. 4 1/2 hours for my first tat, which circumscribes my left leg. $65, because that was the quote. It was in the back of a Harley shop in '97, but it’s still one of the best damn tats I’ve ever seen. And not just me, I get comments all the time. Dude could have charged me $400, and it would have been a deal. $100 for the tat on my chest. It’s not just profound, it’s _pretty_. Would you have a problem with those “single moms on government assistance” buying a television? A DVD player? A laptop? How about window treatments? Would you like to go shopping and make certain they buy bag cereal and not name brands? Better make sure they buy the store brand and not the top shelf! Get over being tired. There is no “except.” It’s none of your goddamn business. ---
**Author:** ![Tad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tad)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/10 "2012-08-25T05:16:06Z")
Gosh you know there’s nothing more I’d love to do than to justify a tattoo for you, but… you know. ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/11 "2012-08-25T05:29:06Z")
One of the most handsome man I know has a full face maori tattoo. He smiles and I don’t even see the tats ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/12 "2012-08-25T07:43:24Z")
They are currently fashionable, and people will go through the most astonishing mental gymnastics to justify them. But someday soon, they will no longer be fashionable. A tattoo is the powder-blue polyester leisure suit you can never take off ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/13 "2012-08-25T14:48:52Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > A tattoo is the powder-blue polyester leisure suit you can never take off Even though I don’t have any tattoos myself (because I don’t like ANYTHING enough to want it permanently placed on my skin), I think it depends on the tattoo. I think most people who get tattoos that are personally meaningful (like those people who get their kid’s name or footprint, a memorial to a dead loved one, etc.) will probably still like their tat even if it’s not fashionable anymore. Enough people in the current young generation have tattoos that it will probably never look all that strange for someone from that generation to have a tattoo even if the rest of society moves on from the practice. After all, it’s not surprising to see tattoos on old military veterans even now because we all know that was the thing to do for them. Still, I do wonder about what will happen to people who get tattoos referring to pop culture events when the pop culture reference becomes dated…or things like when I’ve seen young girls with HUGE chest piece tattoos. I even saw a young girl with some tats on her face recently. Like anything else, some people show better taste/judgement about tats than other people do. Some people approach body art like a teenage girl in 2007 would approach designing a MySpace page (see what I mean about dated pop culture references? 🙂 ) , but that doesn’t mean that all tattooed people are like that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/14 "2012-08-25T15:09:29Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > They are currently fashionable, and people will go through the most astonishing mental gymnastics to justify them. But someday soon, they will no longer be fashionable. When I got my tattoo fifteen years ago, people were talking then about how everyone would regret doing it once the craze ended. 😃 I don’t go through any mental gymnastics to “justify” my tattoo. When I got mine I’d just completed my first major project computer graphics project. I wanted something to commemorate the moment. So I got a tattoo of the [Utah teapot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_teapot) on my shoulder. I didn’t get it to be fashionable or to impress people (let alone, people like you). I got it because it was personally meaningful to me. And I still like it as much the day I got it. Some people worry a lot about being fashionable and about how other people dress and look. I think that’s kind of a superficial way to go through life. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/15 "2012-08-25T15:16:35Z")
> [@stegon66](#): > > Someone want to explain to me this tattoo craze? Why are most of my co-workers tricking themselves out like Maori warriors? 😕 > > Yeah I know, none of my buisness really…except that I’m tired of seeing single moms on government assistance spending hundreds of dollars to get “tatted” up. :rolleyes: > > Untattooed curmudgeon just wants to know! You don’t like them. People that get them, do. That’s all you need to know. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/16 "2012-08-25T15:17:27Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > They are currently fashionable, and people will go through the most astonishing mental gymnastics to justify them. But someday soon, they will no longer be fashionable. Oh yes, a fad just like [animal husbandry and crop rotation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tattooing). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/17 "2012-08-25T16:55:31Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I have no tats, but there is on I regret not getting. When I was an Army draftee, I went downtown Augusta, Georgia, and there was a tattoo shop in the midst of the carnival like atmosphere. There I saw a Picasso sketch of a dove of peace. I’m still pissed at myself for not getting it. What’s stopping you now? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/18 "2012-08-25T17:24:11Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I have no tats, but there is on I regret not getting. When I was an Army draftee, I went downtown Augusta, Georgia, and there was a tattoo shop in the midst of the carnival like atmosphere. There I saw a Picasso sketch of a dove of peace. I’m still pissed at myself for not getting it. [this one?](http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=979&bih=421&tbm=isch&tbnid=7F6GfcMVgq0qmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/virtual-exhibition/picasso/13-dove.shtml&imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/images/virtual-exhibition/picasso/standard/mm-ve-picasso13.jpg&w=466&h=302&ei=vgk5UP3gLIKs9ASS3IDwAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=192&vpy=89&dur=828&hovh=181&hovw=279&tx=145&ty=137&sig=115233923931503765013&page=2&tbnh=119&tbnw=159&start=7&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:7,i:162) print this and hie thee to the nearest reputable tattoo shop. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/19 "2012-08-25T18:00:33Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > [this one?](http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=979&bih=421&tbm=isch&tbnid=7F6GfcMVgq0qmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/virtual-exhibition/picasso/13-dove.shtml&imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/images/virtual-exhibition/picasso/standard/mm-ve-picasso13.jpg&w=466&h=302&ei=vgk5UP3gLIKs9ASS3IDwAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=192&vpy=89&dur=828&hovh=181&hovw=279&tx=145&ty=137&sig=115233923931503765013&page=2&tbnh=119&tbnw=159&start=7&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:7,i:162) print this and hie thee to the nearest reputable tattoo shop. It was a long, long time ago, but I think I remember it having more than one color- possibly [this one.](http://inadvertentlyart.blogspot.com/2009/10/dove-of-peace-passionatly-urges-you-to.html) ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556/20 "2012-08-25T18:02:11Z")
> [@stegon66](#): > > I’m tired of seeing single moms on government assistance spending hundreds of dollars to get “tatted” up. :rolleyes: This is the “Welfare queen with a Caddilac” of the 2010s. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Because human beings are all individuals, and they like to express their individuality by doing what everyone else does. “Look at all those silly kids expressing their individuality by conforming with their peer group’s expectations. They should be conforming with MY peer group’s expectations, obviously!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-appeal-of-tattoos/632556.md?page=2)