Tattoos in Society

Abstract

This paper will summarize the social acceptance of tattoos in today’s society. It will cover what society historically thought of tattooed individuals, what is known about tattoos, and the sociological implications associated with them today.

Tattooed in Today’s Society

It’s been said that “The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have tattoos, and those who are afraid of people with tattoos.” Even though by some people tattoos are considered taboo, long gone are the days that only sailors, criminals, bikers, and rebels have them. Tattoos have their own sociological impacts and what was thought of individuals who have them has changed over the years. The reasons that people get tattooed range from all kinds of things from religion to experiences.

If you ask someone today what they think of tattoos you’ll probably get a wide range of answers. I have tattoos and my father thinks they make me a dirty person where my stepmother thinks they’re beautiful and a representation of what I think is art. My mother wants to get one and my brother really has no opinion about them whatsoever. In the past tattoos were considered part of a macho culture and even today tattoos have to be covered depending on where someone works. In the U.S. Air Force we’re not allowed to have a tattoo cover more than 25% of a body part and they can’t be offensive. “In recent years, many police departments across the country have adopted tattoo restrictions, which the courts have upheld as reasonable (Lacey, 2011).” Even the Phoenix police department makes their officers wear long sleeves in the heat to cover up their tattoos stating that it causes distrust. One officer even said that much of the public makes negative comments to him regarding his full sleeve tattoo. To many, tattoos represent a deviant lifestyle and they find it hard to trust someone who has them.

Tattoos have been around for ages. In fact, when the Romans referred to individuals living on the other side of the frontier in Great Britain they called them Picts, a term meaning “painted people (Burns, 2010).” Tattoos exist in tribes in the Pacific to showcase their family history, coat of arms, or social status. In India tattoos are a rite of passage into adulthood and are used for religious reasons. Even in 19th century Europe it “was fashionable among some sections of the upper class to have discreet tattoos, of family crests and other aristocratic emblems (Rohrer, 2007).”