Tattoo Culture

Tattoo Culture

Recently when going on any social networking platform one can see a very large presence of tattoo images and culture being portrayed across the internet. Instagram, facebook and youtube all have users, pages and groups centered around the culture of tattoos. Individuals can post their own tattoo pictures, see others and even visit the online portfolios of artists. Not only has there been a shift towards everyone and their mother getting tattoos, but there has been a inspiration derived from tattoos in all aspects of North American culture. With the fad of Ed Hardy clothing gaining huge popularity over the last couple years, one can see the depiction of tattoos everywhere. Tattoo culture in an online setting is just a great example how sparking public interest in a social networking setting, can be incredibly beneficial in creating publicity for an otherwise underground art form.

(By: Dan Smith, retrieved Dec 3 from:http://windylou.typepad.com/windy_mayes_photo/the_millionaire/) 

However on the other end of the spectrum this large public interest causes one to assess the true reason why some individuals get inked. Do people just fall into the clinch of peer pressure and feel the need to get them, or is it a meaningful reminder permanently embedded into the skin. I would argue that this all depends on the individual, but I believe that now more than ever with social culture jumping on the tattoo bandwagon, that people just make impulse decisions when getting tattoos. For example I had someone tell me the other day that it was about time they went and got a new tattoo, and being intrigued by this I asked the logical question of, what do you want to get? and Why? For both of these questions I couldn't get a response which truly perplexed me. It was just something they wanted and it seems to me that the perception of a tattoo has changed. Tattoos have started to lose the profound meaning and symbolism they had once attained. They are now a piece of artwork that is etched into skin for materialistic reasons. Now is this just the evolution of art form or is this even a change from what it was before? I guess it all depends on the eyes of the beholder and it seems that tattoos will continue to be a dominant aspect of all cultures.