Tattoos are seen as a way for people to express themselves. To stamp yourself with something that seems important to you or makes people see you in a different way is now considered cool. It's cool to have something on your body in ink that can never be taken off because when you have it people think "Wow that person's cool. They took that pain and they're being rebels in our society by getting a tattoo." But are these people really being rebellious or are they just trying to conform into the real rebels that started the tattoos?
I have a couple of friends with tattoos and for a long time I wanted one as well. Every since I was little I thought I want a tattoo because my parents are going to hate it. And if they're against it why not do it? Now however my mind has changed. Getting a permanent marking on my body of a symbol that 20 years from now may mean nothing to me isn't so attractive anymore. For other people it may be seen as a way of making a statement to people who see them but to me it's all about conforming to be this person who doesn't care what they look like when they actually do care because they got the tattoo in order for people to recognize them.
People may also compare this to piercings. I'll be the first to say that I absolutely love piercing but I don't think I have piercings in order to conform into something else. I thought they were just nice piercings. Although the desire to get them could have been my subconscious telling me that I wanted to be "cool" so I got them. The difference between these two statements is also the fact that piercings will close if you keep the ring out. A tat is forever. Even that tattoo removal doesn't really work all the way. There are still tracings of it left. So who wants to be stuck with some rose on their lower back while they're a grandmother?!
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