Consumers Choice Report

Tattoos have experienced a resurgence in popularity around various parts of the globe, particularly in North and South America, Japan, and Europe. The growth in tattoo culture has seen an influx of new artists into the industry, and these days many of them have professional training in fine arts, body care or technology. Coupled with advancements in tattoo pigments as well as technical development of tattoo machines, this has led to an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced. Common among modern tattoos are star tattoo designs. Typically female (“soft”) tatto motives could be for example butterfly tattoo designs. Men are mostly into more elaborate designs, maybe something like dragon tattoos.

A survey by the American Academy of Dermatology was made in 2004, with the results published in June 2006. According to this survey, as many as 36% of 18-29 year old Americans had tattoos (30-40 yrs: 24%, 41-51 yrs: 15%). In September 2006, the Pew Research Center conducted a telephone survey which found that 36% of Americans ages 18-25, 40% of those 26-40 and 10% of those 41-64 had a tattoo. Another survey from January 2008 (Harris Interactive) stated that 14% of all US adults had a tattoo, compared to 16% when they conducted a similar survey in 2003.

It is still common among criminal gangs and prisoners to display tattoos as a way to show for example criminal experiences, stays in prison, and organizational affiliation. Tear tattoo, for example, can be symbolic of murder, where one tear symbolizes the loss of a friend. Also, the United States military have an equally well established and longstanding history of tattooing to show which unit they belong to, battles they have fought and more, a practice that encompasses also older Americans. Tattooing is also common in the British Armed Forces.

Although tattooing among these type of subcultures (military and criminals) have historical background and is somewhat removed from the current wave of popularity, the use of certain tattoos is still to some extent linked to criminality. Even though the wider popularity in the general population brings with it a more of acceptance, they still carry a heavy stigma among certain social groups.

The prevalence of women in the tattoo industry, along with larger numbers of women bearing tattoos, is transforming the previously negative connotations of tattoos. Keep in mind though that a study of “at-risk” (as defined by school absenteeism and truancy) adolescent girls showed a positive correlation between body-modification and negative feelings towards the body and self-esteem; however, also illustrating a strong motive for body-modification as the search for “self and attempts to attain mastery and control over the body in an age of increasing alienation.”

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