Body mod or con?

 

 Tattoo artist at work

Body art these days means something completely different to what it did a few decades ago. Back in the early 1900’s, the only groups of people sporting tattoos were soldiers, bikers, deviants and criminals and displaying your ink was a way to let other people know you were one of these three groups of people. Whether you had a tattoo or not was determined by the class factor; people with tattoo’s were generally stereotyped as lower class. Now, this method of body modification is becoming increasingly popular especially among young people and celebrities, and the tattoo industry has become much more mainstream and widely accepted.

 According to a UK survey in 2013, 21% of 18-29 year olds have tattoos. This percentage increases to 35% for 30-39 year olds, but falls again for 40-65 years plus. Only a decade ago there were around 300 tattoo studios in Britain. Now it is estimated that there are upwards of 1,500.

 

Tattoo artist Scott Robinson has been in the tattoo industry since he was eighteen years old, “I’ve always loved art” he said, “there’s something special about being able to share it with other people and giving them something that’s going to last forever.” Scott believes the rise in popularity of tattoos this has something to do with the way we worship celebrity culture. He said “Since celebs are more openly showing off their work I’ve had an increase of customers full stop. People want replica’s of their favourite celebrity’s tattoo…I’ve lost count of how many tribal copies of Cheryl Cole’s wrist tattoo I’ve done”. Some people believe that celebrities that display their ink are bad role models for younger members of the community, and are encouraging them to graffiti their bodies with tattoos.

[pull_quote align=’left’] “Tattoos are common and tacky” [/pull_quote]

There will aways be a debate about whether tattoos are a good or a bad thing. Older generations of people will more than likely continue to associate this form of body modification with the same groups of people that had tattoos in the past, and will perceive them in a negative way.  Joan, a retired teacher from Essex says that “Tattoos are common and tacky. They remind me of prison inmates. I don’t judge people for having them done but I really do not see the need to ruin a perfect body in that way”.

Hannah, a student from Malvern, agrees with this point, saying that “I don’t understand the need to effectively draw on your skin. What’s the point? And how can living with a life long drawing be worth all the pain you have to go through just to regret it later on? If you’re stupid enough to get one done, at least be sensible enough to cover them up when needs be”

However Sarah, a bar manager from Portsmouth has a far more positive view about tattoos. “I love them!” She exclaimed, “I think if done correctly, tattoos can be beautiful and meaningful. I have five and at least three more planned for the very near future. I have my own tattoo artist that helps me out with designs and advises me about the work I want done. Tattoo culture these days is so much more than wandering into a studio and getting something pointless done, there’ s a lot of planning and personal meanings behind them”

Tattooing has become a genuine popular form of art and doesn’t simply revolve around fashion like many people believe. Every tattoo that a person has means something to them, even if they only get ink work done because they think it’s ‘cool’, they can still look at their tattoo everyday and know that they have something different to everyone else in the world; they stand out and provide people with something personal and fun and worth showing off.

[pull_quote align=’left’] “Tattoos can be beautiful and meaningful…I love them!” [/pull_quote]

The reasons behind getting a tattoo done have changed significantly over the past decade, and those changes have bred a new, vibrant clientele of young, fashionable people ready and waiting to get ‘inked-up’, be it with the same tattoo as their favourite celebrity, or with something they’ve designed themselves. The popularity of tattoos in the UK is on the rise and have become much more widely acceptable, so maybe it’s time for us to stop the ongoing debate and just accept everyone for who they are.

This is a short  audio interview, including interviews with two heavily tattooed people with conflicting opinions about their ink, produced and edited by Hayleigh Morris.