How Have Tattoos Changed Today's Society

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Somewhere, in secret, a 15-year-old guy is dipping a safety pin in black ink and pricking little holes in his ankle in the shape of a question mark. This self-made tattoo is his statement about how he questions the world around him. If he’s careful or lucky –and afterward he swabs the wound daily with antiseptic cream – he might sidestep a pus-filled infection. Then again, maybe he won’t be lucky and he’ll end up with a nasty, question-mark-shaped scare for the rest of his days. Tattoos and piercings are trends and ancient art forms in which people have expressed their identity. Many of the people teens admire – soldiers, rap artists, pop stars, sports heroes – have tattoos or eyebrow rings, Naturally, teens want to follow suite and leave their mark on the one thing they have some control over: their bodies (18). …show more content…
It seems wise to have teenagers wait until they are at least 18-years-old to get a tattoo and make lasting changes to their bodies. Even if they wait until they are 18, getting that tattoo (or tattoos) places them in the tattoo subculture and sets them up for judgment by people without tattoos. In an article by Aaron Gouveia on salary.com he talks about the fact that having a tattoo may keep you from getting the job you want. Employers view prospective employees with tattoos negatively. A study from the Pew Research Center confirms this (www.salary.com 1). Getting a tattoo so young may seem like the perfect way of creatively expressing who you are but it sets the stage for more difficulty in making a living