Why are so many Millennials tattooed?

[Ragnarök_62]

(07-11-2018, 07:01 PM)sbarrera Wrote: So I had a conversation with my friend about tattoos and why they are so popular with Millennials that went something like this. It started with me explaining:

"You see, they were a Pacific islander custom which Europeans encountered in the Age of Discovery. This is why tattoos are associated with sailors. They then became a custom among Europeans of the lower orders, and were for a long time in the West associated with lack of respectability and the criminal underclass.

Then, in the aftermath of the Sixties at the end of the twentieth century, young people sought to break free of cultural norms. Getting tattooed and/or pierced was a rebellious act of individualism practiced by a minority of youth. By the turn of the century it was a fad. And now, it has become a conventional rite of youth passage. Which is why you see almost every young adult with at least some tattoos."

To which she replied, "Have you even talked with anyone who has tattoos and asked them why they have them?" I had to admit that I really had not. "It's because they feel like it's the only way in which they can truly express themselves," she continued.

"You mean that their personal bodies is the only space over which they have any control?" I'm thinking how the young generation must feel powerless in a world politically and culturally dominated by their elders.

"Yes."

So that's two different perspectives on the frequently tattooed Millennial generation. What do you think?

They copycat Xer's.  Tattoos, backwards ball caps, and piercings are Xer things.