Why People Get Tattos?

1. Mark lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger repeatedly stabbed him with sharp needles, causing blood to pour steadily out of his leg. Jack was getting a tattoo. His friend Tony had recently gotten a tattoo, and Mark was so impressed by Tony’s bravery and his new ‘ink’ that he decided to get one too.

2. Getting a tattoo because your friends and peers have them is just one of the reasons why a lot of young people in North America get tattoos. Peer pressure, media influence, and personal expression are some of the most common reasons for having tattoos nowadays. The desire to be part of a group, and to be accepted by one’s friends or peers, can have a great influence on what a person does. Sometimes, wearing a tattoo can be a sign that you belong to a certain group. Gangs often use special clothing and tattoos to identify their particular group. Young people often belong to a certain group of friends. Some of these groups wear only brand-name clothes. Some wear only black clothes. Others wear tattoos.

3. The media is another big influence behind the popularity of tattoos in North America. A wide variety of media images show tattoos. Tattoos can be seen on people appearing in commercials selling expensive cars. Famous sports heroes with tattoos are shown in magazines. Fashion models are also often seen wearing designer clothes that show their bodies tattooed with detailed and colourful patterns. These media images link tattoos to ideas of wealth, success, and status.

4. It is not always the influence of other people or the media that results in a person getting a tattoo though. Many people decide to wear tattoos in order to express their artistic nature, their beliefs, or their feelings -- in other words, to show their individuality. A musician in a rock band may get a tattoo of a guitar on the arm. Some environmentalists may tattoo pictures of endangered animals on their shoulders. Lovers may tattoo each others’ names over their hearts.

5. As you can see, there are many reasons why young North Americans get tattoos. A tattoo can be part of a group’s uniform. It can be a sign of fashion. It can be an expression of individuality. The decision to get a tattoo is most often a result of the influence of friends or media or the desire to express oneself. For Mark, it was a mixture of all three.