Like what percentage of the population has one. Is there any stigma whatsoever around it? Do people prefer to have partners who are tattooed/not tattooed? Is there a sub culture of it or it’s mainstream?
Edit: How many people prefer tats visible when they have shirts and shorts on may also add some insight?
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Extremely common among people under 50. I would say most people I know have at least one. Only stigmatized in certain professions like law, finance, etc or by people with very conservative beliefs. Partner preferences are up to individuals. There’s no real subculture anymore, they’re mainstream.
Amongst younger folks (say under 50) pretty common.
I keep wanting to pull the trigger and get one but I never have.
As far as partners go it just depends on the individuals. We have 330 million people so opinions will vary.
Me personally? I like well done tattoos and I think lame tattoos are awful. I don’t think I would care one way or the other if I liked the person, but I’ve been married for almost 13 years to a lovely non-tattooed lady so I’m probably not the right person to ask.
Pretty common. Most people my age I know are tattooed. My husband is not. I’m moderately tattooed.
Some old people might think there’s a stigma but that’s about it. Hand, neck, and face tattoos are socially acceptable in most spaces but not considered to be professional so they could bar you from certain jobs. There is a subculture around it that’s very into body modification but for the most part tattoos have entered the mainstream. At this point the only one I could see having any social stigma are face tattoos
A poll from a few years ago reports that 30% of Americans are tattooed. It’s quite common, especially among younger generations. Any remaining stigma is certainly lessening with each passing year.
I’d say there’s still a subculture of hardcore tattoo enthusiasts, but any interest will have its especially keen group.
I personally have zero desire for a tattoo, but I know plenty of people who have them.
I’d say fairly common? I have several, both my Boomer parents have one, even my grandfather had one. But that grandfather was also upset when I got one and said it isn’t ladylike. And my grandmother despised tattoos including the one my grandfather had, but even towards the end of her life she kinda considered getting one!
Some people prefer their partner not to get any tattoos. Others don’t mind. Others might strongly prefer the heavily tattooed aesthetic in a partner.
just from my own observation, I think tattoos have become much more normalized in the past 15 or so years. growing up in the late 90s, the idea that tattoos would be inappropriate for a job was pretty mainstream. but now many professions allow employees to openly display tattoos, which I think is a reaction to their growing popularity. more employees have them, and customers are less likely to view them as taboo.
not every profession. some are still very traditional and maintain a certain appearance. but it’s much less of a concern. I don’t have tattoos, but some of my coworkers do and it’s not an issue at all.
Me and all of my friends have at least one. I’ve got two personally, but I had them placed in discreet locations (parts of my back that are covered even with tank-tops) so that only I and intimate partners know about them.
Everyone gets theirs for reasons that are their own. Sometimes it’s as simple as “it looks cool,” and that’s fine. For me, they are markers of significant events in my life. Kind of a “never forget” sort of thing.
It seems to be becoming more and more common. I’m tattooed, and so is most of my immediate family. A lot of the people I work with are.
Super age dependent. My dad hates tattoos… whereas young and/or middle-aged people couldn’t care less.
Well I admit to slightly judging people with shitty tattoos. I’d never say anything to them about it though.
Tattoos are pretty common. I’d call it mainstream. There’s some taboos about certain types of tattoos. For example, generally face tattoos are frowned upon. However, as a general concept tattoos are pretty well accepted.
Everyone and their grandma has tattoos.
Not me, because there is no design I could ever choose that I would not get tired of and want gone almost immediately, but it’s very mainstream.
In the under 30/40 demographic, pretty common. In the 18-25 demographic, super common. Most of my friends in high school had at least a stick n poke. It depends a bit on location, in cities you are bound to see more open tattoos(I.e. not placed where the sun don’t shine) I also live in a area with a very large Jewish population, and knew several people who want tattoos but haven’t yet bc it’s frowned upon for religious reasons.
Alternatively, my dad who is in his 60s has a tattoo, but he thinks tattoos are trashy and disgusting. As he says “when I got a tattoo only sailors and convicts had them.” And I think that’s generally true, the only people I’ve known his age who have tattoos either ran around with wrong crowd when they were younger or were in the military.
No stigma
I am also curious. Neither my husband or I (we are both 40) have tattoos, our friends and siblings don’t have visible tattoos (a few have told me of tattoos they have, but I’ve never seen them, except I saw my sister’s once – it is teeny tiny and in a generally hidden area.) We are for the most part doctors/lawyers/professors. We would discourage our kids from getting tattoos. But every time we go to a water park or something, it does seem everyone has tattoos these days. We are liberal, not religious, but just never saw the point of tattoos. I if met sometime with a prominent tattoo, I would probably predict that we would not be compatible as friends, but I wouldn’t judge them for it. I would also prefer a partner to not have tattoos, but it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker (it would be huge turn off for my husband , though)
As others have said, it’s fairly common among younger generations. I think only 1 of my grandparents have/had tattoos, and neither of my parents have any. I know my sister and most of my cousins do.
I’m 34 and have been thinking of getting some, but I’ve already had skin cancer twice and so I’m not too eager to make it tougher to detect more in the future.
Super common among my social circles, which is a mix of white collar and blue collar people mostly in their thirties, give or take a few years. Would bet that like 80% of my friends have at least one
There are still a fairly significant number of people that find them trashy, but tattoos are much much more common than they used to be.
I’m 40 and got my first tattoos at 18 and people thought it was a little wild. Now only my biggest one gets much of a reaction, and even then it’s just “cool, how long did that take?!”
I work in an office in IT making a solid “middle class” income, and interact with other departments as well. I’d say *at least* 50% of the people I work with have at least 1 visible tattoo when wearing a short sleeved shirt and shorts/skirt.
I personally have about 20% coverage or so on my body, but long term hope to get more to 70-80%.
Personally, and this is definitely just me personally, ever since I was a kid I always thought people *without* tattoos looked a little odd… or at least *blank*. Like, a canvas that hasn’t been painted on, or a car without a paint job. But I grew up with a father who was a musician and biker, so the people around me usually had them.
I live in a pretty white bread suburb of Indianapolis, one of the more affluent ones in the state of Indiana. And there are like half a dozen tattoo shops on the main street thru town.
Not everyone with a tat is a biker dealing meth. Lots of people from lots of walks of life have tattoos.
that said it has often been proper to cover them up in the workplace, though that isn’t a hard and fast rule and is changing especially as millennials (slowly) gain rank in many corporate workplaces.
Almost everyone I know has one. Fairly common. No stigma to my knowledge.
super common.
I have no tattoos. I’ve only met a few other people my age with none.
I have 5 tattoos and work in a conservative finance career. You would never know I have my tattoos if you saw me at work.
Still probably the minority, but it would be odd not to see someone with them in a day. I have a few.
Still a stigma around neck, face, and hand tattoos; everywhere else, not so much as long as it’s not obscene
Most of the stigma these days seems to be around what you have tattooed and where you’ve got them.
If they are somewhere that can be covered by a long sleeve shirt or pants and it isn’t vulgar, racist, or looks gang related then tattoos are accepted by most Americans as being normal.
Face, neck, and hand tattoos still carry some stigma in some settings and the content of tattoos can carry their own stigma.
My experience is kinda skewed since I’m a chef and these days you’d be hard pressed to find a chef without any tattoos, but they are extremely common. Personally, both of my arms are covered, and I’m even considering getting some on my hands and fingers.
I’ve worked in factories most of my life, I’m in my early 50s. I think I am the only person without a tattoo where I currently work. Everyone has visible tattoos, except the plant manager (but I’m certain he has pierced nipples.)
It depends, there’s definitely still a stigma regarding face tattoos. Then you have tramp stamps…