Let's keep in mind that not all societies adopt tattoos as means of personal and communal expressions. In many cultures -especially illiterate societies-tattoos carry the visual symbols, icons, and signals of collective consciousness and memories they wish to preserve.
In the USA, given their popularity today, we can see that tattoos are a continuation of the earlier generations' symbols of rebellion, of being different, of presenting a contrarian attitude, of the nonconformist. In place of long hair we now have long nails, body piercing, and tattoos. Yet no one can discern a cause for that rebellion other than the deep desire to be individualistic.
Is it a fad? Given that the fad is lasting longer than a decade, we can say perhaps it is more than a fad; may be a much longer wave. Young people imitate stars, celebrities, and other famous achievers. In soccer we see a veteran player like David Beckham sport very visible tattoos on his neck; following Beckham's example, the young striker Natasha Kai isn't shy about displaying her countless tattoos. In boxing, tattoos are almost mandatory -perhaps as weapons of intimidation-since most boxers wear them. The fiercer the tattoo the fiercer the appearance of the boxer: just take a close look at Mike Tyson's face.
In the USA, given their popularity today, we can see that tattoos are a continuation of the earlier generations' symbols of rebellion, of being different, of presenting a contrarian attitude, of the nonconformist. In place of long hair we now have long nails, body piercing, and tattoos. Yet no one can discern a cause for that rebellion other than the deep desire to be individualistic.
Is it a fad? Given that the fad is lasting longer than a decade, we can say perhaps it is more than a fad; may be a much longer wave. Young people imitate stars, celebrities, and other famous achievers. In soccer we see a veteran player like David Beckham sport very visible tattoos on his neck; following Beckham's example, the young striker Natasha Kai isn't shy about displaying her countless tattoos. In boxing, tattoos are almost mandatory -perhaps as weapons of intimidation-since most boxers wear them. The fiercer the tattoo the fiercer the appearance of the boxer: just take a close look at Mike Tyson's face.
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