By Charity Threlkeld, Staff Writer
People have debated whether tattoos are appropriate for decades. Some say tattoos are unique and describe a person and who they are, while others say they are unattractive and unprofessional.
Employers still ponder whether to hire someone with a tattoo. For some people, it’s about their religion, for others it’s simply taste. Historically, people with tattoos have been stereotyped as being associated with drug users or criminal activity, to the point where it was illegal to get inked in multiple states before the late 1900s. Tattoos were shameful to have during this period. New York did not lift its ban on inking until 1997. Oklahoma was the last to overturn its state law against tattooing in 2006.
Since the 2000s, the number of people getting tatted has increased. A survey conducted in 2017 showed that 30 percent of Americans have at least one tattoo. Of those, another 30 percent have more than one.
At Indian Trail High School & Academy, some students have talked about how addicting getting multiple tattoos can be.
“I wanted my first tattoo to symbolize my father. His birth and death day is on my left side chest over my heart. I don’t think anyone can stop at just one, it’s really addicting after the first,” Communications Academy senior, Alex Ivey said.
Over the past few decades, tattoos have become more accepted and more prevalent, yet there are still people and workforces who strongly dislike tattoos. ITHSA sophomore, Jonah Rivera, expressed his thoughts on the matter.
“I don’t really like tattoos, I don’t find them attractive, just not my taste. Maybe if it was a family passing date tattooed, but not really anything else,” Rivera said
Another ITHSA freshman, Aixa Cabanas, was hesitant on tattoos due to her parents telling her that people with tattoos can never give blood. But in fact, people with tattoos can. They just need to wait for 12 months to donate blood if they live in a location where tattoo facilities aren’t regulated.
There is still division on how accepted tattoos truly are, but according to a 2017 Pew Research Center study, about 38 percent of young people ages 18 to 29 years old have at least one tattoo, indicating greater acceptance by younger generations. That number was just 21 percent in 2012. Just like anything, time and acceptance is a slow process, but still the public’s acceptance of body art continues to grow.