Tats?

Does everyone around me already have or is getting a tattoo(s)?

I don't think they think of this before getting one....

The social typing process can be found when individuals see others with body modifications such as tattoos and/or piercings. When in the descriptive phase, a label is attached to the person. This label usually is negative since body modification is associated with a broad range of risk. Many do believe according to research that youth bearing body mods are likely to come from single parent homes, belong to the low income quartile, have parents with high school diplomas or less, and have peers who use various substances. Later, in the evaluation process, people attach judgments on those with modified bodies linking their appearance with tendencies such as risky sexual behavior, substance use, violence, eating disorders, educational difficulties, and even suicide. Tattooed women for example remain stigmatized as being perceived as more promiscuous, less attractive (depending on the nature and placement of the tattoo), and heavier drinkers. In the final stage being prescription carried out through social control and/or regulation, these persons are treated differently in society’s arena. Companies for one will not hire those with visible body modifications for it does not appear professional in the business domain. Even in minimum salary earning positions such as retail, employees are urged to remove facial piercings and hide tattoos. Some have even switched physicians and no not trust those with facial piercings in the medical sphere. This is due to the popular conception that tattooed of pierced bodies are indicators of psychological and the behavioral problems. 

honestly now, unless it is very well hidden and in WHITE (elegant & subtle)....what is the point?

On the objective end, the individual is analyzed carefully. Modified bodies tell us about the characteristics of that individual. This perspective focuses on two issues: risk and motivation. Youth who have forms of body modifications are perceived as being ‘at risk’ more generally. By looking at someone with piercings and tattoos, their bodies tell us about their psychology and possible behaviors. For instance, a teenager with tattoos can be associated with problematic characteristics such as risky sexual behavior, substance use, violence, eating disorders, educational difficulties, and even suicide. 

From a subjective approach, the modified body however examines identity in terms of understanding the self. It explores the role of body modification in understanding developing meanings of the self in relation to others and within a broader societal and cultural framework. This is due to the body reflecting the individual’s understandings of themselves and society since the self is not purely individual in nature. It emerges via processes of social interaction. For example, we can use the notion of ‘front stage’ and ‘backstage’ self to distinguish why certain people decide to modify their bodies and in what location. Someone might for instance want to tattoo a symbol of undying love for their deceased wife on their back which will not be visible to most and the individual can choose whom to share it with.