According to a 2006 survey conducted by Pew Research, 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 26 and 40 have at least one tattoo; 36 percent of those age 18-25 report having a tattoo.? Only 1 in 10 people older people have a tattoo.? (Only one person has a Freakonomics tattoo, as far as I know.)
These numbers are shocking to my economist brain.
Economists tend to like choices that are reversible.? Whatever my preferences might be today, who knows what they will be a week, a year, or a decade later?? I loved Adam Ant when I was in high school, but I sure am glad that I didn’t tattoo his name on my forearm.? The same would certainly hold with respect to tattooing the names of any of my ex-girlfriends on my chest.
So what makes tattoos so popular?
One possibility is that people just enjoy them for their intrinsic beauty, just as they might enjoy a work of art in a museum.? The frequency with which people get tattoos in places they can’t easily see (in particular the lower back), makes me think this isn’t the primary answer.
Rather, it would seem that the irreversibility of tattoos must be at the heart of their popularity.? The fact that tattoos are (essentially) permanent makes them very powerful signaling devices: the more costly it is to take an action, the more powerful the signal that action carries.? If I get tattoos on my face that look like the ones that Mike Tyson has, it sends a strong message to society about me.
Who are tattoo-getters trying to signal to?? Because tattoos are painful to get and close off some legitimate job-market opportunities, it isn’t hard to see why tattoos serve a purpose for people engaged in activities that make it likely they will eventually end up in prison.? Most of the young people getting tattoos, however, aren’t on that path.? Presumably they are mostly trying to signal something about themselves to potential mates.? But it seems strange that a University of Chicago undergrad would want to signal, via a tattoo, that they are like the tough guy who ends up in jail.? (An acquaintance of mine had a caduceus – the symbol of medicine – tattooed on his chest.? He definitely felt it sent the right kind of message to girls at the beach.? Just in case, though, he had it done all in blue ink, which is easier to remove.)
Maybe a tattoo is a signal that a person is wild, impulsive, and likes risk.? I suppose those are traits I once would have sought in a woman, although they certainly wouldn’t be at the top of my list now!
Blog readers – tell me what I am missing.? Is there a reason I should want a tattoo, or want my wife to have a tattoo?
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I worked my way through college (UCB and SFSU and later PhD at Univ. of Oregon) first as a Palo Alto police officer and later as Multnomah County Sheriff Deputy working nights….my main observations of tatoos back then before they became popular with young people, was of the inmate populations of state and local jails. My theory is that tatoos represent a form of Batesian mimicry, a form of mimicry typified by a situation where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a common predator. The kids I see these days at the gym where I exercise are “dressed up like bumblebees” … or children who wear superman or batman costumes to signal to the world their “special powers”.
My Frat-Tat is a permanent reminder of some of the best friends I’ve ever had. We still keep in touch despite thousands of miles of separation and years after college.
It’s also a binder between future friends. It turns out my 1st boss (Im no longer at the job, but he has become one of my best friends) was also in the same Fraternity.
I have a small tattoo on my ankle that i got when i was 19. I’m not sure I’ll get another, but I don’t regret this one because:
a) I chose something that means something to me (a maple leaf – I’m Canadian and now living internationally)
b) It’s discreet and can be easily covered. I usually get to decide if people see it or not – so it tends not to affect how people see me.
c) It’s in a spot that is unlikely to stretch or sag over time.
d) Most people are surprised to hear *I* have a tattoo (I’m a bit geeky and vanilla). I’m glad it’s a surprise.
I feel as though you have made far too many generalization in this past post. The only positive you mention about a tattoo is their “intrinsic beauty”. It sounded as though you correlate tattoos to things that are insignificant and entirely unnecessary. I do find a few issues with this.
1- There is the concept of permanence associated with a tattoo the is very powerful, which works well when the tattoo actually means something to you.
2- There are things that will never change and that you feel strongly about. Giving the examples of ex-girlfriends and Adam Ant are very poor examples of things to get tattooed. What if someone went through a horrible accident and survived and wanted a tattoo to remind them of that every day, or maybe a mother, father, sibling or child that passed away tragically.
3- Tattoo location- you mention the lower back, and face as 2 locations when there are plenty of other very discrete and appropriate locations for a meaningful tattoo.
I do agree that there has been a tremendous growth in the amount of people getting a tattoo, and I do feel as though that too many people are in fact getting unnecessary ink done and that people should put more thought into what they get. However, what positive I do see coming out of this wave of tattoo getters are riding the world of the stigma of tattoos and making them more socially acceptable. They are also helping to increase the awareness about tattoo parlors being clean and raising health standards associated with them. In the past there was a danger of a tattoo that an artist would use an old needle, pass on diseases, but that is no longer the case.
As for getting a tattoo to create a new perception of yourself, I can see why you would pass the judgment on some people, but you should not assume that about everyone who has a tattoo. Not all tattoo-getters are trying to signal to someone.
I say all this because I in fact have 2 tattoos that are very meaningful to me and are in places where I still have family and friends that don’t know or know but haven’t seen, yet I can see them every day as a reminder to their meanings. 1 is on my right thigh, hidden by my pants or shorts, yet I can see every day. The other on my rib cage under my arm where I would have to lift my arm to see and could easily get by without it being seen.
If you are against tattoos and have these general perceptions about tattoos then you should definitely not get them and not have your wife get one because you would ultimately judge her for it. But I also would hate to not say that you should not pass judgment on anyone that has a tattoo, whether they have 100 or 1, to each their own and to every tattoo there is a story.
Nick
I think it’s very similar to the whole social networking thing; the drive to broadcast things about yourself to the world (or at least the small part of the world who is your facebook friend or following you on twitter…).
I don’t understand the social network phenom so I am not surprised that I also don’t understand the tattoo thing either; if you’re searching for enlightenment or peace or something, doesn’t that happen in your own head rather than via a flower or Chinese or Egyptian symbol or character inked on your body?
At the more shallow end of the spectrum are those who get images tattooed because “they like them.” Hey, I like pizza but wouldn’t think about getting a “large with pepperoni” tattooed on my butt….
People like being trendy and coming up with post-hoc rationalizations for it.
It is the search for authenticity, tattoos used to reflect shared experiences (army, navy, prison) and toughness (enduring pain, risk of disease, seedy tattoo parlors) and meant something when they were rare and difficult to acquire. Anybody with a tattoo these days is usually trying to be cool and with it, trying to say they are the real thing, authentic to their core when in reality they are signaling that they blindly follow the latest trend (the opposite of being authentic and yourself).
I have a Buffalo Man (the Jamiroquai mascot) tattoo in my right arm. I just felt like I was going to tattoo it back in late 2005, when I have it done. I was on vacation, living a wild life and it was purely impulsive! I still like Jamiroquai and I will always like the music. I believe it’s purely an egocentric act – much more than an economic one.