In 2016 tattoos are a common trend, but some people are still concerned about the effects they might have on getting jobs and looking professional when need be. Last week I got my first tattoo, but I did not get it without fear about what others might think about me once I had it done.
Over the past 20 years the view on body art has changed significantly and has changed even more since the 1950's and 1960's. Back in my grandparents' time the only people who had tattoos were a part of gangs or had been in jail. Tattoos were looked down upon because they were only on people who had committed crimes in their area.
As time went on more people started to get tattoos for various reasons. Military personnel would get tattoos to represent their service in the armed forces, but they were still not fully accepted. Even when everyday people would get tattoos for various reasons there was still stigma.
In the early 2000's my own mom always said that no daughter of hers would get tattoos because, even though thousands of people were getting them and the art form continued to grow, they still had a negative stigma. At that time professional work environments would not hire anyone who had tattoos, even if they were hidden.
Here we are now, less than sixteen years later and it is a completely different story. Everywhere you look there is someone with at least one tattoo and there are hundreds of tattoo parlors in any given area. Also having a career with tattoos is now an everyday occurrence.
So, what happened?
Over the years the stigma has changed slowly, but surely. Tattoos went from being something for criminals and "thugs" to being works of art to express different interests, illnesses, and hobbies. There is more respect for the art and the medium that it is painted on. The ideas of the body art have changed in the minds of millions of people because they have seen beautiful and meaningful tattoos that brings diversity and uniqueness to people in their community.
Although there are still people who do not agree with the choices of those who get tattoos, the art has certainly grown as an art form, but also in the minds of people in the community and that is something to be excited about.
