DA Aquamaster:
True, tattoos do go back thousands of years but in those cases they have had very deeply ingrained cultural significance and meaning. But that is not what we are talking about in this thread. What we are talking about amounts to recreational tattoos that just make a fashion statement and there is a hell of a differrence between that and a tattoo that means something within ones culture.
But hey, if you want one, knock yourself out. Just be aware that a large segment of society will continue to apply certain judgements or predjudices to the fact that you have a tattoo (as well as what you have and where you have it) and that there may be unwanted consequences down the road.
Having said they you are sort of in the ballpark with the wedding ring idea. The original wedding rings were designed with sharp edges that over time actually scarred the wearers finger so that even when removed it was still obvious the person was married.
You're sort of right. The most oft cited example of body marking and societal norms is the Maoris. You can say that there is "deeply ingrainted significance and meaning", until you consider how they get them. Some get their entire body done over a lifetime. Others get their entire body tattooed over the course of one to two days. So, even here, there are some that try and conform to a norm, and others that do it at their leisure. Considering all members of society weren't tattooed, nor was tattooing consistent across social or gender strata (not all males or females were tattooed, not all peasants were tattooed, etc), then it can be reduced to a choice rather than pressure.
Or, take the city-state of Uruk near Summaria. The priestly elite got them because it was "something to do". This was consistent in most near-East civilizations, as well.
So, I take back what I said. Tattooing is trendy. It's been trendy for roughly 6,000 years of recorded history. I'm sure it's on the way out.
As far as a large percentage of society holding something arbitrary against you, I sort of agree and sort of don't. If you get the spider tattoo that starts at the top of your bald scalp, with legs going down over your face to your neck...society might not invite you to the collective debutante ball. If you have a tattoo on your shoulder, your butt, your hip, or someother discreet place, if society is seeing these are a regular basis, you may have walked out of the house without any clothes on. I have found that those that judge you on your tattoo, are narrowminded enough to find something to judge you on, regardless of how hard you try.
In the ballpark on the ring idea, eh? Must be the collective unconscious telling me to do it! That, or a dread fear of having my ring fiinger "degloved" as I'm getting out of a helicopter. I didn't know that about the spiked rings, though.
Finally...on considering what you'll look like when you're eighty. If I'm not dead at 80, I will consider myself lucky, and will probably get another tattoo just to celebrate the occasion. Otherwise, I think, at 80, I will probably have lost most of this extra weight I'm carrying around. Along with the extra hair, skin and bodily organs. Ewwww...
I do repeat my main point, though. Get a tattoo for you, because it's you that has to live with it.
