Heretic in a foreign land - (or at least Thread) Sorry if this hurts - Tattos (and body piercing) - I can't understand why anyone thinks body mutilation will enhance their appearance and pay good money for the suffering!
Peg.
P.S. Piercing your bits - wots that all about?!
For most, it's a form of self expression (tattoos & piercings). Along the lines of dying your hair - mine fall into that category, they have no deep significance.
For others tattoos are a way to memorialise something or somebody. People have tattoos to mark occasions, not just bad ones. Yes, there are tattoos that signify the loss of a loved one, but also ones to signify change - especially when something bad has been overcome (recovering from a serious illness, getting out of an abusive relationship, the birth of a child).
There are as many different reasons as there are people.
In 2000 I don't think many women had tattoos, so for everyone on a cruise then would have been very surprised to see women in evening dresses with tattoos on their arms or anywhere else.You go on a cruise now and there are tattoos on most women. For some people it is not Lady like.
I think 2000 is when it started to become more commonplace. When I had my first in 1987 it was very unusual - especially for an office worker. At the time I was the only person in the office - male or female - that had any tattoos. Now where I work I'd say at least half the staff have them, possibly even more women than men.
Certainly when I had my first I only knew of one tattoo parlour, now most high streets have one - some more than one.