It’s partly a generational divide. Every generation finds a way to make itself distinct from the one before and to make a statement to the old folks that “we’re cool, you’re not.” The flappers in the 1920s shortened their skirts and bobbed their hair. Young women in the 1960s shortened their skirts even more (remember the mini?) and grew their hair long while the young men drove their fathers wild by abandoning crew cuts for dreads and ponytails. The ’80s saw the rise of hair in new and startling hues (blue, puce, electric green) and multiple ear piercings. In the ’90s it was grunge. The 2000s seem to be about tattoos. It’s not your granddad’s simple anchor on the bicep from his Navy days, either. No. Now it’s full sleeves and multiple tattoos in multiple places. Many really are gorgeous works of art.
The grandparent generation is shaking its collective head. For many older middle Americans, tattoos are associated with convicts, bikers and gang members. As recently as 2008, a Harris poll of 2000 adults found that 32 percent of people without tattoos believe that those with tattoos are likely to do something deviant. That’s almost a third! Corporations, banks, attorney offices, retailers that appeal to the general public and public agencies aren’t likely to risk alienating a third of their potential clients by confronting them with their values about body art.