Gramps Gets a Tattoo!

Injecting ink into people's skin is big business these days, and the "body modification" industry, which includes piercing, has been growing briskly in recent years. According to a 2018 analysis by Market Research, in the U.S. about $1.35 billion is spent on tattoos, another $900 million on body piercing, and about $700 million on tattoo removal.  This totals about $3 billion per year, nearly double the amount spent in 2007.

Fun Times

At one time, displaying a tattoo was considered a mark of delinquency, drunken misjudgment, criminality, or rebellion against mainstream society.  Today it is far more acceptable and regarded by many as a reasonable thing to do as an artistic expression of personal identity.  A 2021 survey by Statistica found that 35% of Americans report having one tattoo, and about 20% have 2-3. The percent of 30-39 year-olds with 1 or more tattoos doubled from about 28% to 55% in 2015.  Today's mainstream acceptance of tattooing is illustrated by another recent study by Market Research in which 30% of college graduates reported having 1 or more tattoos.

Although most people get their first tattoo while young (40% when 18 years or younger), there is a

Looking Good!

growing trend for people in their 60's, 70's , and even older to get tattooed.  Many of them are retirees who feel they are no longer constrained by considerations of workplace acceptability and career advancement. There is also a common feature of geezerdom that involves an attitude of  "who cares what others may think -- I'll do what I want." As one tattoo artist put it:

“They hit the ‘screw it’ stage — ‘I’m going to do what I want, and screw the rest of the world,’ ” said Sandy Parsons, 63, co-owner of Great Southern Tattoo in Alexandria and College Park, where business from people older than 50 has gone up by 30 percent in the past 20 years. Two or three times a week, someone older than 50 comes in for a first tattoo. (Tara Bahrampour)

In addition to the rebellious codger attitude, there is likely a desire among some older tattoo recipients to identify with being young again, like all those all those 30-somethings they see sporting ink these days. Better to look like that than just another geezer with liver spots.

Speaking of liver spots, older skin can pose a number of problems for tattooing.  Not only does older skin have more blemishes, sags, and bags, it can also be much thinner than young skin, and therefore more susceptible to bruising and bleeding, something I've explored previously ad nauseum in "Geezer Grease: My Missed Opportunity to Make Bazillions."  Age-related health conditions can also make tattooing more challenging -- like diabetes and coronary treatments with blood thinners, which make bleeding more likely.  This can lead to the ink "blowing out" and leaking into adjacent areas and spoiling the tattoo design. Skilled tattoo artists who are experienced with older clients can ameliorate some of the issues, for example by setting their needles to a shallower depth and working more slowly.  It seems to me that the designs themselves might be adapted to these challenges, though I lack the artistic sensibility to create examples.  For instance, imagine a design that can morph gracefully and artfully from detailed realism to abstract smoosh depending on the amount of "blowing out."  Or designs that can incorporate blemishes like liver spots, making them features, not flaws, like say spots in a small leopard or markings on a snake. And wrinkles, sags and bags?  Sure -- just look at artists like Salvador Dali and other surrealists for possible inspiration!

You Be The Judge

So far we've considered only the issues involved when people get tattoos when they're older.  Another of this seems relevant for today's ink-happy young'ns to consider. You will get old....and so will your tattoos.  That cute little smiley face on your young tight butt may eventually swell to a thin-mouthed pudgy-puss or morph into Mr. Potato Head as the cellulite takes over.  And that lovely hummingbird on your calf might become a rather evil-looking pterodactyl as the chicken-skin takes over.  Finally, the inks in tattoos fade over time, and a gorgeous colorful pattern at 22 can be nearly monochromatic as the decades march on relentlessly.  I think there is real opportunity here to make gazillions if an entrepreneur can somehow combine computer software that can project the ways that age can transform the human body with software that can map different possible tattoo

Well......

designs onto those changes.  This would allow a preview that could greatly help in deciding which tattoo to select and where to put it.  This might have to be pretty sophisticated programming to take into account each individual's own body type, family background, and life-style choices for predicting how that person's body might change over time. However, I'm sure there are many geek-coders out there who could rise to the challenge.

You may be wondering if I have any tattoos or if I'm considering getting any. A definite double NO to that. I'm getting more accepting of other people having tattoos, except when I think they've taken it too far.  I also question whether they realize that the values and bold statements of identity they're making are almost certainly going to change later in life. And I've certainly hit that "screw it" stage of life and what others think of me has much less power than it used to. But even though I'm far from delighted with the way my aging body looks these days,  I'm pretty sure that covering it with ink won't help. Rather, I'm working on coming to grips with the idea that maybe it's more important to accept that this is the normal and inevitable consequence of living.

Note: All photos of people's tattoos are from a Buzzfeed post by Alison Caporimo 

Reference Sources and More Information:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/721567/number-of-tattoos-united-states/

http://www.historyoftattoos.net/tattoo-facts/tattoo-statistics/

https://blog.marketresearch.com/tattoo-parlors-tattoo-removal-is-now-a-booming-3-billion-industry

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/science/tattoos-cells-laser-removal.html

https://www.livescience.com/14212-tattoo-laser-removal-popular.html

http://www.parscientific.com/InfinitInk.html 

https://www.npr.org/2014/02/21/280213268/job-seekers-still-have-to-hide-tattoos-from-the-neck-up

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/grandparents-and-retirees-get-tattoos-fulfilling-lifelong-dreams-and-raising-eyebrows/2013/09/21/b95a0e5c-219e-11e3-b73c-aab60bf735d0_story.html

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alisoncaporimo/24-reasons-to-never-get-a-tattoo