Tattoo culture has come a long way from being an edgy statement reserved for sailors, bikers, and rebellious teenagers sneaking into parlors the day they turn eighteen. These days it is closer to a mainstream hobby, and the numbers back that up. A Pew Research Center survey found that 32 percent of American adults have a tattoo, including 22 percent who have more than one, and the most common reason people give for getting inked is to honor or remember someone or something.
So the next time someone rolls up a sleeve to show off a portrait of their late grandmother next to a poorly rendered dolphin from their twenties, know that they are part of a very large club. What makes tattoo culture endlessly meme worthy is the gap between intention and execution.
Everyone walks into the shop with a Pinterest board and a vision, and everyone walks out with a slightly different interpretation of that vision, sometimes charmingly so, sometimes in a way that requires a good sense of humor and a long-sleeve shirt for job interviews. The community has built an entire genre of humor around the phrase "trust the process," usually deployed ironically underneath a photo of a tattoo that looks nothing like the reference image.
Then there is the healing phase, which might be the single most universal shared experience among tattooed people, and therefore the richest vein for comedy. Fresh ink goes through an unglamorous cycle of oozing, peeling, and itching that makes people question every decision that led them there.
According to the Ipsos poll on tattoo attitudes, the vast majority of tattooed Americans, 92 percent, say they are ultimately happy with their tattoos, which is a comforting statistic to remember while your new piece looks like a sunburned reptile shedding its skin. The internet has turned this shared misery into a bonding ritual, with people posting daily updates of their healing tattoos the way new parents post baby photos.
Placement choices are another endless well of content. Some people go big and bold with sleeves and back pieces meant to be seen, while others prefer tiny, hidden tattoos only visible to the people they trust enough to show.
The aforementioned Pew Research Center study found that among Americans with a tattoo, 91 percent say they would consider getting another one, which explains why so many memes revolve around the slippery slope from "just one small tattoo" to a full arm covered in ink within a few years. The community jokingly refers to this as tattoo addiction, and honestly, the shoe fits.
