Do tattoos still have any meaning?
Wow – hell of a question! Firstly, tattoos are a personal thing so any comments given can only be from the perspective of the individual as generalisations do not work on this subject. Secondly, aesthetics play a huge part in picking a tattoo design, because one is not going to pick a design that is visually unattractive to you whatever the meaning. Thirdly, a lot of the original meanings and reasons for tattooing have been lost because they were performed for tribal reasons – primitive man expressing their position or rank. (Some would say that this is still true, but only the non-tattooed cynic!) This is not to say that all tattoos have lost all meaning – there are many reasons for people to choose a tattoo. Fourthly, fashion has always been and will continue to be a deciding factor when choosing a tattoo design – people will feel a familiarity with what they see around them and will choose from what they see. This does not mean that everybody getting a tattoo will do this; people ha
