Tattoos. They’re fascinating.  And I’m not just saying that because How Tattoos Work is one of the articles I’ve worked on in my time at HowStuffWorks.  What people get inked and why — or why they don’t — drove us to devote a whole episode to the place of tattoos in culture. Plus you get to hear what happens when Holly completely puts me on the spot.

Here’s what we talked about:

• According to Life Magazine, in 1936 only 10 percent of Americans had tattoos. In 2007, Pew Research Center reported that 10 percent of baby boomers had a tattoo, 40 percent of Generation X, and 36 percent of Generation Next. Also, twenty-two percent of women and twenty-six percent of men reported having tattoos in 2006. In one small study we looked at of college students in the Southeast: Both men and women had tattoos, but far more men than women had more than one. One more note: Discrimination against people with tattoos is entirely legal in the U.S. unless the tattoo is part of being a legally protected class.
• In young people, there’s a correlation between tattoo-having and risk behaviors, although the whys and wherefores are different between female and male teenagers.
• The “Lord of the Rings” actors’ tattoos (the ones who were part of the fellowship of the ring, anyway)
• Runners’ tattoos, sobriety tattoos, children’s name tattoos, and other positively focused tattoos
• Permanent makeup and inkless tattoos
• Nurses with tattoos and their reasons for getting them
• Tattoos as an “ironic fad,” which is not like hipster irony: They persist even when the fad is done.
• “Home Movies“
• The loss of culturally important tattoos in parts of the world, in part due to Western influence, which is weird considering how tattoos have become more common in the West
• Penn Jillette’s tattoo collection
• Science tattoos
• A treat for you: A mashup of Dory from “Finding Nemo” with Leonard Shelby from “Memento.”
• Darth Maul, Max Cady in “Cape Fear,” Leonard Shelby in “Memento”, Viggo Mortensen’s character in “Eastern Promises” and the bounty hunter in “Raising Arizona,”

My Research:

• Annette Resenhoeft et al. “Tattoos Can Harm Perceptions: A Study and Suggestions.” Journal of American College Health. Vol. 56, No. 5
• Bengtsson, Anders et al. “Prisoners in Paradise: Subcultural Resistance to the Marketization of Tattooing.” Consumption, Markets and Culture. Vol. 8,  No. 3, September 2005.
• Bible, John D. “Tattoos and Body Piercings: New Terrain for Employers and Courts.” Labor Law Journal.
• Carroll, Sean T. et al. “Tattoos and Body Piercings as Indicators of Adolescent Risk-Taking Behaviors.” Pediatrics. Vol. 109, No. 6. June 2006.
• Horne, Jenn et al. “Tattoos and Piercings: Attitudes, Behaviors and Interpretations of College Students” College Student Journal. Vol. 41 Issue 4, December 2007.
• Kosut, Mary. “An Ironic Fad: The Commodification and Consumption of Tattoos.” Journal of Popular Culture.
• Marti, Josep. “Tattoo, Cultural Heritage and Globalization.” The Scientific Journal of Humanistic Studies. Year 2, No. 3
• Utanga, John and Therese Mangos. “The Lost Connections: Tattoo Revival in the Cook Islands.”Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture. Vol. 10, Issue 3, 2006.

Holly’s research:

• Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed
• Carl Zimmer’s blog, The Loom, where he frequently showcases science tattoos:
• Tattoos and Body Piercing – What Motivates You To Do It?
• Career-oriented Women with Tattoos

Link to the episode: Thinking About Ink

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