When I was a kid vacationing in Florida amusement parks with my parents, I was always amazed by the exotic images emblazoned on the arms, legs, backs, necks and even the shaved heads of some of the other tourists. These images took the form of names, religious symbols, animals, sports teams and really any other object people found worthy enough to have tattooed on their bodies. Back then, individuals sporting tattoos definitely stood out, and one got the sense that standing out was their goal.
Last week, while visiting Florida, I finally got to experience the sensation of standing out amongst a crowd of tourists, too. Everywhere I went, I was one of only a handful of people with absolutely no body art. How the times have changed!
I have since embraced my life as an anti-conformist, and my father’s threats to personally scrap off any ink-stained skin with his pocket knife now ring hollow. I have abandoned my ambitions to have “Vote Red,” “Roll Tide” or “Buy American” engraved on my rear end. Although few people would ever see such decorations, I couldn’t quite live with myself if I gave into societal pressure and had a permanent fixture drawn on such a pristine area.
As if having pure skin were not enough to make me stand out in a crowd, I was also a member of a small minority of Florida tourists who spoke English. Being around so many foreign visitors gave me the opportunity to discern that tattoos have now evolved into a global fad. However, unlike Birkenstocks, which I still happen to wear, tattoos cannot be thrown away when they start to seem ugly and unclassy.
The tatted age group I most worry about is the generation that is now raising small children. How are our kids going to fear the “Yes, I got a tattoo” conversation with their parents if their parents have tattoos? If their grandparents have tattoos?
All of this raises an interesting dynamic, which I seriously think could have profound implications for American society and countries around the world. The tattoo generation is raising kids.
My initial instinct was that this means a more liberal, more relaxed family atmosphere. That obviously could translate into more liberal politics, and more religious ambivalence.
I may have been incorrect in that assumption. A plurality of tattoos are Christian symbols. Many, if not most, people with tattoos who I know personally are Republicans. Several of them are Tea Partiers.
Which indicates that our generational obsession with body art does not represent shifting values or evolving ideological predispositions. It is instead a new venue through which old values can be expressed.
Thus, we have arrived at a new cultural norm, which may be more receptive to nontraditional lifestyles and fashions, but is not ideologically different. Nowadays, just as guys don’t take their hats off in restaurants or stand up when a woman walks into a room, it isn’t rebellious to get a cross stained on an arm.
Even though the world is always changing, there are traditions that we can and should preserve, like saying “Yes ma’am” and “no ma’am,” “please” and “thank you.” Like taking our hats off in restaurants and standing up when women walk in a room. Maybe I’m hopelessly nostalgic, but I am going to continue to embrace these timeworn customs. I hope the tattoo generation raises their kids to do the same. Otherwise, I guess devotion to tradition will end up making me the anti-conformist. Ironic, isn’t it?
Tray Smith is the opinions editor of the Crimson White.
