From 2002 to 2021, the percentage of Canadian adults with tattoos increased from 18% to 38% according to statistics website, Compare Camp. This 20% increase over an almost 20-year period shows how the culture around tattoos is changing to become more acceptable and inclusive.
Tattoos are great! I have always loved them. I am obsessed with fine-line tattoos for myself and I think that tattoos on guys are an absolute *chef’s kiss*, but I grew up in a pretty strict household when it came to tattoos.
Even as a teenager, my parents would tell me that tattoos don’t look professional to employers, or tattoos are what felons get when they are in prison (I know LOL, pretty extreme). But as I got older, they seemed to accept the fact that tattoos were becoming more common in society. Some of their own friends and family were getting tattoos and being open and excited about them.
During the summer of 2022, I worked my very first corporate job and I was floored by the amount of people who had visible tattoos. On my very first day, during the intern orientation, the manager of the Health and Safety Department gave us a presentation and this man had two massive sleeve tattoos that included his wrists and hands. As the summer progressed, I noticed that close to half of my colleagues had at least a few visible tattoos. All too often, you would meet someone and you could see tattoo ink peeking out from under their shirt sleeve.
By then, I had already gotten my first tattoo. It was two fine-line butterflies on my rib cage (yes it’s basic, I don’t care –– I love it) and my job that summer really showed me how acceptable it was to have tattoos, even visible ones in the workplace. Even with this in mind though, I was still hesitant about getting visible tattoos. I knew that workplaces didn’t seem to care all that much, but I had some apprehension still.
A few months later I bit the bullet and got my second tattoo, a little fine-line flame just below my ankle. Not super visible, but more visible than the butterflies. Let’s just say my parents were a little unimpressed despite them acknowledging that the mindset around tattoos was rapidly changing. I remember my mom sitting me down and saying, “Okay that one is fine, but no more okay?” And I assured her that I wasn’t planning on getting another one anytime soon…
Five days after that conversation I ended up getting a lightning bolt tattooed on my finger at a club in Brazil during a bachelorette party for my first-year roommate (all the bridesmaids got matching ones LOL). In the spirit of full disclosure, I have honestly never felt so badass as I did at that moment, but the next day, besides nursing a bad headache, I was absolutely terrified about having to tell my mom.
She took it well-ish. She was more concerned about how safe the experience had been than about the actual tattoo, which honestly speaks volumes about her own tattoo culture mindset shift.
With that being said, my advice to all the children of strict households is: if you’re going to get a tattoo, get it wherever YOU want to get it. Don’t get it somewhere that is purposefully hidden because you are afraid of what employers or parents or family might think. Not only is it your body and you can do whatever you want with it, but the cultural viewpoint around tattoos has also changed. They are a form of self-expression, so you do you.