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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Penn chapter.

Tattooing has become a large part of American culture, right up there with baseball and golden retrievers. Okay, maybe it’s still a little more alternative than that. But the point is, tattoos are pretty prevalent in day-to-day life. I especially noticed this when I came to Penn. I got a tattoo at a pretty young age, and being a freshman in high school with ink didn’t seem to fly in my small hometown. But when I came to Penn, it was much less of a big deal, and I found that a lot of people here have tattoos, too. 

Tattoos are often associated with things like criminality and rebelliousness, but I see tattoos as a form of artistic expression. The history of tattooing began over 5,000 years ago. And the early tattoo artists used ink not as a mark of insurgence or criminality, but as a form of cultural, emotional and spiritual reflection. I wasn’t really sure about how tattoos are viewed in our generation, as opposed to my grandparents’, for example (they hate my tattoos and think I’m trying to be a rebel), so I asked a few of my friends what they thought about tattoos. These are their thoughts:

  • AG: “I’ve always entertained the idea of getting one, but I think I like drawing stuff on myself better than I actually like having it on me. But my sister and I are going to get tattoos probably when she’s 18, on our shoulders, mine in her handwriting and vice versa.”
  • PD: “Someone once told me a tattoo is a permanent expression of a temporary emotion—controversial, but true I think.”
  • EF: “My sister got a tattoo two weeks ago. It’s totally crooked, but it’s on the top middle of her back so she doesn’t know that. And I don’t really have the heart to tell her. So that was possibly a mistake. I don’t know if this is related, but I actually just wanted to tell someone that it’s crooked.”
  • JW: “Tattoos are cool if what you get is meaningful and you’d like seeing it every day…but at least keep it somewhat tasteful.”
  • CD: “I always wanted ‘love unconditionally’ on my rib once my parents got divorced, and then my sister wanted to get one with me on our arms, hers having an open bird cage and a few birds and mine just birds so it was open and flying onto mine. I incorporated the birds into mine and got it all together for my first one. My parents wanted to try and stay together for my sister, brother and I, so that’s where the love unconditionally came from—not just because you’re ‘supposed to,’ and the birds represent their freedom now.”
  • SS: “I love tatted boys. I think well done/well placed tattoos on a guy are super sexy (side note: I totally used to be a scene girl and only went for guys with neck tats). Same for girls: if they are well done, not trashy and not cliché, I think they’re awesome! In my opinion, they should be done for a reason, not just because they look cool or because it makes you ‘edgy’.”

Although I do agree with a lot of what my friends said about the permanence of tattoos—and that tattoos should be somewhat meaningful—I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people that have crazy tattoos all over their bodies.

After a certain number of tattoos or a certain size, it becomes a lifestyle, and you just have to learn to embrace it. And I find that after your first tattoo, it’s a lot less pressure to get something really meaningful on your body. You realize that if it’s a symbol, saying,or image you really like, even if it doesn’t have too much meaning, it’s worth it to have it on your body. You are reminded of it every day and if it it’s something that makes you happy, who cares what anyone else thinks?