Tattoos have become popular among men and women of all ages. Although it has just become popular in the United States in the last decade or so, it has been a tradition in Europe and Asia for over 5000 years. Body art exhibits rank, pledges of religion, beliefs, what you have done and where you have been, marks to show love and devotion, punishment, a sentement of a lost loved one, for luck, the belonging to groups or gangs, protection against evil, decorative or cosmetic reasons, identification, and many others. Some people get tattoos now for no reason or symbolization at all. Some people get tattoos just to be rebellious. Body art is a way to express yourself artistically. The impact of body art varies greatly in different cultures and places. Body art and tattoos are a common symbolization in all parts of the world.

Tattoos were common on the faces and bodies of people in the circus. Sometimes the military forces their troops to get a tattoo for identification, since deep burns or trauma will not go deep enough a lot of the times to affect a tattoo. Animals wear body art or they are branded for identification as well. Now, make up can be applied permantly through tattooing the ink in place of the makeup. Tear drops under your eye can represent a murder or death of a loved one. Tattoos now in the United States are performed with a tattoo gun which penetrate the skin and apply ink deep inside. For cultural reasons in the past, tattoos were performed by cutting an image in the skin and rubbing the affected area with ink or ashes. Some cultures use sharpened sticks or animal bones and hand tap them into the skin. The first tattoo gun was invented in 1890 by Samuel O’Reilly. Whether you are a common person, or if you are rich and famous, chances are you have some type tattoo. It is now the norm of a fashion symbol instead of a spiritual or cultural mark of the flesh. In 2006, approximately 40 percent of Americans who are between the ages of 26 and 40 have at least one tattoo and thirty six percent of the people who are ages 18-25 have a tattoo. There are over 20,000 tattoo shops open in the United States right now, not counting the numerous people who perform tattoos out of their homes and home-made tattoos including jail house tattoos. Tattoos on the backs are the most common, although tattoos can be done practically anywhere on the body. The extent of the tattoo is up to you.

A tattoo can be as simple as a dot to as complex as a portrait or scene; the possibilities are endless. What ever you can imagine, can be inked on the body. So no matter if you are wanting to fit in or make a statement, more than likely, you already or will have ink somewhere on your body.