Major Styles of Tattoo Art

"Blurry tribal line", I would guess, would come from all the tribal line tattoos seen on various people who thought they were cool at one time. I think what masada was trying to point out, is that the tattoos commonly seen are NOT unique, thereby perpetuating a stereotype of sorts.

I don't have a tattoo myself, simply because I don't see any need for one. I just don't get the point (no pun intended). However, some tattoos I find to be beautiful (ironically enough, they are usually the larger ones), some are just boringly trendy (see above), and others are downright stupid and/or ugly.

Perhaps I am wrong, but the whole tattoo thing in & of itself seems like a big fad. Maybe that is why some of us don't take part. We want to be the Sneetches without the stars on our bellies?

@masada :

What I love about your comment is that you've managed to ascribe the same rationalization to everyone that has tattoos. I have a lot of tattoos and if one were to ask me why I have them I would not say "to be unique". Nor would any of my tattooed friends. In fact the only people I've ever heard say that a desire to be unique is a reason to get tattooed are non-tattooed people who don't like tattoos.
You then go continue on with what has got to be the dumbest and most-repeated type of comment by a non-tattooed person in the history of the internet. The old "What'll it look like when they're 80?" chestnut which has been posted in every single tattoo-related internet posting since the internet was developed. But people still like repeating it.
"That means in 30 years 1 in 2.5 adults will have a tattoo of either a blurry tribal line or of Ernest Borgnine floating around on their flabby body". I already have 30-year-old tattoos and none of them are of Ernest Borgnine or anything tribal. Where does this nonsense come from?

"About 1 in 2.5 adults under the age of 40 has been inked."

Awesome. That means in 30 years 1 in 2.5 adults will have a tattoo of either a blurry tribal line or of Ernest Borgnine floating around on their flabby body. Hooray.

What I love about this story is that they've managed to generalize all the tats people get and where they put them. Yet, if one were to ask those people why they got it, they always say something like "for myself. I wanted something unique."

Great. Now you're unique...just like everyone else.

"About 1 in 2.5 adults under the age of 40 has been inked." in America. Thank god this trend stays there.

Actually, the "Alien" movie had Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger to thank for it's look. These tatoos draw inspiration (pun intended?) from Giger's extensive work, not just the film...