Teens and Tats

Teens and Tattoos

In the article “On Teenagers and Tattoos” by Andres Martin M.D. Martin explains, teenagers infatuation with tattoos by breaking it down into three categories: Identity and the adolescent’s body, incorporation and ownership and the quest for permanence. In the first section, Identity and the Adolescents Body Martin explains tattoos as a way of making a statement of individualism for teens. By marking their bodies, teens are able to feel like they are apart from crowd and are alone in their quest to discover who they really are. They also use tattoos as a way to show some control over their lives which sometimes feels completely uncontrollable. The second section Incorporation and Ownership, explains how tattoos allow adolescents to incorporate life lessons or experiences into their tattoo and how by doing so allows them to feel ownership of the tattoo and the reason(s) behind it. By using something as simple a saying, a word or picture adolescents incorporate these ideas into their design to bring some significance to the tattoo. Allowing them to justify the tattoo, because it has meaning to them and allowing a feeling of ownership. In the last section The Quest for Permanence, tattoos are explained as a solution to our busy and moving lifestyles. That even though teens may move or change the tattoos will always be there and will never be different. However, Martin warns that people change and what they value today may change tomorrow and teens