Are Tattoos An
Addiction?
The longtime connection between tattoos and individuals of
questionable character is not the sole account for why tattoos
are frequently given a bad reputation. While of course
this connection, which is becoming less and less of a factor as
each generation progresses, has been true in many
circumstances, the subject of tattoos in the present day has
yet another cloud over its reputation; it is darker, and
rarely based on the truth.
From both those who know and those who do not, there are
frequent insinuations about the "addictive" characteristics of
tattooing. Many people sport multiple tattoos; some
have acquired them over a number of years or decades, while
others make regular trips to their favorite tattoo studios, but
arbitrarily labeling this as an "addiction" is unfair,
unrealistic, and rarely based in fact. As each person has
his or her own individual reason for getting tattoos, it is
impossible to know what a person's reason is unless he or she
states it. Some like artwork, some wish to honor a
special person, some get tattoos in order to feel a part of
some specific group, some people just enjoy spending
money. In other words, most people have their own
individual reasons for getting tattoos, and it is almost never
a matter of being "addicted" to them.
There are two parts of this misconception. Both play a
role in giving a bad reputation to the subject of tattoos as
well as to the people who elect to get them. The first is
that people are addicted to the tattoos themselves; the
second misconception is that people are addicted to the process
of getting them-- specifically, that they are "addicted
to pain." One might wonder the mindset of anyone who
states the latter opinion; but it certainly provides
quite a scope of misunderstandings on the entire
subject.
One tattoo artist, in remarking that tattoos are a "fever,"
had been referring to the simple, if odd, enjoyment which many
of his clients had in being able to spend money to buy
permanent artwork for themselves. "I think I'll get
another one" was something often heard in his studio.
This did not constitute "addiction" by any definition of the
word. Nor, in his decades of practice as a tattoo artist,
did he ever have a customer who even remotely enjoyed the
discomfort of the tattooing process.
The word, and its mistaken applicability to tattoos, is
often tossed around by those who know too well what the word
"addiction" really means. Addiction is a compulsion,
something over which a person has no self-control.
Addiction cannot differentiate between a "want" and a
"need." Individuals who do have numerous
addictions-- drugs, alcohol, behaviors, etc.-- can
very well become addicted to tattoos. However, that is
certainly not the case for the majority of people who decide to
get them. Most people who get tattoos do so simply
because they want them; they do not possess the weakness
of character which leads addicts in the position of being
compelled to do something.
The concept that a person gets tattoos because he or she is
addicted to pain and therefore enjoys the painful process of
being tattooed can only come from either the most ignorant or
those who have some personal issues of their own.
Unfortunately, both of these misconceptions shed a very
negative light on both the subject of tattoos and the people
who wear them. It is a bad reputation which neither
deserve, for there is almost never any fact in either point of
view. While there are those who get tattoos with less
than desirable motives, most people who get them do so with no
negative attachment to either the tattoos or the process
whatsoever. The bottom line is if you find someone who is
attempting to convince you that getting tattoos is an
addiction, you've probably found someone who actually is an
addict and does not realize that most people are not.
|