Body art, (tattoos) or (tattooing) has been a mainstay in popular culture for years, however, during the crazy nineties and the naughty noughties the tattoo popularity sky rocketed and entered the mainstream.

Today you will find that tattoos is everywhere, also you may have noticed that body piercings or modifications has been closely linked to people with tattoos.

Body art are actually very common these days and are liked by a huge number of people from all walks life, these people range from rock enthusiasts to Goths to sportsmen / women and celebrities basically anyone who feels that they can express themselves through using designs on their body to convey a message or express some sort of loyalty, they can be images of anything including satanic references.

Tattoos Gang and Prison Culture

Street gangs, hoods and criminals also have a close affinity with the tattoo, they use tattoo designs on their body as a way to identify themselves and others with being affiliated with the same or a rival gang or crew. It is quite common for these sorts of people to use tattooing as a way of respecting fallen crew members, imprisoned friends or people that have died either through natural causes , criminal activities or sudden death.

There are instances where a person has undergone training and have studied gangland behavior to help the police and detectives to identify the gangs signature and culture and way of thinking, this also helps the law enforcement agencies to keep an vigilant eye on a member of a gang that they feel poses a threat.

Body Art, Will They Be Around For The Foreseeable Future?

Certainly during the last twenty odd years, tattoos were associated with people that love to be a rebel, the type of person who is outspoken and takes no s**t from anyone, this person has used tattoo designs to portray being some sort of bad ass.

There are those out there who think that tattoos is disgusting and gross, this ancient art form abused or not is something that you either like it or not.

Tattoos are often a wonderful way of conveying something about yourself to others through designs, however, I can understand why someone would think they are horrible especially as there are times when you look at someone and think to yourself "You should of stopped earlier" a person can become addicted to getting inked and it may start at the back but end being a full body piece.

You don't have to be a "Bad Ass" to have a tattoo these days, one fact that is for definite is that body art are too popular to ignore in modern society these days, Christ there are even dedicated exhibits and galleries for tattoo designs and tattooing.

Still, this is something that would of been frowned upon and unheard of 20 years ago, there was a quote that was used by someone at a convention when being interviewed by a narrow minded journalist, this tattoo enthusiast remarked "Tattoos Rule, and it will never go out of fashion" looking back at that day this dude was right, no matter what is going on in the world or economic climate people still want to be inked.

Although there is still some negativity towards body art from elderly people, they still remain today as one of the most popular ways of expressing ones self or beliefs across all cultures.

It also means that tattoos will continue to trend for quite some considerable time, with celebrities and sports people adorning themselves with tattoo designs it will help keep this ancient art form in the minds of kids as they look up to these people and see that tattoos are not all that bad and are a means of expression.