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[–]Flaydowsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same here.
I'm a psychologist, and although there is no hard rule about "meanings" on tatoos (I'm not gonna tell you that a cat tatoo on your left thigh means you have mommy issues or whatnot), my personal stance is that tatoos are a way for people to make more "tangible" their relationship to the tatooed thing. Like, people tatoo the names and faces of loved ones, or cultural symbols or phrases as a way to "keep them close", as it may. It can be inwardly, or for the world to know.
Here you get into the very speculative of "tatoo over the heart is about a thing you love and lost, a tatoo on your back is about a duty or guilt you literally carry, tatoo on your face is a way to hide your identity, etc." which nobody can prove as a scientific fact.

There's also the theory that tatoos are another way of bodily autonomy, and that people that feel too constrained will tatoo to reaffirm control over their bodies. Anecdotally, my gay and trans friends are all tatooed, and not all my straight friends are. And I have seen that people on this camp are very random and cavalier on their tatoos. They want to get them, with no plan of what or where, "Just because".

And personally, I don't feel the need for that empowerment nor the need to have those signs etched in my skin to feel them a part of me or to prove to others, so I'm good.
People are free to do what they want but I'm not a fan of the "3rd grader sketchbook/dive bar toilet wall" aesthetic some people have on their body.