Modern Tattoo Culture Through the Lenses of Northwestern Students

Our generation has welcomed tattoos into art culture more than ever before.

Whether young people have grown up in environments that are supportive of tattoos, they are evidently becoming a part of pop culture. According to The Guardian, 47 percent of Millennials born between 1984 and 2004 have at least one tattoo. This being said, families and parents in particular play a large role in the transition to acceptance. On Northwestern’s campus, some students shared their own anecdotes about their tattoo experiences.

“Within my specific culture, tattoos are really taboo,” Northwestern sophomore Cai Cramer said.

Cramer grew up in a Jewish household. When she told her parents that she wanted to have a tattoo, her mom’s biggest concern was that tattoos break Jewish law, and that Cai would not be able to be buried in a Jewish Cemetery. Cai did some research and found out that this is no longer true, and because her mom knew how much it meant to her, she let her get one.

Rachael Packard, a Junior at Northwestern, grew up in a pro-tattoo family. Her dad has a full sleeve on one arm, as well as individual tattoos on his arm, chest and leg. Her mom has five or six. Packard has matching tattoos with both of her parents: alantern with her father from a book they used to read and an infinity sign with her mother. When she turned 17 and decided she wanted a tattoo, her parents were very excited.

“In Nebraska, if you are below 18 and you are going to get a tattoo, your parents have to come with you, so my dad came with me,” said Packard.

Since he was young, Junior Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman’s biggest tattoo inspiration came from his parents. Both of his parents had tattoos, and his household welcomed the creativity of tattoo art. Since Chakiao-Bowman was 9 years old, versions of his drawings have been used for his father’s tattoos. Growing up, tattoos were normalized for him. Bowman says that his parents kept that mindset that “as long as you understand what you’re doing and who you’re doing it for, there is really nothing wrong with it.”

All three of these students were inked for the first time as a coming of age. Packard’s first tattoo on her 17th birthday was the Latin quote that her Grandfather often said, “in omnia paratus,” which means “ready for all things.” Packard grew up obsessed with Gilmore Girls, and one of their episodes was devoted to this quote. Cramer got her first tattoo the summer after her senior year: three little stars that symbolize the quote, “prospera ad ostera,” which means through hardship to the stars, a quote from the World War II book, “Salt to the Sea.”  The quote has helped her get over personal hardships she was going through at the time. Chiaokhiao-Bowman got his first tattoo for his 18th birthday. He had known what he was going to get for three years before getting the tattoo. It is a drawing that he did of a skull wearing a beanie with his initials on it.

The first tattoo breaks the ice, and each of these students has decided to get at least a second.

“Not even the art itself, the actual way it makes your body feel is really addictive,” Packard said.

Following her first tattoo, Packard has gotten a few more. While Packard usually plans months in advance before getting a tattoo, her favorites happen to be some of the more spontaneous ones she has gotten.

“I really love my flowers. They are sequoia blossom because I used to live in Japan. I also didn’t see it before. He drew a stencil free hand and just put it on me,” Packard said.

She also really loves the small tattoo on her wrist of two trees, one slightly bigger than the other, that she got with her cousin.

“We decided the night before that we were going to get A tattoo but didn’t decide which one until we got there,”Packard said.

Chiaokhiao-Bowman has many tattoos all over his body, each one coming from a drawing that he has done himself. His favorite is his back. “I got a big skyline of downtown Minneapolis behind my house… I got that with some snow and a blizzard coming across the buildings. Below the skyline and below the city I have my street, a street sign where I grew up, and a bridge that connects me the distance between me and my grandma.” His grandmother passed away two years ago, and this tattoo honors her with the home that he grew up in.

“Since I have drawn my tattoos, I know that no one else in the world has what I have on my body. So that mean a lot to me,” said Chiakhiao-Bowman.

Cramer eventually added the actual quote, “prospera ad ostara” this summer. Cramer loves her tattoos, but for now does not plan on adding anymore until she thinks of something significant enough.

“I think it’s a super big decision to have something on your body for the rest of your life, so if I was going to get another tattoo I would want to know it would be applicable for my entire life,” she said.

While these students are all connected to their families through these tattoos, their understanding of tattoos in today’s culture has evolved to some degree from the understanding that their parents had.   

“Ten or 20 years ago, you couldn’t have tattoos in the workplace and be considered respectable or a professional person,” Packard said.  “Now, I think that’s changing because so many people have them. I think they are viewed as art more than alternative culture.”

Cramer also believes that having tattoos today does not necessarily mean that you are seen as unprofessional. She believes that our generation embraces autonomy more than in the past, and that employers do recognize that.

“We are embracing ourselves and our flaws and our bodies and our choices more than ever before, where I feel like in previous generations, things like the government or employers or parents really controlled so many aspects of who you are,” Cramer said.

Bowman notices his background and his two cultures’ interpretations of tattoos contrast.

“In America, there not a lot of symbolism or stories in the tattoos, it’s more of pop culture, and I am comparing that to Southeast Asian culture on my mom’s family,” Bowman said. “I know there’s a lot of meaning that goes into tattoos.”

Tattoos tell lifeline stories, and cater towards many different familial backgrounds and histories. These students, amongst others contribute to the expressive and acceptant tattoo movement that exists today.