Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Cosmopolitan ink

Tattoo appropriation transcends hipsters.

Dear Hipster:

A lot of people seem to identify tattoos with hipsters, but I feel like hipsters hardly have a monopoly on tattoos. Plenty of my friends, who aren’t what I think of as “hipsters” have tattoos. I’m a 32-year-old office-worker with a golden retriever, no cats, no music on vinyl, and one small tattoo that I have had forever. I wonder, is it time to let the whole tattoos and hipsters association slide?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Katie, Kensington

Yes with an if, no with a but. My favorite.

Many people who aren’t hipsters have tattoos, so we can disassociate hipsters and tattoos, if and only if we acknowledge the key role that hipsters have played in pushing the boundaries of tattoo as an industry and art form. At least in the mainland U.S. and similarly “Western” countries (where tattoo doesn’t have an association as a traditional art form), tattooing used to be stigmatized as the province of prisoners, sailors, and other unsavory elements. As they do with everything else that’s someone else’s culture, hipsters (mostly of the rock-and-roll ilk) adopted tattooing. The demand for more “artistic” tattoos provided the momentum for tattoo artists to develop much more conceptual tattoo styles that transcend the classically symbolic role of tattoo.

Statistics now demonstrate a rising trend in the popularity of tattoos. So many people under 40 now have tattoos that it’s only a matter of time before having a tattoo puts someone in the majority. Even so, we can’t discount the link between hipsters and tattoos. It’s still relevant, because hipsters still love tattoos, but we do have to question the automatic assumption that tattoos = hipster. In fact, the idea of tattoos indicating countercultural values may be only that, an idea. They’re more cosmopolitan than people think.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance

Dear Hipster:

A lot of people seem to identify tattoos with hipsters, but I feel like hipsters hardly have a monopoly on tattoos. Plenty of my friends, who aren’t what I think of as “hipsters” have tattoos. I’m a 32-year-old office-worker with a golden retriever, no cats, no music on vinyl, and one small tattoo that I have had forever. I wonder, is it time to let the whole tattoos and hipsters association slide?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Katie, Kensington

Yes with an if, no with a but. My favorite.

Many people who aren’t hipsters have tattoos, so we can disassociate hipsters and tattoos, if and only if we acknowledge the key role that hipsters have played in pushing the boundaries of tattoo as an industry and art form. At least in the mainland U.S. and similarly “Western” countries (where tattoo doesn’t have an association as a traditional art form), tattooing used to be stigmatized as the province of prisoners, sailors, and other unsavory elements. As they do with everything else that’s someone else’s culture, hipsters (mostly of the rock-and-roll ilk) adopted tattooing. The demand for more “artistic” tattoos provided the momentum for tattoo artists to develop much more conceptual tattoo styles that transcend the classically symbolic role of tattoo.

Statistics now demonstrate a rising trend in the popularity of tattoos. So many people under 40 now have tattoos that it’s only a matter of time before having a tattoo puts someone in the majority. Even so, we can’t discount the link between hipsters and tattoos. It’s still relevant, because hipsters still love tattoos, but we do have to question the automatic assumption that tattoos = hipster. In fact, the idea of tattoos indicating countercultural values may be only that, an idea. They’re more cosmopolitan than people think.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

Best Kratom Capsules: Top Brands, Benefits & Where To Buy

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.