It is a fad. A pretty ignorant, self-centered fad.
The Bible says don’t do it.
Doctors would say don’t do it.
Removal is costly and incomplete.
And when one is older, they look like crap, and give evidence of one’s earlier stupidity.
I know that I would, as an employer NOT hire anybody where I spotted the thing.
In my earlier days they signaled either a guy who got one in the service (understandable), or a criminal.
A self-respecting female would not have such a disgusting thing.
Even more amazing is the trend of girls/young women going around sporting “tramp stamps”
(http://www.squidoo.com/TrampStamp)
And in this case, it cost the arm and the leg.
I absolutely agree with you, but I need to make one modification. You say, “A self-respecting female would not have such a disgusting thing.” Being of an Eastern background compounded by Catholicism, I intuitively agree, but I would say that nobody, of either gender, ought to get a tattoo.
Having said that ;-), I was getting ready to go out one night and had my curling iron on. I was fresh out of the shower and was waiting for my anti-perspirant and body lotion to dry, therefore nude. I turned around, the hot iron slid partway off the counter and scorched a cheek. Because of the way that a hot iron is designed, it looks like a 3cm. kissmark. I think it would look better if I enhanced it ;-). It’s brown; pink would be better. Plus, it imbues the expression kiss-my-tuckus with new meaning.
I don’t see myself ever being inspired to do it, though, because I think tattoos are a mark of stupidity (except for Catholics of my grandmother’s generation who had small tattoos of crucifixes at the base of their right thumbs, possibly to remind them to committ their hands to doing God’s work).
I saw the most hideous thing yesterday. A dude with his entire arm blued (or is it greened) with tattoo ink, except for a star around his elbow (and we all know how pretty elbows are and how they need to be showcased) which was his natural skin color. Oy.