Much of my experience is in the Philippines, and even in the U.S.A. tattoos are rampant among prisoners and the youth who show off their buttcrack, not saying that you do.
No offense intended to people with tattoos.
What about the hundreds-of-years-old tradition of sailors who honorably serve their country, without ever being NEAR a prison, getting tattoo(s)?
That is the tradition I am familiar with.