The author needs to maybe get over it? He goes through the typical complaints. >They think that by having themselves tattooed they are shocking the bourgeoisi

The author needs to maybe get over it? He goes through the typical complaints. >They think that by having themselves tattooed they are shocking the bourgeoisie à la Baudelaire; and in so far as their parents don’t like it, and are in effect silencing them by a fait accompli of which it is useless for them to complain, they are exercising power over them. >It seems obvious to me that if a person feels he has to tattoo himself in order to “express” his difference from others, he must have some difficulty in individuating himself, perhaps indicative (when this difficulty is on a mass scale, as it clearly is) of an individualistic society without individuals. But in large part people get tattoos because they like them, nothing much more than that. It's just a skin mod, not a big deal, not worth wringing hands over. It sure is nice that people don't usually get beaten up anymore for having weird hair or modifications.