A Tattoo, like body jewelry piercing, was only acceptable in the Western Culture among subculture groups like sailors, prisoners, bikers, and mobsters. Again, like piercing, the homosexual subculture began the tattoo movement to the mainstream.

According to "The Progression of the Tattoo," tattoos are now considered a "unique decoration" in the world of body art because they stay with the person forever. Many people find this idea appealing, and seek to tattoo on themselves an idea or message that will never leave them.

This idea also follows the idea that because body art is more popular in the mainstream culture of Generation X, it can be seen as a divergence from the culture of the previous generation. In this sense, tattooing, like body piercing, can be seen as liberation from the mainstream culture.

Tattoos can also be considered a sign of conformity. At the beginning of the recent tattooing revolution (about twenty years ago) getting a tattoo was a clear sign of deviation. Today, however, tattoos have made their way into the popular culture of the nation: advertisements even have begun to use tattoos in their marketing to appeal to a younger buying demographic. So while before, tattooing was really a sign of the "other," today, it can be argued that wearing a tattoo is only a more permanent way to conform (Kennedy).

Today, between 7 and 20 million American adults are reported to be tattooed (G,H,L). Out of 766 tattooed college students who participated in the survey conducted by Grief, Hewitt, and Armstrong, 53% of the students said that they got a tattoo for self-expression. 35% "just wanted one," 21% got tattooed to remember an event, 17% wanted to feel independent, and 11% wanted independence. The results of the study suggest that "as with all art forms, the purpose of tattoos seems to be to be means of communicating thoughts, ideas, and feelings" (G,H,L).

Associate Professor of Psychology Christina Frederick-Recascino whose research specializes in why college-aged people get tattoos argues that while the body art movement may seem like a fad or a craze, "the majority said they were not getting tattoos and pierces from peer pressure." She states that "they were choosing it as a way to reflect their identity." For many young adults who decide to permanently change their bodies, tattoos "reflects an aspect of who [they are], represents [their] inner personality, [their] interests, life goals, life philosophy" ("Tattoo. Pierce. How Come?"). In that sense, tattoos should be considered vastly rhetorical, because the person is making the decision to permanently inscribe their body jewelry with a personal message.

Tattoos and body piercing works alongside the brands and styles of clothes one chooses to wear to create a rhetorical statement about the kind of person one is. In that sense, if clothing makes up the "sentences" in the grammar of fashion, than surely it can be argued that tattoos and body piercing are the "punctuation" in those sentences.