Stereotypical Association of Tattoo Design
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Sailor
Sailors on their ships returned home with their own tattoos... usually of a very basic style that only uses a minimum amount of details making the tattoos look quite two dimensional and flat. This often gives a cartoonist feeling and typical motifs would be flowers, hearts, mermaids, ships, anchors, snakes, birds, and names.

Criminality For a long time, tattooing was the preserve of sailors and... Criminals! In prison, the tattoo - professionally done and homemade- indelibly imprint on their bodies what these men desire in their souls: autonomy and identity. The ultimate symbol for gang members are their gang tattoos, getting a permanent mark is a sign of showing total commitment to the gang. these tattoos can reveal lots of things, like, who you are/what gang you're in/ what your beliefs are (racist etc..), what you have done, where you have been, how many years you have been in jail (also referred to as ‘dead time’) and even things like how many you have killed. Known symbols include teardrops under the eye as well as spider webs on the elbows to symbolize people killed.