The first documented professional tattooist in Britain was established in the port of
Liverpool in the 1870s. In Britain tattooing was still largely associated with sailors
[20] and the lower or even criminal class,
[21] but by the 1870s had become fashionable among some members of the upper classes, including royalty,
[22][23] and in its upmarket form it could be an expensive
[24] and sometimes painful
[25] process. A marked class division on the acceptability of the practice continued for some time in Britain.
[26] Since the 1970s, tattoos have become a mainstream part of Western fashion, common among both sexes, to all economic classes, and to age groups from the later teen years to middle age. For many young Americans, the tattoo has taken on a decidedly different meaning than for previous generations. The tattoo has "undergone dramatic redefinition" and has shifted from a form of deviance to an acceptable form of expression.
[27] In 2010, 25% of Australians under age 30 had tattoos.
[28]
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