The placement of someone’s tattoo tells you more than you think — including their age.
According to 37-year-old Jenna Barclay, the location of someone’s ink can be a great indicator of whether or not they belong to Generation Z, and that statement has caused quite the conversation online.
She posted a clip on Instagram asking “What is the tramp stamp of 2024?” with the text below reading, “What do you think is the quintessential tattoo placement of this time period??”
Highlights
- Jenna Barclay suggests tattoo placement can indicate Gen Z affiliation.
- Video on tattoo placements gets over 4.2 million views, sparking debate.
- Gen Z tattoos often resemble random sticker-like designs, say commenters.
Thousands of comments weighed in with their opinion.
Image credits: jennaabarclay
A millennial has sparked a debate about where Gen Z tattoos are typically located
Image credits: Unsplash/Lau Baldo
With a video amassing more than 4.2 million views and 27,000 likes on Instagram, the influencer stated “ankle roses” or “cursive quotes on the rib cage” to be among the few designs and placements that would single out a young adult.
“As a middle millennial, some popular placements that stand out from my teenage and young adult years include the lower back, hip bone, shoulder blade, top of the foot, rib cage, forearm, inner wrist,” Barclay said to Newsweek.
Image credits: jennaabarclay
But now “trends spread and evolve differently,” especially with the influence of social media. It’s much harder to agree on one thing when people strive to “feel unique” before the next big trend.
“There were definitely a few that came up over and over in the comments: the random-feeling sticker style placement of small tattoos, above the knee, back of the arm above the elbow, and sternum were probably the most common responses,” she told the news outlet.
Image credits: Envato/9_fingers_
The internet personality also recalled the unforgettable trends of tattooing a mustache on your finger back in the early 2010s or backward writing on the collarbone area, like Rihanna.
A debate quickly began on whether there is one area that accurately tells the tale of someone’s age
Image credits: jennaabarclay
Based on most of the top comments, everyone had different opinions.
“Random tattoos on the arm. Not a sleeve. Maybe not even a theme,” one person said. “Just things people like. A flower. A pet. A name. A cartoon. A book quote. And their zodiac sign. Random assortment of images of their arm.”
Another wrote, “Back of the arm just above the elbow, specifically butterflies.”
“Tattoo artist here. I’d say minimalist finger/hand tattoos but not many tattoos in other places,” chimed in an expert.
Image credits: Unsplash/Matheus Ferrero
A common consensus among the commenters was that Gen Z likes gravitating towards fine-line designs and gets them inked on their arms or upper body.
One compared a Gen Z’s body to a “sticker book” since it’s common for tattoos to have “no cohesion.”
“Small doodles in random places all over making you look like the inside cover of your textbook,” a user echoed.
Image credits: jennaabarclay
A 23-year-old from Vancouver, Canada, who requested to be called Mayson, opened up to Bored Panda about her process of getting her two tattoos.
Her arm is where she chose to get them placed, but it didn’t seem as if the location mattered much.
“The left inner arm [tattoo] was my first one so I didn’t really want my parents to know about it cause I got it when I was 18,” she said. “The right [upper arm] one is just there because I thought that place looked cool.”
While placement of a tattoo certainly matters, it isn’t exactly the main priority for many Gen Zers
Image credits: Unsplash/Zac Meadowcroft
Young adults care much more about their design rather than the location.
Of course, not every tattoo is required to have some kind of profound meaning, but research has shown a majority of American adults see it as a memorialization of sorts.
A study conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that 69% of adults — more particularly, young women — got tattooed to honor or remember something or someone.
47% said they wanted to make a statement on the things they strongly believe in, while 32% believed it would help improve their physical appearance.
Similarly, Mayson believes the visual of a tattoo is much more important than where it is placed.
She fit into the category of wanting to remember an experience, as her first tattoo was of the skyline of her home: Hong Kong.
“At that time, I was about to leave Hong Kong and study in Taiwan,” she recalled.
A tattoo fineline artist also spoke to Bored Panda and said many of these designs hold meaning for first-timers but "after that, it's mainly aesthetic."
Sternum and other upper body tattoos seem to be a staple for the 2020s, according to comments
