Tattoos have a distinct anti-authority appeal. The origin of this appeal might be traced to the early Christian proscription of tattooing and the resulting European laws against the practice. Whatever the source, tattooing today has an aura of the forbidden about it. Second, tattooing may have inherent appeal due to the pain involved in the operation and the permanency of the design; thus tattooing is restricted to the brave and the dedicated. Third, and most important: in some circumstances, people are deprived of the opportunity to acquire and display the ordinary means of identifying and presenting the self. Although all three factors are obviously related it is the final one, that of deprivation of the opportunity to acquire and display the usual and desirable means of self-identification, that we see as the most basic to the understanding of tattooing. --Edgar & Dingman, "Tattooing and Identity," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 1963
