Enrique Alfonso Gómez Vargas

The implications of tattooing in Mexico Enrique Alfonso Gómez Vargas

Nowadays, the resurgence of tattoos is largely due to the publicity associated with sports, show business or cultural figures who use their skin as a canvas, and to the importance that these people have in terms of social repercussions rather than intrinsic value. This without detracting from the identity value of having a tattoo with a high symbolic value. In Mexico about 12 million people are tattooed. That represents, for those dedicated to this activity, income of over 450 million dollars (mdd). For an image of up to four centimeters, Mexicans pay from $35 to even $100 dollars, or between $670 and $1,950 pesos. Think of a tattoo as a tool to identify people, to indicate if you have a disease, blood type, allergies. Or if it is used to refer that an individual is an organ donor or does not want to be resuscitated in case of a serious accident. That has a scar that causes embarrassment, vitiligo, hair loss or loss of some part of the body, it is in these cases when the tattoo shows its social utility and ceases to be an accessory to become a personal asset.