In North America, tattooing was popular among the Native Americans in early 1900s. Tattooing today in North America, though recognizable and not unspeakable, is not by any means commonplace or popular. The persons most associated with getting tattooed today are motorcycle riders, rock stars, or tattoo artists themselves.
People in today's culture get tattooed for many different reasons. Some people get tattoos that signify their participation in a certain group or club, some people get the face of a loved one tattooed on them for purposes of tribute and remembrance, and others get tattooed mainly for decoration. Tattooing oneself for decoration is the most common use of tattooing today. A person being tattooed for decoration may get a tattoo that means something to them, such as a hobby they enjoy or a landmark in their life, while others may get something tattooed on them because they may think that the design looks appealing or looks comical, scary, sad, etc. No matter what the purpose, tattooing in North America carries the notion of a lower or middle class individual, even though many current music stars and celebrities have them. Ear piercing in North America is commonplace, though other piercings are not so prevalent. Among teenagers, piercing of both ears is popular, as well as the upper cartilage of the ear, the tongue, and among females piercing of the navel is quite popular. Many pop stars have adorned such piercings and seem to make it known that they have such body parts pierced. Piercing of the lip, labret, nipples, and genitals is not very popular at all, though the group that practices this the most are adolescent Caucasians. Recently this trend is slowly growing also in adolescent African Americans. The least popular of body modification practices in North America are those of scarification, branding, implanting, and suspension. Scarification and branding entail either an incision or the application of searing hot metal pieces to the skin in order to make a design.
