When I was growing up the only people who had tattoos were those who has been in the navy or in gaol. It was a very male thing that was frowned upon by parents. So was going to jail, although being a sailor was seen as a good thing.
It was the early sixties and memories of heroic returned servicemen were still vivid.
Well, all that has changed.
Now having a tattoo is the new black. Everyone has got one and not just on their arms.
Wilcox, who does our clever cartoons, tells me that people have them all over their bodies. Although how a cartoonist knows that is still a mystery to me.
The women are really into it. Laura Bingle, the model famous for the Australia Tourism campaign, has just got one, but, “where the bloody hell is it”? I don’t know.
Lachlan Murdoch has one.
And it’s no surprise that Barry Hall, the Sydney Swan’s strong man, has got one too. He seemed to get overly agitated during last weekend’s game against Hawthorn. I suspect that the Hawk’s Jarryd Roughead go him going be saying“Hello sailor” or something like that.
What are these tattoos all about?
The answer lies in what is currently being played out in the media. People want to be individual in every way. The tattoo says “I am unique, there is no one else like me”.
The way people express themselves and what media they absorb are all important in the new world. The big threat to the free to air networks in the future is Foxtel. Free to air has always been about mass media and relatively limited choice - the choice that the networks have made for you.
For more than 40 years this worked as people watched more than three hours each day but the new tattoo mad viewers have a different view in this digital age. They want a choice even if it is something that others want also. So Foxtel , with it’s 100 plus channels is the danger to the networks. Always has been. With its 50% ownership by Telstra it is no surprise to see Kerry Stokes creeping up the share register. The networks are fighting back with extra digital channels. Ten has kicked it off with a sports channel. The ABC has news and kids channels and SBS an extra channel.
The challenge for all networks is to be different and that’s not easy or cheap to do. And the battle is personal too as Kim Williams, the chief of Foxtel, is no pushover. I wonder if Kim has a tattoo.
Louise tells me she was going to get a tattoo but wimped out when she was told that they hurt. She did tell me that the tattooists are also doing a roaring trade at the moment having tattoos removed.
That’s the other thing about being an individual, you reserve the right to change your mind, but it hurts.
Or as James Thurber said "Why do you have to be a non-conformist like everyone else"
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