(The Atlantic) – Two years ago, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott went under for almost half a day, during which time multiple artists worked together on producing a full leg sleeve depicting, among other things, a Pegasus, a moose, the Dallas skyline, and a firm handshake. More athletes followed, getting very large tattoos that would otherwise have needed to be created across multiple sessions in a parlor, with bouts of healing in between—an arduous process that can take many weeks to complete. Even the singer Post Malone, one of pop culture’s most conspicuously tattooed celebrities, has gotten work done while medically unconscious.

To a certain type of person, the appeal of these procedures is self-evident: Getting a needle jabbed into your skin hurts. But for another type of person—one who feels personally, professionally, or even ideologically invested in the culture and traditions of tattooing—this trend will be unnerving. Blasphemous, even. (Read More)