Can Tattoos and Body Piercings Make You More Likely to Pass on Your Genes?

Research conducted by scholars at the University of Wroclaw in Poland suggests that tattoos and piercings add to a person's bodily symmetry and denote risk-taking behavior. This may increase the likelihood that a person so decorated will mate and pass on his or her genes:

Among the research subjects, men with bodily decorations exhibited greater symmetry than those without, whereas no differences emerged in women. Because people who are less symmetric did not opt more often for tattoos and piercings, researchers rejected one widely held hypothesis that suggested people use physical graffiti to hide or distract from imperfections in their appearance.

The results jibe with a different theory—getting stuck with needles can endanger one’s health via infections, so the study supports the evolutionary “handicap” theory that only those with high biological quality can afford such risky behavior. The im­pulse to get inked may be a risk-taking behavior inherited from ancestors who were strong enough to endure injuries and survive—as opposed to those whose ancestors survived by avoiding risk and injury. Therefore, at least in men, body art could serve as an “honest” signal of fitness in the Darwinian sense. So maybe that’s why pierced, tattooed rock stars do so well with the ladies.


Link | Photo: Geeky Tattoos

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So should I now consider a new "pick-up line":
Hey nice girl I have tattoo's- Wanna F***?

Oh ratz I'm already bespoken and married for some decades.....

But I do have the ink and I still don't have children....

:lol:
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I'm all about risk taking - dirt bikes, skateboarding, street racing, hang gliding, snowboarding, drinking, smoking, rock and tree climbing - and while i've often contemplated tattoos, i've never been able to settle on anything that I wouldn't mind being permanent.

this is only validated by the fact that, off all the ideas i've had for tattoos over the years, i'll be damned if i can remember what even one of them was.

i've never been much of one for visual self expression, besides some wild hair stuff i did as a kid, but even then i often resented the attention and the misconceptions it caused others. none of my 7 cars has ever had a bumper sticker, i dont have posters on my walls, and i tend, pretty much, to wear the same clothes i've been wearing since i was about 16. toned down of course - less loud stuff and more plain solid colors.

i just don't decorate, i guess.
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Years ago it was possibly only the bold and tough that risked having body piercings and tattoos, but now days as body art has become more acceptable I know people who sport piercings and tattoos that I thought were not that bold and tough.
I would say that there are some who use body art to hide imperfections as I know of a lady who says she has tattoos and piercings to distract from her being overweight.
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