Where do FL readers stand on tattooing?

[John in Covina]

Too much is not enough.

As for myself, knowing how fickle I can be and how my areas of focus change over time, I could never decide on a tattoo I could be certain to be happy with in a few years.

So on others I say tastefully done is ok.
BUT when is it that you over do it?
Where is the delicate line of tasteful wiped out by poor subject matter and/or overabundence quantity?

I shudder at:
the Illustrated man or woman.
At: any tattoo on the head, face, neck or hand.

Also, when it is overdone and the wearer thinks it is a "Political Statement" well I don't think so, I see it as modern tribalism, along with piercings and scarification. Plus Santanic is not political it is simply Satanic.

It's like talking to some teenaged girl that has gotten her tounge pierced and I worry because: one> did she do it because "every body else is doing it", or two: she actually knows why one gets a tounge piercing...moderators edit.

That indian sanskrit or what ever one gets on the backs of young lovelies that is just above the belt of their low cut jeans, suggests easy sex and a need to embelish, but doesn't suggest thorough, thoughtful, soul searching woman you should take home to meet mom or marry. It does suggest screwing some one night stand bar fly. As sex was envisioned by early femenists, labeled the zipless ...,moderator's edit. Sex as a mindless physical enjoyment without emotional involvement, like you can really seperate to two. Funny what that mindset leads us to. Also, does a concentrated effort at looking like trailer park white trash or trying to be plain "freaky" give you the best life advantage? So do we curb our selves to protect the youth or just let don't give a ...."toot" ...moderator's edit.... about what we do and how it effects others, as in "I ain't no role model" sports figures.

For those of you that think I have Insulted you I apologize, I respect that you are allowed to make choices in society, I just would suggest you look outside: yourself, your current crop of friends and envision what you'll be facing in 5-10 years.

The most popular tattoo on death row for the last fifty years has been "Born to Lose" which is a rather self fulfilling prophecy at a self limiting life.

On the lighter side any body remember the scene in Raising Arizona where Hi notices that he and Leonard Smalls have the same bird tattoo?

 

[Paisley]

Since someone asked, I don't think a tattoo improves a person's appearance. I do find some tattooed men attractive, but in spite of their tattoos. I don't think it makes them look classier.

As for the bottom line, my employer doesn't hire people with obvious tattoos. Nor do a lot of other companies that need to project a conservative image.

 

[Senator Jack]

Well I've seen some rather idiotic tattoos in my life, and I guess that's why I always waited till I was an adult to get one (emotionally, not just chronologically) but I'll never forget the most idiotic tattoo I have ever seen. Think it's a band logo? Hah! Think it's some sort of demon? Mmm, Not even close. Think it's of George Bush? Well the brain cells are about the same. No the most idiotic tattoo I've ever seen was on a guy's forearm. It was of...

The Scrubbing Bubbles.

Yeah, that's right, the scrubbing bubbles from the cleaning spray. What could possible have been going through his head? What would make a man say, 'You know what would make me incredibly happy in life? To have the scrubbing bubbles tattooed on my arm.'

Till this day, some fifteen years later, I wonder if he ever got them removed.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[adamgottschalk]

Since someone asked, I don't think a tattoo improves a person's appearance. I do find some tattooed men attractive, but in spite of their tattoos. I don't think it makes them look classier.

As for the bottom line, my employer doesn't hire people with obvious tattoos. Nor do a lot of other companies that need to project a conservative image.

Living where I live, I simply wouldn't feel like a "real man" if I didn't have tattoos. Now, I very not about tattooed images, though, of course, images are the norm. I'm a writer, and nothing brings me more joy than the idea of putting my most heart-felt and lifelong favorite famous quotes and quips on my body. But then I'm a rabble rouser, and there are things I want people to know about me without having to ask. Anymore, I exude who I am with having to say anything, without having to wear a short-sleeve shirt so folks can see my tattooed arms, but the tatts help, Dissident, for example (I really am), Heinlein sayiing, "Specialization if for insects", etc. Also, due to where I am, it's very clear that many women of all ages find tasteful tattoos "hot", contributing (much to my chagrin to that age-old "bad-boy" image, too hot to handle, think twice about getting mixed up with me. For me, to a certain extent, it's like a filter; same as below, I wouldn't dream of being with a woman who was turned off by tattoos.

I wouldn't get tattoos in places that could be seen when dressed up in nice clothes. That combination would ruin my "whole point" in dressing well. As far as employers, there was a time I was concerned about them and tattoos. Again, here in Portland, it's nearly more uncommon to see an UNtattooed man (or woman for that matter) than it is a well tatooed person. But my third tattoo, which is on my left tricep (really wouldn't know it was there unless you were my girlfriend or I showed it to you) is this: a 3-inch red no-smoking sign with these words inscribed in the middle: "Running-Dog Lackey for Capitalist Overlords." I have never been and never will be. I've been working freelance for more than 12 years, in various fields, and am an artist in several arts. Long gone is any desire to work for anyone else unless I'm forced; I wouldn't dream of working for someone who wouldn't hire me because of tattoos, just couldn't bring myself to even if I was about to go homeless (but that point is moot, for obvious reasons).

 

[mysterygal]

I agree with Paisely ....tattoes don't make a man any more classier, actually, I don't think there's anythying classy about it.....buy it is for darn sure sexy if done right. I love tattoes on guys backs or shoulder blades best, to me they just look better there......But do put into consideration the fact of gravity as you get older...and what type of tattoe.My grandpa has a couple of tattoes of women on his body....it was cool I'm sure when he was young but now it's just plain tacky and he's actually a little embarrassed about them.

 

[herringbonekid]

it's not the idea of permanently marking the body that bothers me so much as the QUALITY of the image that most tattooed persons choose to PERMANENTLY etch on their bodies.
i wouldn't even put most tattoo images in a frame on my wall let alone on my body. if i'm in an intimate clutch with a pretty girl i want to look at her ACTUAL body, not some bubblegum cartoon image superimposed on top of it.

 

[Bebop]

I have 6 tats and I am sorry I had every single one done. Not that they are badly done (Lyle Tuttle did my tattoos in 1972-75) or meaningless to me but I realized too late that I don't care to express myself to strangers as much as my tattoos do. I am much more private than the tattoos seem to portray. I do not like explaining what my tattoos mean to me. None of your business. But of course it's in their face so they have to ask and I have to go down that road.

What about these clowns that insist on wearing tank tops or shorts in cold weather just to make sure everyone sees their big, ugly tattoo. I don't even want to get started on how I feel about women with tattoos. I see people that have tattoos now and think their tattoos are so lame. I put them in the same class as bodybuilders except they don't have to work at it. They just have to pay some bucks. But it gives me the same message: "Look at me. Am I not the ultimate? Please say yes. Please?"

These tribal tattoos that people get now are all just about the same. Everyone thinks they have the ultimate, meaningful, creative tattoo but everyone ends up with the same crappy tribal tattoo or chinese characters. Tribal tattoos on a guy that has never left his beloved Sherman Oaks. Or Chinese characters that the recipient hopes says whatever someone told him or her it says. Kind of funny. The best tattoo I ever saw was in the Army. This guy had a large lion on his back chasing a mouse that was diving into the crack of his butt. It took up his whole back and was quite entertaining to see in the showers. Very well done. I say save your money and just enjoy laughing at the mistakes of tattooed people. Don't become one of them.

 

[adamgottschalk]

...Or Chinese characters that the recipient hopes says whatever someone told him or her it says. Kind of funny.

As a speaker of Mandarin Chinese, I have to agree with you on this point.

As far as "stay away," my experience has been that you get to a certain point of knowing yourself, as in, once you're older and have been to hell and back a couple of times, when if you get that "knowing feeling" that tattoos might bring you joy, and if especially you opt for tasteful, less in-your-face, works of great personal meaning, why deny them to yourself? As far as I see them now (36, 5 tatts, first at 32), they're just another way that one can enhance the array of sensual pleasures in life--in this case, the senses pleased might be visual, aesthetic, world-view, whatever. If a thing has the potential to widen one's sensory pallet, and can be had while doing no harm, I see it as infliction of abject self-misery to deny it across the board.

The best arguments I've heard against them have to do with gravity and the way old folks tend to look. That's not all old folks. If a person keeps themself fit right up to the end, as they probably should, it's really not much to worry about (I take my 66-year-old father as a prime example, though he has no tattoos. If it weren't for his gray hair, you'd really be hard-pressed to guess he was over 50. Weight-lifter, tennis player, former gymnast, always has been, always will be). If you planned to have kids (I never, ever wanted them), that might be a good reason not to get tattoos--who knows what crazy ideas might work in the minds of your would-be kids?

 

[VintageJess]

I think there are some really beautiful tattoos out there, done with care and love. This is one that my hubby had done last fall--a memorial tattoo to the three Marines that he lost in Fallujah, Iraq during OIF II.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110500856.html?sub=AR

Jessica

 

[Aaron Hats]

Go for it if you're absolutely sure you want one. I have two on my right arm and will be getting a third sometime soon. As far as the image you portray, I think the way you dress and carry yourself says more than a tattoo on your arm.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Years ago I was visiting my grandfather in the Iowa State Veterans Home and saw so many of them with tatoos that had turned into indiscernible globs of ink on their arms since getting them in WWII. As someone mentioned before if you keep yourself fit until the end...but most won't. Most of the people with tatoos I see around here are young and unfit. They just want that brief 15 minutes of fame to show off.

 

[Dis]

I wouldn't get one because of the way they look when they get old. They get 'fuzzy' with time.

Some tatts can be tasteful or carry personal meaning for the wearer. They look fine with everyday wear. I think they should be in places where you can't see them when you get dressed up. Tattoos just don't go with the look, in my eyes.

Tattoos on girls: really iffy for me. I saw a young woman in the store today who had angel wings tattooed on her back. The effect was anything but angelic.

I tend to run the other way from popular fashions. Perhaps if tattoos weren't so fashionable, I might like them better.

 

[Aaron Hats]

I'm surprised there isn't more support for tattoos considering their "vintage-ness". Not sure if that's a word but it sounds good doesn't it? Remember the old anchor tattoos or the pinup girl tattoos on servicemen?

It all boils down to freedom of choice and thank goodness we have that freedom.

 

[MudInYerEye]

Years ago I was visiting my grandfather in the Iowa State Veterans Home and saw so many of them with tatoos that had turned into indiscernible globs of ink on their arms since getting them in WWII.QUOTE]
I'll never forget this skinny old man I saw in a barber shop when I was seven years old. It was dead hot Summer. This guy looked about 85 or 90 years old and carried a bamboo cane. He wore a boater hat, crisp seersucker suit with bowtie, and white bucks (my father was wearing the same thing that day). The old guy took his jacket off and his thin, wrinkly arms were absolutely covered in the blurriest sludge of tattooing I've yet to see. Forget Steve McQueen, this guy was the definition of cool. Totally mystified me. Still does.
Granted, they're not for everybody, and most people who have them probably shouldn't, but the right tattoo on the right person lends something magical to them.

 

[Zemke Fan]

On the beach in St. Thomas...

...this week and shared the shade of a tree with three guys from Brooklyn. They all had tatoos and ONE of them had -- I'm NOT making this up, I swear -- the greatest looking picture of his mom/pop from WWII where his dad was in uniform. Cool/weird all at the same time. My wife and I had a great time drinking beer with these dudes.

 

[mysterygal]

that is interesting. In one way it would kind of scare me off, meeting a guy with his parents permanently tatooed on his body....says a little bit of afraid to leave the nest to me....yet it is sort of sweet.
I still think the tat on the shoulder blade is sooooo cool...but it takes a certain type of guy to pull it off...otherwise it just comes off as trying too hard

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

OK, I guess it's my turn. Here's mine.

It's a phoenix, on my right inner forearm. I got it a little over two years ago at a shop in Connecticut. It was in Tattoo magazine in May of 2003. I really like it, and I got a lot of compliments. And of course, it has an inner meaning which I won't bore you with the details of.

I also have a skull and crossed swords on my right shoulder with the words "No Quarter Given" below. That one's from my pirating days in the USN submarine fleet... don't ask.

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

100?!?!

HEY! I'm a "regular" now! Wow, I've only been coming here for a couple weeks... did I really make 100 posts? Hmm.. I need a hobby. Oh wait.. this is it.

 

[Inked Ron]

Hey, Mr. Misanthropy

You're a "regular", and I'm a "newbie"!

That is an awesome tattoo! It comes as no surprise that a photo of it was published in a tattoo magazine.

As my screen-name would seem to suggest, I currently have sleeves on both upper arms (the left complete but for a few details here and there, the right still a "work in progress" but nearing completion). One of these days I'll finally get up the nerve to have both arms fully sleeved, continuing the themes already started on each ("wilderness" on the left arm, "sea life" on the right arm). Further, I too envision a phoenix in my future (perhaps even two!) as part of a chest-piece.

For those into a "retro" look who are thinking of getting a tattoo (or two, or three, or...), they might want to look into a popular style of tattooing called (for lack of a better name) "Old School", which incorporates all those images from the early to mid 20th century (and even earlier). And due to improvements in the process of application (including much better-skilled artists, along with proper care (especially during the healing process), a properly done tattoo should indeed last a lifetime.

One more thing (for now!), directed to those who may think they're too old to get a tattoo: I didn't get my first tattoo until I was 44; and further, in the shop where I've gotten all my work done, hangs a picture showing three generations of the same family, ranging in age from 18 to 80, all getting their first tattoos together.

Happy inking!

 

[mysterygal]

misanthropy, this place is addictive! I think that's how long it took to get to 'regular' status too. but then, I'm in here a lot lately also