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Tattoos - August 2007

[Selected]: All categories Beauty & Style Skin & Body Tattoos

I’m all for women’s equal “right” to get tattooed. This question has nothing to do with whether or not one thinks it is “proper” or “classy/trashy” to be tattooed. In fact, I find tattooing on women to be attractive, though that’s only one aspect of tattooing. And I highly respect women like “Somebody” on here, who are very smart about and dedicated to tattooing.

My question is serious – not sexist.

Tattooing in Western society has had a “culture” of it’s own, and we all know that culture is about MEANING. What does it mean to be tattooed? Why do people get tattooed? My OPINION on the right reasons to get tattooed includes:
--the images being tattooed inspire you
--the images fuel your imagination
--a more recent thing (in the West): love of art and taking that art beyond banal “canvases” of museums (along with this there is something “deep” about the permanence of it and the fact that it is on skin, w/ blood, etc)

--to mark affiliation with a group. Affiliation with a group makes people feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves.
--a memorial

Along with these comes a sense of permanence. Permanence reinforces commitment. Finally, I think tattooing has also been resorted to by marginalized/disenfranchised people as a type of property. If nothing else in this world, at least they have their tattoos, which will go with them to their death.

Think for example of sailors who were among the first to popularize getting tattooed. During long shipping voyages in crap conditions, they could use all the inspiration they got. And these people really had no property—even the clothes on their backs were often in pawn! If they went “overboard,” the one thing they would have is their tattoos—also what they look at and dream about during long days away from home.

Now why are trendy people getting tattooed nowadays?
--“dangerous” factor. People thinks it makes them “wild” or “dangerous” in some way. But guess what? It used to be much harder to get tattooed. You had to travel or interact with certain “dangerous” people to do so. These people were not “polite,” not there to be nice to you or stand for any of your bullcrap. It sickens me how encouraging people are on this site towards people asking “Should I get this tattoo?” No! Tattooing is not meant to be as easy to get (even if cheaper than) Starbucks.

In the current atmosphere of “Have a nice day,” “convenience” tattooing, any associations of “danger” are actually removed.

--to “symbolize” something. This is such a load of b.s. Yes, tattoos do “symbolize”...they indeed “mean” something. But there are many different ways of representing or symbolizing. The type of signing that trendy people usually do is not the type of signing common to tattoo culture. It would take a long and complicated discussion to explain this... you either get it or you don’t.

--to memorialize. This was the one past (traditional tattoo culture) motivation for tattooing that the trendy people have harped in on and blown all out of proportion. I don’t know if it’s because they see stuff like Miami Ink where everyone (as instructed to them by the show’s producers) walks in with some story about how blah blah happened and they need this tattoo of blah blah to represent that.
Trendy people seem to feel the need just to make ANY mark on their bodies to mark that something happened. “This shooting star is because my grandma died.” Huh?

--anxiousness to be “experienced.” As teens, most of us felt anxious about losing our virginity. Once you had sex, you joined the ranks of the non-virgin population—the EXPERIENCED population! A similar process seems to be at work with tattooing—people are anxious to get MARKED in any way to join this “club”.

But here is the thing: joining the “club” isn’t meant to be easy. There is inconvenience....pain....stigma....permanence. Inconvenience, Pain, Stigma, Permanence—these are the things that the trendy tattoo people are bent on getting around. Everything (questions on Yahoo Answers, for instance) are driven towards avoiding these obstacles--- BUT THEY ARE THE VERY OBSTACLES that give MEANING to being tattooed, to being in the “club”!!

In the absense of this meaning (tattoos have become meaningless fashion), the trendy people try to add “meaning”—“symbolism”. In real tattoo culture, someone is inspired by something so much that they want it permanently put on their body. In trendy tattooing, people decide first that they “need” to get tattooed (to become part of the cool, experiened club, to attract people sexually, to work out their psychological issues of things like isolation and poor self image)...and THEN they try to “think up” a tattoo (usually some banal shape or image inspired by commercial logo-ing/branding) and add to it some stated “meaning.” Do I need to go any further in explaining how utterly bankrupt this trendy tattoo culture is?

Trendy men and women are equally guilty of lowering the standards of tattoo culture and turning it into cheap branding. But women especially seem significant in this process. Because of the nature of popular “women’s culture” ALONG WITH women’s historical relationship to the art of tattooing, they especially have sought to remove the
INCONVENIENCE (“Can I pay with my credit card?” “What brand of lotion should I buy?” “How many times a day should I rub it in?” “Let me just get a little star here on the spot today” “Let me go online and ask...”)
PAIN (“Where does it hurt least?” “What creams can I use to reduce to numb it?”...)
STIGMA (“Stop calling it a tramp stamp” “I got my tattoos for me, they are mine” “Why get it in a place where you can’t show it off?”)
PERMANENCE (“How much does tattoo removal cost and does it really work?”).

Notice that the vast majority of people asking tattoo questions on this site are women.

What do you think this means? Thanks

2007-08-10 09:11:56 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

I'm getting my first tattoo next week, and I'm just wanting an idea on the price of it before I go in. It's going to be a mult-colored one, so i know i need to figure that into the price...and it's going to be roughly a 3inX3in on my lower back. If anyone knows a rough price range??

2007-08-10 08:24:56 · 10 answers · asked by skittle08 1

does filling in hurt as much as outlining? details please :]

2007-08-10 07:01:15 · 22 answers · asked by jason g 1

I have a large scar on my upper arm, it never used to bother me because nobody could see it under my t-shirt but I'd like to start wearing vests and tank tops at the gym for comfort and also to show off my newly aquired "guns", the scar makes me too self concious so I'd like to have it covered with a tattoo if possible, also if it is possible would the scar still be visible underneath the tattoo?

2007-08-10 06:44:24 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous

This isnt for me to start off...
Trying to show some friends what could go wrong.
The person giving the tattoos has not been apprenticed, has not gone to any sort of tattoo art school, and is ordering a tattoo kit from the internet.

please post only if you're being serious.
thanks in advance.

2007-08-10 04:47:46 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous

I have this, and im just wondering what type of reaction i would get if i received a tattoo over it....

2007-08-10 04:44:52 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

where can I find pics online of tattoos... i dont want to pay to look!

2007-08-10 04:22:37 · 8 answers · asked by emilyann 2

I saw it in InTouch Weekly back in July. It's very cool looking.

2007-08-10 03:53:33 · 1 answers · asked by hrfolsom 1

i think theres quite a few of us out there that would lol

2007-08-10 03:35:06 · 52 answers · asked by blueeyedblonde 2

I know it depends on where you get one, but where is the least painful spot to have one put?

2007-08-10 03:31:37 · 20 answers · asked by Soda 4

design, or do you think it will always be one of those classic designs that can be improved upon and made to look unique for the person getting it? Just asking because I never thought I'd give in to what I thought was the most common image, but then I loved the design the artist did for me and got it. I'd love to hear your opinions!
Thank you!

2007-08-10 02:39:43 · 5 answers · asked by vmp009 1

I'm a black guy and I've been wanting to get a color tattoo. I want the colors to be silver and black. I've always been told by friends that color tattoos dont work well with black guys, however I've never been to a tattoo shop and asked an artist. This will be my last if I can get it so I want to know if it will fade or what.

2007-08-10 01:59:43 · 9 answers · asked by CThunder 1

Also, is a sun/moon a stupid design for a tattoo or can it be a classic image (especially when done by a good artist)?
Thanks!

2007-08-10 01:20:00 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-08-10 01:05:01 · 11 answers · asked by Liplicious 3

time-wise, pain-wise, aftercare, etc....? thanks!

2007-08-09 22:21:52 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous

I've had my tattoo on my foot for 2 years, its one i designed myself (although its quite simple) it's really personal to me as it represents my grandparents who died within months of each other.

Last month my friend had the exact same tattoo on her wrist.

Am i right to be annoyed?

I know i can't do anything about it, but its still annoyed me

2007-08-09 22:17:52 · 53 answers · asked by Mrs Nemanja Vidic 2

does any one know a good website where i could find really amazing pictures of geishas??? i want a tattoo of a geisha but having trouble finding a good picture!!! help<3

2007-08-09 15:30:43 · 3 answers · asked by Daisy123 2

so a lot of guys that i know are turned on by thick girls with thick legs n curves. why is that?? im a typical black girls with thick n evey guys that ive seen has told me that they love it when they meet a thick chick with hips, asa, and a chest.do you guys find it really sexy or something??? sometimes it gets really annoying bc i dont see whats the big thing about. please guys amswer my question bc i really want to know why

2007-08-09 15:08:04 · 10 answers · asked by geminibrowneyed 2

i got one about a month ago, on the back of my leg. its the queen of hearts from disney's alice in wonderland. and the red won't heal. its stayed kinda dry and tough. i'm not sure how to get it to heal.

2007-08-09 13:17:08 · 11 answers · asked by Neev 7

2007-08-09 12:29:47 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

http://www.tribalshapes.com/img/tattoos/spiral-sun.jpg

I want to get something like that but i dont know where.

Ive 18, from South England. normal build. Its quick a unusual nice and neat design and I like it, i have found a better one on tattoojohny.com, but it wont give me an actual link.

What do you think?

2007-08-09 11:32:54 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

When i take it out for about 5 hours or more, it starts to close. How can i make it heal!!!!?!

2007-08-09 09:47:47 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

okay i got a 14g vertical clitoral hood piercing 6 days ago and it's healing just fine. i don't have any problems with it, but usually when i check it, the curved barbell will be pushed sideways and the top ball will be on the right instead of in the center. i think it's pierced stright, but i keep having to push it back into place since i don't want it to heal crooked. so is this normal? please only answer if you know for sure

2007-08-09 09:34:22 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

Does anyone know who did the tattoo of the eye on her hand?
&
is there any way that you can buy the High Voltage Tattoo Jacket that she always wears?
Thankyou!

2007-08-09 07:19:28 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

I was talkling to my husband yesterday. And he is saying Im NOT getting a tattoo(he doesnt have any). I am anyway....but he is afraid I will get some kind of complication like hepatitis, or get some infection cause I have sensitive skin.
Plus he is saying that even the brand new needles in the package was used but cleaned by professionals. Do the tattoo artists throw the needles away for disposal or do they have them cleaned and repackaged??
My husband said he knew 2 people at his work that had to go to the hospital after getting tattoos. Not sure if he is trying to scare me.
I still want to get one though....and told him he doesnt have to look at it.

2007-08-09 06:17:58 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous

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