And then there's the age old argument that the tattoo has a deeper meaning. That it's sentimental. "I got this tattoo of a wave when my ex-boyfriend died of a drug overdose." Bull Shit. You got that tattoo because you are an idiot. If you want to honor some person or achievement then commission an honorary painting. Hell, save the $200 you spent on that ugly ass flower on your hip and give a kid a scholarship. You learned how to play guitar. Cool. Go play your little heart out. DON"T get one permanently inked on your skin... Unless you want to look like you just got out of prison.
SNL has the right idea...
Hey. My friend committed suicide - He was a joy to be around and a prodigious graphic designer. He didn't do drugs, he hardly drank, and he hid his pain from almost everyone around him, including his own family, until the day he shot himself through the chest. Oh, and he didn't have any tattoos.
ReplyDeleteI have a tattoo with his initials on my upper forearm - Along with a bottle cap, something we both used to collect, and something he mentions (including me, by name) in a Youtube video that is one of the only things we have left to remember him by. It was my fourth of five tattoos. Each one I designed myself, and worked with the tattoo artist to design the best thing I could before I set it under my skin. I suppose I could have commissioned a portrait of him, or an abstract piece of art that represents him. But I can't carry a painting around with me. A painting is not a part of myself.
I'm 24. I have never been to prison, or ever been in trouble with the law, although, I'll admit, I smoked a fair bit of weed in my teenage years, before I decided it just made me feel uncomfortable. I first smoked cigarettes at eighteen, and picked up the habit at nineteen, so I guess I'm the tattooed stereotype in that sense. I enjoy playing baseball, hiking, kayaking, going on dates with my girlfriend (who has no tattoos) and watching My Neighbor Totoro with my niece, but what I like most is to read. Well, reading is on par with the girlfriend. My dream is to fill my home with books, everything from Don Quixote to God of Small Things and Running with Scissors, and I like to garden when I'm not working in the summer, since I live in Maine and we've got the room. I'm currently a sophomore in college in New Mexico, where I've maintained a 3.8 GPA and gotten multiple commendations from the school for perfect attendance.
It's optimistic to think that this post will change your mind about tattoos, or that you'll even care. After all, I'm just some anonymous post on the internet to you, I get that. I also get that this is the internet and you might just be posting this stuff for a reaction, and in that case... Congratulations! I took it seriously, you got me!
I think tattoos done right, and for the right reasons, are beautiful and I care enough about my own to defend them here, with this long post.
And so I'll leave it at this: Some of the wisest, prettiest, charismatic and talented people have had tattoos. Maybe someday you'll get over this unreasonable prejudice and meet some of them.
I've liked your posts in the past but this one took it a little too far...
ReplyDeleteI do think too many people are insecure and do not think of the ramifications of getting these things. Most are smokers, who admittedly start smoking because of peer pressure. You see the pattern? I do not like the tattoo thing and when you think about it rationally, it can only be a deal breaker, costing possible relationships or even jobs. Sorry , tattoos scream to me of someone wanting attention, but even worse, someone that is impulsive and thus not someone I would hire for my company. Decision making is very important.
ReplyDeleteWell is there anything you DO like?
ReplyDeleteThanks for using my tattoo for this post. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a form of expression. Not to look badass, and most definitely does not say I just got out of prison.
If you look around you, most people you will see have tattoos of some sort. It doesn't mean they are bad people, or striving to get attention. By you posting the post is striving for attention. I'm proud of all the tattoos on my body.
As for what i'll look like in 10, 20 years, who cares. You won't look much different considering I can hide all mine under clothes when need be. You could not pick me out of a crowd in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Which might I add also makes it possible for me to have a very professional job in an Oil and Gas company.
Bitch away my friends. You are part of a world where tattoos are accepted and not frowned upon by the generation we are in.