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How do you feel about tattoos?

Scepticalscribe said:
Perhaps it is a generational thing
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I think you nailed it on the head with this statement. Say, 20 years ago and more, it was looked down upon and also usually associated to what you mentioned. Gang affiliation, sailors, freak show, and the like.

I have seen them on everyone from teachers, professors, doctors, engineers, programmers, and lawyers. To go along with your statement all of these folks are in their late twenties early thirties.
 
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That movie with the GI in Japan after the war on Netflix. They do a samurai tattoo on his back in the movie, IIRC. That wasn't bad. I think I read once that Japanese businessmen, specifically ones older than 55-60, will have various tattoos on their person.
 
I see it as an art form and a mark of beauty for some cultures. If the piece means something to you and it is beautifully done, great.

Then you have the embarrassing examples here.

I never got any despite wanting some because my body cannot handle the ink. Certain characters I created have them instead and the art always means something.:p
 
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Sciomar said:
I love tattoos, have a few and definitely want more. I am glad in the change of perception on them, it was a long time coming.
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Mainstreaming tattoos is good and bad, cheap, poor design, and poor artists are killers for something that is permanent, without drastic counter measures. ;) The other issue is automatically thinking that a tattoo somehow raises your personal worth, when quite the opposite, if it is poorly executed.
 
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Huntn said:
Mainstreaming tattoos is good and bad, cheap, poor design, and poor artists are killers for something that is permanent, without drastic counter measures. ;)
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I can agree to a point, but there were always shody artists charging for subpar work, I even fell victim in my youth to one. I have since had it covered up, but it all goes to doing your research about artists/locations. With the more widespread acceptance of them, the artist and studio information has made it's way all over social media which is hopefully influencing more people's choices in design and place to go.

Laser removal has also come a long way in capability and cost.

I’ve never heard of people thinking the tattoos raise their personal worth, other than the narcissists on social media who only get them for likes and followers. That logic is so bizarre to me, but to each their own.
 
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Sciomar said:
Sara Calixto, Suicide Girl model, if you don’t find her attractive then I think our definitions may be different.
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Without the tattoos, yes. With them, she looks like she's bruised and abused. Ugh. If I want to get close to ink, I'll buy a Bic pen.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Is it tattoos on women you don't much care for, or tattoos in general?
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In general. I'm older than most peeps here, and when I grew up they were frowned upon. To me, they still remind me of that old sailor with ugly tats. Can't shake that. I recall one guy who was career military and had what was once a nice tat of Betty Grable, smiling at you. Or so I was told. A bullet grazed him and her mouth looked toothless from it.
 
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Huntn said:
Mainstreaming tattoos is good and bad, cheap, poor design, and poor artists are killers for something that is permanent, without drastic counter measures. ;) The other issue is automatically thinking that a tattoo somehow raises your personal worth, when quite the opposite, if it is poorly executed.
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This has always been the case with tattoos. This isn't new. You are seeing more of them now though due to social media, google, and things like forums. This really hasn't changed at all. You can find horrible, bad designed, or badly executed tattoos long before they were ever considered mainstream.

I have not heard of anyone thinking tattoo's will somehow raise your personal worth. Doesn't mean it isn't out there, but I haven't heard of it or scene it and I am around a lot of folks with tattoos. A lot. Maybe someone who is looking for attention due to having a tattoo? Don't know, this one is new to me.
 
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I have a few....
I like tattoos, sometimes even love them.
Moderately and well thought through, I think they can have deep symbolic and personal meaning.
Tattoos are something transforming. But When I see it overdone, it feels to me they got stuck somewhere in it. When it’s done to show off with, it’s more of a hiding behind the tattoos, instead of embracing its meaning and how they can liberate and transform.

Actually I hope to do another....:p
 
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I don't have one, never wanted one and I am pretty sure I will never get one.

Tattoos seem to be more of a thing on the West coast. I lived in the Seattle area for a year and a half and it was rare to see anyone without a tattoo.
Never found them attractive on women either. All those tattooed moms at the community pools, yuck. :eek:
 
skottichan said:
This is a misconception. Many employers don't give a ****, as long as the ink can be covered by professional clothing.
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This tattoo thing is just the latest fad. People mutilate themselves to see who can go to the most extreme due to peer pressure. I simply find it an eyesore to look at as our eyes are naturally drawn to it due to our brain function. But I don't want to see your ugly tattoos. No, I wouldn't hire anybody with tattoos showing.
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lowendlinux said:
I like tattoos on women since for so long it's been culturally unacceptable, it a great and artistic way for them to give society the middle finger.
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Vandalizing yourself to make a statement to society sounds like the wrong reason to get a tattoo.
 
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rhett7660 said:
This has always been the case with tattoos. This isn't new. You are seeing more of them now though due to social media, google, and things like forums. This really hasn't changed at all. You can find horrible, bad designed, or badly executed tattoos long before they were ever considered mainstream.

I have not heard of anyone thinking tattoo's will somehow raise your personal worth. Doesn't mean it isn't out there, but I haven't heard of it or scene it and I am around a lot of folks with tattoos. A lot. Maybe someone who is looking for attention due to having a tattoo? Don't know, this one is new to me.
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Yes, but now I’m seeing lots of bad tattoos. :eek:
 
Having experienced lots of needles and surgical interventions in childhood, I have never been interested in getting a tattoo for myself, but I can see how for some people it can be a very meaningful and healing process. A small, discreet tattoo or two....or something which isn't seen by the public but is truly an intimate secret of the wearer, not a big deal, but I do not care for "sleeves" and such, when people cover much of their body with them. Some tattoos are indeed quite beautiful and truly works of art, but it does seem as though we see many more which have not been as carefully and well-executed -- yet the individual is now stuck with them unless he or she undergoes laser removal surgery or attempts to cover up the original poorly-done tattoo with another. I suspect that a lot of people don't think things through or research tattoo artists thoroughly before jumping into getting a tattoo, and that is unfortunate.
 
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dogslobber said:
This tattoo thing is just the latest fad. People mutilate themselves to see who can go to the most extreme due to peer pressure. I simply find it an eyesore to look at as our eyes are naturally drawn to it due to our brain function. But I don't want to see your ugly tattoos. No, I wouldn't hire anybody with tattoos showing.
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Vandalizing yourself to make a statement to society sounds like the wrong reason to get a tattoo.
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Congrats, you have a personal preference. But tattoos aren't a "new fad" by any stretch of the imagination, they're part of many cultures around the world, including many in America.

I've tattooed more than my share of doctors, business people (My uncle included), lawyers, hell even tattooed a local politician.

It's cool that you don't appreciate them, but can you be less condescending to those who do.
 
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My idea of a typical feminine tattoo was originally that it would be like a little butterfly on an ankle. For a masculine choice, imo already more traditional choice to get a tattoo to begin with, maybe a flag or an anchor, some symbol of favorite sport or a branch of military service? Or those sentimental ones in movies about drunk-on-leave sailors or gangsters that have "Mom" in a heart engraved on their arms... That was like back in the 70s when I had those notions.

Right so then around ten years ago I guess it was, I noticed the tattoos on Eduardo Cruz (brother of Penelope and a singer) in a photo related to an album he released. Holy jumpin' needlework!?! He was like a walking work of art.

Then I surfed around looking at more of the sort of tattoos some people were going for. One can miss decades of pop culture not having a TV or reading pop culture websites... I have since tried to remedy that... somewhat...

I guess the interest in tattoos continues as I do see people even in the boondocks with pretty elaborate body ink on them sometimes. I guess it's fine if you are sure your future employers are not going to collide with your ornamentation.

What if you change your mind about you know, a square yard of ink?

I'd still get a little butterfly if I were going to get a tattoo. I've been thinking instead though about getting a couple gold charms on a necklace that the NY Review of Books' store sells, the ones that are just a part of a Hunter S. Thompson quote and say respectively "Buy The Ticket" and "Take the Ride".

Of course the precedent part of that quote could give one pause, as it starts out "No sympathy for the devil, keep that in mind..." I might settle for the butterfly tattoo after all, even though I can't gift it to a niece if I tire of it.
 
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