My best friend is into getting "inked up." She probably has a dozen and I know I haven't seen most of them.

I personally don't see the attraction. I've seen some that were elaborate and obviously produced by someone who knew their stuff and others that looked so bad apparently the only person drunker than the person wearing it was the clown that put in on.

A small tasteful tattoo is okay, but something crude, garish, vulgar or transitory (putting your signifcant other's name on your butt, for example) strikes me as just plain dumb.

What's your opinion on tattoos?

Personally I think they're pretty ugly. If the best thing you can think of to do is draw all over yourself in permanent ink, or punch holes in yourself, then you need a hobby.

Yes, I can think of times when it might be acceptable. I have a friend who got raped when she was 17. She got a small tattoo of a rose on her hip to remind her that she survived the experience. That's a far cry from having a giant tattoo of Calvin *** NOTICE: THIS WORD IS AGAINST THE RULES. FAILURE TO REMOVE IT WILL RESULT IN A STRIKE. *** on a Ford logo on your back.

Tatoos CAN be tastefully done, but most are not.

SOME can be sexy on women, but alot are not.

Most guys who get them either have a crass sense of humor or are masochistic. My brother-in-law is heavily into tatoos, and has one particular one of a guy dragging a naked chick by the hair on his abdomen.

Small tatoos are much better than larger ones...

I would never get a tatoo or a piercing, it would then be too easy for the FBI to trace me down...

I've seen some pretty bad tattoos, but I've also seen some very beautiful ones. I've often thought of getting one, but I change my mind frequently, so it may not be the best decision for me. I go for peircing instead, because if I get tired of it, I can just take it out.

Some of my favourite tattoo designs are the Japanese tattoos that cover the entire back with natural symbols like water and koi.

I, personally, am non-tattooed and minimally pierced. I don't really have any problem with anything someone else does to their own body, although I've seen some really tacky tattoos.
I've also seen some tattoos that I found incredibly sexy...

I tend to like tattoos. I've contemplated getting one or two myself, but have never really been able to settle on a design (I've got a drawer with about twenty drawings sitting in it). Like cyan I have had a couple of piercings over the years and tend to prefer that kind of "body art" for myself.

In others, though, I often find tattoos pretty hot - even the kinda inept ones. I really like tribal tattos and am glad they seem to have caught on over that past several years. In general, though, as is the case with a lot of fashion, I think one needs to have the body for tattoos: who wants to see a band of barbed wire tattooed around a flabby upper arm with wattles??

Wertz, I like the tribal tattoos, as well, especially on men. The arm bands can really enhance a man's biceps.

I have a small colorful dragonfly tattoo on my ankle. I love it.

Did you ever get any pictures of that, Danya?

I feel for your friend Cephus, but I had to laugh at your Calvin blast.

Yeah, what IS it with that logo?

Not yet. But if I get a pic I will post it.

Females with tattos are a turn on in my book

My firend had a giant tat on his chest of sun tzu, that along with a wolf, i dont know how much cash he spent on it but it was rather cool

Not for me, you do what you want.
Drunk sailors? how about just drunks? I know more non-sailors than sailors with tattoos.
Anything can be overdone, and those who go to such extremes are likely making a statement of some sort. Too bad they are not articulate enough to make their statements with words.

Ummm...for the record I was completely sober.

Not picking on the swabbies, Bill. It's just that my dear ol' dad says he was feeling no pain when he got his tattoo back in WWII.

I agree....there are a lot of tacky tattoos....


I like my tattoo.....

1. 'cause I've never seen it on anyone else
2. 'cause most people don't know it's a tattoo....


I have a tattoo of a bandaid on the back of my calf.......most people really think its a bandaid!

They all look like green blobs after a few years. You have to be a drunk or a moron to get one.

Not only is it a form of self expression for multiple things people may want to express tattoos also hold significance in many cultures. I don’t think i will ever get one myself but i find them attractive on females to say the least, some may consider it gross, but is it different then any other weird human ritual or act? Like those people that dunk themselves underwater in religion or use snakes in religious acts, or like have lawn gnomes? Or will can delve into ritual milk baths and virginity

I don't care if anyone else has them.

To me, it just seems like a waste of time and money. What are tatoos supposed to be for, anyway? As if having a snake tatoo on your back makes you "hardcore" or something.

Bah, there just not for me

I have four, I love em. Didn't get them till I was 28, so I had time to decide and all, and I don't have the big snake or anything, mine are mostly racing related, I have a race car, and an astrology sign thing I have been doodling since high school
plus a black panther that is identicle to a helmet that was airbrushed for my racing endevours back in my twenties, alot personal symbolism in it, I like em, they are not cheap or picked off a wall, and they are essentially me.

I have 3 tattoos:

My first, when I was 18 and stupid, is flash art of a red rose . Years later I went to a tatoo artist and had him add free hand vinery to it to make it original, now it looks really good!

My second is the Michael Jackson initials off of his HISTORY album. It's MJ, very sanscript looking with the rainbow filling it in.

My third tatt, is on the small of my back. It's the Hebrew writing of "Jesus wept".

I'm planning on getting more in the future.

I like them,

But only if they are original, well thought out, and descriptive of some important aspect of the person getting them.

If a tattoo is done well, it wont blur for many years, especially if it is placed on a non growing area (small of the back, ankle).

I have been planning mine for quite a while, and i am taking my time figuring out exactly what i want.

in a couple of years, it should be settled, and i will get it done, and get it done well.

It is going ot be an extensive tattoo covering the majority of my back. It is of a fictional Archangel Tyreal, he was created by the creative minds of Blizzard, his story and style means a lot to me.
his wings will be going up over my shoulder blades, and he will be kneeling(praying), with his sword in front of him. i am considering putting a cross in between his wings above his head.
i have not yet found what words or saying i want enscribed below him, i keep chanign gmy mind on that as i get older, so i guess i will wait for yet a bit longer.

Quane

Haven't got a clue. It would be nice to think Bill Watterson is getting rich off of it, although I'm sure he isn't seeing a penny.

I just don't understand why you'd want to have that on the back of your car, tattooed on your body, etc. Are people just stupid or what?

Cyan and Wertz, I am so disappointed. I think tribal tattoos are AWFUL, mostly because every person without a hint of originality can pick some stupid tribal off the wall of a tattoo parlor. YUCK. I think a better choice are Celtic knots. And Cyan, the Japanese back tattoos you describe are pretty common on the Yakuza :D

I have three tattoos (or 9, depending on how you look at it), a row of 7 stars going down my back, the Little Prince on my right ankle and comic book character named Filler Bunny on my left ankle. I love all of them, and I know that after I settle on a decision, I will never regret what I get put on my body. But, I also have excellent taste (which means no tribals, or names of bands or anything lame) :D

I think tattoos are excellent, but I know they arent for everyone. And I tend to think too many on someone gets really overwhelming and unattractive, especially sleeves. But theres not accounting for taste

Good game. I've wasted many, many hours on that one.

For those of you who do like tattoos, piercing, and other forms of body modification, there is a great website: BME Zine It has tons of information about all different kinds of body mods, including some of the more extreme varieties. Very interesting.



See. I pretty much lump that into the same category as tribals, Kim.

Not for me at all. I would not even consider having pierced ears. (Heck, I won't even try a pair of contact lenses.) Others can do whatever they want (with the proper warnings about dangers to health.) Some tattoos look OK. I have never seen one I loved. The vast majority are forgettable. Piercings gross me out. A saw a photograph in the newspaper of a guy who had his tongue cut into two pieces, like a snake's.

Heh, guess I'm showing my age. I don't care for piercings or body art of any sort, on me or on others. The tongue piercing and splitting hits me as especially bizarre.

Metal just attracts lightening!

You could lose all feeling!

Yeah, show your individuality by getting what everyone else has!

End of old fart's rant

I frankly find an ankle bracelet more of a turn on than a tatoo in the same place. I like removable stuff

And oddly enough, Frank Sinatra tunes. Well, just some of them

I find everyone's responses very interesting and for some of you, very surprising.

Personally, I love tatoos. I have five and no intention of stopping. I have seen some bad tatoos or unoriginal and the like, but I don't fault people for that....It's just life and expression, the more expression people are allowed, the happier they are. But I think tatoos are a form of expression indigenous to only certain people. It's painful, it's permanent and it's got to be expressive. Not easy to choose one, if you know what I mean.

is there still a stigma? tattoos for the "alternative" folk only?

what are your views?



edited: sp

Sigma? Like a Greek E? Heh.

I think any stigma is slowly disappearing. My two elder brothers have tattoos, and my parents, both quite old, are against anything unconventional, but they got used to it.

I happen to like 'em.

My mother, while quite old and too chicken to go under the "drill," applies temporary tats. She's plenty random and amazingly Democratic.

the tat on my lower back is one I designed myself and well worth the 3 hrs of agony and tears. I wouldn't let the tatman add it to his album because I didn't want anyone else having the same one.

I have one tattoo, which is of very low qaulity. it was done at home. it is a line of dashes (-------) around my left wrist, with a very poorly written "silence" just above it (up my arm) I also have various little dots on my hand (from messing around; on on myknuckle, two under my wrist, one on my thumb)

I also have a non-conformist "N" burned into my left shoulder (front side) as well as a "37" and a nondecorative burn scar (I did) on my right upper arm is an anarchist "A" and two "non decorative" scars I burned on (for no reason other than to burn myself) I also have a blotched lighter smilie on my left hand (heating a lighter up and touching it to the skin leaves a smilie face. I pressed too hard.)

besides that, I have nothing else, not only because I can't yet afford it, and haven't decide completely on what I want.

I'm 14... and I have a tattoo.
However, this I've had for as long as I can remember. My mother tells me it was daddy who did it. But anyway, it's the Kanjis for Peace. On my left arm. Siiiigh...

I find the ubiquity of tattoos these days somewhat depressing.

People say that it's about uniqueness and self-expression and then get the same combination of a gecko on their shoulder, a Chinese symbol that the guy in the tattoo parlour says means "Peace", an arm-band and maybe a tromp l'oeil ankle bracelet.

I still like genuinely unusual tattoos on others - my last girlfriend was something of a devotee and had maybe 30% of her surface area inked in some way or another, and I can't say that I disliked any of them.

It's not something I'd go for myself. For one thing, I have a hunch that in another few years, the way to express uniqueness will be to display undecorated, unperforated flesh as far as possible. For another, I'm somewhat hairy (and perfectly comfortable with that, thank you) and to be tattooed, not only would I have to go through the pain and inconveneince of waxing or shaving to allow it to be applied in the first place, but I'd have to continue that for life to display it to best effect.

On piercings, I can't honestly say I think any piercings look good on men, which means I'm unlikely ever to bother myself. I do like navel and nose studs on women, as they do sometimes enhance the look rather than spoil it, though I dislike rings anywhere other than ears. If the woman looks good enough, eyebrow piercings can look okay, although I tend to think that they detract from rather than add to their looks.

One of the most popular tattoo artists in northern Europe has his shop just around the corner from where I live. He has speciallised in Nordic and ethnic patterns and costs a bomb, but one of my friends has had tigers tatted on her shoulders by him, and I sat and watched with more than a passing interest.

Though I'm an illustrator, I have only once been asked to design a tattoo (and then only for my brother) and I have always considered tattooing to be a very delicate artform which (alas) can be a serious risk.

As Night timer said in his original post, many tattooes look like they were drawn by drunks.

Here are some examples of work by Mjølner Tattoos;

http://www.illuminatastigmata.com/images/tattoos/tats132.jpg

http://www.illuminatastigmata.com/images/tattoos/tats74.jpg

http://www.illuminatastigmata.com/images/tattoos/tats44.jpg

I think the biggest challenge for a tattoo, is where to place it on the body. The biggest problem I see with most tattoos, regardless of the topic, is how most of them sit rather oddly on the body.

I have no tattoos.

Me being a teller have seen many piercings and tatoos. I am too old for either. I have my ears pierced. My daughter has her belly button pierced. So does one of my sisters. My son has an eye brow pierced.
I have seen people (mostly Young in their teens or early 20's) who have tongue eyebrow nose and lips pierced. I think to myself you look stupid. aren't you proud?
I have seen many people also in their 20's with tatoos. Many tatoos. I can't wait till they are in their 40's or 50's when their skin starts to sag bag etc. You would never recognize what they were to begin with.
Not my cup of tea but hey we live in America. Do what you want!

One of the questions they ask when you donate blood is whether or not you have tattoos. I was a regular blood donor for years, and so I never considered getting a tattoo. My blood clots very easily and quickly. I have one spot on one vein from which they could get a full pint of blood. I have a needle track there that they can lay a needle in and push, which is likely my main "distinguishing feature."

I worked with a woman for a couple of years who claimed that she spent her income tax refund on a tattoo every year, and spent the intervening year deciding on her next tattoo. All of them were on parts of her body that she was unlikely to show a co-worker, so I can't begin to describe any of them; I never saw them.

Most tattoos I would pay as little attention to as the brand name on a cigarette butt beside the road while I am driving. If I noticed it at all, I wouldn't be able to describe it 10 minutes later. One notable exception would be a male co-worker who had a tattoo that was visible as we changed into our uniforms, and as we showered up at night. It was a tattoo of Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice that covered his entire back. I always laughed in my mind when I saw it. It must have cost him time, money, and pain. It can't be easily erased. He'll never be able to look at it himself. It was not the sort of thing that would cause me to start a conversation, in fact I'm not certain we ever discussed anything non work related. I could never imagine trying to explain something like that to a woman if I was single and dating...

I have several tattoos all of which I collected during the ages 18-19. I am not proud of them and I am not ashmaed of them either. I honestly do not really think much about them at all. I also had peircings when I was younger but I removed all of them years ago...with the exception of my ears.

Platelet donation is another reason that I don't get a tattoo either, although religion (sounds funny coming from an Atheist) is the major reason. But I don't think it's about a lack of pride? What could be more proud than "saying I think this will make my body look better to me, and that is what counts", and then doing it?

Well America wants nothing to do with my blood anyways because I lived in Europe during the whole Mad Cow thing. Switzerland was number four in number of mad cow cases in Europe...a little unknown fact

If I ever get a tattoo (highly hypothetical stuff here, because I'm quite squeamish and already very fond of my unblemished back), I would fancy getting a tattoo of a violin's f-holes or sound-holes, those stylish lines with the curled ends, on my back on either side of my spine. Simple yet elegant. At least to me it is.

There's a lovely Man Ray photograph called Ingres' Violin that depicts just that.

I voted for option number 3, but I believe the new generation of tattoos are nothing but a fad, and it is not a fad that will last forever - with emphasis on the tattooing on the lower back of women. Since about my senior year (of high school), more and more girls have been getting tattoos on their lower back - usually wings of some sort. This is nothing but a fad because it was unique at one point in time, but with almost EVERY girl having one, it has become a trend. I don't imagine them liking their tattoos when they are in their 30's. This is also true with guys - mid to late 90's here was a huge fad about getting the barb wire or tribal band around the bicep. Where has that gone? It is almost non-existent now.

Has any generation ever gone through a fad like this? Or is this just a new age thing? I know that the ONLY circumstance where I would get a tattoo would be if it was meaningful - being that if someone were to ask me about it, and I could always have a UNIQUE reference for it and not some excuse like "My friends and I got one when we were 19."


I believe this could be some wise advice: If you don't know what you want to do in life, and don't have a lot of money at the moment, start researching or practicing tattoo removals I believe you will have a lot of customers within the next 10-15 years..

Warning: This may sound a bit sexist.

I think it's okay for men to have tattoos (as long as they are
tasteful - no exgirlfriend's names, naked women, Harley's, etc.)

I do not think tattoos are appropriate for women, though.
Don't ask me why I feel that way, I just do...

Cool. Thanks. I actually got the idea off the cover of an Apocalyptica album..

I think tattoos are ok so long as they can be covered up if you have to dress formal. For that reason I would never get one on my neck, or fingers or something like that. I just have one right now on my left upper arm. It's an eagle, globe and anchor with USMC written underneath in Germanic looking calligraphy. In the military it's really more original not to have a tattoo though. I'd bet that about 2 out of 3 Marines have at least one, and some guys are like bikers with their tats.

I've never found a design attractive enough to have on my body forever. What do you do if you change your mind?

I don't plan on drawing undue attention to myself with a tattoo when it comes time to move into a nursing home. (God willing, that will be never! )

I've never been a huge fan of tattoos. The only one I find attractive is the barbed wire around a man's biceps.

I place a sticker on my hip when sunbathing. After a few days of tanning, you peel it off and it leaves the shape of the sticker on your skin. That's about as close to tattooing as I'll ever get.

I have a round sun-like design with the Tibetan character for "Om" under it, on my right upper arm. I am looking to get a Makah whale design on my right forearm, and a Navajo phrase on my left bicep (to reflect the two tribes where I have hung my hat).

edited to add:
I should probably not even mention my "Welcome to Jamaica..." tatoo, or where it is located.