Tattoos

[juliet]

I have been thinking of late about tattoos; & thus my mind turned inexorably to the research medium of the poll.

Poll #11 Tattoos

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

View Respondents

Do you have a tattoo, and if so how do you feel about it?

View Answers

Yes, and I love it madly
2 (12.5%)

Yes, and I am not particularly bothered about it either way
0 (0.0%)

Yes, and I regret it
0 (0.0%)

No, but I'd like one
5 (31.2%)

No, and I wouldn't like one
7 (43.8%)

I am a special snowflake and will elaborate in the comments
5 (31.2%)

Comments

[zorkian]

Part of my upbringing was that tattoos are bad (among other things). Even though I'm much, much better about the whole "accepting people for who they are" thing, I still have this residual distaste for tattoos.

Maybe I'll get over it one day. Maybe I won't. Some of them can be quite beautiful, I do think. (I also decided that if I were to ever get one, I'd get a Triforce. Courage, Wisdom, Power. The three things I want!)

[juliet]

This is part of the reason why my inclination would always be to get tattoos that are concealable if required. Not because I feel that way - I mean, I've seen tattoos that I do dislike, but that's about my feeling about the art rather than the ink itself! - but because other people may think differently about them, and in some circs (e.g. job interviews) that may be relevant.

I do have a facial piercing (eyebrow) so to some extent I've made a call on the 'obvious alternative status' already; but it's small and I wear glasses, so people don't always notice it.

The tattoo I'm thinking about getting would be hip/stomach, so in fact I'd have to actively show people in most circs.

I live in an area where a large number of the tattoos that people have are, hm, less likely to be beautiful pieces of art (& more likely to be bulldogs or expressions of one's fondness for Millwall Football Club or something else picked out of the tattooist's Big Book) but I know enough people with gorgeous & meaningful tattoos to override that association. I was also brought up that Tattoos Are Bad, & my parents would/will doubtless have conniptions if I get one, but at the age of 31 I figure they don't get a vote any more :)

(I also have a theory/thought about the extent to which one writes one's experience on one's body *anyway*, & tattoos as another extension of that.)

[rho]

No, but I'd get one if I ever had something that was right for me. To date, I've never had anything that I felt was sufficiently me to want to commit indelibly to my body, so I've had no particular desire tog et one. When I do, though, I'm totally there.

[niqaeli]

I've got about seven different tattoos planned; they all have particular meanings, they symbolise something in my past or present that's part of me and that I want to have under my skin -- in a way I kind of view it as remaking my body to make sure it reflects me.

I do worry about concealability -- it's a factor in my choices of where to put tattoos. It can matter in the career(s) I'm interested in pursuing. But I've known I'd be wearing a lot of ink since I was 16 or so, I think.

I just can't afford ink right now. Or anytime soon, I imagine. Tattoos are spendy!

[denise]

Have two, crave more. One is a tribal backpiece at the small of my back (yes, I have a tramp stamp, lol), while the other is a lambda at the nape of my neck, both in black ink, no color. (My next ones will probably be armlets around my biceps, once I bulk up some from using the wheelchair.)

[juliet]

I have been more or less in this position for ages but now have thought of something that I would v much like (& to mark something important).

[juliet]

I have been thinking, of late, about the extent to which you inevitably carry your history on your body. I've got (actual real physical) scars from being clumsy (one particular barbed-wire-related accident in particular!), scars from relationships (for good and bad reasons), scars from being depressed & miserable.

And they're all things that I'm comfortable with, although they're none of them exactly deliberately chosen. A tattoo is kind of a deliberate extension of that, but with more deliberation and relevance.

The tattoos that I've liked best on other people have all been ones with personal relevance.

Concealability can be an issue, yeah - the one I'm thinking of getting would be under clothes unless I was wearing a fairly small bikini or deliberately choosing to show that skin.

[juliet]

My ex-gf had an armlet which was really gorgeous.

I strongly suspect that once I get the one I'm considering (assuming I go ahead with it) I will want more :)

[niqaeli]

My various tattoos-I-want would be concealable under a sleeved shirt and knee-length shorts/skirts; basically, can I hide it under professional wear? Other than that, I'm glad to let them sprawl across my skin. It really is a concern for me only from the point of view of: someone interviewing me someday might actually care and at that point I will care. Well, and... I'm pre-med with hopes of going through medical school and into pain management; someday I want to have my own practice but even with that -- not everyone is going to be comfortable with their doctor having visible tattoos. But really other than those concerns, I figure people can deal. *g*

[damned_colonial]

I don't have any tattoos, but I do have numerous significant piercings (large gauge genital piercings, that sort of thing.)

When it comes to tattoos, I can never decide on what design I'd like, nor can I sustain a mental image of myself with the tattoo for long enough for me to feel like it would "fit". Most of my friends have them, but I don't. I suspect I never will.

[damned_colonial]

Yes, this. I said similarly in a comment down-thread.

[ysobel]

I grew up with "tattoos are bad zomg", and also "ps PERMANENT zomg"; I have changed, since, and my personal opinion is that tattoos can be awesome. As with anything, they can also be tacky / obnoxious / overdone, but. Yeah. Tattoos++, at least as long as there's enough thought and meaning put into the decision.

I would love to get a tattoo if I could. (I mean, my mom would have a heart attack, but other than that...) Something concealable.

...problem is, my physical condition reacts to any physical trauma. (Well, it *can* react, but the point is to avoid trauma wherever possible.) And 'trauma' can even be just an intramuscular injection. Tattoos *might* be safe because they're skin-level rather than muscle-level, but I still ... don't really want to risk it.

So, no tattoos for me, alas.

[juliet]

In general that's roughly the level of concealability I'd be inclined towards; but I figure I'm better off starting small :) (Also I just really like that area of body!)

[juliet]

As per above - this is the first time I've had something in mind that feels sufficiently appropriate. I've been considering another piercing, as well, but the only place that atm I'd really like one is my tongue; and one of my partners has heavily advised against that. (On the quite reasonable grounds that I am the sort of person who *would* wind up clanking the thing around against my teeth, and this would be insanely irritating for anyone, e.g. him, in the vicinity. Also bad for yr teeth.) (I might get it anyway & take it out if I can't keep myself from bashing it around, but we'll see.)

(Although I'd kind of like a fixed-gear bike cog - bikes are very important to me! But if I had that it would probably want to be on the back of my calf, and a) fairly common, b) runs into Visibility Issues. Maybe in a while :) )

[juliet]

To be fair, permanent zomg *is* an issue in that it bears thinking about *before* you get the ink done ;) (Although see above where I was talking about the scars you carry with you anyway... body as history!)

That is sad that you can't get anything done :(

[ysobel]

To be fair, permanent zomg *is* an issue in that it bears thinking about *before* you get the ink done ;)

Oh, I definitely agree. And deciding while drunk to get a tattoo, f'rex, is a bad idea. (Actually being drunk during the tattoo process is different, but probably still not recommended *G*)

But permanent zomg is not a blanket reason in itself not to get a tattoo. It's a reason to pour thought into what, and where (both in terms of on-yr-body and in terms of tattoo artist), and why. And it may be a reason why people don't get tattoos, but that's an individualized reason, not a global reason -- "I don't want a permanent tattoo" != "therefore no one should get a permanent tattoo" -- and *flail* I am le suck at finding the right words, but maybe you know what I mean?

And yeah, I kind of wish I dared do tattoos. Even though I don't know what I'd get if I got something (I generally don't daydream about it b/c of, well, what's the point :/ )

[niqaeli]

(Actually being drunk during the tattoo process is different, but probably still not recommended *G*)

Actually, it's a pretty terrible idea; alcohol causes you to bleed more freely. It also doesn't actually dull pain very well; it often makes you care less that you are in pain but it is not analgesic until you're thoroughly smashed -- and even that effect has a lot to do with it being a muscle relaxant.

[forthwritten]

I've thought about getting one and sketched something out (parole in IPA) but I grew up thinking that tattoos are bad, I'm scared of the permanence and I can't hold a mental image of me with a tattoo. I am not very spontaneous when it comes to body mods; I thought about getting my tragus pierced for over a year before I did it and waited until it got to the point where it felt wrong to not have it pierced, and I'm very happy with it.

[juliet]

I think it's definitely better to think things over and *wait* than to rush into it. (More so with a tattoo than a piercing, even.) I spent ages thinking that I'd maybe like an eyebrow piercing before I finally got it done.

(The issue in my case right now is that if I go ahead with the tattoo I'm planning, then I want to get it done before I leave Sydney, because it would seem right & proper. Which gives me, hm, another 7 weeks or so to make the call? I have spent the last few days making sketches & now have 3 possible candidates (which are all v similar! but slightly different!) pinned to the wall so I can examine them...)