Letters to the Editor
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Yeah that's a good one
The same people who are obsessing about food additives, second hand smoke, transfat, talking on cell phones, vaccinations and a hundred other things are busy getting inked. It's like the potheads I know who hate cigarette smoke.
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90's Leftovers
I remember people used to go on all the time about the "Sixties Leftovers" -- the guys who kept at it long after the Summer of Love was over. Long hair, jeans; meanwhile the country had moved on to aerobics and condos.
Now we still have these people marching around like nothing changed since that first Moby album. Piercings, tats. Give it up, geezers. The dream is over...Kurt Cobain is still dead. Move into the 21st century!
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Not convinced
Not only am I not convinced, I don't think the author convinced herself. She has a bad tattoo, and she hates it. Occasionally in the shower she thinks its OK. If anything, I think this piece would be good to send to someone considering getting a tattoo. Its pretty poignant that her tattoo bothers her so much and so frequently that she has to write an article trying to convince herself that it is OK. After all that, she then has the audacity to say that others shouldn't use impermanent ink. She has to deal with her crappy, fuzzy tattoo and thus, she thinks others should punish themselves in the same way. Her argument that it is somehow a positive experience to go thru tattoo-regret is unconvincing. Seems like sour grapes to me. I give her six months before she forks out for the laser removal.
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Don't flatter yourself, "fringe culture" it ain't.
"It's practical but unromantic, the fringe culture equivalent of a prenup."
Fringe culture? What fringe culture? Tattoos have become mainstream by definition. Go to any beach, and you see ordinary middle class families where the mother has butterfly on her left cheek and the father has a coiling snake making its way up his leg. Fringe culture? Bah. Just ordinary middle-class folks who want to "experience a walk on the wild side", in a safe and accepted way. I guess the real rebels prefer to stay un-inked nowadays...
Formerly I used to think when I saw an illustrated person "ah, ex-sailor, ex-con or ex-soldier". Nowadays I just think "uh, not one of those low-self esteemed ones again".
I don't have anything against tattoos as such, except for two things. The first one is that most of the tattoos you see are not particularly aesthetic. The design might be intriguing, beautiful even except for that it doesn't "sit right" on the wearer. The second thing, and this is something I suspect many don't realize is that /skin ages/ and so does the embedded tattoo. It's inevitable that with time the tattoo will start to look shoddy some day, regardless of how well you treat your skin.
Life is a lot easier without a tattoo, and if you really need to make a statement (to yourself, or somebody else) or show your commitment to a person or ideal there are far more impressing ways to do that.
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Several semi-connected points:
The "17% of people hate their tattoos" although technically correct, is missing a qualifier. Of those, roughly 2/3rds actually still like tattoos, and could go for more or a coverup, but are unhappy with what they have. Maybe they got it from a friend using a needle & India ink or someone who bought a tattoo machine off Ebay.
The latter is what it sounds like the author had. Those tend to be the ones disliked, partially as professional tattoo artists really are artists first (generally painters) and want anything you're going to have for life look good. Even if the point of the work becomes passe, they want it to look nice & for as long as possible. Many also will do things like turn you away if you're getting something "stupid" - something it seems obvious will negatively affect your life long-term, something you haven't fully thought out, it's poor art, etc and so on. Drunks & those on something tend to get booted.
Regarding tattoo removal, whether it's the new "removable" inks or the older, once you've had the laser removal done it is still obvious *something* was in your skin. This is more obvious with the permanent inks, but even the removables have a shadow remaining on the skin. For the former, it's still not obvious until closeup, although some do have the removal as part of a coverup. I know someone who's planning just that with a badly done tribal piece. It is painful, rather more expensive & time consuming.
Personally, even though it is legal to tattoo folks at 18 in most states (16 in some with guardian's permission), I think that's still a little young. People are still fleshing out their personalities and although it's okay for a few, most need to "simmer" bit longer. This tends to be my view on lots of "permanent" choices, including marriage.
Personally, even though I'd been intrigued by tattooing (the real stuff) since my early 20s, I waited until my 40s to get anything done. Partially as I wanted to make sure, partially as I wasn't into getting it when it first hit mainstream, and partially as it got in the way of my grad education & subsequent career - the dot com, she was good to me. It's still not something for everyone, but it's something I'm personally quite happy with.
Regarding age, I'm amused by the way one person put the "what will people think when you're 80/90/...":
"If my biggest worry is what folks at the old home think, I'll be fine. I'm more worried about how I'll be pooping then.
Do all these people freaking over an 80 year old with tattoos think that, if it weren't for that tattoo, they'd be scoring with all those young nurses?"
I know several people in their 50s, 60s & 70s who are into tattooing in some way or another. 99% of the people I know are not the headline-garnering extremists; the 76 year old (in remarkable condition for someone 30 years younger) has two, and a 58 year old (also in stunning condition) has several pieces relating to her long-term lover affair with North African culture. Even she only has 5-6 and mostly hidden, not the total covering the MSM and others like to pretend are the only people who get tattoos (well, them and the grizzled sailors).
And finally... I agree with the people who say this is still a fine article. I sometimes eat desert after my otherwise rather healthy meals; not everything needs to be high fiber, low fat & so on.