Tattoos

Yossarian

Yossarian

Forum Resistance Leader
What is it these days about NOT having ink?

I thought and grew up thinking that a tattoo either meant you did hard time or served overseas in the service.


Now every teenage girl with daddy issues is spending their birtday money on blue goldfishes, ravens, unicorns skulls with bow ties and even Four Leaf Clovers.

Young males seem don't seem to be doing much better, males with abosulutely no Asian heritage or descent are getting Japanese poems all down their arms.

Dragons tribal configurations and other more riduclous tattoos of adjectives describing our society like "I am THE man " in old Enlgish letters.

Or phrases like "Beer Warrior" stensiled across their backs.


I want to ask real adults here because everytime I ask someone with a Tattoo like this I always hear the same thing.

"No brah, you don't get it! This ink MEANS something to me, it means love".


I understand I suppose,.... But I do not understand why a 8 inch portait of Captain Jack Sparrow on your a$$ cheek means love....

And nothing is more sexy then getting to know a lady more just to find the large cartoon blue goldfish on her left sholder, only to ask her for her to answer.

"My grandma's favorite color was blue, so I got it done in blue so I never forget her".

I guess I understand this rational thought.

So tommorow I am getting this weekends errands tattooed on my forehead,

So when I look in the mirror I am bound to remeber not only my grocery list, but why I am never getting a picture of Captain Crunch followed in Asian runes of which I have no ties to, emblazoned on my calf or inner thigh or any other part of my body other than my imagination.
 
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I remember a story years ago where a Royal Navy bloke serving in Singapore had Chinese characters tattooed on his arm.

When he got back to UK someone in a pub asked him what it meant, the chap said, "Buy me a beer and I'll tell you." he was bought a beer and again asked what it meant, the matelot said, "It means, Buy me a beer and I'll tell you. That is what it says."
 
Even getting a tattoo that says "I am Stupid" Seems a little redundant.

Like I said, if you don't have time in or a prestigous military unit insignia or something of the sort in ink,

Then I do not really see the point of getting your love child's face tattooed on your right shoulder for the world to see what a beautiful accident you created.

Just for your child to grow up explaining to all their young adult freinds that the hag with the blurry Babboon's a$$ on her shoulder

Was actually them when mom was a young niave 20 something, which partially led to child's conception in the first place.
 
Hi All, Tattoos are fast becoming a trend nowadays, even here in Singapore. They even have those tattoos that are removable after a few days. Some even think of it as a fashion statement. When my kids were small, and when they ask me why they see people with drawings on their bodies (aka tattoos), I just reply that this is what people do when they have no paper to draw on, or this is what people so when they are not allowed to draw on the walls (graffiti).

People may find it trendy, fashionable, even sexy. I just find it wierd, thats all, but that is my opinion. I do not intend to be a yardstick for others...

To each, his own...
 
My friends and I have tatts. I have the Betsy Ross with a scroll of June 14th, 1775 on my right calf. It's the birthday of the US Army and on my right side just under my armpit on my ribcage I have a Cobra symbol from G.I. Joe with my Social Security number under it. Reason why I did that is I read all the G.I. Comics and was a huge fan. So I figured if I was going to get the badguy tattoo might as well do it in Waffen SS fashion since Cobra was modeled after the Waffen SS in the comics.

Over 50% of the US now has at least one tattoo. It's a change with the times. Lots and lots of guys my age are coming home from combat and overseas duty. A lot more are followers of trends.

I did my tattoos because they really do mean a lot to me. They are an expression of who and what I am. Some folks do it to be "cool" and those folks are idiots. The type of folks that walk into a tattoo shop and simply point at a design on the display wall and say "I want that one". Those are the idiots.... but some folks get tattoos because it really is a personal expression.

A number of my friends have tattoos for the same reason as I. We all served and wanted to get the "warrior" mark. With veterans it does come down to that. It's a mark stating that "I'm the baddest Mother F$cker in the land".

I have more tattoo plans. When I have kids I do plan on having their infant foot prints or hand prints put on my left side of my torso. Why? Because my kids are just that.... MY KIDS! They are truly part of me and I want to have a part of them... even if it's just some ink.
 
Oh.... I'm not posting pics of my tattoos. No embarrassed by them... they're just personal things to me, myself, and I.... plus my GF.
 
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5.56X45mm said:
Oh.... I'm not posting pics of my tattoos. No embarrassed by them... they're just personal things to me, myself, and I.... plus my GF.
Click to expand...


Thank you, no offense I agree with your reasons, just unless your getting a big TMI stensiled somewhere then I wouldn't expect you to.

Anyway I can understand your other post.

But I do have trouble understanding the trend of nonsense tattoos, the trendy "it's cute" things people are getting on their necks or even faces.

And the one example of having someone put their kid stensiled on their shoulder...

I actually saw that one, I feel a little bad for the child as well, now a young adult, every time their mother comes around with that enormous blob of what was a Gerber baby perfect portrait must be rather embarrassing....

Like all things impulsive it often helps to stop and be a little more methodical in your thought processes.

I guess a way to see how things end up is to ask this question in about another 50 years, who knows what kind of crazy cultural phenoms this society of ours may be doing.

But I still feel for the one's with the reals sentiments, such as yourself Mr. 5.56 will still be the tradition holders before and even after the masses lose interest in it.

As for myself, I never wrestled victory out of the fires of combat, never served a hard stent for murder to earn a black and white tear drop.

I never grew up in white suburia to earn my very own "Thug Life" undershirt design that borderline gets the sh#t beat out of me everytime I go to the beach.

Nor will I ever get something like this. Not even a peircing, I treat my body as a tool in this world, a tool the spirit uses to interact with others and society I live in. Nothing more or less.

Watching everything from Ipod Symbols to favorite cereal brands being stensiled on young people everywhere brings to mind the back glass phenomenon of bumper stickers before this ink craze.

People placing their favorite things in the back glass of their vehicle for the world to see.

When in all honesty it really just detracts from paying attention on the road at times and doesn't even garner the intended emotions or effections from our introverted soceity.

Hence why I don't do that either.

Once again, to those who do not brandish their wanna be attitude on their skin, who have gotten ink for the reason humans have done so for centuries.

I respect that.

For those sheep looking for social exceptance.

Look in the mirror, and ask who you are looking at where to find yourself so you can have a chat with them.
 
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Yossarian said:
g


Thank you, no offense I agree with your reasons, just unless your getting a big TMI stensiled somewhere then I wouldn't expect you to.

Anyway I can understand your other post.

But I do have trouble understanding the trend of nonsense tattoos, the trendy "it's cute" things people are getting on their necks or even faces.

And the one example of having someone put their kid stensiled on their shoulder...

I actually saw that one, I feel a little bad for the child as well, now a young adult, every time their mother comes around with that enormous blob of what was a Gerber baby perfect portrait must be rather embarrassing....

Like all things impulsive it often helps to stop and be a little more methodical in your thought processes.

I guess a way to see how things end up is to ask this question in about another 50 years, who knows what kind of crazy cultural phenoms this society of ours may be doing.

But I still feel for the one's with the reals sentiments, such as yourself Mr. 5.56 will still be the tradition holders before and even after the masses lose interest in it.

As for myself, I never wrestled victory out of the fires of combat, never served a hard stent for murder to earn a black and white tear drop.

I never grew up in white suburia to earn my very own "Thug Life" undershirt design that borderline gets the sh#t beat out of me everytime I go to the beach.

Nor will I ever get something like this. Not even a peircing, I treat my body as a tool in this world, a tool the spirit uses to interact with others and society I live in. Nothing more or less.

Watching everything from Ipod Symbols to favorite cereal brands being stensiled on young people everywhere brings to mind the back glass phenomenon of bumper stickers before this ink craze.

People placing their favorite things in the back glass of their vehicle for the world to see.

When in all honesty it really just detracts from paying attention on the road at times and doesn't even garner the intended emotions or effections from our introverted soceity.

Hence why I don't do that either.

Once again, to those who do not brandish their wanna be attitude on their skin, who have gotten ink for the reason humans have done so for centuries.

I respect that.

For those sheep looking for social exceptance.

Look in the mirror, and ask who you are looking at where to find yourself so you can have a chat with them.
Click to expand...

Well said...
 
I have three names and dates on my right forearm of the mates who lost their lives in combat. My way to honor them, and in this way are they still with me.

While tattoos will always carry a cache of rebelliousness, its no longer the rebelliousness of a biker in a leather skullcap rolling down the street high on basement made crank. It’s more the rebelliousness of your dad wearing the leather jacket mom got him on his 40th birthday. Not to put too fine a point on it, but basically, getting a tattoo is now your run-of-the-mill right of passage, less akin to trying smack or coke, and more like a high school kid sneaking a six pack from the fridge to split with his buddy.
 
I have a few tattoos, all are related to my military experience.

I have cross cannons on my left upper arm for my branch in the army with "US Army" inscribed around it. On my right upper arm I have the words "Freedom Isn't Free" with an eagle breaking free of chains holding him down around these words. On my right shoulder I have the Iraqi cross swords that go over the parade field in Baghdad with my dates of service in Iraq underneath. And on my left ribcage I have the soldiers cross, the boots, upright rifle, helmet upon the buttstock, and dogtags suspended from the handle with the names of all the buddies of mine who have perished over the years from over 10 years of war (14 in all, and hopefully no more).

All are expressions of either proud service or made sacrifice. You could even make the argument they may be the visible indicators of the invisible scars that have happened to me over the years. The dichotomy of selfless, proud service as shown with my youthfull, naive pride when I got the cross cannons about a week out of AIT...yet painfull, willing sacrifice...as shown with my other tattoos displaying the mounting payment for the privledge of being a professional soldier during war. Or, maybe to give the impression to anyone who aspires to be in the profession of arms that this service IS honorable, but not easy, and it does come with a price. To each his own...That's just my two cents, I'll refrain from rambling any longer.
 
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I have to say, I laughed out loud at this thread. Great posts from both sides. I'm in the middle. I enjoy some good tattoos and on men, I think they are sexy. For women, not the biggest fan. I just think when a woman has a bardwire fence on her ankle there is a little bit of skank there. Total sexist I know, but it's just how I feel.
 
pixiedustboo said:
I have to say, I laughed out loud at this thread. Great posts from both sides. I'm in the middle. I enjoy some good tattoos and on men, I think they are sexy. For women, not the biggest fan. I just think when a woman has a bardwire fence on her ankle there is a little bit of skank there. Total sexist I know, but it's just how I feel.
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I like skanks.:p
 
I feel the same way you do about trendy tattoos, the ones that mean nothing, that the attention wh*r*s get for the attention. However, I am a sucker for sentimentality, so the ones that have meaning are interesting to me. I have four tattoos on my back. Completely out of sight, and most people are very surprised when they find out I have them. I am a teacher and a wedding officiant, and I am clean-cut. But my tattoos do all have heavy meaning. A "V" for my mom, Vanessa, who died 2 years ago very suddenly. I took her death very badly (it still chokes me up, 2 years later). It was the first tattoo I got. I have a sandskrit tattoo that translates to "sister" in honor of my sister & best friend. I have three bird silhouettes flying in a circle to represent my grandpa, grandma, and mom all of whom are in heaven now. And my most recent one is of "The Giving Tree", which I got after my son was born 9 months ago. All very sentimental to me, and all hidden from view! :D
 
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AniLand said:
I feel the same way you do about trendy tattoos, the ones that mean nothing, that the attention wh*r*s get for the attention. However, I am a sucker for sentimentality, so the ones that have meaning are interesting to me. I have four tattoos on my back. Completely out of sight, and most people are very surprised when they find out I have them. I am a teacher and a wedding officiant, and I am clean-cut. But my tattoos do all have heavy meaning. A "V" for my mom, Vanessa, who died 2 years ago very suddenly. I took her death very badly (it still chokes me up, 2 years later). It was the first tattoo I got. I have a sandskrit tattoo that translates to "sister" in honor of my sister & best friend. I have three bird silhouettes flying in a circle to represent my grandpa, grandma, and mom all of whom are in heaven now. And my most recent one is of "The Giving Tree", which I got after my son was born 9 months ago. All very sentimental to me, and all hidden from view! :D
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Thats the stuff, professionalism is welcome to the gawking eyes of me, the judgemental pedestrian.

I am not joking here, really am not, but about two weeks before Saint Patricks I was enjoying a stroll along the riverfront and noticed people jumping out of the way of a young woman behind me.

As it turns out I stepped into a corner restaraunt let her pass me and stepped out behind and saw why.

She had a huge black and orange tarantula inked under her shirt strap...

Oh I love growing up in our "lost generation". lol.

Such color retirement homes will have in 50 years.
 
The trouble with tattoos is that you are stuck with it for life and as fashions change there you are with some thing that is out of date. also with the passing of years the colours change and it can look quite awful. Also it amuses me that people need to tattoo their name on some part of there body and often their neck, is it because they can't remember who they are.
 
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