I believe that the tats for women started with the porn industry. Some mothers get tats of their children's names. I have seen only a few that have admirable or artistic tats. Tats for on women? No thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
It's a very sad downturn in this society that this stuff is now perfectly acceptable. Very sad. Are we savages?

I wouldn't go that far. Throughout human history various things have been used to adorn the human body whether it be tattoo's or perfume. It comes and goes and varies from culture to culture. Anyone can be a savage, tattoo'd or not.

My wife had a small tattoo on upper back added this past few months - she just turned 50. She always wanted the day we got engaged 29 years ago. Very sweet, meaningful and done well.

Her first one, I have none but wouldn’t hesitate if something stood out to me as meaningful. Getting a goldfish on my arm because it is cool is not my thing. As for others - each their own, we know some beautiful girls with tattoos that have meaning and look great. It is different more often than not that looks good. You cannot judge based on tattoos, or at least should not.

A guy missed out on a 100k a year job because he wanted arm sleeve tattoos. Policy was no visible tattoos. He is working a shit job in shit area for a third of the pay.

I sure hope so. Whenever I see someone all inked up I can’t help but think it’s someone who isn’t happy with the way they look or it’s someone who constantly thinks, “Hey, look at me!”.

The only time I was tempted to get one was on a visit to Tahiti where the process originated.
Some of the tattoos there were truly a work of art. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my wife interjected and I never got one...

A permanent solution to a temporary problem (trying to look cool).

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I sure hope so [tattoo craze slowing down]. Whenever I see someone all inked up I can’t help but think it’s someone who isn’t happy with the way they look or it’s someone who constantly thinks, “Hey, look at me!”.

BOOM! Nail meet hammer! I sincerely believe, in MOST cases, i.e., NOT the wife with the cute teddy bear by her nether-yayuh that only her husband will see/appreciate OR outside the military and prison, it's an issue with one's own self esteem, in that it is so low, they don't know how to appreciate themselves and this is their avenue to get noticed. IANAPsych, so...grain of salt.

Someone on these boards once wrote, "I don't have tattoos on my body for the same reason I don't have bumper stickers on my Ferrari". Thought that was appropriate... I get that some people do it to honor someone. I know a friend of a friend who has her deceased baby tattooed somewhere on her body...baby was only several months old when it died. I get that this person wants to "have her baby with her always", but couldn't you hang a picture up in your hall and keep pics on your phone?? I guess there's a mental aspect of this I'll NEVER understand. And believe me...I try to comprehend it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: erj_pilot,

quote:

Originally posted by Kraquin:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
It's a very sad downturn in this society that this stuff is now perfectly acceptable. Very sad. Are we savages?

I wouldn't go that far. Throughout human history various things have been used to adorn the human body whether it be tattoo's or perfume. It comes and goes and varies from culture to culture. Anyone can be a savage, tattoo'd or not.

You have all the earmarks of a troll, sailorboy. I've been at this for a long time and I've been observing your posts and you look to me like a troll, ten ways from Sunday. I'm not interested in your opinion of my opinion.

I don't like them but understand there are some circumstances may warrant such as:
* you're in prison
* you have a military connection (this might be the only exception to the rule that might be acceptable).
* can't think of much else
Some that may not:
* it makes all women look worse
* ones on the face are on those who are retarded or insane

Yeah ultimately, it's your bod so do what you want.
A pretty girl will still be pretty but just less so, IMO.

YMMV

I hope so!

I hope so too. While I don't mind small ones I find the massive arm art to be distasteful. Was sitting at a bar at an airport one day and I was looking at this smoking hot blonde gal across the room. Now I'm married 28 years so I'm not looking for anything, just checking out a hot looking woman. Had to take a leak and had to walk by her to go to the men's room. When I got close my hot thoughts turned to completely not hot thoughts when I saw her arms covered. Ruined a really good thought for me

These young hotties with the tattoo's will look good in their 60's, maybe with a nice pair of combat boots on.

Many people's tattoos are fascinating to me. I don't have any, and can't convince myself that I want one of my own, but the artwork -- and I mean artwork, not just crazed doodling -- I've seen on some other people has been nothing short of amazing.

I, too, was in the "women shouldn't have tattoos" crowd until it came close to home. A woman I love dearly and call Mama (though we're not relatives at all) fought breast cancer with one of the best attitudes I've ever seen. After getting back to work she dropped by one day to show off a tattoo she'd had done. It was the "cancer ribbon" symbol, turned into a dragonfly. That ink, that art, is a symbol of Mama's strength and resilience, and truly opened my mind about women and tattoos.

Most everyone I've talked with about theirs has a personal story to go with it. It's solid; it's meaningful, it has its own beauty. Some of the inkwork out there is beautiful in the artistic sense, but is "catalog," and without such meaning.

"I got it because it was pretty," as in tatortodd's post -- well, that's your choice and not for me to criticize. When it's "I go this when I was _______ and it means __________ to me," then it's your choice and beautiful/meaningful in its own way. Still not mine to criticize, though I'll likely have a better appreciation for it.

That said, there's a lot of ugly ink out there, and I don't think I understand at all why someone would tattoo their face.

Like cruiser68's example, I was out with some friends in a crowd one day and saw a woman with a terribly ugly shirt on. As we got closer to her I realized it wasn't an ugly shirt -- it was full sleeve tattoos. Unfortunately, it wasn't an ugly shirt.

Tattoos look very menacing on Viking warriors. The females look especially fierce along with their unconventional hairstyles.

Anyone who has created a work of art realizes the issue with walking around with your art permanently on your body. Have you ever written a story, painted a picture, created a digital image? What happens over time to your relationship with your creation? After the creation of your art, you change as a person over time- you evolve, you mature, you gain experience, your tastes change. What happens is that you come to want to tweak your creation, sometimes quite a bit- change words in a sentence, change paragraphs, add or omit entire passages in your story, change the ending, change the beginning. You want to change colors in your artwork, reearrange the elements, etc.

And sometimes, you come to loathe something that you've created and want it to disappear. You tire of it completely, see the error of your ways. You are subject to your own evolution.

Now, apply all of that to having a work of art tattooed onto your body, carrying it with you at all times.

I guess people can ignore these feelings to a degree, but you cannot tell me that there are not many, many people out there who've been tattooed and who don't want all of it to disappear.

A story a painting, a photograph- you can separate yourself from these things. Body art? Barring painful and expensive removal procedures which yield various degrees of success, you are stuck with it for the rest of your life. I can't even begin to decribe how foolish this seems to me.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
That said, there's a lot of ugly ink out there, and I don't think I understand at all why someone would tattoo their face.

Think of all the hot young attractive celebs that have literally ruined their look.
Angelino Jolie comes to mind and I am sure there are a ton of others.
Can you imagine maybe the best looking gal of all time (my time example)- Raquel Welch full of tats today?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Kraquin:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
It's a very sad downturn in this society that this stuff is now perfectly acceptable. Very sad. Are we savages?

I wouldn't go that far. Throughout human history various things have been used to adorn the human body whether it be tattoo's or perfume. It comes and goes and varies from culture to culture. Anyone can be a savage, tattoo'd or not.

You have all the earmarks of a troll, sailorboy. I've been at this for a long time and I've been observing your posts and you look to me like a troll, ten ways from Sunday. I'm not interested in your opinion of my opinion.

It wasn't an opinion it was a fairly benign fact of human history I was relaying. Just recently archaeologists in Egypt have used infrared scanners to see the tattoo's on 5,000 year old mummies. Coincidentally, relative to the time, Egyptians were THE advanced civilization in that region but would probably be labeled as savages by others today. It's all relative.

Keep it up. I'm not interested in a thing you have to say. And, yes, you're offering up your opinion.

If you really want to be a member of this forum, you'll go play footsie with someone else.