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sir pball

(4,726 posts)
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:10 PM Mar 2023

Your tattoo is (probably) not as meaningful as you think it is.


https://xkcd.com/933/

My wife has probably $10k of ink from one of the best artists in NYC; her most treasured tats are the targeting dots from her cervical cancer treatment. She did have them adorned into little radiation trefoils, it's super cute, but the sentiment remains. Nothing her artist has done or ever will do can compare to those four dots.
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Your tattoo is (probably) not as meaningful as you think it is. (Original Post) sir pball Mar 2023 OP
such a strong generational aspect of this, I suspect NewHendoLib Mar 2023 #1
I dunno, my dad is 75 and a lot of his cohorts are inked. sir pball Mar 2023 #3
perhaps. Peer group? Regional stuff? NewHendoLib Mar 2023 #4
Dad lives in a CCRC in Southern Florida. sir pball Mar 2023 #6
Medical marijuana in Florida is exceptional. rubbersole Mar 2023 #30
Somewhat older than you, grew up in the military all over the country. No tats. niyad Mar 2023 #7
Way, way back in the day I worked at Disney. BlackSkimmer Mar 2023 #16
It used to have strong class connotations Happy Hoosier Mar 2023 #39
I've a couple of years on you and have no interest either. yonder Mar 2023 #35
its amazing how the tattoo wave swept the planet Blues Heron Mar 2023 #2
Probably less than you'd think sir pball Mar 2023 #5
I think the curve would look exponential Blues Heron Mar 2023 #9
Pretty much anti-tattoo. LakeArenal Mar 2023 #8
I'm with you Arenal Captain Zero Mar 2023 #11
Tattoos on Math old as dirt Mar 2023 #10
tzi the Iceman: The famous frozen mummy multigraincracker Mar 2023 #12
Tattoos are not right for me. I made it through the Navy without getting one. Chainfire Mar 2023 #13
College isn't necessarily about curriculum. LakeArenal Mar 2023 #15
Good artist can charge over $200 an hour for their work. Trenzalore Mar 2023 #20
"Who woulda thunk it?" Mariana Mar 2023 #57
Love to hear it. Thanks. Hortensis Mar 2023 #14
More than half of the men and women that go to the gym I go to have tattoos. friend of a friend Mar 2023 #17
Not-really-minor quibble: I'm disappointed to see xkcd use the incorrect "bicep". DavidDvorkin Mar 2023 #18
Obligatory Van Halen song in 3, 2, 1... keep_left Mar 2023 #19
TMI has two meanings for me. roamer65 Mar 2023 #21
A long time ago I read the Massachusetts tattoo law jmowreader Mar 2023 #22
Is it a competition? meadowlander Mar 2023 #23
I almost got a tattoo once. iscooterliberally Mar 2023 #24
in 20 yers they will probably as unliked as your dads shorts........ getagrip_already Mar 2023 #25
Tattoos are gross BannonsLiver Mar 2023 #26
Suspect these queens are too busy being fabulous to give a shit. meadowlander Mar 2023 #27
The top one is particularly interesting. Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #31
Thanks for proving my point. BannonsLiver Mar 2023 #36
Yes, just not the one you think you're making. meadowlander Mar 2023 #45
+1 nt Tree-Hugger Mar 2023 #48
Thank you. Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #49
Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2023 #71
All my siblings have tattoos. I don't, I'm just scared of needles. hunter Mar 2023 #40
I did that once . . . Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #47
To each their own, but basically I agree Silent3 Mar 2023 #42
"I try not to be too judgemental about it..." Mariana Mar 2023 #56
+100000 Celerity Mar 2023 #61
To cheer on that comment shows you also clearly missed my point. Silent3 Mar 2023 #65
No, I don't think I'm fooling anyone. I meant to point out that my efforts fail. n/t Silent3 Mar 2023 #64
I got my first one in 1991, more than 30 years ago Withywindle Mar 2023 #72
I thinking of getting tattoos.... usedtobedemgurl Mar 2023 #81
Interesting. Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #28
A good tattoo is art, get it and wear it proudly. sir pball Mar 2023 #60
I'm just at the 2-year mark Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #68
Hey, I didn't get my dots when I had radiation therapy. I feel cheated alfredo Mar 2023 #29
I got dots, but they didn't use them. n/t Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #32
So gangsta of you. alfredo Mar 2023 #37
It is kind of fun to watch the expressions of folks who know me Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #43
They call it street cred alfredo Mar 2023 #46
I Got Dots RobinA Mar 2023 #41
I'm with you. phylny Mar 2023 #44
You can have them removed alfredo Mar 2023 #79
this , lydia ,the tattoed lady marx bros . AllaN01Bear Mar 2023 #33
Live and let live, people Beaverhausen Mar 2023 #34
I loved watching those tattoo competition TV shows that were popular a few years ago IcyPeas Mar 2023 #38
My body, my choice Tree-Hugger Mar 2023 #50
+100000 Celerity Mar 2023 #62
I've never understood tattoos (other than those described in the cartoon). How do you decide Vinca Mar 2023 #51
Well . . . at 46 years out from that 20-year old Ms. Toad Mar 2023 #52
Funny You Brought Up Not Wearing... ProfessorGAC Mar 2023 #67
I guess we can only hope meadowlander Mar 2023 #53
Some people will seize on anything to make themselves feel superior. Mariana Mar 2023 #55
my BIL has this on his phone cover Celerity Mar 2023 #59
Love it meadowlander Mar 2023 #66
Tattos are so common and mainstream now Withywindle Mar 2023 #73
You guys have really blown my remarks all out of proportion. I'm honestly just wondering how Vinca Mar 2023 #74
Because your comment was really, really judgemental obamanut2012 Mar 2023 #76
You can tattoo a spider on your forehead for all I care. Sheesh. Get a grip. Vinca Mar 2023 #78
oh brother obamanut2012 Mar 2023 #75
Well this went sideways sir pball Mar 2023 #54
A tattoo is as meaningful as the person who has them gives them. Pathwalker Mar 2023 #58
The earth, sun and moon on my upper back would disagree. sarcasmo Mar 2023 #63
I'm well over 70 and I have no tats. Scottie Mom Mar 2023 #69
I don't have any tattoos Texasgal Mar 2023 #70
Was there an animal he loved? A place? A flower? A holiday? obamanut2012 Mar 2023 #77
I don't care for tattoos Retrograde Mar 2023 #80

NewHendoLib

(59,940 posts)
1. such a strong generational aspect of this, I suspect
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:14 PM
Mar 2023

I am 67, and neither my wife or I have had the remotest interest in tattoo, piercings and the like. But both my girls have both.

Society and psychology and all - so interesting.

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
3. I dunno, my dad is 75 and a lot of his cohorts are inked.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:22 PM
Mar 2023

There's no shortage of tattoos in his retirement community; they were hardly uncommon by the 60s. Not judging, just saying y'all may just have not run with that crowd.

NewHendoLib

(59,940 posts)
4. perhaps. Peer group? Regional stuff?
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:24 PM
Mar 2023

grew up in RI - no one got them - noone in my family. Maybe my career path - lots of school, pharma, etc - no athletics, no service.

there are most likely trends and factors, but I have no idea what they may be!

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
6. Dad lives in a CCRC in Southern Florida.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:32 PM
Mar 2023

His friends group (they studiously avoid politics) is half Trumpers and half aging ex-hippies. That said, one of his "girls", pushing 80, literally flashed me her "titty tats" (good ink!) after their Court Happy Hour that happened to involve something like six handles of vodka for 40 people.

She's also got REALLY good weed.

Old Boomers rule.

rubbersole

(6,526 posts)
30. Medical marijuana in Florida is exceptional.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:58 PM
Mar 2023

Maybe elsewhere equally good, but I know here it's all you could want.

niyad

(112,434 posts)
7. Somewhat older than you, grew up in the military all over the country. No tats.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:32 PM
Mar 2023

I loathe, hate and despise needles, am seriously chemically sensitive, and hate pain. It is fsacinating to me that a number of my women friends my age are now getting tats--and not just cute, tiny little butterflies, but serious ink. Ah well, to each their own.

 

BlackSkimmer

(51,308 posts)
16. Way, way back in the day I worked at Disney.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 01:00 PM
Mar 2023

Park security at that time was made up mostly of retired fellas from law enforcement or the military. Disney did not allow tattoos when I worked there, and I have no idea if that changed.

But they looked the other way for these guys lol. Most could be covered with clothing, but almost all of them had them. I think it was pretty much de rigueur for guys in the service back then. Most would tell me stories about how they got them. Many didn't even remember doing it. Young men, far from home, and with a bellyful of liquor.

I grew up in a setting where they were certainly frowned upon. Probably young girls from my same neighborhood now have them and the piercings too lol. Pierced ears was all the holes I ever cared to get in my body!

Happy Hoosier

(7,077 posts)
39. It used to have strong class connotations
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:46 PM
Mar 2023

Upper Middle Class folks used to not get tats hardly at all, but they were common among at least some working class folks, particularly men.

That’s not the vase anymore at all.

yonder

(9,631 posts)
35. I've a couple of years on you and have no interest either.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:28 PM
Mar 2023

I have one though. It was an Irish harp - now its just a blob, even though quality inks were used by the first artist in our area, a long-time friend.

Got it on the eve of our first kid's birth almost 35 years ago. I was under the influence of something a bit harder than booze have some regrets. Because it is symbolic in a couple of ways, I doubt I'd have it removed.

Now our first kid has a couple of her own. Kids these days.

Blues Heron

(5,898 posts)
2. its amazing how the tattoo wave swept the planet
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:20 PM
Mar 2023

I wonder how many gallons of ink per year increase from say 1976 until 2023.


Just watched Penelope Spheeris` Decline of Western Civilization and she spends a good amount of time filming members of the band X tattoo each other prison style with a sewing needle and some inked thread. Pre AIDS of course, but only by a couple of years. I think it was filmed in 1979

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
5. Probably less than you'd think
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:25 PM
Mar 2023

Tattooing, even major/full-body ink, is as old as humanity itself. I think modern society is just becoming more tolerant; my dad is 75 and a LOT of his friends, at a conservative Florida CCRC no less, have plenty of ink. Anecdotally, when my wife who has almost full upper-body coverage, visits, she gets a ton of attention but none of it negative.

Blues Heron

(5,898 posts)
9. I think the curve would look exponential
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:36 PM
Mar 2023

Id say there is at least 10 times more than 40-50 years ago. Its so ubiquitous now. I dont know how you would find the records of tattoo ink production, but it would surely tell the tale. Just the gangs of el salvador are probably responsible for several train car loads of ink each year and I dont think that existed in 1976.

on edit
Here is a somewhat random article from 2021 about the increase- they claim an increase of 10 percent per decade in this Millennium, so maybe my estimate indeed was high.

https://supicket.com/the-booming-popularity-of-tattoos/

LakeArenal

(28,729 posts)
8. Pretty much anti-tattoo.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:34 PM
Mar 2023

However, I don’t have to think any tat is cool or meaningful. It only matters that the recipient thinks it’s cool and/or meaningful.

Much tattoo about nothing. Don’t like it don’t look.

Captain Zero

(6,714 posts)
11. I'm with you Arenal
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:45 PM
Mar 2023

I've got enough pain in my life, can't figure out why anyone would want their flesh burned or stitched, however it's done. I don't really respect it as some kind of accomplishment.

A therapist admitted to me some people may be using it as a socially acceptable form of cutting.

Chainfire

(17,305 posts)
13. Tattoos are not right for me. I made it through the Navy without getting one.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:51 PM
Mar 2023

I was shocked and dismayed 20 years ago when my son became a tattoo artist. I was sure that it was a fad that would pass and that he would not be able to make a living, and it was a waste of a college education. Here 20 years later, he makes more money than I did as a plumber. Who woulda thunk it?

LakeArenal

(28,729 posts)
15. College isn't necessarily about curriculum.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:59 PM
Mar 2023

It’s also about developing a personal sense. Perseverance. Being organized. Punctuality.
Confidence. Seems your son wasted nothing. Congrats.

Trenzalore

(2,331 posts)
20. Good artist can charge over $200 an hour for their work.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 01:39 PM
Mar 2023

Not a bad gig if you are artistically inclined.

keep_left

(1,750 posts)
19. Obligatory Van Halen song in 3, 2, 1...
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 01:38 PM
Mar 2023

David Lee Roth's lyrics about why people get tattoos.

The third verse, apropos to DU (about his labor organizer uncle):

Uncle Danny, had a coal tattoo
He fought for the unions
Some of us still do
On my shoulder is the number
Of the chapter he was in
That number is forever
Like the struggle here to win


jmowreader

(50,451 posts)
22. A long time ago I read the Massachusetts tattoo law
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:24 PM
Mar 2023

This was before they legalized artistic tattooing; MA was the last state to do so. The law said that only licensed physicians were authorized to apply tattoos…naturally, I wondered why in the hell a doctor would ever want to open a tattoo shop.

And…then I found out about radiation tattoos. The only person in my family to have had radiation had it in the Seventies when they drew the sighting data on you with a Sharpie and told you not to wash that part for any reason so…yeah, this makes sense.

So, let me see…I have:

The Field Station Berlin unit crest is on my right arm. Our motto was “On Watch,” and I was on watch on our very last operational shift. I was the person who shut down all the mainframes, and we had a bunch of them.

On my left arm is “the tools of the trade.” I am currently a commercial artist; it is a computer mouse sitting on a frame of 35mm film.

I have one I need to get finished on my left forearm. It is the reversed yin-yang from the Korean flag; I was stationed in Seoul for a year. There are these black blocks surrounding the yin-yang on a Korean flag that aren’t there yet and need to be.

There’s one on my back that is a butterfly, in honor of the journey my hairdresser made from drug fiend to respectable citizen. When she works on my hair I wear a backless shirt.

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
23. Is it a competition?
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:29 PM
Mar 2023

I respect what people are going through in fighting cancer but it's not really an excuse to try to diminish other peoples' life choices.

I got a tattoo after I immigrated to another country - a five year long excruciating process that I frequently thought I wasn't going to get through.

I'm going to get another tattoo to cover the scars from gender affirmation surgery. Those will be pretty meaningful to me.

But I guess, yeah. Cancer survival wins. Something I guess...

iscooterliberally

(2,849 posts)
24. I almost got a tattoo once.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:34 PM
Mar 2023

I was a full time musician and all the other guys in the band had tattoos. Even my girlfriend at the time who was our audio engineer had a couple. I had a design worked out, but every time I saved up the money, some financial emergency would happen. After a while I forgot all about getting a tattoo. It's funny, my younger brother and sister both got tattoos. They just got small ones. I'll be 60 this month and I have no desire to get one now. I guess I 'dodged a needle'.

getagrip_already

(14,250 posts)
25. in 20 yers they will probably as unliked as your dads shorts........
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:36 PM
Mar 2023

Styles change. When kids see their parents with decidedly stupid body ink they will want no part of it.

They will all become the mom/dad version of a "tramp stamp"........

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
31. The top one is particularly interesting.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:12 PM
Mar 2023

I don't know her story, but going flat is where the breast cancer lobby blew it.

Insulin for diabetes is the currently poster child for unfortunate lobbying choices. Breast cancer created the model. Both target a specific disease (diabetes and breast cancer) and ignore the fact that there other equally devastating and costly illnesses which are equally in need of insurance reform so the disease doesn't break not only the victim, but the bank. Both also target a single aspect of treatment: insulin in diabetes and breast reconstruction for breast cancer.

My spouse takes jardiance, rather than insulin, for diabetes. The cost of her medication for a year is around $6,000. Even after that amazing reform that was supposed to save folks with diabetes (but not other equally devastating conditions) from bankruptcy.

I just learned that there are similar issues with breast cancer. I was certainly pushed toward double reconstruction. The question from 3 different surgical teams wasn't whether, it was when do I want it (immediately upon removal of the cancer, or later). I knew part of this push was because double breast reconstruction (even for cancer in only one breast) was legislatively declared medically necessary.

What I didn't realize was that aesthetic flat closure is not covered at all. Doctors are permitted to sew you up flat (as they did my mother), but they are not allowed to do the same kind of muscle bed reconstruction and shaping they do for reconstruction unless they donate their services, or you pay for it out of pocket. You can see that the underlying chest wall in the first woman's image is misshapen. If you search for images of aesthetic flat closure, you'll see the difference. So women who don't want to buy into new implant surgery every couple of decades or so, but want a chest that is not such a harsh reminder of breast cancer, must pay out-of-pocket for the surgery. Or get a tattoo.

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
45. Yes, just not the one you think you're making.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 04:26 PM
Mar 2023

Since when is it OK to describe a breast cancer survivor, Māori moko, and gender affirmation surgery as "gross" on DU?

Says a whole load more about you than it does about people who get tattoos.

It's their body, their lives, their choice. And if you spent fifteen seconds understanding the stories behind them, you would understand what a courageous choice it is. But, no. It's easier to just be a judgmental about something you don't know the first thing about behind the safety of your keyboard.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
49. Thank you.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 05:01 PM
Mar 2023

Breast cancer survivor here. One of the things I contemplated, before I chose breast-saving surgery, was getting a tattoo that included the scars.

And I'm still contemplating a tattoo that incorporates a second cancer scar. (Much more obvious, and uncovered at least half of the year.)

Response to meadowlander (Reply #45)

hunter

(38,264 posts)
40. All my siblings have tattoos. I don't, I'm just scared of needles.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:46 PM
Mar 2023

But I'm frequently known to show off my scars.

I've got a nice knife scar on my arm, don't count the stitches, that always reminds me not to say the first idiot shit that pops into my head, especially when the bad guy is holding a knife.

Other scars I openly display are worse.

One of my brothers has a huge cancer surgery scar extending from his armpit to his groin and he's made light of with a tattoo. He's a surfer and sometimes when he's got his shirt off and strangers ask he'll claim it was a shark attack.

It really was that kind of random shark attack, just not that kind of shark.




Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
47. I did that once . . .
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 04:41 PM
Mar 2023

and since it was part of a tale about diving, there are a bunch of folks in my town who believe I was actually bit by a shark while diving.

The scar is from cancer surgery (a picture of it is here). As part of an acting class I had to tell a 90-second story. Unfortunately, my timing was about 15 seconds off. Time was called just as I announced the sharp had clamped down on my arm, but before I had a chance to deliver the punch line about waking up in recovery wishing the local hospital hadn't hired sharks to do the surgery.

Silent3

(15,018 posts)
42. To each their own, but basically I agree
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 04:04 PM
Mar 2023

I try not to be too judgemental about it, but it's hard. Maybe now and then a tattoo worthy of the term "art" comes along, but I find most of them absurd, ugly, and trite. Many are also very short-sighted, permanently marking one's body with words and images that might not suit one later in life -- sometimes years later, but sometimes even months or days.

The whole tattoo phenomenon strikes me so much like taking up smoking when you're a teen, something done to look cool, fit in, express rebellion, etc., decided at a time when mature judgement is lacking. (Not that some people don't get into tattoos much later in life.)

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
56. "I try not to be too judgemental about it..."
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 07:53 PM
Mar 2023

And then you write on and on, being judgmental. Did you really think you were fooling anyone?

Silent3

(15,018 posts)
65. To cheer on that comment shows you also clearly missed my point.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 08:51 PM
Mar 2023

I was explaining why my efforts to not be judgmental fail, not trying to claim aesthetic tolerance that isn't there.

Withywindle

(9,988 posts)
72. I got my first one in 1991, more than 30 years ago
Sat Mar 18, 2023, 12:42 AM
Mar 2023

No regrets. I also got myself a nice big one for my 40th birthday some 20 years later. Can't say I regret that one either.

It might have been about rebellion in '91 (I was 22, not exactly a kid) but now that they're so mainstream, it's really just about the art. I'd say in my somewhat artsy Gen X friends circle I know slightly more people who have them than not, and slightly more women than men.

usedtobedemgurl

(1,100 posts)
81. I thinking of getting tattoos....
Mon Mar 20, 2023, 04:43 AM
Mar 2023

I was rear ended a year and a half ago. It brought so much anxiety, I started peeling skin from different parts of my body. I am so scarred, in certain parts, it is ugly. If I ever have money again, I will think long and hard about covering my body areas with tattoos.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
28. Interesting.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:50 PM
Mar 2023

We joke about the fact that I have 3 tattoos before my daughter (in the piercing/tattoo generation) has any.

I have 3 targeting dots for breast cancer. But I'm pretty sure they didn't actually use then - relying instead on sharpie marks they put on the first day of radiation.

And - I'm considering getting a tattoo to turn the scar from a second cancer into something symbolic and beautiful. Due to cancer discrimination/selective lobbying, only reconstruction for breast cancer is covered as medically necessary. Even though no one can tell I've had a partial mastectomy on one side, I would have been entitled to double breast reconstruction. Reconstructing my forearm, which is ugly as sin - and visible anytime I'm not wearing long sleeves - is cosmetic (so I'd have to pay for reconstruction out of pocket). (The scar in the image below is from removal of a kidney-bean-sized tumor. It was approximately 5" across before the graft shrunk. Sarcomas are extremely aggressive, and require a full cm of normal tissue be removed. I had scars from prior biopsies, so they had to remove a cm around the edges of those scars.)

So if I get a 4th tattoo, it will be just as meaningful (in a different way) as the targeting dots. My forearm will never look "normal" again, even with reconstruction. If I have to pay for it, I may as well pay for something I would enjoy looking at.

I'm envisioning a sunflower (the symbol for sarcoma) using the scar as the center of the sunflower.





sir pball

(4,726 posts)
60. A good tattoo is art, get it and wear it proudly.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 08:37 PM
Mar 2023

Doubly so if you're getting it, as you say, for "something symbolic and beautiful"; that's the essence of why you should get inked. Your idea for your forearm is absolutely beautiful!

I genuinely wish I were still where I could get a friend to help you, but alas…changes.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
68. I'm just at the 2-year mark
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 09:06 PM
Mar 2023

(The bare minimum for post-surgical tattoos). I'm also still within the high risk for additional surgery period. I'm down to lung scans every 6 months (from every 3 months - the lungs are where this particular cancer heads if it metastasizes), and until the end of 5 yeasrs I'm still at relatively high risk for additional surgery (that would dewtroy the art). So I've got a little time to ponder it.

On the positive side - the graft and the skin on the hand side have virtually no feeling. That would make for an easier tattoo experience.

alfredo

(60,065 posts)
29. Hey, I didn't get my dots when I had radiation therapy. I feel cheated
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 02:58 PM
Mar 2023

All I got was a mask that held my head in place.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
43. It is kind of fun to watch the expressions of folks who know me
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 04:18 PM
Mar 2023

when I tell them I have not one, not two, but three tattoos.

RobinA

(9,878 posts)
41. I Got Dots
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:55 PM
Mar 2023

and I don't like them one bit. Probably because they are blue, which is not a human color. Which is probably why they're blue.

Beaverhausen

(24,467 posts)
34. Live and let live, people
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:21 PM
Mar 2023

I have a couple of smallish tattoos and while I do think some people go way overboard on them, it's none of my business what they do.

IcyPeas

(21,743 posts)
38. I loved watching those tattoo competition TV shows that were popular a few years ago
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 03:37 PM
Mar 2023

I enjoyed watching the artists at work. Some of the artists were really good.... others not so much.

But people would come on the show to get a tattoo and got whatever genre of art was chosen for that week's competition. That was very risky indeed!


Tree-Hugger

(3,364 posts)
50. My body, my choice
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 05:02 PM
Mar 2023

It's not a competition. Don't like tattoos, don't get one. Some people tattoo silly stuff. Some are super meaningful. Some are impulse decisions. All of them are personal reasons that do not concern anyone other than the owner of that skin.

Vinca

(50,170 posts)
51. I've never understood tattoos (other than those described in the cartoon). How do you decide
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 05:06 PM
Mar 2023

at 20 what you want to live with for the rest of your life? I was at the post office one day and there was a young woman in front of me with Winnie the Pooh on the back of her calf and balloons going up her leg. All I could do was wonder what the nursing home staff would think 50 years in the future.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
52. Well . . . at 46 years out from that 20-year old
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 05:43 PM
Mar 2023

I have three radiation dots, and aside from concealing a cancer scar, I can't imagine getting a tattoo.

But not because a 20-year old doesn't know what they want to live with for the rest of their life. If someone had told me that I was required to have a tattoo it would have been a toad then - and it would be a toad now (aside from my current thoughts about a sunflower to cover up a cancer scar . . . but that's not the same thing). But aside from my wedding band and my glasses, I'm not really a fan of wearing the same thing every day.

And not because it's juvenile. I'm 66 and wore both a Grumpy (Snow White) sweatshirt and Eyore (Winnie-the-Pooh) sweatshirt within the last week. I usually get compliments on both; only Eyore garnered compliments this week.

ProfessorGAC

(64,422 posts)
67. Funny You Brought Up Not Wearing...
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 09:03 PM
Mar 2023

...the same thing every day.
I have become essentially notorious for ALWAYS wearing black pants. Even in the summer, I wear black shorts.
Now, I wear different shirts (dress, cabana, Hawaiian) in many colors, different sweaters (although always solid colors), and socks.
But, always black pants.
So, it's not just my glasses & wedding ring for me.

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
53. I guess we can only hope
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 06:02 PM
Mar 2023

that 50 years in the future the nursing home staff will be less judgmental than you are.

I don't have a Winnie the Pooh tattoo but who knows what meaning it might hold for that individual. Why don't you try asking them next time instead of shaking your head at something that has nothing to do with you and no impact on your life?

I have this Winnie the Pooh cartoon on my fridge:



Whenever depression is getting on top of me, it reminds me to check in with my friends and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if I just take a break and practice some self-care. I can totally see having something similar as an easy reference reminder on my body if that's what I wanted to do.

Also, it's not just 20 year olds making impulsive decisions that get tattoos. I got my first one in my mid-30s, spent the better part of a year planning it, got a professional artist to design it, and still absolutely love it 15 years later.

I don't think there's any topic that shows up the age and, frankly, hypocrisy of some "liberals" on DU as the number of people who seem to think it's their business to weigh in on someone else's body art without bothering to try to understand the intention behind it. Pro-choice means pro-choice.

Withywindle

(9,988 posts)
73. Tattos are so common and mainstream now
Sat Mar 18, 2023, 12:52 AM
Mar 2023

that probably at least half the people in the nursing home ward, as well as a bunch of the staff, will also have them, so it probably will go pretty much unremarked except someone thinking it's cute. Which it is. (And who knows what meaning it has to her? Maybe it commemorates a dead loved one who read Winnie to her when she was a child. You don't know.)

Vinca

(50,170 posts)
74. You guys have really blown my remarks all out of proportion. I'm honestly just wondering how
Sat Mar 18, 2023, 08:13 AM
Mar 2023

you can select an image you will want to display for all of your life and what happens when you decide the heart with the name of a boyfriend from years ago has to go. You're stuck with an expensive medical bill to remove it. It's not a "feeling superior" or "judgmental" thing as some responding to me have implied. It's more a common sense thing. You've got one body covering of skin issued to you in your lifetime and I just don't understand how you decide on something worthy of a lifetime of display. Do whatever the hell you want with your body - I don't care.

obamanut2012

(25,911 posts)
76. Because your comment was really, really judgemental
Sat Mar 18, 2023, 09:43 AM
Mar 2023

And kinda snarky about young people.

It is WINNIE THE POOH

I am in my 50s and just got a new tat a couple months ago. It is not an age thing.

Oh yes, you and others in this thraed care a whole lot what people do to their bodies, or you wouldn't respond snarking at folks who like tats.

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
54. Well this went sideways
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 07:19 PM
Mar 2023

I guess we can add tats to the "always spark a big chat" list along with pit bulls, breastfeeding, and the rest…

Pathwalker

(6,596 posts)
58. A tattoo is as meaningful as the person who has them gives them.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 08:21 PM
Mar 2023

They alone get to decide this. Personally, I'll never have one, but it's my body and my choice, just as it is for them. The end.

Scottie Mom

(5,812 posts)
69. I'm well over 70 and I have no tats.
Fri Mar 17, 2023, 11:39 PM
Mar 2023

Hell, I don’t have any piercings — not even my ears!!

I really dislike tattoos and tons of piercing. At least for me.

And I was a hippie child in the 60s. Go figure.

Texasgal

(17,029 posts)
70. I don't have any tattoos
Sat Mar 18, 2023, 12:35 AM
Mar 2023

but after becoming a young widow I've seriously thought about getting one to commemorate my beautiful husband.

My only issue is that I cannot make up my mind about what I want to mark my skin for life. I have some ideas, but I've failed to anything about it. He's been gone six years. Who knows if I'll ever do it?

I have no issues with tattoos at all, I find many of them beautiful.

obamanut2012

(25,911 posts)
77. Was there an animal he loved? A place? A flower? A holiday?
Sat Mar 18, 2023, 09:47 AM
Mar 2023

What was his favorite book? You could always have the Dewey or Library of Congress call number tattoed, or the cover, or a scene from his favorite movie.

You don't have to do any of these things, but you can if you want.

I know someone who spoke her granddaughter's name, and had teh soundwave of her speaking her name tatted. Google soundwave tats.



Retrograde

(10,070 posts)
80. I don't care for tattoos
Mon Mar 20, 2023, 02:55 AM
Mar 2023

so I don't have any. I've seen a few that I've thought were very well done, and if someone shows me their new tattoos I'll ask them what they mean to them, but I can't see getting anything that permanent (I have done temporary tats, though). Besides, my grandfather had tattoos from his time in the navy, so I always associate them with old people.

But, bottom line - your body, your choice.

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