[Dewman]

One night, not long after I had returned home from Vietnam, I was sitting and talking with my Mom.As she passed me on the way to the kitchen, she bent down and hugged my neck, held me out at arm’s length and said, “Oh honey, I’m so glad you didn’t get any of those old ugly tattoos while you were overseas.”

She patted me on the and as she began walking into the kitchen, she said casually, “Of course, the ones that say Mom aren’t too bad.”

[condor27596]

I'm glad you didn't do that crap. My dad had tattoos all over from the Army from what I could tell of the 4 pics I had.

[magkelly]

70 years later my Dad still has a recognizable USA flag on his arm from his stint in WWII. His initials didn't fare so well though. I know what they are because he told me so but it's all a scribbled blur on his arm now. His Mom did not care much for them and I doubt that had he had "Mom" inscribed on his arm she'd have changed her mind on that score. He says that when he came home with the flag and that she boxed his ears pretty hard... :P

[Jacquot]

Just laugh with her.

[SpecialK]

I've never had the slightest desire for a tattoo. Perhaps this is one reason why...

Tattoo Failure - New Pics of Funny Tattoos - 1

[MD Optofonik]

If you've never had the desire for one, if you never followed through with that desire, there's no point in trying to understand.

[RobA_Oz]

I don't care much for the vast majority of tattoos that I see (the ones I don't see might be more interesting...) but it's clearly the individual's choice. Poor choice of colours, hackneyed subjects etc don't make the majority appealing to me.

However, I can't let a comment like "if you've never done it, you won't understand" pass by. You don't have to justify anything you do that doesn't hurt anyone else, but that doesn't mean you can't explain it. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you can't put it into words, then you don't really understand it in the first place. I don't intend this to be a personal attack, but it's the situation I often found myself in when I was teaching (mostly engineering and management in later years, but younger people earlier). Developing language so you can explain things to people who haven't been exposed to ideas is a great skill to have, and in my view helps to make the world a better place by dispelling myths and fuzzy thinking.

So, help us understand. Talk to us about why: it diminishes us to be told we wouldn't understand.

[Dewman]

I don't care much for the vast majority of tattoos that I see (the ones I don't see might be more interesting...) but it's clearly the individual's choice. Poor choice of colours, hackneyed subjects etc don't make the majority appealing to me.

However, I can't let a comment like "if you've never done it, you won't understand" pass by. You don't have to justify anything you do that doesn't hurt anyone else, but that doesn't mean you can't explain it. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you can't put it into words, then you don't really understand it in the first place. I don't intend this to be a personal attack, but it's the situation I often found myself in when I was teaching (mostly engineering and management in later years, but younger people earlier). Developing language so you can explain things to people who haven't been exposed to ideas is a great skill to have, and in my view helps to make the world a better place by dispelling myths and fuzzy thinking.

So, help us understand. Talk to us about why: it diminishes us to be told we wouldn't understand.

Well said.

[adwb]

In England it has become a very common sight to see people with tattoos and although most are small and very discrete ther are many that are not. What fascinates me is the number of woman with them, you have to actually state in a casting call no tatooos otherwise the model is quite likely to turn up with stuff on her that you have to clone out, ( or I do anyway).
Personally I have never understood the need to paint your self or get holes and various bits of jewellery stuck in them all over your body

[SininStyle]

Think I might be able to put it into words that some here can get.

Have you ever taken dozens of shots with your camera and the capture just isn't what you wanted. No matter how hard you try what you see in your mind won't appear in the shot. Then it happens and it's absolutely perfect. What does everyone do with this shot? They share it with others. Otherwise what was the point. You could see it fine in your mind.
Tattoos are like that. You get an image in your mind and it holds meaning, a point of time, a favorite something. In your mind that picture is a perfect shot and all you want to do is share it with everyone else,be able to see it anytime you want.
That doesn't mean everyone else will "see" it or get it. To the wearer though it's very much that moment you go, that's perfect... Hey come look at this!
A good tattoo is a work of art captured for a lifetime.

[RobA_Oz]

I imagine there are many different motivations. Sininstyle's description is one I'd say many people could relate to, although I doubt it's one shared by the wearers of some particularly aggressive-looking facial tattoos I've seen. Those ones seem to me to be deliberately designed to intimidate, not memorialise.

[normhead]

I ws reading the other day about why the French no longer use the guillotine which is apparently because consciousness lasts long after the head is severed. But, if you haven't tried it, you probably don't understand what it's like.

There's a difference between "You can't understand unless you've tried it" and "You should try it, it's a good thing."

[SininStyle]

Sure the view might be different and what is being said a fair bit harsher. Think of those tattoos like a close up of a man screaming in anger at a protest. Just because the feeling isn't all warm and cuddly doesn't make it less of a feeling. Some tattoos are just as likely to be angry as heart felt. All depends on what the wearer was after at the time.
Placement says a lot too. Your picture tucked away in your journal to revisit once in a while compared to the image you hang on your wall or silk screen to a t-shirt. Same difference as a tattoo on your thigh to one on your face.
Personally I love tattoos so maybe I am bias. I have one small one but plans of grander in the future. Regardless of what the tattoo is of, from a tiny heart to a full sleeve, there is always a story behind the shot like any picture, even the bad ones.

[magkelly]

Body modification can be about a lot of things. It can be about fashion, art, religion, making a personal statement of some kind, wanting to belong to a certain group, remembering a particular time or important event in your life etc. It's a very personal thing and I'm not inclined to judge people who do or people who don't. I personally prefer body art that eventually washed off like fake tattoos and henna drawings but I have at various times considered getting a tattoo that reflects my cultural heritage. Back in ancient times my ancestors used blue ink to tattoo themselves for ritual and for battle, and yes, that includes women.

I've thought of doing something similar because I can relate to them doing that but I've hesitated because I'm not much into pain, laugh, and I can't quite decide on a design besides. I figure if I am going to live with something on my skin for the rest of my life I'd want that design to really matter so I'm waiting and thinking. I still might do it though and frankly I don't care if other people like it. It's my body, my life and my decision to make.

Getting tattoos it can be a bit of a double standard thing too. My Dad thinks nothing of his military tattoos or the tattoos his sons have but the women in his family getting any? That's a totally different thing. I can still remember how ticked he was the first time one of his girls got inked. He's a very old fashioned guy in some ways, Dad. He doesn't particularly like short hair on women and he doesn't like to see ink on their skin. He's used to seeing both now, but he still doesn't like it. If I got one he'd probably be upset even still.

I cut my hair recently from waist length to up around my chin. I did it because I was ill and could not manage it, my hair was getting to the point where there was some major damage and the last 12 inches or so was really getting dry and unmanageable and because I really wanted it all one length, no bangs. I had finally gotten it to the point where my bangs were there and where if I chopped it off there it looked good. Dad was NOT happy to see that. He made a face upon seeing it and grumbled for a week at least even though he accepted my reasons for doing it. 40 years and more I've got on me and my Dad still winces when I cut my hair. First time my Mom ever cut my hair short, same thing. He just did not like it at all and he hasn't changed on that score. It always makes me laugh.

At this point my hair is already back down to my shoulders and by Summer's end likely it will be down on my upper back. My hair grows unusually fast, always has. I can chop 18 inches off it and within 9 or 10 months it will be back to where I cut it off. I cut off like 24 inches this time, I think, so about a year and a half I will be back to hair down to my lower back at least. 2 years and I will have hair down to my behind again. I'm not too sure I want it quite as long. I think I might start keeping it mid back instead but I'm not really a short hair person either so I won't stop it from growing out quite a bit. Bottom line it's my hair though and if I wanted to I'd shave my head, no permission asked. Hair or lack of, tattoos, piercings, plastic surgery it's a very personal thing and just because I prefer something or don't doesn't mean the rest of the world has to.

The only time I ever care about stuff like that is when it personally affects me. I can't kiss a guy with a mustache and beard or the popular stubble look for instance because my skin is so sensitive that it can be very uncomfortable for me. Male facial hair can be very rough on my skin and I can't help that. Naturally I therefore prefer my man not to have any but in the end it's still his call to make and we'd just have to get creative and find a way work around it and/or forget kissing if we couldn't and he was really determined to have it. I'd miss it, a lot, but I'd probably miss him more so in the scheme of things less kissing vs no man around it's pretty much a no brainer, which is more important.

To be fair the men with facial hair that I've dated they realized pretty quickly that while I was very sympathetic to their wish to have facial hair that actually having it and kissing me sans facial damage was going to be very awkward to do and they shaved it rather than hurt me, which was I think sweet of them. But not everyone is willing to do that, and I respect that. I have to if I am to insist upon the same right to decide what is done with my own body. It would be hypocritical of me to do that I think, and the same goes for tattoos and that. If I am reserving the right to have one, and I am even if I am not currently inked, then I have to allow other people that decision too.

[condor27596]

Wow. The things I have to look forward to at 65......