Haj, the diff between your take on it and his is this:
**
You stated that you make a point of not allowing yourself to make such an assumption. He made a point of stating that he expects EVERYONE to do so (presumably including himself). As you said… that’s just ignorant.
Put me in with the crowd that abhor tattoos, whether on males or females. Upon seeing those links, I felt a definate feeling. It was not a positive one. Same goes for most piercings (Ears are okay, I’ve seen exactly one nose piercing done decently, and it was through the nose, not under. Anything else is pretty much out).
Oh, but also put me in the crowd that dislikes placing my standards of attractiveness on other people, and insulting them for not conforming to my personal tastes. Or makes assumptions about people based on what they’ve done to their bodies.
Mmm… tattoos… piercings… purple hair…
I gotta go down to Haight Street this week.
Muad’Dib, shouldn’t you know better than to say shit like that by now?
XJETGIRLX- Although you were making a perfectly relevant point, I think links to bare breasts are allowed with specific permission from The Powers That Be.
I saw a picture of a woman and her tattoo that was so beautiful, it took my breath away. She was a topless woman, very attractive, but she had had a mastectomy.
The tattoo was of small, delicately colored flowers that started from her shoulder blade, went over her shoulder and spread to progressively larger flowers, covering the area where her breast used to be. It was sensuous, classy and plain old beautiful. She had turned a disfiguration, 'caused by cancer, into a canvas of art and self expression. It also brought back her confidence when it came to intimacy. I wish I had a picture to show you Muad’Dib.
XJETGIRLX, I know you posted a warning, but especially since the two first links did not show any nudity that you wouldn’t see in a family newspaper, I changed the third link which, it seems to me, could cause problems for posters viewing things in the workplace. I would ask that for pictures of that kind you have a specific warning just for that link - something like do not view at work - or else have the picture “two clicks” away, meaning that there is a warning page between the message board and the picture.
No the point is WHAT THE FUCK IS A SKANK? A woman whose sex life you disapprove of? Or a woman who was sexually abused? What the FUCK!? What’s offensive is that anyone would think his sexist judgements of women he does not know matter one whit to the general female population.
Having visible tattoos might make me look like a skank but it does a fairly good job of repelling the kind of judgmental, chauvinistic asshole creep I find intensely unattractive.
When I was about seven years old I was out having dinner with my family and I saw a woman with a tattoo. It was the first time I’d ever seen a woman with a tattoo and I was excited because I didn’t know women ever had them. I’ll never forget it. I said to my dad, “women can have tattoos?” He said, “well they can but it makes them look cheap.” I was so deflated. It was one of my earliest experiences with senseless double standards. A tattoo has always symbolized something important to me about not being on this planet to make some guy I’ve never met feel like the king.
Mine are visible. I have them where I can see them all day long because I love them. I love everything about them. And I really love that they seperate me from the type of person who thinks women should not do things that make them look unattractive.
Everyone makes assumptions about other people based on how they look. Its human nature. Sometimes those assumptions are positive, sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes one persons positive is another persons negative (non-conformist, which is one of the assumptions that I used to associate with tatoos, before they became trendy).
See a 50 year old woman in designed clothes get out of a Lexus with a couple of carets on her between her fingers, her ears, her neck and her wrist, and you’ll make assumptions. They may or may not be right. They may or may not be positive.
Not everyones assumptions about tatoos are positive. Some people think they make women look like skany ho’s. Some people think they are wonderful works of creativity and art.
If you care that people may have a negative view of your tatoos, you should think twice before you get them. Unlike designer clothes, diamonds and a Lexus, they are difficult to leave at home. If you don’t care, that’s fine.
Howtimes have changed? When I was a teenager, the only people who got tatoos were 18 year old drunk marines or sailors, who had just gotten out of boot camp!
I believe that the service academies(West point, annapolis, the CG Academy) automatically disqualify anyone who has a tatoo.
(They were considered to be evidence of low marals).
Sorry! Thanks, Arnold, I put up a warning, but I thought that was enough. Now I know!
Dangerosa, I don’t quite think that’s the point that we’re trying to rebut here. Muad’dib and others are quite welcome to their own opinion, and it’s no skin or ink off my back if they think I’m a skank because of my art. I do take umbrage, however, when they feel the need to dictate to others (and exclusively women, at that) that we should conform to their ideas of beauty and respectability (see thread title for reference).
[Homer Simpson] Mmmmm . . . Dessert island . . . [/Homer Simpson]
If you’ve just recently noticed, you haven’t been looking around. I love well done ink on anyone, especially females. Full sleeves on a woman drive me nuts. Anyone with sleeves I offer respect to on the basis that they finished and spent the money.
Yesterday I saw an atractive young girl and she had a chest piece. It looked very colorful and nice. I wonderd why she was wearing a tanktop. Was she showing it off, or was that casual dress. I would recommend lots of exposure on 90 degree days. Sun kils the ink along with your skin.Cover it up with block and cloathing.
In my case my left arm is sleeved, about 65% through, my right arm is a little less than half. When I go place I wear long sleves at times, and other times a shortsleeve due to temp. I get looks and hear omments, but that is to be expected. It’s diferent now, the class of folks that get inked aren’t criminals and addicts.
If you dont like your women tatooed, then dont look at the ones that are. Most people
i see these days have the played out ankle,wrist, lower back thing oing on. They as my opinion and I say pul your work together and go for the sleeve, you’l love it.
My wife wants one and Itell her to go all the way. Do a nice quarter sleeve, or even a good full thigh piece. Just stay away from ovbious trend. Do it for yourself…
Sorry for the hijack…
I have no personal experience here BNB, but some on-line friends have mentioned having belly tatoos that stretched when they were pregnant, and some did not shrink back to the original proportions afterwards. They recommended getting tatoos elsewhere if someone was planning on having children, or waiting until they were done with the whole childbearing thing.
Personally, I’m not into the whole tattoo thing, and I have a visceral response to piercings, especially lip and tongue piercings (I have one hole in each ear, and that’s it). But that’s a personal thing, and I don’t think it indicates skanky-ho-ness. I think a shoulder tatoo on a woman can be pretty sexy, but I probably wouldn’t get one myself.
Actually XJETGIRLX, I think that’s exactly the point. Yeah, Muad Dib is telling you not to do it because he doesn’t like it. When in fact it would be far more polite to suggest you think hard about it because some people (including himself) associate tatoo with skanky ho. And its certainly inappropriate to mention the whole thing to someone who already has a tatoo, not alot you can do about it after the fact. But this is the pit, he doesn’t need to be polite. Many of us have come in here ranting that people shouldn’t do something simply because we don’t like it. And his point is a good one, if a little brash. Before getting a tattoo, which is a relatively permanant change, you should think through how this is going to change how people react to you. And you should be aware that your friends may think it the coolest thing they’ve ever seen and consider it Art, but there is a percentage of the population that will look at you and think “skanky ho” no matter how artful you tatoo is.
I know a lot of people with tatoos. I know one person with a tatoo I really like and think is cool. None of the aforementioned links do anything for me. They aren’t - in my mind - Art - they are body doodles. If I were going to choose to permanantly augment my body with art, I’d want something that didn’t remind me of what I draw during boring meetings. BTW, I don’t associate tatoos with skanky ho - I have too many tatoo’d friends to make that leap. I do associate it with “lack of good judgement” even with my tatoo’d friends - their is a significant correlation IN MY FRIENDS - (small self selected sample here) between body art and poor judgement in other areas during the body art period. I’m a little older now and many of them have outgrown the poor judgement - and some of them regret the tatoos - particularly the visible ones that aren’t easily covered up. (And I’ve had my moments of poor judgement as well, I just didn’t stencil any permanent reminders of my misspent youth on my body). Ankles are cool, but if you ever want to wear a skirt or capris to a conservative work function, nope. Arm bands and shoulders are cool, but limits your choices in tops when working or otherwise living in a more conservative setting. Seriously, these are things to take into consideration when getting a tatoo. Your life fifteen years from now may not be anything like what you envision it will be.
It is possible that tatoos are becoming so popular that fifteen years from now it won’t be an issue - as a significant percentage of the population will have them. But I’d bet against that. Although I know a lot of 18-22 year olds that have tatoos, I still know a lot that don’t.
You’re entirely right it is all a matter of opinion and Muad’dib should have been considerably more circumspect in the way he expressed his opinion. I do get the impression, however, from some of the responses in this thread that there is something of a disconnect on the part of some people about the impression their tattoo art gives the world at large vs the approval of their immediate peer groups.
The aspect of the outraged “How dare you judge me” refrain that runs through this thread is surprising in both it’s disengenousness, or if truly sincere, cluelessness about the nature of social life in human societies. People are judging each other 24/7 by appearance, actions, language and a host of other attributes and if someone chooses to use their body as a canvas for artistic expression, they and their prospective character will often be summarily judged on it.
The acceptability of tattoo’s has changed appreciably over the past 30 years of so and in some areas it’s a practically a middle class right of passage at this point for everyone from 18 year olds to 30-40 somethings. Motivations range the gamut from people wanting to say something profound about themselves, to a peer group approval, to the equivalent of a comb over or tummy tuck by desperate adults trying to be less mundane as wrinkles and sags accumulate.
The bottom line is this. If you wear obvious body art you will be judged so you had best just get over it. You may pass up the opportunity for relationships and jobs by those who think large, publicly visible tattoos look cheap and desperate (or even skanky) , or on the other hand if someone likes tattoos, opportunities may opened for you that otherwise would have been been closed or ignored if you did not have the tattoo.
A visible tattoo is a personal message to the world but it also entails a risk that your message will not be understood or appreciated. If you’re going to take the risk of inking yourself with that message go into it with your eyes open and don’t whine or complain if all people don’t grok your billboard.
Of course- here’s the point- younger people get tattoos because they know they will freak out the older set. And, currently, it is stylish (but going out of style). However, when your 'rent have tats, the kids will want something else to freak out the older set. Cutting off a finger? Dressing in 3 piece suits? Having their entire body colored? I dunno, but it will be something- and it won’t be tattoos & piercings. Rememebr the punk craze for spiked purple hair? Gone.
Of course, then piercings & tattoos will be SO out of style. They are already “last week”. Piercing will usually grow over, but tattoos are expensive to remove. That’s the beauty of “spiked purple hair”- it’ll grow out. And the fad for being hairless, like men with hariless chests? That’ll pass too (well, except for a certain group of guys who “pitch for the other team” and have always liked “swimmers bodies”. Of course, there are some on that team that like the “bear look” also, so…). Of course, one you lazer the hair off your chest, I don’t think it EVER comes back, so I guess, what- hair implants for chest hairs?
Now, I think Tattoos are beyond a “fad” into a “fashion”- but there is a fine line. In any case, the prime reason for getting one- freaking the 'rents- will be gone soon. (Don’t get me wrong- there are a few who have always been into body art, and will always be into it. A very few.) So will the fashion.
I am mixed- some body art is sexy, but some is a complete turn-off (large tats, or gang-style tats are ugly). But still dudes- when it is out of style, and “no one has tattoos anymore”- getting them removed will be expensive. Same as regrowing hair.
And if you think they won’t go out of style, you’re just deluding yourself. History has shown otherwise.
Tats on chicks are interesting to look at, but they’re not the attractive features of a woman IMO. Just the same, I once dated a girl who had tats on her shoulders, back and upper chest that were covered by everyday clothing. When the clothes came off, I got my own little show…
A particular example of when I thought a tattoo didn’t work is when I saw a rendition of Dangerous Liaisons in kind of an underground community theatre (the same one that did Hamlet in a bomb shelter and had women portray Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as prostitutes). The lead actress wasn’t movie starlet beautiful, but she had enough class and style to pull off the role. What ruined it for me is a scene where she wore a gown with a low back that reach down to just above her rear end and everybody got to see this ugly ass blue tattoo. It totally ruined the image she had built up throught the play.
I think Penn Jillette’s take on tattoos is practical. He wanted to get one to show his love for his girlfriend, but in all honesty he was probably going to drop her for somebody else later on, so why should he get stuck with a permanent testimony of his love that no longer applied? So, he decided to get a tattoo done on his shoulder WITHOUT INK.
Yep, the photos showed step-by-step how the tattoo artist was scarring him with the needle, the blood dripping everywhere, and Penn grimacing in pain as he was getting a heart (human heart that is) with his GF’s name on it sliced off his flesh. The GF was looking on in concern, but obviously touched that he was going through so much pain for her.
The last few pictures showed Penn and the GF passionately kissing, demonstrating his new inkless tattoo, and then he turns to the camera with this “See? I’m SO getting laid tonight!” look on his face.
*Doon. Dessert planet. *
Kumquat Haagendasz.
Mauve’bib.
Assol. 
…cover up that nonsense, take that shit out of your face, dye your hair back to a naturally possible non-fluorescent goddamned colour, and get a real job…
Seriously though, I have a moderate view on this. I have a small tattoo on my shoulder myself, but it is usually covered, and I wouldn’t display or sport any tattoo, body piercing or other decoration that was not in line with a professional working environment.
As regards tongue piercings, there are practical reasons why this can be a good thing, especially if the tongue stud has swappable attachments, but in general, I find women with piercings everywhere to be a huge turnoff.
-FK
I’ll give a hearty fuck you to the OP. My tattoos are sexy as hell and I get complimented on them daily. I’ve never had a man complain about them. Of course, most of the guys I date also have tattoos and I think they’re sexy as hell.
“The only difference between people who have tattoos and people who don’t, is that people who have tattoos don’t mind that you don’t have any.”
I also don’t find them attractive. Although I wouldn’t go so far as to call them “skanky” or “retarded” I do find them to be a definite turnoff. Same goes for the nose rings, etc. I just don’t see it. But that’s just me, it’s all a matter of personal taste.