[QUOTE=Bearflag70]
It seems the other OP started a thread with the hopes of gaining understanding before committing to the tattoo. Once the symbol is understood by the other OP, the point of your OP is moot, at least as far as the other OP is concerned.
Otherwise, why get all worked up about what other people do with their own bodies?
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Well Im very sorry thank you very much but I happen to get very worked up about what Jennifer Anniston does with her own body .I.E.she consistantly fails to put it under mine the fussy bitch.
[QUOTE=lowbrass]
I’m not going to take a position on tattoos in general, but I do call bullshit on them being “for yourself”. Quite obviously, the reason one would want to alter ones appearance is so that others can see it. I seriously doubt people get tattoos just so they can stand alone in front of the mirror and say, “Gee, I sure like looking at my tattoo.” Especially if it’s on your back, where you can’t even see it yourself.
This is in the same category as women who dress sexy or wear makeup “for me”. No, it’s not for you - don’t lie.
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Bullshit, mine always make me smile when I see them, they represent happy memories and are definitely “for me”.
There are as many reasons for being tattooed as there are people who do it but that isn’t really the point, just as I can choose what to wear I can choose what to do with my skin, you don’t have to like it but you don’t get a say.
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper]
Let me clue you in here sweety, tatts are for wankers. Do you know what that word means? If not, not surprisingly, unfortunately, apparently, typically you are one. That you cannot fathom this is typical. I have to laugh. At you. Wanker.
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Whoah, whoah, whoah! “Wanker?” What is this crazy moon language you’re speaking? Man, ease up on the avant garde street lingo! You’re confusing the hell out of us poor schlubs who haven’t heard any colloquial English since 1945.
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
Neither my SIL or my friend know jack shit about Asian culture. They are not Asian, and it’s not special to them per se, they just wanted a symbol for “star” and “cat” respectively, but apparently did not want a picture of an actual star or cat, for reasons that I cannot quite fathom. I think it’s a silly, trendy, pretentious choice by two otherwise lovely people. And while it’s none of my business and therefore I only discuss it in private on semi-anonymous message boards, I still have an opinion about it. I continue to reserve that right even though it offends you.
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Just out of curiosity, I’ve got a few t-shirts with kanji lettering on them. I don’t speak any Japanese, and don’t have any particularly deep knowledge of the culture. Does that fall anywhere on the silly/trendy/pretentious scale? Or does putting the message on a shirt as opposed to your skin somehow fundamentally alter the meaning?
[QUOTE=lowbrass]
I’m not going to take a position on tattoos in general, but I do call bullshit on them being “for yourself”. Quite obviously, the reason one would want to alter ones appearance is so that others can see it.
[/QUOTE]
How do you figure? Isn’t it possible that the person with the tat likes the aesthetics of it, and that’s enough to get it? If I put a picture on my wall, am I necessarily putting it there so other people can see it, or so that I can see it?
[QUOTE=Miller]
Just out of curiosity, I’ve got a few t-shirts with kanji lettering on them. I don’t speak any Japanese, and don’t have any particularly deep knowledge of the culture. Does that fall anywhere on the silly/trendy/pretentious scale? Or does putting the message on a shirt as opposed to your skin somehow fundamentally alter the meaning?
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Wearing a t-shirt is not in the same ballpark as having something permanently inked onto your skin. It’s not even the same sport. I personally take anything permanent very, very seriously, as that is a lifelong commitment you’ve made there. I tend not to take t-shirts very seriously. YMMV.
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
Wearing a t-shirt is not in the same ballpark as having something permanently inked onto your skin. It’s not even the same sport. I personally take anything permanent very, very seriously, as that is a lifelong commitment you’ve made there. I tend not to take t-shirts very seriously. YMMV.
[/QUOTE]
Except that none of the reasons you listed for kanji tattoos being lame had anything to do with permanence. I can certainly see those reactions being emphasized because of the permanence of a tattoo, but it seems to me that if having a kanji tattoo makes you a wanker, having a kanji t-shirt should also make you a wanker, just of lesser magnitude.
[QUOTE=Miller]
Whoah, whoah, whoah! “Wanker?” What is this crazy moon language you’re speaking? Man, ease up on the avant garde street lingo! You’re confusing the hell out of us poor schlubs who haven’t heard any colloquial English since 1945.
[/QUOTE]
Wanker - someone who masturbates. Equivalent to a jerk.
[QUOTE=Miller]
Except that none of the reasons you listed for kanji tattoos being lame had anything to do with permanence. I can certainly see those reactions being emphasized because of the permanence of a tattoo, but it seems to me that if having a kanji tattoo makes you a wanker, having a kanji t-shirt should also make you a wanker, just of lesser magnitude.
[/QUOTE]
I thought the permanence of a tattoo and its location within your skin would make the choice of design a very serious matter, far beyond whatever symbolism you place in a t-shirt. I would think it would deeply significant and meaningful to you, whereas a t-shirt might not be. If you don’t know the language, then you are making a rather blind choice of something that you think symbolizes what you mean, but you are taking someone else’s word for it. Like I said, if you really like stars, get a star tattoo. If you love cats, get a cat. Why get a symbol in a language you don’t know to represent (maybe) the thing you love? Then you have to explain to people what it means, and for all you know it might not actually mean that, depending on who translates it. People are doing it right now because it’s trendy, and because it seems sleeker and more sophisticated than a mere star or cat. If you don’t speak Japanese, and you can’t read the word, then I don’t understand why you’d want it permanently on your body. If someone can explain it to me in a way I can understand, maybe I’ll change my mind.
ETA: Sometimes t-shirts also make people seem like wankers. Depends on the shirt. I wouldn’t judge you as harshly because it’s just not as big of a statement.
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
If you don’t speak Japanese, and you can’t read the word, then I don’t understand why you’d want it permanently on your body. If someone can explain it to me in a way I can understand, maybe I’ll change my mind.
[/QUOTE]
This is in the same category as women who dress sexy or wear makeup “for me”. No, it’s not for you - don’t lie.
[/QUOTE]
Now this is pure, hot, smelly bullshit. I wear makeup for me. I feel more confident when I think I look attractive (not “sexy”). I am not really worried about what others think of how I look - if I feel attractive and nice looking it is enough for me.
I am not talking about slutty makeup. I don’t wear slutty clothes and didn’t even when I had the figure to wear them. If you are wearing a shirt cut down to your navel and complain to me that guys only look at your chest, I am going to laugh at you.
My tattoos contain no foreign language symbols. However, they do contain birds, flowers, dolphins, and water. I speak none of those languages, nor am I an expert in their culture. My bad.
One of my tattoos is a tribal, given to me as a symbol of honorary acceptance into his tribe by a Chocktaw Indian. I guess I should not have that, because I am not an expert on the culture and do not speak the language.
FWIW, I think it is silly to get a tattoo that you don’t know the meaning of; there are many cases of people getting symbol tattoos that don’t mean anything like what the wearer thought they meant. But judging someone simply because they chose to get skin art is very petty.
Then you don’t care what it means, particularly? That seems pretty dumb. Why use someone else’s language that way?
SnakesCatLady: Dolphins, birds, and water aren’t a “language.” They are pictures, which in theory I have no objections to, though others in this thread might. You’re not co-opting someone else’s culture and language, despite your ignorance of it, for your trendy skin decoration. Not the same thing. As for your tribal tat, one question, “What’s that tat about?” would let me know that you are not some trendy kid just wanting a pretty design, regardless of other people’s cultural symbolism. So no worries there.
If you are 100% content with your choices, why do you care what anyone else thinks anyway? Making snide comments in a Pit thread isn’t going to turn anyone around in their thinking on this, on either side.
>snip<
If you are 100% content with your choices, why do you care what anyone else thinks anyway? Making snide comments in a Pit thread isn’t going to turn anyone around in their thinking on this, on either side.
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You are right, my friend. I am happy with my choices. I intentionally had my tatts put in places where they could not be seen unless I choose for them to be seen. “Making snide comments in a Pit thread” will not turn anyone around - you are correct. But someone seeing that someone they think highly of has tattoos can change the way people think - and I am glad to say I have had a very few people say that they had changed their minds about people with tattoos because of me.
My only “readily visible” tattoos are on my legs. The people I mentioned above I met at hockey games and got to be friends with because of the Booster Club. I never wear shorts to hockey games because I sit ice level and it gets cold there even in October. So some of these people I had known for several years before they ever had a chance to see me in shorts. I had three women tell me that they would have never gotten to know me if they had known I had extensive skin art. They also said they felt very bad about that, and that they were going to try to not be so judgmental in the future.
My feeling is that if you judge someone because they have body art you are only hurting yourself. Your are not hurting them - if they didn’t know what they were getting into when they got the tat they deserve it. You are losing the chance to know someone who might have an impact on your life.
[QUOTE=Miller]
Whoah, whoah, whoah! “Wanker?” What is this crazy moon language you’re speaking? Man, ease up on the avant garde street lingo! You’re confusing the hell out of us poor schlubs who haven’t heard any colloquial English since 1945.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=lowbrass]
I’m not going to take a position on tattoos in general, but I do call bullshit on them being “for yourself”. Quite obviously, the reason one would want to alter ones appearance is so that others can see it. I seriously doubt people get tattoos just so they can stand alone in front of the mirror and say, “Gee, I sure like looking at my tattoo.” Especially if it’s on your back, where you can’t even see it yourself.
This is in the same category as women who dress sexy or wear makeup “for me”. No, it’s not for you - don’t lie.
[/QUOTE]
I cannot think of a single instance when she went out in public exposing the part of her back that now bears the new tattoo… either before or after getting the new tattoo. So, I reckon she did not get the tattoo “so that others can see it.” Accordingly, the tat was and is “for herself.”
Her tat does nothing for me either way, and she knows it. She likes the image and it has particular meaning to her. Nothing more is needed.
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady]
My feeling is that if you judge someone because they have body art you are only hurting yourself. Your are not hurting them - if they didn’t know what they were getting into when they got the tat they deserve it. You are losing the chance to know someone who might have an impact on your life.
[/QUOTE]
Well, there’s judging, and then there’s judging. I am not a huge fan of body art in general, but I have never let it stop me from liking the person who has them. And I can dislike someone’s tat and love them as a person, just have a little :rolleyes: or or :smack: at that particular choice. We all do this, whether it’s about tats, hairstyles, clothing choices, whatever, that other people make. Most people don’t get really worked up about it… unless they’re a wanker.
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
Well, there’s judging, and then there’s judging. I am not a huge fan of body art in general, but I have never let it stop me from liking the person who has them. And I can dislike someone’s tat and love them as a person, just have a little :rolleyes: or or :smack: at that particular choice. We all do this, whether it’s about tats, hairstyles, clothing choices, whatever, that other people make. Most people don’t get really worked up about it… unless they’re a wanker.
[/QUOTE]
Then I think you and I understand each other; there is no problem here! I have never encouraged anyone to get a tat; I am more likely to talk them out of it because it is a lifetime decision!
I pity people like Operation Ripper, who is so offended by someone else’s choice he has to make a Pit thread about it. I can understand Pit threads about getting cut off in traffic, or getting screwed by your boss, but the idea of being offended by what someone else chose to do to their body is pretty incomprehensible to me.
Years ago when David Beckam got his wife’s name tattooed on his arm in Sanskrit, a large number of readers wrote into the letters editor of The Times to correct his spelling. This led to a brouhaha in the papers as one scholar argued against the other, with both sides breaking out in Sanskrit in the paper.
or :smack: at that particular choice. We all do this, whether it’s about tats, hairstyles, clothing choices, whatever, that other people make. Most people don’t get really worked up about it… unless they’re a wanker. 