I ask because I got my first tattoo at, give or take, 40 years old. Before that, I’d always been fascinated by them but had a strong ingrained feeling of “What would Mom/Dad/Random-other-person think of me?”
My parents, not directly, raised me with the rough idea that tattoos were worn by those kind of people. You know them.
Finally, perhaps as part of my midlife crisis - not being able to afford a sports-car - I got a tattoo. Since then, I got a larger one (sorry - don’t have a pic of the first) and I’m considering my third.
So - for those of you that aren’t inked - why not?
I thought about when I was around 35 and even looked at images to tattoo. Nothing really appealed to me and I started to think about what it would look like years later and decided against it. There was nothing I wanted to see on me the rest of my life.
Convincing myself to get a tetanus shot when I hadn’t had one in at least 14 years was bad enough. There’s no way that I will ever do anything that involves needles piercing my skin unless the alternative is death, permanent disability/disfigurement, or very serious pain.
I sort of want one, but I did promise my father that I’d never EVER get a tattoo, or piercings in odd places. I don’t like needles, but I can handle them as long as I don’t have to watch. Heck, I give myself two shots a day, so I have to watch twice a day, but I’ve learned to deal with it, mostly.
I don’t heal well, so I don’t think that I’ll be getting a vanity tattoo any time soon. If the medical establishment ever came up with standardized tattoos that say “Allergic to (whatever)”, “Diabetic”, and the like, I’d certainly consider such a tattoo. I’d also consider a microchip. When one goes into shock from certain medicines, one wants to be SURE that one’s medical professionals know this. I’m certain my dad would accept this.
I’ve always rather worried my father. I read science fiction and fantasy, and my parents always considered this to be a sign of…near insanity? Terminal geekiness? Whatever. And GIRLS certainly weren’t supposed to be interested in that weird stuff! And I was quite a tomboy. We’ve come to terms now that I’m an adult, but we certainly had some strained years.
I have a true aversion to tattoos as a sex symbol. I don’t mind just looking at the tattoos themselves but seeing an otherwise beautiful girl with one makes me turn my head away in as fast as you can say “turned off”. I don’t really know where that came from but I can’t seem to help it much.
For that reason, tattoos just have a general “ick” factor to me.
I can’t think of any words or image I’m so devoted to I want them permamently placed on my body. And if I did find such words or images, I don’t see why placing them permanently on my body would honor them. Plus, I dislike following fashion fads.
It seems like in the last few years it has become faddish for people like me (the kind who in the past probably wouldn’t get a tatoo) to get for, for no good reason that I can see. No, thanks. I don’t plan on getting a sports car either. If nothing else my midlife crisis is going to be something fairly unique to me.
I personally find body mutilation to be repulsive. I don’t like the way tattoos look. I will look away, or at least try not to focus on them when I see someone with them. I don’t even have pierced ears. In fact, I find it disturbing to watch someone insert things into holes in their earlobes. In a similar vein, I find it *very * difficult to look at people with bits of metal poked into other parts of their faces. I have to force myself to be polite and make eye contact when necessary in that situation.
Also, the fact that it makes one ineligible to donate blood for 6 months with no perceivable (to me) benefit suggests to me that it’s an unnecessary risk to one’s own self as well.
Obviously, what somebody else does to his/her own body is not my concern, but I’d never, ever do it to myself.
I am with the there is nothing I want to be a permanent billboard for school of thought.
I figure that IF the desire should strike me, there is always a Bic pen to help me draw on myself.
To be totally honest: I think they’re nasty. And as a nurse, I have seen enough old folk with tattoos that (how to put this delicately) have not held their intended form or shape. It may look hot at 25 (and that is debatable for me) but at 90–trust me, it doesn’t look “hot”. Also, I have seen any number of scars from people trying to rid their bodies of tattoos that they no longer wish to have.
