# One thing I don't get about tattoos: They are (mostly) invisible **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742 "2013-02-08T23:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/21 "2013-02-09T04:11:16Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I think she’s talking about posts 4, 11 and 14. Sure. So, point them about and say how their posts don’t add much to the conversation. Don’t complain about the thread itself, which contained some interesting posts. The question was a good one and (most of) the answers were good, too. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/22 "2013-02-09T04:29:30Z")
People, please stay on topic – the OP specifically said that the question under discussion is **"Why go through a personally-significant tattoo on your back or other parts if you can not regularly see it?"** **Guin** , your mischaracterizing the thread was particularly unhelpful – but everyone who responded with an opinion about tattoos in general and not an effort to respond to the question is off-topic. If you want to respond to the OP’s question, please feel free to do so. If you want to debate tattoos in general, start a new thread or resuscitate one of the bajillion and one threads that have been devoted to the topic. Thanks, **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/23 "2013-02-09T04:41:21Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Why go through a personally-significant tattoo on your back or other parts if you can not regularly see it? I guess so **you** don’t have to look at it. And I think the T-Rex had small arms so that it didn’t have to get them tatooed. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/24 "2013-02-09T04:48:55Z")
People don’t wear tshirts with spiffy sayings on them with the spiffy saying typed upside down so the wearer can read it. They wear them as an outward personal expression. They want you to know how they personally feel. Personal expression to relay to others. Same with tattoos sometimes. Sometimes you do get some art only you can see, and you can only see it in the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/25 "2013-02-09T10:02:12Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > But, if I draw a picture of my kids on my back, it is other people who’ll see it and not me. The same applies to most of a person’s hairdo. So? Or to a woman’s butt, yet there are whole industries dedicated to marketing products which are supposed to make a woman’s behind look better. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/26 "2013-02-09T10:50:27Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Sure, but those are also designed for tothers too see. > I see your point, though. They may be designed for others to see, but they’re not always \*worn \*for others to see. Sometimes women wear sexy underwear under their everyday clothes - it’s even recommended by Cosmopolitan and therapists alike. Earrings often stay in the ears for weeks or months, and even people with long hair that obscures or covers their earrings wear them. People with depression are counseled to get dressed every day and style their hair whether anyone’s going to see them or not, because it helps to ease depression. People feel better when they look better (as defined by their culture), even if they’re not being seen. So the fact that I rarely see the tattoo on my stomach doesn’t detract from the fact that it is beautiful and it makes me feel beautiful to know it’s there, even if eyes haven’t been laid on it in a while. The other thing I think you miss is that for many tattoos, seeing them isn’t the point. Getting them is the point. They commemorate something, or signify something, and the planning of, design of and getting of the tattoo serves as a modern day secular (or sacred, in my subculture) ritual. The birth or death of a loved one, a bond of friendship, healing from a traumatic event, etc. It’s a meditative, creative process that people find value in independent of the final object. It’s the bodily equivalent of a[sand mandala](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_mandala), in that long term appreciation of it as art is of secondary importance to the process of creating it. For example: I’ve got three tattoos. All are small and fairly boring to look at. The first, and most elaborate, is the one on my stomach. It’s two serpents entwined in a gordian knot. I got it when I was young and dealing with past sexual abuse. It was inspired by the AURYN in The Neverending Story (although it’s not the same design as the illustration in the book or the movie; it’s actually a replica of a pendant I used to wear.) It signifies protection to me. It is my shield, my protection against assault and my badge of bodily integrity and autonomy. It was also something beautiful I chose to have put on my ravaged, stretch marked, much hated post-pregnancy belly. The second is an ankle bracelet style, and it was done by a shaman when I was in my 20’s. The reasons behind that one are private and spiritual, but very real and unrelated to anyone seeing it all the time, although I’m happy to display it when appropriate. The third doesn’t really apply for this thread, because it is on my chest, right about where a necklace pendant usually falls. It’s a crescent moon and star. I got that one during an initiation rite when I became a priestess in my community. That one I actually have to plan clothing to cover up when needed, because it is generally visible. It’s designed that way, so that people ask me about it and I tell them who I am and make myself available in spiritual service. But notice that, other than the last one, “So people see it” isn’t anywhere on my list of reasons why I got a tattoo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/27 "2013-02-09T11:59:42Z")
My youngest sister (she’s almost 48, so not a rebellious teen) has (I think) 19 tats. All of them have some sort of significance to her, but I really think the placement has more to do with available real estate rather than the tat placed there. For example, she’s worked at a bar for over 25 years, and she got their logo on her back. I’d have thought she’d want that one where it could be seen at work, but it’s pretty detailed, and it wouldn’t work in miniature. She does greyhound rescue, but her greyhound tat is on her thigh, only visible when she’s in a bathing suit. The ones she has on her lower legs seem random to me, but their placement may well have significance to her. Or she just wanted something on her calf, and she liked that particular design. I know why she hid her first tattoo - she didn’t want our folks to see it. After the 8th or 9th, she quit bothering to hide them. Mom would call her “goofy” and life goes on. But like I said earlier, now the placement has more to do with what area is un-inked. And I’m really glad she hasn’t gotten one on her face - those just creep me out… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/28 "2013-02-09T13:01:29Z")
My legs, chest, and arms are covered with art that I commissioned and enjoy owning. Each piece invokes its own memories. I also own art that hangs in my home and office. I do not stand around looking at any of my art continuously. ---
**Author:** ![RedMud636](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@RedMud636](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedMud636)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/29 "2013-02-09T14:01:13Z")
Even if you cant see it you still know its there. Like carrying your kids picture in your wallet, even though you rarely if ever pull it out and look at it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/30 "2013-02-09T14:20:03Z")
> [@RedMud636](#): > > Like carrying your kids picture in your wallet, even though you rarely if ever pull it out and look at it. Not really. If your kid becomes a serial killer you can just throw the photo away. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/31 "2013-02-09T17:01:56Z")
Only, most of the people whose children are in jail for murder didn’t throw the pic away. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/32 "2013-02-09T19:24:54Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > People don’t wear tshirts with spiffy sayings on them with the spiffy saying typed upside down so the wearer can read it. They wear them as an outward personal expression. They want you to know how they personally feel. Personal expression to relay to others. > > Same with tattoos sometimes. > > Sometimes you do get some art only you can see, and you can only see it in the mirror. The T-shirt analogy is good … some T-shirts only have a logo or graphic on the back. What’s so hard to understand about getting a tattoo that only other people may see clearly? Mine are on my arms, so I can see them, sort of upside-down. I know what they say … I don’t need to see them clearly. I don’t get the tattoo hate. I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/33 "2013-02-09T20:40:05Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I guess so **you** don’t have to look at it. > > And I think the T-Rex had small arms so that it didn’t have to get them tatooed. I don’t get your point, because it reads as though you’re saying that people get tattoos on their backs so that I won’t see them. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > People don’t wear tshirts with spiffy sayings on them with the spiffy saying typed upside down so the wearer can read it. They wear them as an outward personal expression. They want you to know how they personally feel. Personal expression to relay to others. > > Same with tattoos sometimes. > > Sometimes you do get some art only you can see, and you can only see it in the mirror. That’s the kind of answer I wanted. > [@Nava](#): > > The same applies to most of a person’s hairdo. So? Or to a woman’s butt, yet there are whole industries dedicated to marketing products which are supposed to make a woman’s behind look better. although the analogy is good, I don’t think that women would care for hairdos and butts so much if there wasn’t a “look at me” component". > [@WhyNot](#): > > The other thing I think you miss is that for many tattoos, seeing them isn’t the point. Getting them is the point. They commemorate something, or signify something, and the planning of, design of and getting of the tattoo serves as a modern day secular (or sacred, in my subculture) ritual. The birth or death of a loved one, a bond of friendship, healing from a traumatic event, etc. It’s a meditative, creative process that people find value in independent of the final object. It’s the bodily equivalent of a[sand mandala](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_mandala), in that long term appreciation of it as art is of secondary importance to the process of creating it. A very good point I hadn’t completely thought about. > [@kayaker](#): > > My legs, chest, and arms are covered with art that I commissioned and enjoy owning. Each piece invokes its own memories. > > I also own art that hangs in my home and office. > > I do not stand around looking at any of my art continuously. Thanks for the answer. > [@SirGalahad](#): > > The T-shirt analogy is good … some T-shirts only have a logo or graphic on the back. What’s so hard to understand about getting a tattoo that only other people may see clearly? Mine are on my arms, so I can see them, sort of upside-down. I know what they say … I don’t need to see them clearly. > > I don’t get the tattoo hate. I just don’t get it. Noone on this thread has expressed tattoo hate. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/34 "2013-02-09T20:55:15Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Noone on this thread has expressed tattoo hate. Post 11 implied it. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/35 "2013-02-09T20:57:53Z")
Ají de Gallina Noone on this thread has expressed tattoo hate. Behold: Claverhouse Claverhouse is online now Guest Join Date: Oct 2009 Core Values If they are kind enough to keep such things away from our eyes, we should be grateful. Essentially they are the same as those persons who derive great secret satisfaction by soiling themselves secretly in public; no-one knows, but they have expressed themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/36 "2013-02-09T21:31:41Z")
Sorry, kneejerk reaction. It just always seems that we have “tattoos suck!” threads around here constantly, and I jumped the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/37 "2013-02-09T23:04:46Z")
K, noone except that guy. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/38 "2013-02-10T00:28:50Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Someone should start a thread on people’s opinions of tattoos. I wonder if there is a diversity of opinion on this board? I only support tattoos on declawed cats owned by people who take their small children to restaurants and put back their airplane seats. ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/39 "2013-02-10T00:44:59Z")
I only support tattoos on circumcised penises of men who shake hands with people on welfare. Abortion! ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742/40 "2013-02-10T20:43:21Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > K, noone except that guy. And this guy. Post 4. > [@Leaffan](#): > > I don’t have any tattoos. And I know I’ll be vilified here for saying so, but they’re fucking ugly. Ugly to the point that my opinion of you gets ratcheted down about 75% when I see them. Blech. > > I know, I know, but that’s how I feel and I can’t help it. Sorry tattooed people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-thing-i-dont-get-about-tattoos-they-are-mostly-invisible/649742.md?page=3)