Could everyone who’s rereading individual posts please go back and reread #22, where I request that people stay on topic?
Thanks,
twickster, MPSIMS moderator
I just bought 6 pairs of the loudest, brightest socks. They have swirls and stripes of neon colors all over them. And no one but me and my SO will know I’m wearing them, because my shoes and my pants cover them up. Why did I buy them? Because they make me smile. (They make my SO shake his head.)
Tattoos can be like my socks, or like the art I just hung in my bathroom (which guests don’t use.) They are for my pleasure, not for anyone else.
My tat means something to me and my husband. While not invisible to me it is easily covered for Board meetings and job interviews. I got it for my own reasons at age 43 and don’t much care what other people think of it.
My tattoo probably looks like ugly stupid blotches on my thigh to most people. Do not care.
It is of my dead dog’s pawprints. As if she stepped in some ink and then put her paws up on my leg, like she did when she would beg me for something. I miss that dog dearly. Every time I look down at her pawprints, in my mind’s eye, I see my little dog looking up at me with her sad little bulging eyes and her fat little rubber lip (She was a beautiful Boston terrier).
You can tell me my blotches are ugly if you want to. Still don’t care. It was a great way to remember my little dog and have part of her with me always. I do not regret it.
I would never tell a person that their tattoo was ugly unless they were my friend and insisted and the tat was reaaaaaaally ugly.
I’ll repeat the begiinning of my OP
I, however, reserve my right to, while keeping my opinons to myself, pass aesthetic judgement on them.
Yeah, they heard you the first time.
Do you have a box or drawer somewhere where you’ve stashed things associated with strong memories or related to special life events? Things like ticket stubs from your first concert, your class ring, old love letters and the tiny bracelet from when your kid was a newborn?
If you are like me, you probably never look at it. I think mine is somewhere in my moms house in California, and it’s been untouched for years. Certainly nobody else knows or really cares what is in there.
But if it got lost in a fire or a flood, I’d feel a deep loss. Just knowing it is there makes me feel a completeness and connection to my past.
I don’t have a tattoo, but I imagine its something like that.
I have one tattoo and it is on my back. I got it there specifically so it was in a spot where, if I wasn’t wearing a tank top or bathing suit, no one would know I had one. It was my 25th birthday present to myself and I have flirted with the idea of getting more, but have yet to do it. Mostly, I got the need for a tattoo out of my system and it doesn’t negatively affect my ability to gain employment, etc. Most people don’t even know I have one, and those who do generally don’t care either way. The only person who regulatory sees it is my husband 
It is symbolically significant to me, but because it isn’t visible to most I don’t have to constatly explain it to every Joe-blow I meet “What does that tattoo mean, hur dur”
I have one on my upper back, almost on my neck. It’s my first (and so far only) tattoo. It’s for my daughter and I, she likes looking at it a lot and I can see it when I want to (I usually take a quick look gettin in or out of the shower). I love it and I love that she usually hugs my neck or kisses it when she sees it and I am low enough.
Yep. Sweet. 
Leaffan said he thought they were fucking ugly. A lot of people think that way, and would not be rude enough to say something like that to my face. Even if someone was rude enough to say something like that, I would smile and thank them for their concern. Whatever. I still love my ink because it keeps my dearly departed sweet little doggie with me.
My answer to the OP has essentially been covered by others, but I’ll just say that at the time I got mine, it had a lot of personal meaning to me. I didn’t have any interest in constantly staring at it, but it pleased me to know that I had gone through a process to create a (sometimes visible, mostly not) permanent symbol of a part of my life I was very proud of. I rarely made a point of showing it to other people (unless I knew they had a specific interest in tattoos), and I only see it when I’m in front of a mirror with my shirt off. But I enjoyed being able to have it done.
My ex SO had a somewhat dated tattoo between his shoulderblades that he couldn’t see. He got it years before I met him so I don’t really know what significance if any that it had long after he endured the ceremony of getting it. I first saw it when he used it as an excuse to flirt and take off his shirt early in the relationship. I don’t have an affinity for tattoos, but I was surprised that an outwardly conservative guy had a tattoo, and pretty pleased to have a very shy guy suddenly half naked. He was such a soft-spoken, gentle guy that the tat was really out of character, must have been an important experiment for a very reserved guy, and always made me smile when I saw it.
People are complicated; my ex was 99% shy, reserved professional, and that well-hidden tat indicated a side to his personality that was equally well-hidden and revealed only to a select few.
Tattoos are for public consumption. By their very nature they are displays of expression with the purpose of being observed. Own it. If it was meant to be personal, you’d not have permanently placed it on your skin. My PIN numbers and passwords are hiddden from prying eyes, not in bold text on my forearm.
And yes, your fears are true: Your tattoos are ugly. And yes , I can judge you. Objectively, they say nothing of substance, perhaps. Subjectively, your tattoos are naïve, impulsive, ugly reminders of ignorance you’ll hopefully grow out of and eventually regret. Your tattoos will become unfortunate reminders of long forgotten, insignificant events, eventually losing all meaning and relevance given enough time. Subjectively, your tattoos are unnattractive, and, yes, you do care what I think because, of course, you care about others opinions. Humans are social animals, and you don’t live in a bubble. If you found me attractive and wanted to fuck me, I’m sure you’d care very much about my opinion of your appearance. Be honest, tough guy. How many job interviews have you done in short sleeves? I thought you didn’t care? I thought you couldn’t be judged?
Of course there is personal meaning, and frankly your long-winded back story is boring. You’re not the first person to get fucked over and out. Join the club. See, the thing is, some of us that have experienced trauma in our lives don’t feel the need to remind ourselves of it daily, let alone feel the need to prompt complete strangers to ask us to rehash our darkest experiences. Most people prefer to move on and not be literally, permanently marked by such tragedies. Tattoos are therapeutic? I’m glad you’re not a doctor. I’m glad there are educated people with professional training and board certifications that can actually help me if I need to overcome psychological trauma. I’ll take their therapeutic recommendations into consideration rather than self- diagnosing and self medicating.
But your tattoo looks really cool. That’s the only valid judgement you were searching for, right?
I actually kind of agree. That’s why mine are on my arms. But I think other people are satisfied with knowing they are there.
Way to threadshit a zombie thread, mate. You tell 'em.
Whassamatter? Your SO got a tat without asking your permission first? 
Lighten up and welcome to the Dope.
Alright, I’ll pull it back a bit. I’m just amused by the current trend towards cognitive dissonance. I’ll agree all day long with your philosophy. However, practical reality ought to drive one’s decisions. I’ve never understood the choice to conspicuously display tattoos without securing a skill-set to maintain employment within an industry that finds such ‘self expression’ acceptable. Ideology won’t feed your kids.
Art is a very subjective thing and using one’s body as a billboard doesn’t change that fact. Monet makes an impression on some people while others like the feeling a velvet Elvis gives them.
Sorry dude, but if you can see my Superman “S” you need to mind your own damn business at the urinal.
Agreed.
But what does that have to do with a thread about (mostly) invisible tattoos?