I love tattoos, but if you’re not sure about getting one, you shouldn’t get one. If you’re asking to be talked out of it, don’t do it. You’re more likely to end up regretting it.
I thought about getting one several years ago and ultimately decided against it. Why? I really couldn’t decide on a permanent graphic that I wished to have associated with me for the rest of my life (although the last contender was a depiction of the Holy Spirit; I still like the idea of that). And secondly … I ultimately decided they looked trashy. I know they’re popular, I know everyone’s got them, but to my eyes, they look like trailer trash and I have to knock myself in the head all the time to QUIT thinking that when I see someone with one. (Even my two well-bred and lovely sisters.)
So anyway – judgmental and snooty? Yes. But, you asked and that’s my opinion.
Ok, well the design is not exactly as pictured - it is a design of my own - a modification of of the Eye of Horus - however, I have no scanner to put it into the confuter so I just used that as a sample.
The evil eye is actually what I’m going for and have modified the design to reflect that.
As to pain - well, I don’t have nerves the way normal people do so I don’t anticipate that it will hurt me the way it would hurt a normal person.
As to sagging, well, it’s an ankle. They don’t tend to sag - it’s not like a boob or something.
As to everyone having them. Well, true enough. But who cares? I’m not interested in being a rebel. I just like the tattoo.
Finally, young hottie I dated last week thinks it would be hot.
So, keep going.
Don’t do it, alice. Sure, it could look really cool, all your friends will want to see and you’ll be the life of whatever parties you go to for a little while, but who wants that compared to the thrill of your ankle looking the same way it did last week?
I kid, I kid. I understand what you’re doing, but there’s nothing to worry about. If you’re not comfortable with getting it, you can always wait; if you find you really want it, bite the bullet and go for it. I talked about getting a tattoo for probably five years before I did it, and it was a good thing - some of my old ideas were stupid, and I ended up with something meaningful.
The arguments against getting a tattoo will always outweight the arguments in favor of getting it. There’s only one reason to get a tattoo - “I want it” - and plenty of reasons not to. Although if I may say so, if you actually want it you find that the “not” reasons aren’t great.
It’ll look like crap in 50 years? No matter what you do, your skin will probably look like crap when you’re old. You should be so lucky that you’re worrying about that.
It’s on you FOREVER? True, but how often do you look at your ankle?
Tattoos are cliche? Everything is cliche. (Or else it gets made fun of for being unpopular and weird.)
I’m not trying to encourage you to get a tattoo. You should definitely not do it if you’re not comfortable. You can always take more time to decide.
Dear Alice:
Don’t get a tattoo. Don’t get a tattoo on your ankle, been there done that and it hurt worse than either of my child labours. And if you do anyway, go to the Smilin’ Buddha or Living Colours (In Inglewood, Casey Davis did mine and he was also my awesome neighbour a million years ago).
I don’t think you should do it until you find a real artist to translate your idea into a work of art. It is going to be something that you have forever, and I know I wouldn’t want a clumsy interpretation of something that in my mind meas a lot to me. You need an artist who can bring it to life, and add meaning and definition to a flat design on a piece of paper, to translate to a living tatoo. And design aside, simple things lke the placement over skin, muscle and bone can be drastically important to whether the final tattoo ‘sings’. Until you find this person, I wouldn’t bother, as it’s never going to be as good as it could be, and for something that special, I’d rather wait.
If you’re not sure, don’t do it. Or rather, don’t do it yet. Wait until you are sure.
As to the Eye of Horus being unoriginal, so what? A performance of Beethoven’s Fifth is unoriginal, but that doesn’t mean orchestras shouldn’t play it. I myself have an Eye of Horus tattoo because I like the mathematical background to it and how the mathematics relate to the myth of the battle between Horus and Set, and how Thoth put his eye back together afterward. That said, I am a firm believer that “I like the way it looks” is a perfectly valid reason to choose a design.
I will reiterate, though: if you’re not completely sure, don’t do it. You can always get a tattoo later. Changing your mind afterward is costly and painful.
They will, however, swell. And that just won’t be pretty.
Me, I’d probably smack you on the leg thinking a spider’s on its way up it.
Why don’t you just buy the fake ones and wear them till the novelty wears off?
Eye of Horus? Wow. Freaky!
You just made my day, alice. I never thought about it, but damned if I don’t have the ankles of an 18 year old.
[I have no useful advice about the tattoo, except this: don’t even think about getting one on your neck.]
Reason 1
“Do you like my tattoo(s)?” is the “do I look fat in this?” for the post-90s. Nah baby, looks great. Looks primo same as the last hundred tats I saw, on the lower back/ankle. Looks great, that butterfly/dolphin/tribal/neo-pagan thing you have going on, no one ever does that. Uh huh, yeah go on, explain the deep personal significance of each one to me while I nod along and make complimentary grunts as if I’m not thinking, “What the unholy fuck ever possessed her to tattoo a celtic knot over her ass like she’s Boudicca or some shit? She’s a receptionist and she’s not even Irish.” Men have enough to lie about, don’t give us another reason.
Reason 2
The truth is that 90% of women with these tats look either 1) trailer with NASCAR tickets, or 2) pregnant with undergraduate regret. Maybe 10% just barely slide by on the basis of some personality quirk. Like on a rare occasion, a bebe will mount enough sass to make the tribal armband thing work, but in general: don’t. If you’re not Popeye the Sailor Man, if you’re not Large Marge the Truck Driver, if you’re not actively trying to piss off your parents, don’t get a tattoo. Especially not on your lower back and/or ankle. Oh god, please not the ankle. You know what I think when I see one of those? No little black dress in polite company, ever. I think lightweight, I think she never meets the fam, I think she’s a fun time, we’ll have really fun times at the minigolf course. I think she’s a Kendall-Jackson girl, out of her white zin phase, but not quite gonna make it to theater season tickets, the ski trip, or Christmas in Rome. I see an ankle tat and I see a gift certificate to get that shit lasered off before I drop the L word, you betcha.
That girl is everywhere, don’t be that girl.
This is a very, very bad reason, assuming you’re even remotely serious. What happens if you get really involved with him, maybe even in love, you guys break up, you go from loving him to hating him, and you have a daily reminder that you got this thing at least in part because he thought it was hot?
And the chances are good he’ll be around to admire it for the rest of your life?
I’m not sure why but this post really rubs me the wrong way. I feel compelled to tell you why. Ignore at your leisure.
I don’t give a shit if anyone likes my tattoo. I’m not getting it to impress anyone - I just like it. I drew the design (yes, I did attend art college) myself and have wanted it since I was 16. I thought 35 was a good year to get it.
This assumes that I care about attracting a man and making him drop the “l” bomb. This assumption is incorrect. If I want theatre season tickets, a ski trip or X-mas in Rome, I’ll take myself, thankyouverymuch.
I suppose I get what you’re saying, but it’s assuming a lot of things about me that are incorrect. I’m not bothered at all at the notion that some man isn’t going to take me seriously as “wife” material because of a tattoo. If anything that serves as a selling point.
Jesus I bloody well hope not.
Along the same lines as the previous posts about being Ms. Steady that never changed her mind about anything - or about trying it in Sharpie for a while - I think of tatoos like this:
Is there a work of art, or symbol that I would want to hang up in my house on the same wall and NEVER EVER take it down or move it to another room? Why not have a meaningful symbol embroidered onto a jacket or something instead of on your body?
Ok - you guys may have talked me out of the ankle. However, the inside of my wrist is option B. (I’ve never been totally fixed on the spot - just not a tramp stamp).
FWIW, I have the artist, the art and the time picked out. I have a friend going with me getting a tattoo too.
So, keep going.
If you don’t care what anyone thinks about your tattoo, then why are you asking all of these people for their opinion?
FWIW, I have no problem with tattoos, although like many other people have mentioned, I also can’t think of anything so deeply personal and unique and meaningful to me that I want it permanently placed on my body.
Well, I’m willing to bet that I’ll still like my body in 5 years. A jacket or something? Not so much. I totally get Doctor Who’s point - I do like to change things up. Mind, I’ve wanted this particular tattoo coming up on 20 years, so it appears to have more staying power.
I’m not asking for opinions of my tattoo. I’m asking people to talk me out of it.
I want to see if anyone has a reason that I haven’t thought of not to get it, ya know? So far, not so much. But I’m still listening.