# Tattoos and you **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257 "2003-03-05T15:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/21 "2003-03-05T17:34:55Z")
Tattoos are cooler than piercings because you have to make a commitment to having your skin marked for the rest of one’slife rather than getting some bangle on some random part of one’s body. Still, both are just excuses to show off parts of the body that are socially unacceptable if unadorned. I do not dislike tattoos but I dislike folks who get a bunch of random tattoos with absolutely no rhyme or reason, nothing to draw them together except “that pic is purty”. I prefer the tattoos which cover the whole body and have a common design like Japanese, Maori tattoos or that guy in the late 19th or early 20th century who had a strange blue design put all over him, Enigma who has a puzzle motif on his body the Disney tattoo guy who does the talk show circuit or that crazy guy in Great Britain who covered himself with leopard spots and lives like a hermit out on the moors. Those are cool. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/22 "2003-03-05T17:39:13Z")
Chicks with boring tribals unite! I happen to like my [tattoo](http://www.dernai.de/bd.jpg) a lot. Still. I got it in 1996. That might have to do with location. It’s right between my shoulderblades, so I don’t _have_ to see it all the time and get fed up with it. Plus, I figured that was the only place on my body that wasn’t going to sag a few years hence. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/23 "2003-03-05T17:56:56Z")
My tribals aren’t a bit boring. And I ain’t plannin’ on saggin’. My favorite quote on tats: “The only difference between people who have tattoos and people who don’t is that people who have tattoos don’t care that you don’t have any.” ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/24 "2003-03-05T18:27:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > Good call. It might have looked like you had vines growing out your butt… :eek: As a note… they wouldn’t have been green. I can’t find the picture anymore (they changed the site around that I found it at) but it wasn’t that bad looking. I just don’t want to be like all those women running around that I see lately. Einmon: My tattoo is simple like that one. I like it… it’s nice. Personally I don’t want anything really fancy, though one tattoo that I really want (I borrowed the design from a site but had been redrawing it. I like the basic design but not everything on it) will be a longer work. My next tattoo I plan to get will be a Toreador Rose, the gamers out there probably know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/25 "2003-03-05T18:28:20Z")
I love looking at other people’s tattoos, but I’ll never get one. All of you WILL SAG sooner or later. It’s just the way the human body is made. I don’t care if you don’t care, but I don’t want some Salvidor Dali-lookin’ melt-down happening on my bod in the twilight of my life. And I haven’t found anything I like enough to make permanent. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/26 "2003-03-05T18:32:04Z")
**Obsidian** Thanks. I chose it for being simple and nothing too fancy. It took me ages to decide what I wanted. Originally, I had planned to get a matching design at the end of my spine (sort of like vines growing out of my butt 🙂 ) but decided against it. One tattoo is enough for me. If I started having more than one I know that it’d be hard to stop and then I would end up looking like a bad jigsaw or something. ---
**Author:** ![MissBungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MissBungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBungle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/27 "2003-03-05T18:36:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > \*\*, but I don’t want some Salvidor Dali-lookin’ melt-down happening on my bod in the twilight of my life. And I haven’t found anything I like enough to make permanent \*\* tears… i’m laughing THAT hard… my goodness that was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/28 "2003-03-05T18:40:12Z")
On my left arm, from the elbow down to the wrist, I’ve got a large gorilla in a jungle setting (leaves, setting sun coming through the trees). Lots of color, green, red, yellow. On my right arm, above the elbow, I’ve got the ace of spades. No color, just black ink. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/29 "2003-03-05T18:42:20Z")
I could never understand the whole “I wouldn’t get one because it’s for the rest of your life” argument. Thats cool! What else can you buy that is for the rest of your life? Finally something I won’t lose or break or accidently destroy. Something that’ll be with me even if I end up in jail or something. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/30 "2003-03-05T18:45:06Z")
I currently have six (with more to come) and other body mods. Tats: right shoulder…blue moon left should…red/orange sun back…large leopard left arm…tribal right arm…tribal wolf back of neck…laces (it looks laced up) I have never regreted them, I love them and will be adding mroe as finances allow. ---
**Author:** ![tkeana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@tkeana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tkeana)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/31 "2003-03-05T18:49:33Z")
My wedding ring is a tattoo that includes my husband’s name. He has the same (except with my name, naturally). ---
**Author:** ![MissBungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MissBungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBungle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/32 "2003-03-05T18:54:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tkeana \* > \*\*My wedding ring is a tattoo that includes my husband’s name. He has the same (except with my name, naturally). \*\* oh… a la tommy lee and pam… correcto? ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Perm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Big\_Perm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Perm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/33 "2003-03-05T19:02:12Z")
I have the insignia from Treaty 7 at the base of my neck. It was the last treaty that my Grandfather’s tribe signed. I am thinking about having another design below it but not sure. I love mine and I know I’ll never grow tired of it. I agree with Indygrrl’s quote… if you don’t have any, more power to ya… but I like mine. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/34 "2003-03-05T19:25:28Z")
Finished my sleeve about 6 months ago. I did an initial design that was sort of mechanical tribal, he took a look at it, crumpled up the paper and said “I know what you want”. The style of the design is similar to the picture below. [http://www.aaroncain.com/u.htm](http://www.aaroncain.com/u.htm) I’ll post up a pic one of these days, it’s an amazing piece of art. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/35 "2003-03-05T19:38:36Z")
I have 3, but want another. My first was a [Calvin](http://www.ucomics.com/calvinandhobbes/)on my shoulder, then I got a shamrock on my left leg. My last one, and favorite, is my son’s footprint from birth on my right leg. He loves it! He’s almost 3, and sometimes compares the size of his foot now with then, and occasionally pretends that the toes are stinky. This is what I want next: [link](http://nascar-diecasts.com/daleearnhardtsr.htm) to the logo. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/36 "2003-03-05T20:09:01Z")
You can see lots of them on the [Dope Tats page](http://www.geocities.com/itomasello/dopetats/), the internet’s depository for SDMB members’ tattoos. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/37 "2003-03-05T20:28:39Z")
I don’t have any Tattoos, not really into them, I did contemplate getting one, just not the motivation to get one. I don’t care if people have them, I do have a problem with people having, for example the entire arms/torso, covered like a Tattoo shirt. I guess, I just like a couple on someone, it’s just me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rib\_Eye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Rib\_Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rib_Eye)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/38 "2003-03-05T20:33:16Z")
I’m of Scottish ancestry. I have my clan badge over my tartan pattern. Nice and big on my upper right arm. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/39 "2003-03-05T20:36:48Z")
**Casey1505** , do you want the Rhinoceros or the Dale Earnhart 3? **Max Torque** , cool website. I think it could use some updating though. Send your pics to the website for all to see!! ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257/40 "2003-03-05T20:51:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Indygrrl \* > \*\*Do you have any? \*\* Nope. I’ve never bought a piece of art that I liked 10 years later. I’m sure as heck not gonna get one etched on my body. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Indygrrl \*Do you object to tattoos or find them offensive? If so, why? \*\* I don’t find them offensice. I do find them silly. Never understood the appeal. But then I’ve always been a very internally focused person. I don’t really care enough about what other people think to go to the trouble of dressing a particular way much less alter my body to get some reaction from others. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Indygrrl Do you believe in the stereotypes associated with tattoos or do you think they’re becoming socially acceptable?_ Well I guess you would have to specify what steriotypes you feel are associated with tatoos. I always think of sailers who brought them home from overseas back in the century before last. Now-a-days I seem to see them on females more often than males. At least those that I know personally. I don’t tend to notice strangers much at all unless they are going out of their way to be outragous much less whether or not they have tatoos. Most of the women I have talked to seem to be using tatoos as a way to define themselves. And this is from thier own mouths. They talk about doing it to be unique or to distance themselves from societal norms. This is especially true of Goth or Punk or whatever the flavor of the week is for try to out-wierd the next person. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-and-you/159257.md?page=3)