# Who is your tattoo for? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398 "2005-07-07T02:34:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/21 "2005-07-07T12:51:13Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > I don’t try to explain them to people very much because it sounds stupid. . . Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/22 "2005-07-07T12:55:10Z")
Mine’s for me, even though I rarely see it (yeah, stereotypically, it’s on my lower back. Not in the center, though! Offset, to the right. But there you are). I’ve always wanted one, as long as I can remember. When I saw this design, my heart yelled, “that’s the one!” So I got it, at the ripe age of, what, 20? 21? Something like that. Partially to celebrate being published in the campus newspaper, partially because I was there, I always wanted one, and I found the right design. It’s a celtic knot with a heart in it. I love it, don’t regret it for an instant. Yep, want another one (or two) as well. This time I even know what the design will be like and where I’ll get them, so I’m a step up. Just gotta get 'em now, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/23 "2005-07-07T13:15:43Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > … and a GB sticker on the bumper. I just want to clarify this: GB=Great Britain, not George Bush! ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/24 "2005-07-07T14:45:49Z")
I do want another tattoo. I haven’t found the right design yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/25 "2005-07-07T14:54:39Z")
My tattoo is for myself. Of course, at the time there was also a hope that it would impress either Michelle or Jen. The tattoo itself is of a version of the Mayan yax glyph that I came across in a book one day. At the time I was studying archaeology (Maya - natch). Also, among its many meanings, yax means green which is my last name and it refers to the centre of the 4 cardinal directions (ie centered). Made a lot of sense to me. FTR, I knew it was time to get the tat when it seemed like a bad idea when I was drunk. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/26 "2005-07-07T16:36:47Z")
I have four tats, all of which are for me. I’m of the mind that tattoos are intensely personal (NO flash!), and so even when I’m wearing shorts and short sleeves, only one of mine can be seen. And yes, they are ridiculously addicting. Already planning a fifth. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/27 "2005-07-07T16:57:15Z")
[Mine](http://www.sirblah.com/photo/view.php?album=People&pic=Paul-Linda_Tat.jpg&picindex=17) is for my wonderful wife. This Autumn, I’ll be extending it further down my arm to include little Max or Shayla, whichever the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/28 "2005-07-07T17:30:47Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Ouch! NOT! what I meant. My story sounds stupid. Other people’s stories usually make more sense than mine. Mine comes dangerously close to involving an inner child. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/29 "2005-07-07T17:41:52Z")
**FilmGeek** - are there any especially talented artists in Lawrence? East Coast Al in KCK did 2 of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/30 "2005-07-07T18:24:47Z")
Mine is for me, for a few reasons. I’ve wanted one since I started hanging out with biker types. I never knew what design I wanted, and never seriously decided to get one. I was stopped a few times when I was drunk, to which I’m grateful. Then my lifestyle changed, and I married a (much to my dismay) a control freak. A tat was a definite no-no. As many of you know, he passed away 2-1/2 years ago. My present to myself the following Christmas was a tattoo on my right shoulder. It’s a blue scorpion (I’m a Scorpio) with a red rose in it’s claw. My design. It’s very cool! So I sorta got it as a neener-neener to my late husband. And my boyfriend at the time (my now husband) thought I should do whatever I wanted to do regarding a tat. He thinks it’s great! My dad would be very disappointed if he knew I had one, so I don’t let him see it. He’s 81, and very old school. No need to upset him. I figure I’m 46, and I can do what the hell I want. And I’m thinking what to get next! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/31 "2005-07-07T18:41:36Z")
Mine (Cat in the Hat & Mad Hatter), I got all for myself. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/32 "2005-07-07T18:59:08Z")
I have one on my right leg just above the ankle. It’s a sort-of Celtic border that I reshaped into a circle. It doesn’t have much meaning, but I got it for me as a reminder of a happy time in my life. My next will be for me and my wife (we’ve been married about 2 months). We went to the US Virgin Islands for our honeymoon, and while there ended up swimming with a sea turtle for an afternoon. It was just me, my wife, and this beautiful turtle hanging out in the ocean. It was an amazing experience. I’m still sketching the tat, but it’s going to be a sea turtle (not too realistic, and somehow keeping with the Celtic design of my first one) with a shell pattern modeled on the [St. John Petroglyphs](http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Petroglyph_Trail.htm). I’m toying with having two mirroring petroglyphs to make up the shell. It will probably end up being about as big as my hand, and going on my left calf. Should be pretty neat. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/33 "2005-07-07T19:17:58Z")
Two for me, one sort of for others. My first was two serpents entwined, a variation on the Goddess protection theme. I got it because of the resonance of the AURYN in The Neverending Story, but it’s not that image exactly. It’s actually from a necklace I had (gave it to my husband later) that I think is based on Viking art, but I’m not sure. My second was given to me in full ceremony as part of my “reclaiming my Maidenhood” phase. Not a born-again-virginity thing, but a realization that I had skipped over some very important growing-up by having a baby at 18, and I needed to get myself into that mindset for a couple of years before once again being an Archetypal Mother. It’s a Goddess-worship Thang. That’s around my ankle, reminding me to dance. There will be a Motherhood one above it soon (a ring of fairies, each one progressively more pregnant) and someday a Crone (I have no idea yet what that will be.) My third was the most intense, but is also the most visible, and the most “for others.” But it’s also for me. When I realized my calling as Priestess, I had a ceremony which included ritual drumming and this tattoo. It’s on my sternum, visible in most necklines. It’s a crescent moon and a star - but the star is a cross. It represents my dedication to being “out” as a pagan, by respect for all paths of spirituality, including neopaganism, Christianity and Islam (finding a Jewish symbol for a tattoo seems…well…inconsistent.), and my wililngness to serve others in any Spiritual manner asked. While it was not a bit physically painful, it was horribly emotionally and spiritually draining, and my Ascended Masters literally dragged me to hell and back while I was being marked so I could prove my dedication to this choice. When many neopagans see it, they know something of what it means, and most people ask. I generally say it’s a sign of my dedecation as Priestess (or Minister, if I’m talking to a Muggle), and see where the conversation goes. Bar lying, it ensures that people know I’m neopagan and can ask me questions about it. Fighting Ignorance Since 2002! As for why I need a visual reminder of something I’ll never forget? I don’t, really. Except that there’s moments when I’ll forget, momentarily, the important thing, and then catch sight of the reminder, and I know it’s time to reflect and meditate. Would I remember again without it? Sure. But this gives me alerts at those times in my life when I most need it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/34 "2005-07-07T22:08:03Z")
I don’t have a tattoo yet, although you inspired me to start [an advice thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=324506) to help me join the inked ranks. When I have it, it will most definitely be for me. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/35 "2005-07-07T22:26:22Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > \ My third was the most intense, but is also the most visible, and the most “for others.” But it’s also for me. When I realized my calling as Priestess, I had a ceremony which included ritual drumming and this tattoo. It’s on my sternum, visible in most necklines. It’s a crescent moon and a star - but the star is a cross. It represents my dedication to being “out” as a pagan, by respect for all paths of spirituality, including neopaganism, Christianity and Islam (finding a Jewish symbol for a tattoo seems … well … inconsistent.), and my wililngness to serve others in any Spiritual manner asked. \ [hijack] **WhyNot** , when I read this description, I immediately thought of a clothing line I saw on TV a week or so ago. It’s called Coexist. They use the crescent moon for the C, Star of David for the X, and christian cross for the T. I have no affiliation with them whatsoever; I just thought you might find their designs interesting. The website is [www.coexistonline.com](http://www.coexistonline.com). WARNING - Flash site, takes a while to load. [/hijack] I have no tattoos, though I want one. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/36 "2005-07-07T22:37:35Z")
Sweet, **Avarie**! I really like that. Yep, same concept, graphically rendered. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/37 "2005-07-07T23:36:13Z")
Calvin on upper right arm is for no one in particular. Maybe for me, and my inner little boy looking to be wiser beyond his years, but that’s a little too deep to be convincing. Shamrock on left calf for my dad. Got it after he died. Haven’t come up with a good design for my mom. She liked angels and lighthouses, but I don’t think I want either of them on my body. Maybe I’ll get a little red hat put on the tattoo, since she loved that poem and never got to get old. I don’t know. The footprint they took when my son was born was tattooed on my right calf the following day. That one gets the most attention. Mom actually liked it. She’d introduce me to her friends, and say “Show 'em your leg!” I still get comments on it to this day. Saturday, I’m getting a Celtic knot around a Red Sox “B” on my left arm for no reason whatsoever. Tats don’t always need reasons. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/38 "2005-07-07T23:36:18Z")
I only have one tattoo, which I got for me. I really don’t like it. It’s a kanji symbol, flash (though I did research beforehand to make sure it was accurate, though you can never know for sure), for “change.” I was nineteen and since then I’ve become aware of the possible mis-appropriation of culture that comes with white people getting kanji tattoos, so I’m a little ashamed of it. I’m planning a cover-up but I can’t find anything I like that utilizes a lot of black. The tattoo is small (1"x1") and on my right hip, so nobody sees it unless I wear a bathing suit or something, which I never do. I am getting another one though, as soon as summer ends (I have heard that it’s best not to get tattoos in the dead of summer, as heat can affect the fresh ink even if you keep it out of direct sunlight… sounds a little over-cautious but better safe than sorry). It’s going to be a blue typewriter on my upper back, a little bit north of the space between my shoulder blades (but below the shirt line), not much larger than the one I have now. I’m a writer and I wanted to get something related to that, and quills are so overplayed. I also want to get a black skeleton key on the back of my right leg, but I’m a little worried about job issues. Although, I do almost always wear pants and if I do wear skirts I always wear dark hose, so maybe a leg tattoo wouldn’t be such a big problem job-wise. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/39 "2005-07-07T23:43:39Z")
Oh yeah, and those last two would be for me too. Except for a memorial tattoo, I wouldn’t get a tattoo for anyone else, especially not a boyfriend or girlfriend. You’re just asking for trouble there. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398/40 "2005-07-08T02:34:47Z")
Sorry for taking so long to get back to this thread – I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect so many replies! My thanks to everyone who has posted so far. That said, maybe I didn’t title this thread correctly: I think “why did you get your tattoo” might have been better than “who is your tattoo for.” Many people who have posted replies answered the first part of my question (who is it for), but not the second part (why) – and the second part was my whole reason for starting this thread. 🙂 Also, when I mentioned getting a tattoo for other people I meant getting a tattoo specifically because it would be seen by the general public, not getting a tattoo for a boyfriend or girlfriend. So, if your reply was only what your tattoo is and/or who you got it for, please come back and tell me the “why” – why get something to memorialize a loved one? Why have an animal on you? What specifically about having a tattoo seemed better to you than any other method of marking whatever it is you’ve marked? > [@Glory](#): > > My tattoo is for me. It’s on my upper back, down my spine and is not normally visible. It is 4 traditional Chinese characters, a Chinese proverb that means “Dripping water can eat through stone.” I got it a couple of months ago to celebrate my 55 lb weight loss - it’s very meaningful to me, it’s a reminder not to mess up. How often do you see it, though? When I was figuring out where to put my wolf a friend suggested my shoulder blade, but I thought I’d hardly ever get to see it if I put it there. I almost never see my own back. > [@tremorviolet](#): > > Why? 'Cause they’re pretty and I like orange and goldfish. No special meaning. Then why tattoos? > [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Of course, the seeming dichotomy/disparity of the 2 tats sends lots of people into a tizzie, and even scares a few, but all-in-all that doesn’t bother me. I once dated a guy who had a chaos symbol tattoo _over his heart_. He spent several minutes in frank amazement that I didn’t run screaming from the room the first time I saw it. 😉 > [@](#): > > As an aside, I don’t find many people with just one tattoo. They are addicting, and it doesn’t take long after the first one that people start thinking about another. Is that true for people here? (Sorry for the minor hijack, Misnomer.) No worries. 🙂 I’d heard that, too – that I wouldn’t be able to get just one. I guess they were right! But I don’t see getting a third one any time in the near future, though I _do_ have an idea for a possible design. There are some things about the G-clef tattoo that I’d like to get “fixed” eventually, so I’d probably do that before getting a third tat. > [@Flipstrip](#): > > Usually people are surprised to find out I even have a tattoo. Same here! With me, though, I think I have a “girl next door” thing going on. I don’t know what surprises people more, the tattoos or the Iron Maiden fandom. 😉 > [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > What it does do is prompt me to reflect on that memory every time I see it, and remember what I did to earn it. This has a significant effect on my self-image, and my behaviour. Do you feel like you wouldn’t remember what you did without the tattoo to remind you? > [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I commented that I loved my tattoos but that I wouldn’t consider a tongue piercing. I’m so there! I got my second tat at a convention, and when it was done my friend and I stopped by the piercing area because she wanted to see about getting a larger gauge in her ear (or something). I kind of shuddered a little at the thought of getting pierced, and my friend just stared at me, and then laughed and said, “You’re walking around _bleeding_ from a tattoo, but you don’t like the idea of getting pierced??” It made me laugh, too. To each her own! > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > So I think that I (and although I can only speak for myself I suspect this goes for more tattoo wearers) want to show that I’m the kind of person who wants to show they dare take a risk and live with the consequences. Getting tattoed shows this to others and proves it to yourself. So to me the meaning is in the actual non-reversable (or hard to reverse anway) inking of the skin, rather than the symbolism of the image on my arm. _Excellent_ theory! Thanks! I like that very much . . . it resonates with me, but I’ll have to “think on it” to decide whether I really feel that way or if I just like the idea. 😉 > [@NotWithoutRage](#): > > I’m of the mind that tattoos are intensely personal (NO flash!) I used to think that way, too, until I went to that convention and saw my wolf. Don’t think I didn’t agonize about the idea of getting flash! I hated the thought that tons of other people out there could be walking around with _my_ tattoo. But I just fell in love with the look of it, and I decided to go ahead and get it when I found myself worrying more about walking out of the convention and never finding another wolf tattoo that I liked as much. I’m still generally anti-flash, but I can’t be too hardcore about it without being hypocritical. \ > [@Dolores Reborn](#): > > My dad would be very disappointed if he knew I had one, so I don’t let him see it. Yeah, my mom likes to think of herself as “cool,” so she has no problem with my tattoos, but I think my father has forgotten about them. He saw each of them once, right after I got them, and not since. Sometimes I’ll wear shorts and ankle socks around him and the G-clef is visible, but I’m pretty sure the idea of that one bothers him a lot less than the wolf (he’s a musician, as well). I was 22 and living on my own when I got my first tattoo, so he knew that he had no “say” in the matter. \ > [@WhyNot](#): > > As for why I need a visual reminder of something I’ll never forget? I don’t, really. Except that there’s moments when I’ll forget, momentarily, the important thing, and then catch sight of the reminder, and I know it’s time to reflect and meditate. Would I remember again without it? Sure. But this gives me alerts at those times in my life when I most need it. You and **PookahMacPhellimey** have both put into words things that I think I’ve been feeling since I was first asked “why do you have tattoos.” This is another one for me to think on. Thank you! > [@Casey1505](#): > > Tats don’t always need reasons. 😃 Excellent point . . . thank _you_, too! > [@continuity eror](#): > > I was nineteen and since then I’ve become aware of the possible mis-appropriation of culture that comes with white people getting kanji tattoos, so I’m a little ashamed of it. I get what you mean, but I don’t think you should be ashamed of anything that you got (or did) with pure intentions. Just my $0.02. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-tattoo-for/311398.md?page=3)