WhiteAlice
reply to post by FlyersFan
In hindsight, would I do it again? I'm not sure because I was in a place where I needed every bit of strength I could get my hands on. Do I care
what you think about me as a woman with tattoos? Nope. Like I said to my parents, it's my body, not yours.
WhiteAlice, thanks for sharing what you did with us. I find the reasons why people get their tattoos to be just as intriguing as the person
themselves. Just as it took strength to get the tattoos and show the world what you thought, it took strength to share that about yourself today.
Thank you.
Would I get more work done today? Well, that is hard to do, as a Parent, I cannot think of a more self-indulgent thing I could personally do. Every
time I've been tempted, that has entered into my head.
I actually agree with you on many points. My daughter looks at my tattoos (she is six), and I make a point of telling her they were painful (not
entirely true, but hey), and we also discuss what PERMANENT means. I also work in corporate america. My tattoos are on my lower arms. My personal
priority has always been nowhere I cannot cover with a professional suit and tie look. I for instance would love to have something go up my neck or
down my arm onto my hands. But, no. I often get warm, and do not like wearing long sleeve shirts, but, as a result of my conscious decision, I deal
with the consequences.
I am not entirely certain how I am going to rock the whole "Senior Citizen with Tribal / Celtic Knotwork" theme at the beach when I'm 70, but,
I'll handle that then.
I realized I wanted a tattoo when I was 24. That was twenty years ago. I did not get my first until I was thirty, six years later.
I am rather proud of the fact that I personally find all of the work I have done to still be appealing to me. I didn't get them for anyone else.
They are jewelry for ME. Artwork for ME. And I still find them appealing. On my left arm, the most prominent work is of my own design. Hence, it
was meant to stand the test of time.
I strongly advise against people making harsh or quick decisions on tattoos. I believe it is something you should be willing to bet money on that you
won't regret in some form or fashion.
As my daughter approaches eighteen, I intend to have several discussions with her. Explain to her how wildly and radically a personality and taste
can change in the span of years between 18 and 23 (which is where many psychologists agree that your personality "solidifies"). That today, she may
LOVE Justin Bieber. Tomorrow, she may honestly wonder who that person was that loved Justin Bieber. I'll show her how I once tattooed the name of
an ex wife on my arm, and how that tattoo is now covered with a snake, because of how she ended up treating me in the end. I'll show her the chinese
symbols that I had put there for the purpose of expressing my "Love and Respect for my Family"....which chinese coworkers have curiously pointed out
to me actually, and fumblingly so, actually mean something to the effect of "He who loves and treasures Gold". I kind of find it hilarious today,
in my mind it means exactly what I meant it to mean, but I am well aware of the reality of the situation. I intend to share these experiences with
her.
I also hope she is as patient as I was, in personally deciding to wait for six years (or some equally calm period of time where she could actually
think it through more than just once) to get that first tattoo.
I agree with the sentiment that it is entirely too common today. It doesn't "do" what it once did. It's far too cosmetic in approach and spurred
on by reality tv......turning it into something "to mean something"...or "to be dedicated to something". So many people approach me and ask
"What does your work mean?" It doesn't mean a damned thing. What it is, is an extension of me, and expression of ME, on the one true thing I own,
which is ME. It is designed BY ME, FOR ME, to be ATTRACTIVE to ME. It might as well be bio-hazard symbols warning people off, because that is how
little I care whether someone else is attracted to them or not.
I tend to think that my wife appreciates that level of confidence in my own self. I tend to think, that's a major attraction in her eyes, not the
tattoos (absent or present). I just read this and the last paragraph to her, and she agrees entirely.
I, too, find different qualities of tattoos attractive on different women. I, personally, tend to prefer either a woman with NO tattoos or a vast
majority of her flesh covered in tattoos. I'm not an in the middle kind of person. But again, that is physical attraction, not the entire package
deal. My wife is THE most gorgeous creature I have ever met, body AND soul. She has one tattoo. It is an intimate one, and something you, joe
reader, will never see. Would I prefer her to have none, or to go to the extreme and go for more? Yes. I would physically prefer her to have EITHER
none altogether, or go for the full shabang. But, it is her body. She got the tattoo FOR HER. I respect that. Our daughter has no idea her mother
has a Tattoo. May never know, actually.
To the person who was the OP, calmly, I say, if tattoos are so common now, wasn't it as likely that you would find something else that is an
expression of modern social attitudes, such as a hairstyle, or hair color, or a particular body type, or a makeup style, or clothing style, or
ANYTHING that he'd find as unattractive a feature about a person that could be a potential mate?
And after all, isn't it a FEATURE...not the PERSON that he doesn't like or find attractive?
I can point out tons of BEAUTIFUL people who I've met (for instance, while bartending) that once they opened their mouths, either due to lack of
overall intelligence, vocabulary, or general attitude, I was nowhere near as attracted to them (often, any and all "attraction" was immediately
GONE, as in, I now had ZERO interest in that person) as I had been moments before. Often, if it were a dating scenario, the date was pretty much over
right then and there.
So honestly, if physical aspects and features mean so much to you, the OP, perhaps you are truly looking at the wrong things in "a mate".
Perhaps, if you the OP, feel it is such a trendy thing to do, so "in the moment", so flippantly done, maybe you should reflect on what you truly
feel. Is it the artwork that you don't find attractive, or is it the overall sense that this person is flippant, cavalier, doesn't think things
through, does things on a whim? Maybe it is THIS that truly puts you off (much like intelligence, vocabulary, attitude, personality can be a major
turn off to me) about them ?
I find that I tend to disdain those that regret their tattoos, not those that have them, on the average. To me, regretting a tattoo, personally says
you didn't think it through. You were rash. Is that fair? No, it absolutely is not. But, it reflects the rationale I had in getting my own. The
maturity I had in getting my own. When it was time. For Me.
- SN