Often when I see younger people with tattoos up their arms or legs, I think - What the hell have you done? Don't you realise that tattoos are permanent and when you grow old your tattoos are bound to look hideous as you gradually grow flabbier or more wrinkly. You don't stay twenty one forever. Normally, I keep such thoughts to myself and if there are any tattooed bloggers or blog visitors reading this then I apologise for my perceived ignorance.
Frequently tattoo enthusiasts are motivated by special family moments including births and deaths. Favourite animals, pop groups and film stars may also feature on the skin of tattoo adherents and some people like to express their political allegiances on their bodies. Why they can't instead do all of this in a notebook I have no idea. After all, those of us who remain steadfastly un-tattooed also witness births and deaths and have favourite bands, places, animals and sports. It's just that we feel no urge to declare such things on our bodies.
In America over the last few years, a fellow called Donald J. Trump has become a hero to many Republican voters. You may have heard of him. A surprising number of such folk have declared their hero worship with tattoos of the great man himself. To illustrate this point, here's a small selection: which co-incidentally demonstrate the artistry of gifted tattooists:-
As my dad would have said about the 45 tattoos, "Those people need to get their heads candled." I have no tattoos and no intention of changing that. I live in a highly tattooed area so they don't bother me, although I often wonder why that particular image or phrase? ie WHAT were they thinking??
ReplyDeleteI have a tattoo on each of my upper arms. The still look ok, although faded. I once thought a tattoo of Prince Andrew might be nice to have but I am glad I didn't. Somehow I doubt these tossers will regret their Trump tattoos, no matter how much more of his evilness is exposed.
ReplyDeletePictures please, or we won't believe you.
DeleteThose Trump tattooes are the stuff of nightmares. Oh my god. WHY? And if you want to see an even creepier tat, Google the tattoo on Roger Stone's back. Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI admit I'm not much of a tattoo fan, either. I've never had one, and I doubt I ever will. But to each his own, I guess.
I like my tattoos but they are hidden. As for others, you do you, although having 45 tattooed on your body begs the question, are you stupid?
ReplyDeleteReally? Now I have to go rinse my eyes with bleach. Damn, Mr. P.
ReplyDeleteGoogle "watercolor tattoos." There are some amazing ones out there which truly are works of art. I have no tattoos but two of my children do. I have no problem with that at all and like them, too.
I have nothing against tattoos per se, in fact I have one myself, a small delicate line drawing of a dolphin on my shoulder - as a 76 year-old female I´m know I am not a typical candidate for one but I follow my own rules. I think the problem with tattoos is a question of taste and those idiots who have a Trump tattoo are a prime example of this.
ReplyDeleteTen years ago or more I was having coffee in Glasgow with my younger London-based sister.
ReplyDeleteI was mulling over the sight of ladies in their thirties with massive tattoos all the way up their somewhat beefy arms.
*Oh, stop going on about it,* said my sister, tetchily, *some women have tattoos because they do, stop trying to understand it !*
Joan's style is classic: Paula Hamilton or Jean Shrimpton or whoever the It Girl is today.
She's as slim as a wand and wouldn't dream of getting even a tiny tattoo.
My foray into urban anthropology was nipped in the bud that day and I have never again speculated why women would want to disfigure their arms and abdomens.
My older sister thinks women have gone a bit mad.
Ages ago there was a movie about a man who abducts a super model and covers her entire body with tattoos which have some occult meaning for him.
He used general anaesthetics on her. Not one inch of her skin was left uncovered.
Then there was a Rod Steiger movie, The Illustrated Man, from a novel by Ray Bradbury the storyteller of my youth.
His tattoos told the future of the earth like stories which had to be deciphered.
It is going to be painful to have those Trumpty Dumpty tattoos removed now that he is yesterday's nonentity.
Even the loathsome Murdoch press have disowned him.
Small tattoo or two okay. Large tattoos no and the stuff that covers most of the body should be banned.
ReplyDeleteI have a granddaughter who is a talented artist and who not only is a self-employed tattoo artist but who is herself tattooed on various parts of her body and who has tattooed her sister. While I love them both I cannot understand the appeal of tattoos. As you stated, advanced years and the deterioration of the body will result in some very ugly skin cover. As for the Donald, I can only think that seriously demented people would have his face or name tattooed on their bodies.
ReplyDeleteWhy??? my eyes can never unsee the atrocity of those Trump tattoos.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any tattoos myself, but I know many people who have one or more. Three of my children, one grand daughter, one ex-husband, all have multiple tattoos. Their skin, their choice. I have thought of having my initials, birth date and blood group tattooed somewhere on me, for ID in case I am ever in an accident and unable to identify myself, but so far I haven't done it.
Down the rabbit hole. Firstly I am not a fan of tattoos but they do have history. "tattoos were a mark of nobility, and not to have them was testimony of low birth.' Taken from this https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/dispelling-some-myths-woad. So all of you who have had tattoos take comfort in being of high birth - chuckle. Extraction of the blue dye of woad is quite difficult though. Otzi the Iceman had 50 tattoos, skin nicked and then rubbed in charcoal .
ReplyDeleteNo tattoos for me, or body piercings other than one tiny hole in each ear lobe for studs or earrings. Others can do with their bodies what they like, just like I have decided not to have tattoos. They are a bit of a turn-off for me and therefore I am glad that O.K. has none, but I guess I would love him even if he did.
ReplyDeleteNo, not a tattoo fan, and would never consider having one. Possibly, like you YP, it might be my age, but I don't find over-tattooed bodies even remotely attractive - but each to his own. I wonder how many will regret them in later years.
ReplyDeleteThere is a tattoo parlour I sometimes pass on the way to the beach and the owner sits outside to advertise his art. There isn't a spare inch of unadorned flesh on display. He's past his first (and second) flush of youth and to me it now looks sad. Maybe tattoos should fade with age. Easy enough to get them re-done.
If I had acquired a tattoo in my youth I cannot imagine what state it would be in now, with all my wrinkles.
ReplyDeleteI have never thought of anything I wanted to be that permanent
ReplyDeleteI don't want a tattoo myself but have seen some lovely ones on others. My second son has tattoos but that is his style as he is into punk music.
ReplyDeleteCould think of a worse tatoo- Thatcher or Johnson.
ReplyDeleteThat discreet little ankle tattoo of a butterfly probably looks lovely when you're 21, but when you're much older and your legs already look like a road map of Britain - nah, probably not so much!
ReplyDeleteI just can't imagine anyone wanting to wear that sneering visage for the rest of their lives. Your second example, with the Twitter birds, is REALLY bizarre. Roger Stone famously has a portrait of Richard Nixon tattooed on his back. (I can't imagine that either.)
ReplyDeleteI don't mind an unobtrusive tattoo that means something significant to the wearer, but the problem is, no one stops with that. It seems if you get one you're on a slippery slope toward full-body ink!
I have never understood tattoos, especially those that now choose to put them in very visible places like their faces, necks, lower arms and legs, etc. So if I had a choice of a Donald Trump tattoo or death, I would probably choose death unless I could put it somewhere like my ass where it won't be seen by the public or me. My wife might still divorce me over it.
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