Gee, I hope I'm spelling tattoo correctly.

Do you have any? Describe them. Do you want any? Why or why not?

Do you worry about the permanence of the design and your changing tastes? Where does it hurt most to get tattoos? How do you feel about fake tattoos? Mendhi? Drawing on oneself with a marker? Ever had a tattoo removed? Do the new colors really resist fading to Prison Tat' Blue?

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2000

Answers

No tats for me, they just don't appeal to me. I don't think I've ever seen one I really liked. I guess I'm just square like that!

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

I really do want to get one but I haven't met a design I like well enough that I want to wear it forever. For instance, I like ducks, I used to like them a lot more, and Daffy Duck is one of my favorites. I though about putting Daffy on my somewhere, but decided to give myself more time to think about it. I'm glad, because I moved past ducks. (I like penguins and beavers now - don't ask.) So I've looked into sanskrit and kanjii and maybe there's some possibility in that. We'll see. I swear I'm going to get one someday.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

The pain and the permanence are the two factors which prevent me from getting a tattoo. Well, also because they generally don't appeal to me.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

I like the way some tattoos look, but the only one I'd ever get is permanent eyeliner. Which I'd never get, because it has to hurt a lot. But the idea of having perfect eyeliner? All the time? Tell me that's not incredibly appealing. I'd be more likely to get a piercing than a tattoo - if I ever have a perfect stomach, I might consider getting my navel pierced. So I don't have to worry about it. :)

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

I have one. If anyone tries to tell you that they don't hurt, Smack them, because they lie. When I got mine, it was in celebration of my graduating college. Two of my very dear friends got the same one with me: a claddagh (the two hands holding a heart) to signify "love, loyalty and friendship." Except, we went to this disturbing, drugged out grizzled old man who insisted that he couldn't draw the finger lines on the hands. Since we were scared, we let him go ahead and draw them and they looked like boxing mits...holding an apple. We used to joke that it meant "We fight for our food." (We got them fixed a year later)

I used to worry about the permanence too, but then I realized that we get scarred in the course of our lives in a ton of different ways (shaving cuts, anyone?) and at least this time, you get to choose what it is. That, and mine is on my bum, so no one can see it.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Never wanted one, myself. I'm way too conservative for that. But, if you think your secret's safe just because it's on your butt, you are sadly mistaken.

My 4yo daughter went to a wedding in Alabama with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and my sister-in-law's son (2yo). Well, one night the grown ups were all pretty tired and so my SIL says, come on, kids, you're taking a shower with me instead of getting a bath.

Now, everytime we're somewhere with my sister-in-law, my daughter has to remind us, in the loudest stage whisper imaginable, "She's got a froggie on her BUTT!" I guarantee you, heads turn when that phrase is uttered.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Fight for food... ha!

If I ever did get one, I'd want like a small black Celtic flower or something. (Just coz I like the way the Celts used to stylize stuff, not because of any heritage issues or anything.) And I'd put it on the back of my neck, right under my hairline.

This chick at my highschool had a really cool tattoo on the side of her head. It was about 3 inches high -- a window with a cobweb. See, her hair was shaved on the side as was the style in the late '80s. And it was perfect! Coz her hair would eventually grow out and no one would ever know. Even though I had my head shaved in certain parts for several months, I never got my own side-of-head tattoo.

Or DID I?

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

I never had a desire to get a tattoo. Mainly because I don't like pain but also if I didn't like anymore, I'd be stuck with it forever.

But if I had to get one, I'd get an anchor on my forearm.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

I had a friend who had like 10 tattoos stratigically placed on her body, to compliment her 10 ear piercings and tongue stud. I thought it was cool, but still, I don't have a tattoo. My reason is that I would have to have a pop culture one, and what if I no longer want a Buttercup tattoo in a few years? I'm too fickle for a tattoo at this point.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

No tattoos on me, but I did see a cool one on a guy's head in NYC. Flames went from his temple around to the back of his head. Red and yellow.

Hey, does anyone have one around their neck (a celtic braid or something?) How's that going to work out when you're older? I'm really just curious, not passing judgement.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Never, ever, ever. The pain doesn't bother me. The permanency and the associations with felons, bikers, Holocaust survivors and thugs does.

But that's the way I was brought up, y'all, and that's just my rule of thumb for ME, personally. I have friends who have very pretty and very personal art on themselves, and if they are happy, then I am happy for them. But it isn't for me. Like someone else pointed out, I change far too frequently as a person to put any one symbol on myself and still have it mean exactly the same thing it once did. Plus I'm an artist, and I'd want to design my own, but I'm fairly sure no one would be able to duplicate my style well enough for mey tastes.

Lastly, when tattoos go out of style and/or when I get tired of a design on my body and/or if my body shape changes and the hypothetical rose on my ass would have become the hypothetical rose on my thigh, well I won't be the one having to get them taken off, painfully and at great expense.

I have no reservations about anything temporary or semi-permanent--you can change your mind if the design no longer pleases you, after all. I would be more likely to pierce my body all over before I got a tattoo anywhere. But I wouldn't do those mutilating earlobe stretchings or pierce my tongue (simply because the tongue makes it obviosu that it does not like being pierced by sealing up nearly instantly if you ever remove the stud) or face (except maybe nose or eyebrow) because it's just not pretty when you have a big scar or hole in your face. I also wouldn't get any of my private parts done (I mean below the waist) because I-- and the few people privileged to examine them at close range--feel that they look fine as nature made them, and they don't need any jewelry. :)

But if you want holes and designs in YOUR body, it's YOUR body and I applaud your choice and I will look at your new body art explorations as often as you want me to.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Visible tattoes include the Runic alphabet tattooed around my right ankle, and the celtic four winds symbol on my left, neither has any color cause I don't like the way colored ink comes out looking. I also have small celtic brands on the inside of my wrists and my shoulders. My brother used to do tattooing and branding professionally, so I never had a bad experience and always felt well-informed before committing to any particular work. I have an extremely high tolerance for pain, but I've found the lengthy healing process of body modification (especially with brands) annoying and uncomfortable. I think work that is personal and well-executed can be quite beautiful. Otherwise, it often comes off cheesy and I'm sure the people will regret it down the road.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

yes Gwen, you spelled tattoo correctly.

This post'll probably be long, but hopefully it will be useful to anyone who is considering a tattoo.

I have two tattoos. I got the first one 5 days after my beloved dog was euthanised; it's a tiny black dog bone, and it's directly over my heart, on my left breast. It's plain black, about 1/2" long and 1/8" wide. The second one is on the inside of my right ankle, just above the ankle bone. It was originally a crescent moon with a circle inside its arc, but I had it changed 4 months later to a "pawprint"-- a 3/8" round black dot that has 3 tiny 1/8" black dots floating in a curve above the big dot, slightly tilting the whole pawprint towards the front of my leg.
I don't have any worries about the designs because they are permanent reminders of my doggie. It's been two years and I love them extremely. They make me feel bonded to my pup, and they helped me bear a tremendous loss: in the weeks following Truffle's death, whenever I ached in mourning, whenever the tears were especially painful, I touched my tiny bone, felt my heart beating beneath it. It provided me immense comfort during those first grief-filled months.
The moon tattoo was a learning experience: Never get a tattoo based on a relationship you've got with a living person. For me, it was a mistake that I was able to fix with little bother, but boy did I learn my lesson. I had gotten the moon because at the time I was completely and totally enthralled with C, a new friend in my life (I had a bigtime crush on her-- a nonsexual one-- which was something that had never happened to me before, having a crush on a girl), and she was all I could talk about and I spent tons of time with her and I guess in a some ways I almost idolised her. C had gone away for two weeks, and I missed her terribly...and when I found myself back at the tattoo parlor (to support my friend D, who was getting his first tattoo), I impulsively decided to get the moon tattoo, because it was a design on the matching rings that C and I each happened to own when we met. I got the moon. The the tattoo turned out slightly different from the design I'd given the artist (the same guy who'd done my dog bone), and I was immediately regretful and unhappy, realising all too suddenly how permanent a tattoo feels, when it's not what you want. The artist felt terrible and didn't charge me anything, but I was still left with the undesirable result on my ankle. Next, C came home and immediately started up with a new boyfriend. When I showed her the tattoo I'd gotten in her honor, she seemed unimpressed and blase and I felt another notch awfuller. A few months later, our friendship was on very rocky ground; the boyfriend was In, and I was Out. I was hurt, and angry, and sad, and the damned moon inked into my skin was a constant reminder of my stupidity and recklessness. I formulated a plan to fix it. I came up with the pawprint design by completing the arc of the moon into a full circle, filling it in, and adding the small dots above, and was monumentally relieved when Bryn transformed my Bad Tattoo into the sweet, simple pawprint design that's now graced my ankle for a year and a half. I can never have too many reminders of my Truffle Dog, and I am very very happy with the way the pawprint looks.
Pain being a subjective thing, tattoos hurt/don't hurt based on location, size, and color. Tattoos on bony parts of the body (for example, ankles, scalp, backbone/sacrum) are much more painful than those inked into soft body parts (ie upper arms, bum cheeks, belly, breasts). The smaller the tattoo, the less the pain. And black tattoos hurt less than tattoos with multiple colors and/or layers of colors. For me, the sensation is a stinging, slightly hot feeling. It's not nearly as invasive-feeling as an injection at the doc's or an ear piercing (lobe or cartilage). My ankle tattoo stung quite a bit while I was getting it, but it wasn't anything terrifying, and it didn't hurt at all afterward. Considering that I have a history of needle phobia, that's saying something. ;-)
I think fake tattoos and Mendhi are great. And I drew a dog bone on my breast with a Sharpie (permanent marker) for several days before committing to the permanent tattoo. I wanted to be sure the location and size felt right. I haven't had a tattoo removed, but before I got the moon fixed, I called every listing in the Yellow Pages under Tattoo Removal and was sickened to learn that it would cost a MINIMUM of $400-500 or so to have a quarter-sized black tattoo removed (colors other than black cost more), it would take at least 3-6 months to heal completely, and it was a very painful process, nothing like getting the actual tattoo. It SUCKED to get this info AFTER having a Bad Tattoo inked onto myself.
Finally, yes, the latest black inks do stay black, and they "bleed" less than tattoos of decades past, keeping their edges fairly crisp and sharp. That said, most people have their tattoos "refreshed" every few years, either to brighten the colors or to darken the blacks. Most parlors don't charge full price for this service, and it's less painful that the initial tattoo.

Does that cover it? :-) It's funny (cool) you asked this, Gwen, because two of my best friends got their first tattoos in the last two weeks, so the subject is fresh in my mind.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

if me and brett get together im gonna get a tatoo of his name! i hav'nt decided were yet tho

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

Floosie, if you go out with Brett make sure to get his name tattooed on your ass, since it will be his after he makes you his woman!

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

This struck me as funny when I saw the question about the tattoos on one's neck. Several months ago, I met a friend of mine for a drink at Coyote Ugly (which is *nothing* like the Coyote Ugly in the movie, there are *no* girls who look like Maria Bello, Tyra Banks, or Piper Whatserface). But it is kind of a funny bar, and there are girls that work there that dance on the bar, and they're dressed pretty sexily - lots of leather, etc. Anyway, the one girl, who was wearing black leather pants and a black leather tube top, had a gozillion tattoos but my favorite went around her neck, in a roman script, it said FUCKER. And I'm thinking - do you *ever* have to go home for the holidays? There's no *way* you could hide it, and I can only imagine what it's going to look like when she's 90.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

suski i was thinkin may be on my chest or on my finger like pamela lee. i love her and whished i looked like her!

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

The Undertaker (WWF) has a new tattoo on his neck: "SARA", his new wife. Ummm, I mean, I HEARD that the Undertaker got a tattoo... Oh, forget it.

I want a sexay butterfly tat above my bum.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

I kind of went into this in another thread but thought I'd offer a little more detail here.

I got my first tattoo when I was 17...I went to a very unscrupulous parlor and lied about my age, and they went ahead and slapped a pink- and-yellow lotus flower on my outer left ankle. In my first few months of college, I went through a dumb rebellious phase, and decided to cover the flower with something bigger, darker, and more offensive to my parents. So I got a really hideous "tribal" sun in a dark purple colour, which covered not only the flower, but about four square inches of my skin. I later got these removed through *very* painful (and expensive...$1200 expensive) laser surgery.

A few months later, I got a purple-and-indigo crescent moon and star on my right hip. I still like the design, but the outer edges have blurred a little and I don't think they can be fixed without covering the whole thing with something enormous.

About a year and a half ago, I got a really beautiful, realistic, and elaborately-coloured butterfly at the base of my spine. It took four and a half hours, was very expensive, and excruciatingly painful. But it really is a gorgeous piece of work.

Finally, in October I got the kanjii symbol (character? I dunno) for "slave" on my belly, about an inch below my navel. I like it quite a bit, and it didn't hurt too much to get it there. Maybe because my belly's too soft. :)

The things I would suggest to people considering tattoos are: (1) make *very* certain you are satisfied with the design and its placement; (2) consider whether you will still want the design on your body in 5, 10, 20, 50 years; (3) make sure the studio you go to is clean, sterile, and employs talented and experienced artists.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

My much younger sister got a tattoo - I remember thinking she was so bold, so hip... she got a little Ying/Yang symbol on her ankle. I asked her how she liked it several months later... she said she didn't - every time she passed her mirrored closet door she freaked a little bit thinking she had a spider on her ankle. ... I always think about 50 years down the road - all old folks in a nursing home being fed applesause and being catheterized as they sit there with their faded, old tattoos on saggy skin that say things like, "Born to Raise Hell!"

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000