Body Modification

[davywavy]

Back when I was a student I used to frequent a nightclub called the Banshee. it was a wretched hive of scum and villainy, whose legend was only enhanced when the building which housed it collapsed one night about two weeks after it was closed down as being unfit for human habitation.
The clientele was the predictable assortment of punks, goths, recidivists, reprobates, ne'er-do-wells and second-year engineering students. I used to go there to dance around in my flailing way and to try and meet girls.
One night I noticed a remarkably pretty punk girl wearing ripped fishnets. Nothing unusual in that you might think, but as I checked her out I realised something. She wasn't wearing ripped fishnets - they were tattooed directly onto her legs. Being an impressionable 19 year old at the time, my immediate reaction was Wow, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen!. However, then the bit of my brain which actually does the thinking took over and my opinion changed.
She's really going to regret that in ten years, I thought.

That pretty much sums up why I never got a tattoo. They've grown increasingly fashionable as the years have gone by, but I've always been put off by the permanence. There's bound to come a day when I'd look in the mirror and wish I hadn't had a dotted line with "cut here" inked onto my neck, no matter how attractive a thought it might be right now. The problem isn't just the permanence; it's the fact that fashion changes, and getting a tattoo is like being required to wear the same piece of clothing every day no matter how dated it might look. I mean, I do very much like my Oakleys, but there are limits. Following tattoo fashion is a quick way of permanently dating yourself to the moment you wanted to be at your most funky.
Got a swallow tattooed on your hand? You were in the navy before 1985. Got one of those big, pointy, swirly polynesian tattoos down your arm? You were doubtless the coolest person in Aiya Napa in 1997. Got an ornate yakuza-style sleeve? Your best ever year was 2005. Moreover, with the inexorable march of time those Yakuza sleeves are just going to start looking like you haven't ironed your shirt.

So, question of the day; if you've got a tattoo, what is it, why'd you get it and have you regetted it since? And if you haven't, any particular reason why not?

Comments

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

No ink for me unless I a) Design it myself and b) Sudden decide, bizarrely, that I really like being stabbed repeatedly with a needle that leaks ink

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I have a small fox on my shoulder/back. It is a design taken from the last Christmas card my mother sent me before she died. I had it done nine years ago, soon after she died, and I've never regretted it. I still think it's really lovely.

see icon

[calligrafiti.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky enough to never be fashionable, so changes in fashion don't really bother me.

My tattoo is of a Viking longship. It's on the outside, top of my right leg. I got it in '06, and so far I haven't regretted it. I wanted a tattoo for years, but I was worried about the permanence. So I told myself that I'd only get a tattoo if I really wanted a specific design for over a year. In '05 I decided that Viking ships were lovely and started collecting pictures of them and recommendations for tattoo artists. In '06 my mom died, I changed jobs, and I made plans to move. I liked the idea of the ship even more, as it seemed symbolic of something that could go through changes with flexibility and grace.

The location means that the skin around the tattoo won't change much with time and weight fluctuation. I can show it off in swimsuits, but it's covered in work situations (although tats are apparently really common in my office).

I'm very happy with it, and I don't foresee that changing.

[nicnac.livejournal.com]

I do, on my right shoulder. It's the birdman symbol from Easter Island and I had it done when I was there by one of the Rapa Nui people. I fell completely in love with the place - we booked for one week, stayed for two and I'd have been happy to stop there indefinitely, but my other half pointed out that a RTW trip is supposed to circle the globe and not stall half way.

I'd never been remotely interested in tattoos before, but it seemed a good way to commemorate the visit and I haven't regretted it even slightly. I'll go back one day.

[gnommi.livejournal.com]

I have no tattoos, I don't think I'm old enough to have done anything to commemorate in such a permanent fashion yet. When I finish this PhD, however, I might well have some kind of rite-of-passage type thing done.
If I do it will be large, but invisible under normal conditions (i.e. not on my face, arm, ankle, or anywhere else that pokes out of clothing.

I can't help feeling that most of the scars will be internal though!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Very few tattoos on people appeal to me (with a possible exception of dreamsewing's back tattoo because that is simply a work of art) so I've never even contemplated getting one, even if I could get over the prospect of pain.
There's very little body modification that appeals to me.

[medusa-nw.livejournal.com]

I've got two, a swirly black thing around my belly button, and a girl phoenix on my left shoulder blade. I love them both, although the belly button one has been in hiding for a few years what with me not really wanting to show off my stomach these days... ;-) I still love it when I look in the mirror though.

The back one I love too, but it needs a bit of touching up to revive some of the colours. It was designed for me by Chris Achilleos as payment for some modelling I did for him in the early 90s. I actually want to expand on it and have a full back piece done. I'll get around to it eventually...

[annacara.livejournal.com]

I have two tattoos, one on either arm. Which are two years old.

niether of them is what I would call a fashion tattoo and I don't regret them.

My reason is that to me they have a spritual meaning.

Cheers
T

[(Anonymous)]

I once represented a chap who had had his whole face done in a sort of maori affair. Utterly terrifying, which I suppose was the point since his job was mugging people.

Bit of a bugger on ID parades though.

D

[belak-krin.livejournal.com]

I have a design between my shoulderblades, a self-design based on some old astrological nonsense that looks pretty.

Having thought about it for ages, I finally got it done on a whim just before my 21st birthday. Never regretted it, although it hurt like buggery so I'm a little hesitant about having more.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I sometimes see people with the full-face tattoos and vaguely think that they shouldn't be eligible for benefits a they plainly don't want to ever get a job.

[(Anonymous)]

I always thought Rollins 'Search and Destroy' Tattoo would be a jolly after dinner talking point.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

You should join a gym! I can recommend a good one close to you :p

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I was put off getting one like that by the 500-sit-ups-a-day requirement to keep it in displayable condition.

Re: see icon

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I just re-read your comment and realised you answered my question so I deleted it again.

[medusa-nw.livejournal.com]

I have been going actually, we have one in the building I work in I can use for free. I was just saying to my flatmate yesterday that after a month of going 3 to 4 times a week I realised the difference it had made when it was a hell of a lot easier to get in my latex and corset on Saturday night than it was the last time I wore it, which was 2 months ago. So I'm getting there. :-)

[medusa-nw.livejournal.com]

I know a few people with face tattoos, but they're all performance artists or tattooists. But they will have to do that for the rest of their lives I suppose...

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

a lot easier to get in my latex and corset

That sounds like a heck of a gym kit to me...

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

It doesn't leave many alternatives. I mean, what if they decide they want to be a primary school teacher?

[medusa-nw.livejournal.com]

You sweat so much you lose twice as much weight. ;-p

[medusa-nw.livejournal.com]

Very thick concealer?

[kashinthegreen.livejournal.com]

I have 7 tattoos. I designed all but one myself and they all represent milestones and things that are important to me in my life. My first one was badly executed, such is the folly and impatience of youth, but then that is kind of what it is all about. I am getting my back reworked in a piece that will consume 2 of the pieces on there. Not because I regret or want to cover them up, the process of getting them, which is somewhat initiatary, was good and necessary. The new piece however, needs that space, and has become more important.

I've spent a lot of time in tattoo parlours, and there is a definate divide between those that want it as a statement (the "what can I get for 20 quid" crowd) and those who choose it as part of a lifestyle, to define their "tribe" or for spiritual reasons.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Actually, Maori High has a ring to it. I feel another idea forming.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I Mug mug mug mug, mug mug mug
With a shiv, the whole day through
To mug mug mug mug, mug mug mug
With a full face tattoo.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I often injure myself but that's through things like not looking where I'm going, or trying to detatch a pipe with an incorrectly-held mole grip (Ouch).

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

There have been times when I thought it would be totally teh KewlxX0r to get a tattoo, but then I sober up and thank myu lucky stars I didn't.

[medusa-nw.livejournal.com]

Just remember who gave you the idea in the first place when you're rich and famous!

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I'll reserve you a place in the queue of supplicants.

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

I have two tattoos.

One, which I got back in October 2002, is of a theatrical mask on my left shoulderblade, half happy and half sad. I got it because I'd been thinking about that design and location for a long time and then had a bit of a "crystallising experience" that made me decide that, yes, I did want to get that done. I've never once regretted it.

The other, which I got back in December 2006, is of a "tribal dove" on my left forearm. It is also the symbol of the band Thursday, who have been my favourite band since early 2002. I got it because, again, I'd been thinking about getting it for a couple of years and had a "crystallising experience." I went to get it done the next day, and again have never once regretted it.

I agree that getting "cool" or contemporary tattoos is probably unwise -- in particular, getting a tattoo by looking through designs and choosing something you like seems a bit daft. My tattoos have specific meaning and stories attached to them and I enjoy their permanence for that reason -- they serve as reminders of particular times.

[wendy-lady.livejournal.com]

I got my tattoo when Sean was out seeing you the first time!! It is a fleur de lis, just above the butt in the center of my lower back. I got it as a representation of my heritage. (Yes, I'm a Frenchie!) I have not regretted it because I put a lot of thought into where I wanted it, how big it would be, and what it was. I specifically put it somewhere it wouldn't stretch out should I gain weight, get pregnant, or as I got older.

[supermouse.livejournal.com]

I don't have one. I have lots and lots of scars, which all mean something to me and bring back memories of when they were made (not deliberately!) so tattoos seem superfluous. I was going to get my blood group and DOB tattooed on, and perhaps my NI number. I still could. I just never got round to it - it's slightly hard to have it be usefully placed and yet not look like you're trying to be Edgy and play off the Holocaust survivors, and I am not that sort of an arsehole.

[sesquipedality.livejournal.com]

I think what this shows is that either you're a tattoo person, or you're not. There are many images I adore. None that I would tattoo on myself, however.

PS Are you thinking of running for EU president? I'd vote for you ahead of Blair. (Admittedly, you are being damned with faint praise here.)

[(Anonymous)]

I have occasionally pondered getting one in memory of my brother, who died 5 years ago. So far I haven't gone through with it - largely because he wasn't a tattoo person and when I do think about it, I can hear him telling me not to be such a stupid arse....

[applez.livejournal.com]

Yep, nothing will ruin the romance of Ink faster than going to a public swimming pool populated with septuagenarian US Marines.

Ever after, I've been struck with the question, "yeah that's cool, but how will that look with wrinkles at 70?"*

*of course missing the point that if I skullfucked a Jap on Iwo Jima with his own chopsticks and I was still alive at 70, I couldn't care what people thought of my physique or wrinkled ink.

THanks to the magic of Reverso

[(Anonymous)]

In one of private блогов (reference) discussion was deployed for the occasion of authorship of Your post, the same ways and journalist here went probably, when wrote his(its) article, strangely just such медиа-resource dear all over the world published it moreover and on the main page.

H

PS, I thought it was another "Muscovite Messalina", and I bet you did, too.

Re: THanks to the magic of Reverso

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

It looks like a spambot, trying to make me think that beautiful Russian women want to meet me (although heaven knows why they should).

Re: THanks to the magic of Reverso

[(Anonymous)]

I thought maybe English/media students? Peter's book is being translated into Russian, remember, so maybe there's a growing interest there in esoteric things including, inter alia, body art.

Weirdly, Reverso doesn't seem to have the capacity to translate "blogov" from the Russian, but it's kind of self-explanatory.

H

[moomin-puffin.livejournal.com]

I really wanted to go to the banshee and they shut it down before I got the chance

[elbly.livejournal.com]

I decided on my tattoo on the day I went to visit the university I ended up spending 6 years hating, but didn't get the tattoo done for another 4 years. The fact that I still wanted it doing after that time suggested to me it wasn't going to bore me in the long term. The location of it means that no one ever really sees it, appart from my husband, occationally my doctor and anyone who happens to be paying enough attention when I'm wearing a swimming costume (not all that often), so there's never really going to be a point when I'm restricted in my choice of clothes due to the sake of a short period of ink & pain.

I have a tiny cat (about 1" in diameter) tattooed on the top of the inside of my right thigh. It has it's tail up and back arched. I had it done for 2 reasons in the end: 1) because I'd wanted it for a long time and 2) I worked in a titty bar where full nudity wasn't allowed - so when guy's asked to see my pussy I could show them without losing my job. Got me more than enough tips to pay for the tattoo 5 times over.

[elbly.livejournal.com]

I'm terrified of needles but having a tattoo is so very different to having an injection or pricking yourself while sewing. It feels much more like someone slowly dragging a hot sharp knife across your skin, then not so carefully lifting off the skin in the middle of the shape they've just carved. While all the time making a horrific buzzing noise.

Or at least mine did anyway.

[ddraiggwyrdd.livejournal.com]

I'm coming into this late so I've not read everyone elses post.
When my eldest daughter wanted her ears pierced I worried. Mostly I worried if it would hurt. I had mine done first and as it wasn't too bad, let her have hers done.
Several years later she wanted a tatoo. I went through all the same arguments you have mentioned but she was insistant. So I reasoned, if I had one first she would know at least, if it was going to be too painful, and be able to pull out. This we agreed. Next was what to have. I thought, if I'm going to be saddled with a mark for the rest of my days it's got to stand the test of time.I eventually decided on the Wajet eye or Eye of Horus, in blue on my right shoulder. There is a long explanation for this which I will give you sometime if you are interested but superficially I can say it's lasted for several thousand years and as a design is almost ageless. Both my daughters and I have the same tatoo in the same place for the same reasons. They have other small ones with personal meaning but I'm happy to stop at this one.