Tatoos

[jmfryar]

YEA! You tell 'em!


On a personal note, the tattoo in honor of my daughter is on my forearm just so that people ask and inquire - it's much more personal than hauling photos out of the wallet.

The great part is when people see the female name, look at me, laugh and say "You're gonna regret that!"

I just smile back and say - "Not for a single moment."

[treebeau]

Howdy,

I like the additional input, but I'm still having a hard time understanding, and probably will never understand.

If I get a tattoo and it is on my back, I will not see it unless I use a mirror to look in a mirror, or have a photograph taken and just look at the photograph. The former is just too much trouble to admire my own tattoo. The latter makes me think "Why didn't I just have a drawing done on paper (that reflects my personality), and simply look at that?"

So, there's only one other possibility. I have it so others, whomever(?) I choose, will see it. Therefore, it is really for others to see, even though I am the permanent owner.

If the tattoo were on the front of my leg or arm then I could understand it being just for me, particularly if it were upside down to the rest of the world, because that is how I would look at it, or in reverse if I would look in a mirror all the time. Everyone else might say "Why do you have 'WOW' on your chest?" and I'd say "You dummy, it's 'MOM' !"

Now, don't go thinking I'm picking on anyone for their personal expression. You go right ahead and do what you want with your body. I'm just saying that I don't understand.

Regards,
Tim B.

[Nicole Marie]

Get a tattoo and you'll understand. It's part of you, an addition to you. I carry them with me every where I go, it's part of who I am. I don't look at them every day, that's not why I got them. My ass is part of me but I don't spend the entire day looking at it in a mirror. They are mine not to look at but to carry with me, to further express who I am to no one else but myself.

[treebeau]

As a young boy I got into a lot of situations. My skin tends to split rather than bruise or bump. Because of that I have several scars. A few are visible. None were voluntary. But they are all a part of me, additions to me. I carry them with me every where I go. I don't look at them every day, that's not why I got them. They are mine not to look at but to carry with me, to further express who I am to no one else but myself.

And I wish I didn't have them, yet they are permanent.

Again, not criticizing. We all have our right to choose.

Regards,
Tim B.

(BTW, the "ass" comment also "cracked" me up!)

[Serenity]

Hmmm....if I get a tattoo and I put on weight over the years, will it stretch accordingly?

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Originally posted by Serenity:
Hmmm....if I get a tattoo and I put on weight over the years, will it stretch accordingly?

Very likely. I'd think they will stretch with the skin that they're part of.

[Nicole Marie]

Yes they stretch, when your skin stretches the tattoo will fade. Tattoos do not "distort", so if you have a face tattoo, the face will not morph into something else. (Old joke about getting a lady tattooed on you, gain some weight and then you have a whole lotta lady - that doesn't happen). That doesn't happen because our skin does not strech the same way a balloon does. But they do fade when you gain weight (the result of the skin expanding) and you will have to have touch ups done. Most artist do touch ups for free on their own work.

Treebeau sorry to hear about your skin. My hubby has a scar from a bike accident, bone went through skin, he's not too happy about that scar. I hope this does not come across bitchy, but I see a bit of difference between you and I. My "scarring" was voluntary, yours seems not to be. So I'm missing the comparison. But I'm glad you liked the ass joke, I've used that one before when I get that question.

<small>[ 08-05-2003, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: Nicole Marie ]</small>

[Serenity]

I have a long day today but...

Nicole - (you might know this):
Do you know if any known composers had any tattoos? (How old is tattooing anyway? Seems like it could be an "ancient art").

By the way, LMREO , your references were cracking me up yesterday.

[OperaTenor]

I heard a story of Beethoven getting drunk one night and having Mozart's likeness tatooed on his left butt cheek......Or maybe it was "Mutter" on his right bicep.......Or maybe I'm mixing that up with something I heard in the Navy.......I really miss my pain medication sometimes.......

<small>[ 08-06-2003, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: operatenor ]</small>

[Shapley]

Tatooing is mentioned in the Old Testament, in fact it is prohibited by it. That's why we Catholics are not supposed to get tattoo'd. Anyway, that means it is at least 2,000 years old. I seem to recall that it was practiced regularly in Ancient Egypt.

V/R
Shapley

[jmfryar]

Actually, it's mentioned in the old testament, which means that Jews shouldn't get it done. Can't be buried in a Jewish cemetary if you are tattooed. This, of course, created amazing problems when the Nazis tattooed the jews in concentration camps with numbers - this has been corrected. (compensated for? Ignored? gotta LOVE religion!!)

The New Testament, which is what applies to Christians...wait...you said Catholic...oh, yea...forgot...us catholics aren't actually taught anything about the book. I still chortle when I think that the church fought it even being in english up until 20 years ago...

Tattooing goes back pre-recorded history. Hey, when you're bored, full from the hunt, sitting around the fire and drunk on whatever brew/narcotic you've developed it's not real suprising that guys would think of a way to cause damage to each other.

I picture it starting much the same way that the first guy that passes out at the party ends up with marker all over his face and body.

heh heh heh...

[Nicole Marie]

Tattooing has a long history with the Catholic Church. In some cases it's looked down on but there are examples of monks being tattooed, people joining the Crusades would tattoo themselves before leaving, in Italy during the feudal wars (around Dante's time) people would tattoo themselves to represent their group, the church had a large part in these disputes and knew of the tattooing. Read "Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History", it explains how tattooing entered the Western culture.

Tattooing dates back way before the bible. A book called "The Tattoo History: A Source Book" is an excellent read. There is a great book for the ladies on tattooing and the history it's had with women, "Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo". For those who dig Japans style of tattooing (a beautiful art form that I love) read "The Japanese Tattoo". In Asia it was an honor to have your tattooed skin hung for viewing after you died. The art is beautiful.

[Shapley]

Actually the bible specifies that you should not tattoo yourselves, indicating a prohibition on voluntary tattoos, so I think the concentration camp victims were justifiably forgiven, if forgiven is even the proper word, or if "justifiable" can be used in any context when talking about concentration camps.

Catholics have not completely abandoned the old testament rites, and thus the prohibition on tattoos is officially upheld. Of course, there are many who ignore the Church's prohibitions (birth control comes to mind), and many parishes and diocese' (sp?) are open about their opposition to many of the Church's laws. I'm sure this has always been the case, perhaps even more so when Bishops, due to their isolation from Rome, enjoyed perhaps more freedom than they do today.

Whatever the case, despite six years in the Navy, and two trips to Hong Kong, I honored my Church's prohibition on tattoos, even while violating prohibitions on many other things. I think it was the permanancy of the tattoos that made me shy away from such an open display of infidelity to the mandates of the Church.

V/R
Shapley

<small>[ 08-06-2003, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: Shapley ]</small>

[jmfryar]

((here's a cruel trick to play on a Catholic...but always entertaining.))

Uhm...where in the Bible, and in what translation, does it say that?

(heh heh heh)

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/bodyart/
link to a past display of art and artifacts about body art - one piece dates back 5,000 years.

<small>[ 08-06-2003, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: jmfryar ]</small>

[barfle]

Hmmm, for someone who was raised Catholic, I don't recall any prohibition on tattoos. And it seems like I would have heard about it since my dad has one (mentioned above). I'm not sure if he got it before he converted in order to marry my mother, but my mother was raised Catholic, too, and it seems like she would have had some words to say on the topic (she's rarely silent on any topic - maybe that's where I get it from).

Of course, the whole idea never appealed to me anyway, so maybe since it was a rule I wasn't tempted to break, I didn't fret about it, like I did about soooooo many others.

[jmfryar]

Nahhh...tattoos aren't counter culture at all...what would give you THAT impression...

When every teeny-bopper at the beach is sporting one, it's mainstream. Pretty soon, like guys with pony-tails and ear rings, it'll be passe and return to the fringe.

In the meantime, if you're looking for something radical, there's a guy in New York that will bisect your "member", and claims that it's fully functional after that...I think I still have that web site around if you're interested...

[Shapley]

I attended a Catholic grade school. The nuns there were very adamant about not getting tattoos. tattoos were tabu. The biblical prohibition was cited to support that prohibition.

Of course, the biblical prohibition on shellfish and pork was overlooked.

V/R
Shapley

[jmfryar]

They probably overlooked that little section of the old testament that said that abortion was okay, too...nuns are not always known as biblical scholars...

Like I said in an earlier posting...it's amazing how religions pick and choose what they want to follow...

[Shapley]

I believe it was in Ann Landers or Dear Abby that I read about a couple of women who noted that their waitress had a tattoo of a rose on her breast. One of the women told her that, when she reached their age, it would be a long-stemmed rose.

V/R
Shapley

[jmfryar]

LOL..except as noted above, they don't stretch, they fade...