Tattoos? Tattoos!

[Jahydin]

I love tattoos, but I'm way to chaotic to commit to anything permanent on my body. I feel like over the years I've changed dramatically at least three time over and wince at the thought of what tattoos I would currently be sporting.

 

[CleverNickName]

I've heard people say "you always regret your first tattoo," no matter what it is or when you get it...but it's the second one that is supposed to matter the most.

I'm not sure that's true for everyone, but it was true for me. I got my first tattoo in my 20s in response to peer pressure. I got my second one a decade later, a gift to myself to celebrate the end of a bad relationship.

 

[Tigris]

Not really new news but: People With Tattoos More Likely to Also Have Mental Health Issues


There are some rare tatoos I find good looking, but not sure if I would do this still if they are some years old and in general I just dont like them and find them often really ugly.


I remember a friend telling me about her getting a new tatoo, and asked me what I think about tatoos and me answering "well I dont like them, but as long as its not on the cleavage or a skull its not that ugly."

Well of course she planned to do a skull in her cleavage...

 

[trappedslider]

A Half-Black, Half-White Teenager's Parents Finally Allowed Him To Get A Tattoo… This Is What He Picked

The title pretty much explains this one. A half-black, half-white teenager was finally allowed to get a tattoo by his parents. Little did his parents

wgrd.com

 

[Umbran]

Not really new news but: People With Tattoos More Likely to Also Have Mental Health Issues

What a poorly written article.

Yes, folks with tattoos are more likely to have mental health issues....
But, let's walk that back a bit - people with tattoos are more likely to report/admit to mental health issues.

You know what? Younger people are more likely to get tattoos, and engage in risky behavior.
Younger peole are also more likely to report and seek our mental health treatment!

Hi there, confounding bias! I am sure there are others in there I'm not laying out.

Getting a tattoo may be, among other things, an act of taking control over one's body - which can be a notable positive thing in people whose lives have significant psychological or sociological chalenges.

The bias against tattoos is, in significant part, a social construct separating wealthy, socially dominant groups from others.

 

[Umbran]

I've heard people say "you always regret your first tattoo," no matter what it is or when you get it...but it's the second one that is supposed to matter the most.

I expect many first tattoos might be spur-of-the moment things.

Mine are not. I have two - one on each upper arm, art with symbolism I find particularly meaningful. They're basically for me, almost always hidden by my shirtsleeves. I regret neither of them.

My wife has several, all quite lovely.

 

[MoonSong]

I don't see the appeal. I can't really fathom being so convinced about something to go through the pain and healing process needed to keep it forever on my skin. Friends and significant others could end up distant and even enemies. Achievements that feel gigantic could turn meaningless in the grand scheme of things, or even turn out to be colossal dumb mistakes. Even ones own children could end up changing their name, multiple times.... I'd rather keep myself malleable.

 

[Scribe]

I've seen some really cool tattoos.
I've seen far too many awful looking tattoos.
I've now read that they can cause low level inflammation forever.

Therefore I won't be getting any.

Face, neck, and doodle ones? Not a fan at all.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One of the coolest tats I ever saw was a full torso piece on a guy at the Dallas stop for the first Lollapalooza festival. It was a giant red octopus attacking people on the shore in the style of Hokusai. It looked kind of like this:

It was stunning. The tattoo artist had used VERY vivid colors, and because he was only wearing a vest, it was visible from the other side of the arena. He was attracting a crowd as big as some of the members of the smaller bands. I’m pretty sure I saw Ice-T walk up to talk to him about it.

 

[Umbran]

I don't see the appeal.

Fair enough.

I can't really fathom being so convinced about something to go through the pain and healing process needed to keep it forever on my skin.

Mine are on some of the least-painful places you can get them - the meaty part of my upper arm. Interestingly, the pain, for me, actually was... meditative? Getting the tattoo over a more bony part of the body hurts more, but for others I know there was a similar response. My wife literally fell asleep for a bit during one of hers.