Sun 16 Mar 2008
I’ve had a fair number of requests for more details on the recent Miami trip. One place I walked past was Miami Ink, a tattoo parlor upon which a popular TLC reality TV series is apparently based. I snapped the fuzzy pic to the right. Full disclosure requries me to state that I don’t have any tattoos, nor have I any interest in getting one. That said, I am like many of you, a social observer and this is what I’ve discovered about tattoos:
Tattoo Placement and Content
Girls have four tattoo location possibilities designated by current style:
- Shoulder blade
- Lower back (derisively referred to as a tramp stamp)
- Ankle
- Upper leg/bikini region
Girls can choose: a butterfly, heart, fairy, star, or cross. Mystical/eastern characters and scripts are also becoming popular.
For a guy, there are only two area choices:
- Bicep (Celtic or tribal swirl), which sometimes extends up to the shoulder or down to the forearm
- Across the top back
Popular male tattoo selections include: Chinese characters, your last name, your nickname, your girlfriend’s name, something mean (dragon), or a woman image (often not child-friendly.)
FACT: Tattoos are called “tats” by those who have them
Funny Tattoo Instructions.
Ooh, I know this one! There’s also the fingers, useful for spelling out cool words.
After reading the “Funny tattoo instructions” I find it sad that the modern mark of a man (or woman) is their ability to suck it up while experiencing discomfort for the sake of pure vanity. Whatever happened to applying stinging ants to your skin or branding yourself, for pete’s sake?
After posting I suffered the moment of “duh” that tattoos and most other body mods ARE just branding yourself, sometimes even literally. Oops.
I don’t think i’ve branded myself with my tattoo.
I didn’t do it to be unique, or be part of a culture either, i did it for two reasons.
1) it looks good, i like it, like a piece of clothing, i like that it looks good.
2) it has meaning