Is it still "punk" or alternative to have a tattoo..... pics included.... (NSFW)

I'm just curious as I get my third tattoo whether or not I'm hardcore because I've got tattoos.... or has it become just something someone does nowadays to be cool? Also, do you think that there's now a counter-tattoo culture of first, trying to imagine new places to get them or secondly, not getting them at all....

I personally think that tattoos are just an personal expression of ones self, I've seen some pretty we'll say interesting ones, I've also seen (as well as mine) some that have deeply personal meanings.... which to me was the purpose behind all of my tattoos right now, as a reminder to myself of things that had been....

As far as counter culture, I work with a guy that says its not for him, one of my good friends said she couldn't take the pain.... I've also met people who said it has become such a fad that they just won't do it out of principle... as far as taking it to the extreme.... I've heard to tattoos (removable) on teeth, or on the eye.... I always thought on the inside of the lip was cool.... could the same go for a mohawk since that isn't hardcore anymore as well IMO....

and this is my second tattoo.... I don't have any decent pictures of the first....

 

In all honesty, I don't really care whether it's cool, punk, or alternative to have tattoos. Mine is personal, it's meaningful to me, and I wanted it—and had decided on it—a decade before I got it.







I have a second one planned, potentially a third and fourth. Lots of thought has gone and continues to go into all of these ideas before they will be realized, if at all.

 

personally i find tattoos gross. i can appreciate the artwork, but now that everyone has them they aren't special or cool to me at all anymore. the only thing most people see is ink, and not the inspiration that went into it. they aren't for me.

 

if it means something to you personally that has truly changed your life, i say go for it. unfortunately it has turned into the "cool" thing to do. as of yet, my body remains ink-free, piercing-free, and branding scar free. i can't speak to getting one in the future or not but if i come to an epiphany and figure out a way to graphically represent it, i'd totally want it tattooed on me, regardless of how much it hurt or whatever

 

For fuck's sake, no. NO. Tattoos are definitely no longer considered counter-cultural, or punk in any way, except by the people getting them (with the specific goal of feeling unique, that is).

"Really? You don't have ANY? Is it because you're afraid of pain?!"

No, it's because there is nothing currently in existence worth PERMANENTLY BRANDING TO MY BODY. Honestly, if there was, I'd be on it like Tron. But there's not. So I won't bother.

That being said, I can say DamnitAll's tattoo is genuinely striking--and consider me unstrikeable, due to my raging cynicism. Very detailed, and beautifully created. If I were to get a tattoo, it would be something as meaningful and intricate as that.

Not that I'm discounting your tattoo, streak_56. Nor am I discounting the meaning behind it.

My philosophy is: If you want something permanently branded to your body, GO FOR IT. If you want this because other people will think it's cool... Chances are you'll do it anyway, despite what I say, so it doesn't really matter, does it?

Self-awareness in individuals prone to peer pressure is an extreme rarity, so usually I don't even bother trying to argue with them.

 

crack monk, i could barely make out "kids that get tattoos to be cool suck" over your cynicism haha (not trying to poke fun but i like the passion!)

how have i not seen you on TFP before?

 

My eldest son is a tattoo artist and he has done my two (I'll upload later ) in fact I gave him his first tat gun for his bithday or xmas or something. I'll upload some of his work later too.
Mine have meaning to me, they are not just something cool. But that said, people get some really stupid tats for really stupid reasons. But my opinion of what makes a stupid piece or reason means nothing because your tat is YOUR tat.
I do like Damitall's ink though, it looks like it has some personal meaning behind it, you should tell us the story one day
and Streak_56 that looks like a Pheniox kicking Death's ass, really detailed, nice

 

Somebody start the "Is it still punk or alternative to have piercings?" thread and then we'll talk. As was stated elsewhere, the only tattoo that has any real meaning in the 21st century is that of the concentration camp stamp. And punk? I'm pretty sure the most recent flavor of white guy punk died sometime around when Tim and Lars of Rancid fame started with the gangsta drug dealer thing. Their new stuff is better though, even if it does sound a little like Waylon Jennings somehow wormed his way into Armstrong's body. I don't know anything about music, of course. I'm just a prole.

 

Hi, Streak

I bet some will think you're hardcore, others will think you're cool, you KNOW it's just a personal expression of yourself, so their responses will tell you more about them than about you.

I do have 'personal' input regarding "counter-tatoo culture of" .... "not getting them at all"

I used not to have tatoos, then I learnt they existed and didn't want them and recognized it was a personal choice. Then as they became more prevalent, realised my 'no tatoo' was turning into an active statement among the increasing modalities of difference which rub shoulders as I walk down my local main street. I begin to 'feel' a definite 'no tatoo' identity.

However, I don't feel it as counter-tatoo. Rather, it's like going back to the beginning .... I feel it to be a personal choice, but now I feel much more active within it. An unexpected result is that I can feel far more enthusiatic and appreciative of others' tatoos, because I am now a 'have something different' rather than just a 'have not'; a 'choose to have this' rather than a 'choose not to have that'. Personal choice without counter.

 

The pro argument: "You only get this one body. Might as well make it your own."

The con argument: "But you might regret it later." Just like everything else in life.

The biggest crime with any type of body modification is trying to justify it to others.

I don't have to explain why I have the tattoos that I do. I know why. They're for me.

That and regardless of how stupid your tattoo, someone else has something worse.

Google "Mr. Cool Ice" for a prime example.

 

Plenty of times porn stars have taken me out of the moment with their poor choices of tattoo artistry.
Especially period pieces.

 

I have tatts and don't give a fuck whether people think it's cool or punk or anything else. First one I got was over 30 years ago, last one about 5 years ago.

 

I like skin art, but don't have any myself...

 

so... could you say that Mennonites are the new punks? What if they got tattoos?

 

No, I don't think it is still punk or alternative as other have already stated. And I like streak_56 and Damnitall's tattoos, nice work! I think it is depends on your preferences.

For a long period of time, I wanted to get a tattoo, but I wasn't sure of what. So, I spent three years trying to figure out what I wanted on my body and why. When I figured it out, I had my friend draw up a few designs and then had them done.

http://i.imgur.com/ydMiI.jpg, http://imgur.com/RzwXI, http://imgur.com/5BALo, http://imgur.com/M2EE8

 

It was never "Punk".

Tattoos got a bad name from the biker culture of post WWII. Starting in the 50s and going strong till the late 70s through the Vietnam War These are mostly ex-military men in there lates 20s and early 30s.

 

Ah, I found it:

...

I have no experience with the punk subculture, but I'd imagine it was about the lifestyle talked about in the music. The clothing and hair was just a clique identifier. Some of the most punk guys I ever knew looked like they fell out of the 1950s, not off the cover of ...And Out Come the Wolves.

Depends on your definition of the word, though. I always took punk to mean "white guy reggae tunes with 3-chord screaming." Think: Operation Ivy. I would say they were the finest punk band ever. Mmm, I've seen several guys with the Operation Ivy Energy jumping hobo guy logo as a tattoo.

/threadjack

 

Thanks, Crack Monk and Jove!

(Story coming eventually.)