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

i personally have 2 tattoos. my wife has 2 as well. my personal opnion is that if you want one get one. just make sure its something that you want for the rest of your life. i have a few friends that are COVERED and it dosent bother me. its who they are. tattoos are more openly accepted now than they were 20 years ago.

 

I think the topic of a tattoo makes it counterculture (or not... in most cases, not), not the existence of one. Sometimes, as Baraka said, simply the location makes it counterculture.

I have two tattoos. One, I got when I was 18 and, while I appreciate the aesthetics still, it's not quite as "me" as it used to be. I got the one below three years ago. In my mind, it's my tattoo. I'll show it to people, sure, and I like when it's admired, but if anyone asks me what it means (or what it means to me), I brush 95% of them off. It might sound weird, but the meaning of it and why I have it is for me alone.

 

I don't have any tattoos. Never really thought about getting a tattoo. Until recently.
I think I might be ready for one. Not sure what just yet. Waiting for that moment to strike...and it will.
I've earned a fucking tattoo.

 

I have no ink. I am not sure I want any. I can admire the work, however, every single freakin person I know either has ink, or wants it. I see so much shitty work that people are so proud of, and all I can think is "you paid somebody to disfigure you, what a dumbass". I have seen some nice work as well, but those pieces are few and far between. Many people I know that claim they want them because they symbolize something near and dear to them, however they tend to be the same people who don't want anybody to see who they really are. Are tattoos hardcore? If you consider 14 y.o. girls w/ tattoos of unicorns, hardcore, then yeah. Otherwise, they are just another trendy fashion accessory.

 

to me, tattoo's are artificially earned scars. i already have plenty of those that i earned. i enjoy a thoughtful or well-rendered tatoo on someone, but no more than i would a picture in a magazine or a painting on a wall.

i take it one step further too... i've never worn any jewelery; not even a watch. beyond clothing i've never liked how foreign objects feel on my skin.

 

Punk is dead. Nail in the coffin and all that jazz.

I have no ink, but I want some. I've had various ideas on what it would be, but nothing I've ever wanted to have on me for the rest of my life. I also have to worry about CubeWorld Corporate Standards (tm) and what they would say. I like tattoos on women, I think it's hot especially combined with the geek girl look.

People who do anything to their bodies for someone else is doing it wrong. You get tattoos, lose weight, change you hair color for yourself, not what someone else will think about it. Tattoos (like most things involving your body) is about what you want and how you feel about it.

I could do with less tramp stamps, those things are getting old.

 

I dont consider myself a "punk" in any sense whatsoever.

 

I really like tattoos... I love the art work that goes into the good ones. I am still planning on getting a couple. I don't think they were ever 'punk' I think it was a rebellious thing. In certain environments it does still stand out against the mainstream, but no where near what it used to symbolize.

 

I can't think of a single environment where tattoos stand out against the mainstream...except maybe in certain religious groups like mormons.

 

i agree with you. sometimes people dont wish to share the meaning or origin of their tattoo. and i respect that. others dont. the pic below is my wedding ring tattoo. i got it or several reasons. one is that i dont wear a wedding ring due to what i do. i have allready had to have one surgically removed after i caught it on a live starter. i get many complimnents on it and i get "the look" from other people. i really dont care. the other is on my arm. ill try to take a pic this afternoon.

sorry for the dry hands. i have been cleaning transmission parts all day

 

Sometimes tattoos are used to commemorate the scars you've earned that others can't see.

 

very true

 

I don't have any myself, but I tend to quite like tattoos. My wife has 7 or 8, of quite a wide variety of styles. I love playing with them, though honestly I probably annoy her with it as much as anything else. I definitely have a threshold for when I think tats going from being attractive and cool to being too much. I'd have a very hard time defining where that line is, and it probably has a lot to do with the coherence of the piece. Once people just start putting shit on themselves, it gets a little obnoxious. One of my wife's best friends used to have a decent number of tattoos but they were all attractive, well thought out and nicely done. Now she's almost addicted to the things and just tosses them on her body, which has made me rethink all of them. I don't totally get how that works, but meh.

I would guess that a lot of people have a threshold for number, placement and subject matter for when tats go from cool body art to what the fuck did you do to yourself. I would say that a lot of the stigma is gone by this point, but I definitely think that you'll still run into it, especially if you have neck, sleeve or face tattoos and are trying to work in a more professional environment. I don't think many people are surprised to find out when people DO have them, but it's one thing to know someone has a fish on their ankle or a tramp stamp or something, and another to be sitting in the office with someone with a full sleeve. Doesn't mean they're any worse at their job, but I would bet you'll still have a stigma for having it.

I think it's very interesting, Poetry, that you're willing to share your tattoo but not what it means. I understand that the reason you have it is private, and you're certainly not required to tell anyone, but part of the act of creating art is that it begs inspection and questions when people see it. I guess it's surprising to me that you'd volunteer to show your tattoo but not be interested in talking about what it means or why you got it. Not trying to be critical so much as understand the thought process. It's very cool, either way.

 

As said before, my tattoo is a scar that you cannot see... I love it, I know my tattoo artist personally and I wouldn't have had anyone else take me through the whole process...

Honestly, I don't care if someone has or doesn't have tattoos, only because I place a meaning on my tattoos so therefore, I assume they have a deep meaning to it as well.... I will also add I am a huge fan of tattoo art... some of the pieces that I've seen are better than some works of canvas art....

 

I work with lots of grizzled old bikers, former seamen and a whole cast of colorful characters, so tattoos are pretty much the norm.

I don't personally have any ink, though. Ironically, I stand out sometimes because of that.

 

I have real scars as well if it helps... most obviously a massively obvious (to me anyway) scar right across the middle of my forehead.

To be fair, I wasnt exactly a pretty boy beforehand, but it makes me look even more like an ugly lout. Luckily some women in the world still fancy a bit of rough!

 

Well with everyone pretty much decided on "its what you make of it," are there any tattoo trends? Such as the tribal arm band? I haven't seen any arm bands recently, it seems that died with the nineties....

 

Thankfully.

Of course, now it's all about having sleeves.

 

Plan9's quote is worth repeating:

It's always the quiet ones... If you haven't read any William S. Burrows or Georges Bataille, you really should.

Punk, like all sub-cultures, has been co-opted into mainstream culture long ago. It is just another fashion, another skin that players put on to make a statement. There are very few things that escape the mainstream consumer maw in its quest to bring new, fresh and cool to the market where it can be sold. This is not a bad thing. It's just the way it works.

Tattoos have gone from being something sailors picked up from the islands of the South Pacific that were transgressive when back in "polite society" to what they are today... just another fashion.

 

I don't have any and don't plan on getting one, but I don't see the harm in getting one. Though if you are getting words, make sure you can spell (or your artist can!)