Is it me or am I all wet?
Yesterday I was at Malama’s market sitting in my automobile waiting for a confederate to do some shopping. Observing the citizenries going in and out of the marketplace I noticed something I’m sure that we are all aware of “Tattoos” of all kinds, masculine and feminine alike. I believe that today more females are getting tattoos than males. It’s beginning to look like a cult amongst woman, [you had better get a tat before the craze goes away mentality] All is good, to each his/her own, no one person has the right to tell others how to live their life.
Here is where I have issues, children getting tattoos that will endure a lifetime. I saw three very immature girls, say ages around thirteen [maybe] with big tattoos, many of them of various [things] The art work was of quality but in my opinion the canvas was way too young. The parents of these youngsters should be questioned and made to account for, WHY WOULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?
I remember reading about adults in California that were having their tattoos removed because of physiological reasons and not being able to cope with life. The state [us taxpayers] were footing the bill of the removal so that these people could “re-inter society”
Why would anyone put a picture on their body for life that they wouldn’t hang on their own wall. Go figure.[?]
The Lack
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Great topic, Lack.
Tattoos are of course more and more popular, but have been a way for people to express their views on religion, politics, life, death, heritage, tribal affiliations, etc. for so many centuries. I admire great ink and have a couple of my own. It's a joy to be able to decorate MY "canvas" in whatever way I wish.
However, I do agree with your views on young people and tattoos. Our daughter wants to get one (she's 17) and her Dad told her he would appreciate it if she waits a few years until she's older and able to think it through for a while.
What other people allow their children to do is up to them. Although I don't agree with something indelible on such a young person, one of the great lessons here is for me to sweep my own side of the street. There ARE laws about how old a person has to be. How many people actually abide by those laws is another issue altogether. Mahalo!
[:X]
Carrie Rojo
http://www.carrierojo.etsy.com
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." Barack Obama
Carrie Rojo
"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
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Tatoos were much more cool before everyone started getting them.
Having said that, the Kakau (tatoo) is a polynesion cultural thing as well. I know a local family who have their aumakua tatooed on everyone from their young teenage girls to tutu.
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I thought tattoos weren't permanent any more, they can be removed with lasers.
Perhaps the young girls were wearing fake ones.
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I agree tatoos should be mulled over & carefully chosen. If I had kids I would insist they wait till they turn 18 & really discuss the implications (long term and health).
I luv well placed & artistic tatoos (assuming of course you go to a certified/licensed artist). I really hate "jail house" tatoos (self inflicted garbage). The giant tree of life tatoo I see on allot of kids backs is way overdone, the giant family name across the back seems pointless, the giant Madonna tatoo on the shoulder will soon go out of fashion & is already very tacky.
The problem is allot of people can't just stop at one, they keep collecting tatoos. What was once a really nice looking body can turn into tacky body art/graffiti. Plus what happens if that tatoo sags as one get older, yuck.
Yes you can laser romove tatoos but very expensive and not 100 percent sucessful (process may have to be repeated).
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They are getting fairly blase these days. There used to be a shock factor and an "annoy the parents" factor to having a tattoo, now NOT having one is almost bizarre. Lemmings and the sea come to mind, but I digress.
I have seen many well done tattoos as well as a lot of "correctional facility" tattoos, but what I haven't seen much of are tattoos that improve the looks of the person wearing them. They don't seem shaped to enhance the body they are set on. Generally when females try on clothes they look in the mirror first to see if the new clothes would enhance their body yet when these same folks get a tattoo they seem to skip that step. I don't know if males go through the same step or not, many of them seem to just buy and wear stuff similar to what they had before.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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It is a free country and whatever any adult does to decorate his or her body is up to them. That is one thing I love about America.
I do agree with the under 18 idea/law though.
I don't have any tatoos and probably never will (closest I ever came was when I turned 50 and a friend dared me to do it), but I have friends (mostly female) with a few very nice looking ones and I appreciate them as works of art kind of like permanent jewlery. I have seen some really fantastic tribal tatoos here and in New Zealand too. But on the other side of the spectrum... I have seen some rather ugly ones. But each to his own style is my opinion. I imagine that eventually there will be some remorse on the decision for some of these folks and maybe a few will be able to have them removed or wear clothes that cover them. One of the coolest sets of tatoos I have ever seen was on two artists who work in clay all the time and cannot wear jewelry, so they designed wedding "rings" and had them tatooed on.
That is my two cents on the subject. Thanks for bringing it up Lack!
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
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In Hawaii, any person under 18 must have consent of a parent to have a tattoo at a licensed parlor...
http://www.tattoodesign.com/tattoo_laws/...waii/1.htm
When you look at the regulations, it also lists a number of childhood diseases that must not be present... another reason to proceed with caution if younger persons are looking to have a tattoo...
I do feel it is a temporal work of art...
looking at tribal pictures of older men that had obviously had tattoos placed on their chest when they were strapping, & how the same work looks misplaced on their older, less buff self
The same thing I wondered in class sitting behind a very young women with a beautiful inked windblown tree on her back... how will that look when the skin is no longer taught & supple?
I lost any desire to have a tattoo when a friend who had just gotten one told me it doesn't hurt too bad, kinda like a bee sting.... I personally do not like bee stings & try to avoid that type pain whenever I can... so no tattoos for me!
Good or bad, Tattoos act as labels and they may rightly or wrongly label a person.
Even people that have tattoos will often discriminate for or against other people with tattoos.
As a drunken 19 yo Marine in Singapore I too got a tattoo, But looking back I figure that is what drunk 19 year olds do sometimes.
Now to the question, is it art?
I think it is to some folks, but not to others.
Some people consider Pollocks work to be art, some do not.
Is graffiti art? To some people say yes.
Art is one of the most subjective things in the world.
I've often contemplated getting a tattoo. My problem is the fear of needles and trying to figure out the design I would want.
I think they are just another way a person can express themselves.
I don't have a problem with children getting tattoos as long as their parents consent to it.
Self-Expression is one of the greatest freedoms that we have in America. I for one will not knock anyone who is creatively expressing themselves in a way that does not harm others.
