To Ink Or Not To Ink

The other day, I came across this post by Big Little Wolf.  I found it interesting, and she seemed curious about tattooing and why people do it.  I was surprised, however, when I read the comments.  Out of 12 commenters, I was the only one who had ever gotten a tattoo.  One of them in particular was very outspoken and to be honest, ticked me off just a bit.  Ah well, to each their own.  Still, I couldn’t believe that no one else had been inked. 

In general, tattoos don’t bother me.  In this day and age, most people my age don’t even bat an eyelash at them anymore.  I wouldn’t say that they’re necessarily a turn-on, but they sure as shit can be.  I got my first tat when I was 18, and really only did it because I had turned 18 and didn’t smoke, and lottery tickets never brought me much fun.  I’d wanted a tattoo ever since I could remember, and I was finally able to do it!  I thought long and hard about where the placement would be.  I wanted it to be concealable, and I wanted to be original, so I went with the small of my back.  Stay with me, here.  Waaay back in 1998, I didn’t know anyone with a tattoo there. This was pre-tramp-stamp (I HATE that term) mania.  All the women I knew who had them had them on their ankles or shoulders.  I was safe in my non-conformity, right?  Go ahead and laugh…I am.  Next, I had to decide what to get.  I wanted it to be delicate and ladylike, and I wanted it to be small.  After looking at tons of pictures, I decided on a butterfly (yes, cliche numero dos, or is that tres?).  The bottom wings were blue and the top were red, and it was cute and tiny and exactly what I had wanted.  It was right on my back bone, as I was as skinny as a rail at the time, and it hurt like a mofo, but I did it.  And I loved it. 

I never regretted my decision to get the tattoo, not even when my daddy saw it by accident one day during a visit home.  Since I didn’t see it all the time, I would sometimes forget it was there.  When my husband and I split, I was inconsolible.  In one of those “woman done gone crazy” kind of moments that happen during/after divorce, I decided that I would change my butterfly into something else.  I would start fresh.  I already knew what the butterfly would become – a Texas.  Yes, the shape of the state of Texas.  No matter where in the world I lived or visited, Texas was the place that was safe, it was always home.  So, when my little sister came to visit and help me pack, we made a trip to the tattoo parlor and I went home with a different mark.  Oddly enough, it was the exact same place I had gotten my butterfly etched 10 years before.  I say odd because that city had been our first post after we got married, and it was also where we got divorced.  We’d lived in 3 other states in between, but ended up right back there. 

Now there’s the question of whether or not tattoos turn you on.  To be honest, it depends on the person, what the tattoo is of, and whether or not is well-done.  A shitty tattoo can be distracting, people!  Douche had two tattoos that I hated.  I wasn’t with him when he got either, and trust me – I would have tried to talk him out of them if I were.  They always bugged me.  Of the guys I’ve been with post-divorce, only one was tatted up, all on his arms, but not full sleeve.  All of his tattoos were very well-done, and they fit his look (50’s greaser/rockabilly type).  He had pin-up girls on his forearms, and they were HOT.  I even named them, Lola and Gretchen.  I would trace them and admire them, they were beautiful.  That’s Lola, below.  However, I wasn’t into him because of his tattoos, and the other non-tatted guys weren’t any less sexy or hot because they didn’t have them.  In fact, when one told me he was thinking of getting one, I secretly hoped he wouldn’t.

I did some research and asked a former lover what he thought about my tattoo, to which he said, “it’s tasteful,” and also that, “tramp stamps are hot, arm tattoos are not.”   Do I feel like I am more sexy because of my tattoo?  No, I don’t.  Do I think I’d be more sexy without it?  Nope.  It’s just a small part of me, a little scrap of skin barely 2 inches square, but it’s still a part of me.

This is where YOU come in, my lovies.  Do you have any tattoos?  What/where are they?  Do you regret having them?  Do you find them a turn-on?  Turn-off?  Would you date someone with tattoos or dismiss someone for them?  Inquiring minds want to know!

 

***UPDATE*** The link to the post was broken, but should be fixed now.  Sorry about that!