i got a tattoo last tuesday... it's not even a week old yet. it's big and crazy, on my right forearm for all to see. the experts say that men mainly get tattoos to show off to other men, while women usually get them in a secret place to share with someone special.
i say don't put too much faith in experts. 86% of all statistics are made up on the spot!
i think that tattoos are supposed to be a deeply personal modification... placement, style and application have nothing to do with sex. is a thing such as gender even definable these days? is it how you act, what you think, what you wear, what equipment you have or what you do with it that makes you a man or a woman?
anyway, now that i have a big goofy tattoo in such a visible spot, i've been subject to all sorts of reactions, usually consisting of "is that real?" and "what does that shit mean?" followed by "Are you serious?" and "That's fuckin' nuts." i always figured if i was gonna get a tattoo, why get some little tiny one that no-one would know about? since i have told my tattoo origin story about a hundred times, i thought i'd tell it on here, one more time, for posterity.
when i was a little kid i played with dolls, which were more popularly called action figures at the time. my favorite action figure was storm shadow, the evil ninja turned good from gi joe. even back then, i told myself that if i ever got a tattoo, it would be just like the one my storm shadow action figure had on his right forearm: the 63rd (or 64th, depending on how you look at it) hexagram of the i-ching in bright brilliant red. even though my dad's tattoos were the result of a drunken young marine core draftee's uncertain future, i always admired them, so roughly 20 years later, i finally became the 2nd person in my family to get inked. when people ask what my tattoo means, i'll *sigh* and tell them "oh, we all got it when we graduated from ninja school."
when i tell girls this story, they either think that it's really cute, or that i'm some unbalanced reclusive freak, holding on to a moment from his childhood that made him truly happy.
a little from column a, a little from column b.
-bobby
i say don't put too much faith in experts. 86% of all statistics are made up on the spot!
i think that tattoos are supposed to be a deeply personal modification... placement, style and application have nothing to do with sex. is a thing such as gender even definable these days? is it how you act, what you think, what you wear, what equipment you have or what you do with it that makes you a man or a woman?
anyway, now that i have a big goofy tattoo in such a visible spot, i've been subject to all sorts of reactions, usually consisting of "is that real?" and "what does that shit mean?" followed by "Are you serious?" and "That's fuckin' nuts." i always figured if i was gonna get a tattoo, why get some little tiny one that no-one would know about? since i have told my tattoo origin story about a hundred times, i thought i'd tell it on here, one more time, for posterity.
when i was a little kid i played with dolls, which were more popularly called action figures at the time. my favorite action figure was storm shadow, the evil ninja turned good from gi joe. even back then, i told myself that if i ever got a tattoo, it would be just like the one my storm shadow action figure had on his right forearm: the 63rd (or 64th, depending on how you look at it) hexagram of the i-ching in bright brilliant red. even though my dad's tattoos were the result of a drunken young marine core draftee's uncertain future, i always admired them, so roughly 20 years later, i finally became the 2nd person in my family to get inked. when people ask what my tattoo means, i'll *sigh* and tell them "oh, we all got it when we graduated from ninja school."
when i tell girls this story, they either think that it's really cute, or that i'm some unbalanced reclusive freak, holding on to a moment from his childhood that made him truly happy.
a little from column a, a little from column b.
-bobby
I havn't gotten around to reading this one yet. Maybe I will in 2 more entries.