I have recently delved into the world of tattoos and the internet. I have tattoos and I love them, so it was only natural for me to join sites and like Facebook pages that promoted tattoos and people who loved them. Now my problem with the social networking sites centering around tattoos was that the sites were either a thinly veiled facade for people to find other equally horny people to flirt with or just down right pointless. If there wasn’t a group to join blatantly labelled ‘sex’ there was one called ‘i like tattoos’. Well yes, you probably would if you bothered to join the site in the first place. Another problem was that there are no Irish tattoo sites that I have found and it’s always nice to connect with people from your native land.
My next stop after the failure of the social networking sites, was Facebook. There are many pages claiming to dedicate themselves to stopping tattoo discrimination and advocating the beauty of those who choose to be inked, and some of them I have found to be quite eye opening and beautiful even. They promote the fact that people who have tattoos are not all criminals and low lives and that those who chose body art as their personal form of expression can be just as beautiful as everyone else.
Now I understand that there are plenty of people who do not like tattoos and would not get a tattoo if their life depended on it. And I also understand that there are those who admire tattoos but chose not to get them for themselves. What I do not understand is the hatred. And not just people who hate tattoos, but people with tattoos themselves. It seems to me that just like everything else, it has all turned into a competition, the objective of the game being to put your opponent down using whatever means necessary. So if that means commenting on a picture of their artwork using words like disgusting’ and ‘horrible’ or phrases such as ‘you must hate your life’ and ‘you are never going to get a job’, have at it. All’s fair in love war and the internet apparently.
But it isn’t fair. People have tattoos and people get tattoos for a reason. That tattoo becomes part of your body and if you are made to feel that it is disgusting or that you should hide it for fear of the reaction it will evoke, then that is not fair. It is not fair to assume that your tattoos have more meaning or are prettier than someone else’s. Life is not pretty. It’s not about being pretty. And neither are tattoos. Tattoos are for strength, for making you feel comfortable in your own skin. They are to remind you of things that you don’t want to forget or tell stories that you can’t find the words to tell.
And with the rise in acceptance of tattoos, they are no longer alternative. Tattoos are not for the select few who are seen as rebellious or quirky. Housewives, teachers, office workers - the other day I saw a post man with an entire sleeve! Who says who can’t get a job? Who says you can’t have a relationship? Who says you have to hide?
As you can probably tell, I have had some bad reactions to my tattoos and I have doubted myself and questioned intentions. Should I have chosen that particular place for my ink? Should I have made it so visible? Will I regret this? And I hate the people who made me feel this way. I hate those faceless commentors who don’t know me yet insult me and have the power to hurt me right at their fingertips. I have heard so many people saying that use their tattoos as a shield against those that would judge them on their appearance. If they can’t get past the body art, they aren’t worth the time and I have to agree. I have friends with tattoos and I have friends without. I have friends that love my tattoos and friends that really don’t. But it’s never an issue. Unless they choose to make it one. They know that I have my tattoos for a reason, my own reason and that I will still have them no matter what my friends or enemies think.
I actually have two reasons for each of my tattoos; the one I tell people when they ask why, and the one I can chose to tell them depending on their reaction. To a stranger I am an attention seeker covered in pictures and words that scream ‘LOOK AT ME!’, but to my closest friends I have laid out my innermost weaknesses and strengths, my regrets and pains for all to see, and they would know me so much better if they could only get past their own ignorance.
I realise that it is very difficult to hold back and easy to say exactly what is on your mind when you have no emotional connection and that’s why the internet is such a deadly tool, because we say things that we would never normally say and we don’t feel what we say anymore. But we feel what they say to us. So I don’t expect anyone to hold back their opinions, but if we only stopped and asked ourselves why that girl got a butterfly tattooed on her chest or why that boy got a gun tattooed on his back. Is that butterfly her mother? Is that gun his brother?
Think before you ink.
Ink to make them think.
http://www.facebook.com/StopTattooDiscrimination
http://www.facebook.com/1nkedandSexy
http://www.facebook.com/ThINKequality
Fashion trends annoy me for the most part anyway, but there are certain trends that just piss me off. For example ‘knicker shorts’ or ‘crop tops’. These are things that are made for size six models, yet the average girl who decides to wear them is about a size fourteen. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a size fourteen, but if I can see your ass cheeks, then you have a problem.
The most recent one thought is the cross. In every mainstream clothes shop there seems to be a section held only for religious memorabilia. Chains, earrings, bracelets, belts, tops, dresses, shorts ect. You name it, they stuck a cross on it. Or those bracelets that have pictures of saints on them. Now I’m not a religious person, so I would never buy a bracelet with pictures of saints on it. So obviously everyone who buys these accessories, they must be deeply religious, right? They have to be God fearing Christians, don’t they?
No. Just plain old hypocrites.
You ask anyone wearing one of these bracelets to name a single saint wrapped around their wrist and all you will get is silence. You ask them what the significance of the crucifix is and you will probably get ‘What’s a crucifix?’ These people don’t go to church and I’m pretty sure that they have never opened a bible. Having a cross on shorts that would be inappropriate to put on a five year old, that’s got to be some kind of blasphemy right? I’m pretty sure that if there was a God, he wouldn’t want the symbol of his sacrifice to the world stamped across the ass of some girl being sick in the corner of a night club.
I don’t have a problem with people wearing what they want to wear, whatever makes them feel more like themselves. But why do people follow fashion trends so blindly? The ridiculous things that you see in shops these days, laughing, telling yourself that no one would ever possibly wear these things or agree with that ludicrous price tag. But I see them everywhere. Six months ago, if I had walked up to a girl on the street and told her to wear a PVC, transparent shirt, I would have been slapped in the face. But if it’s in the new arrivals rack in Top Shop, it’s absolutely gorgeous.
I have to sit through looks of disgust when I wear fishnet tights with a knee length skirt and a t-shirt. And these looks are normally given by girls who have only covered the bare minimum, so they don’t have to admit that they are actually naked. You wouldn’t walk outside your house in your bra and underwear, so why walk outside in ‘knicker’ shorts and a bando? Why is that acceptable?
If you’re going to spend an inordinate amount on clothes, make sure you buy them with the intention of wearing them for as long as possible, not just as long as everyone else is wearing them. I thought girls hated being in the same room as anyone who was wearing the same outfit. Solution - don’t buy the same outfit.
