Tattoos everywhere

Lockstep

This might've been posted before,if it has been,apologies.

I was just wondering if anyone else feels tattoos have really hit the mainstream.It used to be if you had a tattoo you were some group like a skinhead,sailor etc.
Nowadays you see them all over the street.

I've been considering getting a tatto for a while now(started during my skinhead phase) and decided to wait till I came to Ireland so as I can understand the aftercare instructions properly.

I was at work and we had a discussion on tattoos. loads of them had them.
Mostly girls with tramp stamps. it just seemed so strange how ubiquitous they've become, I've been seeing a lot of them on older men and manuel laborers in this weather but it's strange how common they've become. walking down the street in sunny weather,a large amount of people have tattoos,usually lower back but a few deltoid ones too.

Is there any particuler reason for this trend?(I was abroad for years so am unsure how recent it is,it just seems a shock to come back to see)

The_Scary_Man

In my own humble opinion there are a number of contributing factors to the rise in tattooed bods flying around. For a start more and more mainstream celebs are getting them done and showing them off, this probably has more of an effect on the younger generation.

On a deeper more psychological level the decline of the over-bearing church and religiosity in general has led to people taking more control of their own bodies. A few years ago in this country people would have thought it an affront against God to defame His temple in that way.

The financial boom here has also led to an increase in national esteem. People have broken free, to a degree, from the notion wanting to blend in and are more concerned with expressing their own individuality. Theres no better way to do this than getting a tat. As a nation we've also become more adventurous and curious I would say. Things that you would never see in Ireland a few years ago are quite common now i.e. sex shops, head shops etc.

As Ireland became more cosmopolitan people wanted to explore the cultures of others as well as their own hence the upsurge in tribal, celtic and otherwise, work being seen. This aspect of it may also have to do with wanting to express a sense of wanting to belong to something. As international borders melt into the great phenomenon of globalisation people want something that indisputibly marks them as being a part of something.

I don't know how long you were away for but Ireland has changed a lot in the last few years

The_Scary_Man

Oh yeah I forgot the most important point;


















Tats Rock!

Lockstep

Yeah,I want a tat pretty bad,but it's slightly annoying how common they've become.I sound like a kid who's annoyed when his band hit's the mainstream but once they've hit the bandwagon,getting one done just feels like your doing the same. I'm still getting one as I've had my sights on one for quite a while now


I never got why religious people are so anti-tattoos.
Catholic church is neutral towards them.They feel it's the tattoo's message that defines it's decency.

I've been outta ireland for 12 years.

Crumble Froo

well, as i mentioned in a previous thread, a friend of mine decided tattoos were too common, so carved an octopus into herself, instead of gettin it inked on.... looks cooler than i wanted to think at the time, but tis up to the person.

for me, i do wana avoid my forearms and lower back/shoulders for a good while, as they are a bit *done* at this stage...

that said, my attitude to tattoos is the same as music. if there's one thing sadder than someone doing/listening to something purely cos everyone else is doing/listening to it, it's someone who loved that thing but refuses to do/listen to it cos everyone else is.

my main example is that i loved green day before i knew that they had apparently gone 'mainstream'. and i still love them. **** it. actually... *adds them to my drinking playlist*

McFearless

ye especially if your getting those tribal designs you see EVERYWHERE!!seeing those on ppl really cheese's me off!

Lockstep

narco wrote:

well, as i mentioned in a previous thread, a friend of mine decided tattoos were too common, so carved an octopus into herself, instead of gettin it inked on.... looks cooler than i wanted to think at the time, but tis up to the person.

for me, i do wana avoid my forearms and lower back/shoulders for a good while, as they are a bit *done* at this stage...

that said, my attitude to tattoos is the same as music. if there's one thing sadder than someone doing/listening to something purely cos everyone else is doing/listening to it, it's someone who loved that thing but refuses to do/listen to it cos everyone else is.

my main example is that i loved green day before i knew that they had apparently gone 'mainstream'. and i still love them. **** it. actually... *adds them to my drinking playlist*

I'm getting mine done on my pec,I've seen very few tattoos there.I just think having a crest there would look sweet.
If I was gonna get another it'd be on my deltoid as I love the roundness of the muscles there.

YOur a man after my own heart.I'm not too keen on American Idiot(I just don't find the style as good as Dookie)
Admittedly it still is a pain saying you like Green Day as it means people assume your a bandwagoner,but screw em,I've liked Green Day for 7 years now and I'm not abondoning them yet.


Tribal tattoos on the lower back.It's often done by people who are trying to fit in,rather than older era tattoos where you did it to stand out and mark yourself as an outsider

The_Scary_Man

kickoutthejams wrote:

YOur a man after my own heart.

Another gender assumption hehe. This board is rife with them alright

Lockstep

Eh?It's a figure of speech.

I say your a man after my own heart to girls.

I don't consider other people on this male or female

I just think of them as internet bots

The_Scary_Man

kickoutthejams wrote:

Seeing as your called the scary man,I assumed you were male.

If you were called Yourgirlfriend or Trashwoman or something,Id've assumed you were female.

If you were called Houndog or Smashthebridges I wouldn't have asssumed at all.

Hehe you're spot on I am a bloke, I thought you were referring to Narco's post about Green Day. It wasn't a dig at you or anything, check out the Girl Tattoo Artists thread for the background

Crumble Froo

yep, im a girl. my next piece will (hopefully) be on my ankle... after that... who knows?! i kinda love the idea of being almost fully inked up on my left side and next to nothing on my right.

ill see how that goes over the next fewyears....