Hardrock23

I'm a woman with 7 tattoos and they are visible. I plan to get more eventually. I'm not at all worried about what they will look like when I am older. It is something I considered at first, but in the end it just didn't matter.

I see a lot of cyclists in my area with them. Many are covered in them, even. The runners as well. Even the moms and dads pushing their baby in the stroller down the MUP. It isn't just the younger ones, either.

Dirt Farmer

I must admit, however, that if I did get one, it would be the Eyes Of Wisdom, in color.

WizardOfBoz

The mental image of a full ankle to cuff to neck kit advertising sausage, to allow one to avoid having to wear bike clothes... not good...

Cinzano was mentioned (don't like that brand) but I am going to have a Manhattan (with Carpano Antica and a Fabbri Amereno cherry*). I need strong drink to get the tattooed naked sausage guy out of my mind. Yuck.

*Redemption Rye base, but Wellington Canadian Whiskey also works.

Dirt Farmer

NSFW

https://1.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.co...o-cat-anus.jpg

indyfabz

mstateglfr 

Perhaps the advertising is driven by the desire for those disposable income middle age men to look like the young beardos and experience what they 'do'.

mstateglfr 

Well thats an interesting, if not totally irrelevant, comparison.

If losing 50# cost a few hundred and lasted for life, likea tattoo, then yeah i bet a bigton of people would go the weightloss route.
But it doesnt work like that and isnt even close to that simple...so why create the example.

zjrog

Hmm. Scars. Left knee replacement. An old dog bite on my right calf. Oh, the scar on my back from crashing my bicycle, destroyed my T9, rods and screws from T7 to T12...

My wife was dying 2 years ago. I'm a retired sailor. Felt I was sinking. I have rooster on my right ankle now and a pig on my left... Old seafarers superstition. Keeps you afloat in a shipwreck to hold the crates with the livestock... Very simple line drawings. Helped me through. And, my wife survived...

mstateglfr 

I have my 3 children's first and middle names on the oustide of my left calf.
Decided to get the names when our middle child died shorty after birth. Commemorate/remember/connect and whatnot.

I spent the first 3 decades of life not willing to permanantly alter my body because nothing was important enough. Got that out of the way and now i can see the appeal of tattoos being more than just deep meaning. There is appeal in documenting a part of ones's life thru tattoos and having them visually tell about your life.

For the last year ive been comitted to, but havent gone thru with a tattoo on the back of my right calf.
Bro in law calls me Sasquatch, so a Squatch riding a bike would be something i would laugh at and be happy to have for the rest of my life.

I just havent come up with the right look. It would be something mixing the 2 pics below. The Sasquatch on the small bike since thats what i visualize me looking like when riding.

TenSpeedV2

You just need to find the right artist to go to for a good tattoo.

This guy comes to mind. Would love to have something like this.



Arlo Tattoos - Portfolio for Arlo DiCristina

Sangetsu

This photo proves the OP's point. If these were a photo of an NBA or NFL team, every single member would be sporting tattoos of some sort.

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by my (maternal) grandfather's tattoos. He was a career Cavalryman from the days they still rode horses, and a combat veteran who was one of the lucky 2 out of his entire troop to survive the war in the Pacific. He had a number of tattoos on both arms, as well as on his chest and back. The one I most remember was his troop tattoo, which was of an inverted horseshoe with a horse's head peering through. I thought it was super cool.

I told him I wanted to have a tattoo when I got old enough, and he told me, "If you ever get a tattoo, I'll cut it off you with this knife," (he always carried a knife). He went on, "I want you to be a gentleman, and gentleman don't have tattoos." My grandfather knew what a "gentleman" was, having worked alongside generals Wainwright and MacArthur, as well as in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. He hated my father, whom he regarded as weak, and a loser (career soldiers and combat veterans have an elevated definition of manliness and success), but my father's parents and grandparents were "fox-hunters" with a good name, and my grandfather said I should try to live up to it.

rachel120

I have a tattoo. It's on my upper back so it's most likely to show when I'm on a bicycle (tank top to keep cool) than when I'm wearing a normal shirt that's higher on the back.

Amitoj

That's awesome ink!
Redemption Tattoo in Cambridge, MA comes quite close to this.
I have a nautical compass tattoo'd on the back of my neck from that place.

Stratocaster

This pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Stratocaster

Yep.
...now where did I put my man bun?

indyfabz

So it a tattoo on an unattractive woman like graffiti on an AMC Pacer?

WizardOfBoz

Hilarious. MMSCOMN (made me snort coffee out my nose).

So what kind of car is right to represent an unattractive man I wonder?

indyfabz

Pontiac Fiero. Proof positive:

athrowawaynic

I think I'm privately/mildly judgmental with respect to tattoos. Specifically, tattoos are not a big deal, and that, ironically, is what makes them kinda trite.

So, the fact of having a tattoo maybe says something about the person (beyond what the tattoo itself alleges). Then again, maybe not.

hightide

Here in NY there's an indie brand that parodies ugly cycling jersey's. They make an "idiocracy" jersey covered in brand logo's. The model they have sporting the jersey on their site however is covered in tattoos including one on his face. This is essentially what tattoos are........permanent Nascar jumpsuits.

mstateglfr 

Since ear piercings arent a big deal, are they also kinda trite? What expression of self that is popular isnt trite?...itd be good to know so people can avoid being trite for having something on their body which isnt a big deal.
Can only things which are a big deal not be trite?

Ill go with your last sentence being accurate.

athrowawaynic

Were you trying to set up counterexamples? (Because I think you're kinda making my point.)

As for big deals not being trite, I think that's kinda definitional, no?

mstateglfr 

I was asking if you find pierced ears to also be trite.
Pierced ears are common and not a big deal, but do you find them to be trite like tattoos(which you also find to not be a big deal).

Trite isnt a word that is used interchangeably with 'common', even though it has a similar meaning. Calling something trite means you think it overused and isnt original in a negative way. So I was curious if you find ear piercings, another physical change to one's body that is common, to also be trite.
Basically- are all common displayed expressions of self considered trite to you, or is it specific to tattoos?



I am not trying to argue, simply understand. This is an incredibly interesting thread to me and I have enjoyed all the opinions and examples from differing viewpoints and demographics of society.

memebag

Yes, it's vital that women constantly keep men's opinions first and foremost in their decisions. Especially men they don't even know. Especially attractive women. They have a duty to please us.

athrowawaynic

I didn't say it was common. I mean "trite" as "not really meaningful".

I'm more of an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of person. I do think a lot of self-expression is trite--most of the time, what we think we are rather than what we really are--but maybe in the most generous cases, it's aspirational.