Star Face
This week I thought I would take a different tact as questions are slow in the mailbox…
I would like to bring up the current news story of a teenage girl who got 56 tattoos on her face. Tattoos are a popular and much loved way of expressing identity, personality and uniqueness but what do you do when it goes wrong? As a rule of thumb, they are very permanent and to get them removed it’s very expensive. In this girls case she is seeking $18,400 in damages to pay for the removal of some of the stars. It is a complicated news story with two versions; I won’t go into personal opinions here so please see the news link below:
http://news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,25649053-5013016,00.html
I personally got a tattoo that I love and adore and spent years thinking about… I know people who have decided on a whim, picked a tattoo out of a book and went merrily on their way. You can get them sterile or the dodgy home version that can lead to infection and health complications. Everyone seems to have a varied take on the issue of tattoos and I am certain there will come a day where it is more common to have one then not to.
What do you think? Should a tattoo mark some major life event or be a whim? Unique design or tattooist book selection? Where should it be on your body? In that girls instance it was her face, which was devastating for her. How do you feel about needles? Do you judge people differently who have tattoos? When is too young or too old?
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I have three tatoos. I thought hard about two of them, and third was on a “whim”-
Here are the stories:
Age: 18
The first was about a month after my 18th birthday- I wanted it to encapsulate my culture. It is the Celtic symbol for Longevity. It has spirlas all intersecting and shows the significance of things happening in “threes”, which I believe in. I thought about this tatoo for three years (from age 15-18), and printed a poster of it to tape to my bedroom wall, to look at and contemplate every single day before I got the tat.
Age: 19
The second was designed by me. I had a really hard time trusting myself when it came to my boyfriend. I constantly had guys hitting on me and I would feel insecure in my relationship with my boyfriend. So, I designed a tat that I put on my hip (even lower than if I wore a bikini) of the initials of my boyfriend. I kind of MARKED myself in his honor. I know, it’s weird and many people would scream NO!!! but, I love it. It is probably my favorite one.
(Don’t worry, it’s been 10 years and we’re still together)
Also, his initials are J.R.B., and I designed it so that it looks like letters, but there’s designs around it that make it almost floral. Plus, it could also mean: Just Really Beautiful- which would explain why people seem so attracted to me- god, that sounds really conceited- but I mean it in the personality sense. People are always telling me how wonderful of a personality I have.
Age: 20
My third was decided on a whim. It is on my foot and I took my cat’s foot, stamped it in ink and stamped my foot. I left it there for one night, while contemplating the looks of it there. The next day, during my waitressing shift, I went to the parlor and had it inked permenantly. I get compliments on it all the time.
I love my tats. I’ve been considering ONE MORE on the inside of my left wrist in the form of a medic alert. Long story. But, I’ve been considering it for three years so far- still haven’t decided.