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Tattoo you?

By Rose Cooper - posted Wednesday, 12 April 2006


These days the choices are way more interesting. Celtic, Maori and oriental symbols are all the rage. The latter is usually in the form of a character which speaks of some personal virtue or other, like “faith”, “joy”, “spirit”, or of the person’s particular creative influence … ”music”, “dance”, “art” and so on. Tattoos have grown up and come a long way. What used to be a very impulsive and sometimes irrational action is now - usually - quite well thought out.

My late brother in-law had big, sprawling dark blue patterns on both his forearms - a legacy of spending time in the armed services as a youth. This was the typical tattoo in the 1950s and 1960s, when the skin art was mainly the domain of servicemen, bikers or those boys from the wrong side of the tracks. Typically the latter might sport threatening slogans about ex-girlfriends or their mothers as their particular theme.

Fellow ink-spotters abound. It’s something that ostensibly connects us, and yet I never really see myself in the same way as I view others with tattoos. Everyone has his or her own unique reasons. I resent that my choice sometimes makes me look like a fashion victim to other people, but have to acknowledge, for every “deep and meaningful tattoo” out there, there are now ten that were brought into being merely as “a-decoration-which-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time”. These are the tatts that are most often regretted and commonly removed.

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Mine will be with me forever.

Piercings are interesting. They used to be such a novelty. Pierced folk (especially those with many multiple bits of steel protruding from every orifice and cranny) used to be mostly trailer trash types whose visage would often appear in magazines like People or National Enquirer as the “Freak o’ the Week”. The next thing we knew, the 1980s dragged genital piercing into the spotlight. The purpose of genital piercing was ostensibly for greater sexual satisfaction - for either the pierced person or the recipient of the pierced organ.

Then people started piercing their noses, eyebrows and tops of their ears. There’s nothing erotic about a pierced eyebrow.

It’s a toss up as to who fired the first shot in the pierced face race - punks or the gay community. Probably the latter … that crew has a habit of setting trends. Goatees (formerly known as CS moustaches) used to be de rigueur in gay circles - now every man and his Scottish terrier has one.

Piercings, while still being quite sexy, in the right place on the right body, have pretty much stopped being a reflection of either sexuality or of tribal leanings. It just became “fashion”. I’m not sure what the statistics are, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one out of five girls between the ages of 12 and 16 now have pierced navels.

What are their mothers thinking?

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There really is no rhyme or reason to any of it any more. I know a girl with a pierced tongue - she had it done because it seemed like a nifty idea. She’s neither lesbian, nor particularly concerned about the little bauble’s effect on her fellatio technique. See, this I just don’t get - why have something awkwardly placed in your mouth, risking tissue and teeth damage, just to look cool?

Yes, here I stand in all my inky-patterned non-conformity in judgment of others. There would seem one reason and one reason alone, why this ancient tribal art has had its renaissance in the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. Modern man is now cuddled snugly in the bosom of a gigantic global village. True individuality has become laughable against these odds, and yet most of us yearn to be considered unique and special. For some people this feeling of uniqueness and rebellion means they must identify themselves to others as a member of a chosen herd: for others it means doing something radically different to everyone else.

My instincts tell me that somewhere deep within us all is one common thread. We are saying, “This is me, take it or leave it”. And with 16-year-old WASPs sporting belly rings and tattoos, one wonders what the next tribal trend will be.

My only regret? That those nifty oriental characters weren’t an option in 1995.

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About the Author

Rose Cooper is a freelance writer and actor who has contributed to many national publications over the past 20 years. She was Australian Women's Forum Magazine's most prolific contributor as well as their Sex Advice Columnist. Her areas of expertise include comedy, women's health and sexuality issues, relationships, theatre and pop culture. For more of Rose's articles visit: www.insiderose.com

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