Many of the people in my generation have tattoos and piercings. I find it rare to know someone in Generation X and Y that does not have a tattoo. I got my first tattoo when I was 22 years old, which seemed old back then to get your first one. I got mine for a great reason...in spite of my boyfriend at the time who just broke up with me who thought tattoos on girls were unfeminine. I ended up getting a single small tattoo on the left side of my lower back that was a Kanji symbol, which is Japanese script dervived from Chinese characters. The character meant "Ambition". That was 1999. Fast forward to 2004 and that is when I extended my tattoo art. My first character was transformed into a bigger version of "Ambition", along with 4 other Kanji symbols across my whole lower back. The remaing characters are as follows in this order: "Persistence/Strength", "Female/Woman", "Loyalty" and "Discipline". I got these tattoos to remind myself of how I want to live life or how I strive to live life with the "Female/Woman" as the center of all of them. Here are a couple of pictures of me actually getting my tattoo and then the finished result, which I didn't have any older pictures of so I took the last picture shown last night. Michael was there to help me get through all the pain and we just started dating shortly after that. You can laugh at the picture of me crying. It wasn't funny then but it's funny now.
Now to piercings. I got my ears pierced when I was 9 years old, which was really late compared to all of the other girls my age. From 7-8th grade, I pierced my own ears multiple times, with 4 in one ear and 2 in the other. I wore 2 in each ear for quite awhile. I then got my belly button pierced when I was 18 years old and that lasted 6 months before I took it out. My final piercing came at 19 years old when I got my tongue pierced. I had that pierced for 5 years before finally taking that out.
My questions to you are....
Do you have any tattoos? Where is it on your body? What is it of and when did you get it? What was the reason, if any, behind it? Do you regret having getting a tattoo? Would you get another? It is ever too old to get a tattoo? If you have a tattoo on your lower back, it is considered a "tramp stamp"?
Have you ever had any piercings? How many and where? Do you still have them? Would you consider a piercing now?
Do you think the piercings were a phase as it seems to have declined in popularity? Do you think the same of tattoos?
More Thoughts for Thursday posters:
11 comments:
I have 4 tattoos, but I've been tattoo'd 5 time (as you know, I just had one covered this past weekend). I had my first when I was 16, a dolphin on my right hip. I got my second when I was 18, the ever famous "tramp stamp", it's a 'tribal' design with some flowers in the middle. The 3rd I got after my parents split, which is not good meaning to have behind a tattoo, but my mother has the same one and it bonds us for life. It is on my right ankle, it's flowers, vine, and a hummingbird. The 4th I got after 9/11, my best friend, Pam, has the same one - just a very simple red, white, and blue star on our lower tummy off to the side. Then, just this past weekend I had the dolphin covered with another dolphin, bigger and better.
As for piercings - I've had my share. Tongue, tragus, ears, nipple, eyebrow... not all at the same time though. I still have my belly button and ears pierced.
I love all my tat's still and I don't regret any; I would like to get more... maybe. I'd consider piercings still as well... I don't think you're ever too old for anything as long as you do things with class. My mom just turned 50 and she had her nose pierced a month ago, it's small and cute aka classy for a 50 year old!
Great topic :)
Well, I think piercings were kind of an era. I had 5 in my ears and a belly piercing. Those came out fairly quickly!
I got my first tattoo when I was 18 and it's a butterfly on my lower back and no I don't think it's a tramp stamp! I'm not a tramp so how could it be :) I got my second one about 5 months later on my foot. It is 2 stars and I got the same tattoo as 3 other girls, 2 of which I am still very good friends with. I want another one and will get one as soon as I lose my goal amount of weight! It's my prize.
I have 2 tattoos. My first was when I was 18 and is a blue crescent moon with a rose wrapped around it on my lower back. I like that one because I have always liked the moon and astrology and the rose is my birth month flower (and as it turned out later in life my sons too). I got that tat on a total whim and never regreted it. My other tattoo, not so much. I got that one when I was 19 - and drunk :( I have a little red and black bat on my shoulder. Originally this was to signify my liking of Dracula - because I always did and thought I always would. I do like Dracula still, maybe not quite to that extreme. To me it looks more like a batman symbol (which my son thinks is really cool). If I could, I would remove that one. I still would like another one though, they are kind of addicting.
As for piercings, I never really got into that. I got my ears pierced as a little girl and only added one more hole on one side when I was 14. I think the piercing thing was a fad of it's time. When everyone was getting belly buttons and tongues pierced it was the first time that people ever really went there, so of course it was popular. And my tattoo on my lower back has been referred to as a tramp stamp. Fun topic!
Oh and you're picture is hilarious to me! Ha! I know aren't I nice?!
I have two tattoos. i have a small crescent moon and star on my right hip, and a triabl looking sun on my lowe rback, i don't consider it a tranp stamp.
I want another one. I want one on my foot. i want either some stars, some flowers, or i found one i love that's a vine that curves over the whole foot with flowers on it. someday I'll get my third one.
I have my ears pierced. At one point, they were pierced 3 times, but now only one hole is still open, and that's the ones I got when I was 9 and got them pierced for the first time
I have one Tattoo that I received when I was 25 years old on my left foot.
I used to have tattoo parties where the artists would offer me a free tat because I was the host and yet I still held off from getting one.
Thankfully.
I would have regretted the tats that I had in mind back then.
The tattoo that I did decide to get when I was 25 years old has personal spiritual meaning and I created the design so it means a great deal to me.
As for piercings, I have had a few.
I had my ear pierced in 1985 or 1986. I was the first male in Roseville School to have my ear pierced.
In 1990, I had my nose pierced. It wasn't as popular then so again, I was more of a freak than "cool".
The nipples followed in 1994, along with my tongue in 1998.
All in all, I have had 7 piercings and now, in 2008...I have only one.
I am not going to tell you where it is though...you'll have to guess.
;P
Great Post and LOL on your crying pic. I would have been sobbing like a baby myself.
I don't have any tattoos. I have never been into them but have always wanted a small one on my foot but haven't made that leap just yet.
I don't mind tattoos and I actually admire the look and the artists talent and am always intrigued in asking people the story behind their tattoos. Tattoos just aren't for me. I change my mind all too often for me to be stuck with the same old thing forever. Also, what would that tattoo look like when I am a granny has always steered me away from getting one.
As for piercings. I only have my ears pieced and got them pierced at age 8. It was a rule of my moms which I think is a good one. She wanted to wait until we could take responsibility in cleaning them and putting on our own earings. So, I think that I am going to do the same with my child.
I'm not against other body piecings but they just aren't for me.
I think you got tricked…those tats actually say Helmey is the awesomist dude ever in Japanese…just so you know…
Your face is so funny. It's totally you though. I can hear you crying like I was there. I remember when you got your first tattoo and I couldn't decide whether to get another tattoo or my tongue pierced? Well thank god I got my tongue pierced and not that tattoo that I wanted. I remember it was going to look like a little chain that would go around my whole waist like a belt. If I had gotten that I would never see it because of my fat rolls I have now. But you did a lot better with your first tattoo. You did so well and you didn't even cry then. I'm your witness you were great.
I have 10 holes in my ears, one in my belly, one in my tongue. I only wear one pair of earrings for all those holes these days!
5 tattoos and I regret all but one of them (the only one I planned out instead of doing on a whim)
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