Qwickdraw said:
My dork reference was not a name for someone who gets a tattoo. It was a reference to the types of people who seem to get tattoos more often than not. (meaning they were a dork before they ever got one, as you stated) If it wasn't a tattoo, it would be a piercing or some ridiculous clothes or an obnoxious hairdo or something else.
I think your point is valid but based on a very brief historical period - the mid to late 20th when tatooing was associated with society's misfits. A very brief time in the long history of the art form , but one which formed most of our opinions because the most recent.
But did you know that the famous "Iceman", the 5000 year old corpse found in the melting snow of the Tyrol about 15 years ago was tattooed? It is unclear whether for clan identification, religious significance, or part of an acupuncture treatment, but the body bore clear tattoos at points associated with pain relief. Of course, the ancient Egyptians at roughly the same time were mastering the art in a much more advanced civilisation than early Europe's, and through the centuries most cultures, particularly the Japanese, have consider tattooing not just acceptable body ornamentation, but true 'art'.
Because over the past few decades tattooing has been associated with carnival side shows, and young sailors making intoxicated errors on shore leave (tho there is something enduringly appealing about the idea of a kid thousands of miles from home waking up to see he had 'mom' tattoed on his forearm the night before while his buddies bust his chops), and then later with bikers and various outcasts, the sentiment still lingers that tattoos represent a 'sleazy' lifestyle.
But no longer. It has become surprisingly 'mainstream' now, and tho I don't think we'll see many school marms or stock brokers sporting skulls and cross bones, it is so acceptable among the younger generation that I 'spect most of the stigma will be wiped clean in another decade.
I don't fancy them on women of any age but some nubile well-toned 19 year babe with a tiny daisy carved into her backside..why not? I can see where the 'unveiling' could qualify as erotic. And they can be removed as gravity's sagging kicks in, I hear. And tho, Dennis Rodman type illustrations are so over the top, they do reek of the carnival, TG's mom's name on his neck really floats my boat. I mean, THAT is sexy.
Take the historical perspective, QD..it's always the best one, cuz then you see more clearly how our cultural prejudices are both grain of sand short-lived and irrelevant.
