Ok, so I am a 21 year old woman, about to graduate with a degree in Film Studies, who has a very avid interest in all things to do with body modification. I now have numerous tattoos and piercings, and I harbor a strong desire to go further with my modifications. However this is not what I wish to write about here, I wish to talk about my very first tattoo. At the age of 18 (well to be precise it was 18 and 4 days) I took the decision to go to a well known tattoo studio in Liverpool to have my first tattoo. I had been enjoying being pierced for a while, and had always sought my parents permission/approval before going through with a new piecing, but this day I took myself, a trusted friend and a strong desire to the studio without them knowing-heck I was 18 and it was after all my decision.
At A Glance Author Natalie Contact [email protected] When N/A Studio stars done at Fallen Angel Location Liverpool For months I had wanted my tattoo, and for years I had been interested in body modification, I read all the relevant magazines, articles and listened to positive and negative stories with an open mind. And because of this my parents had always supported my decision to modify my body (and even though the modifications are not as extreme as others I wanted their approval) and mainly due to this I always said I would wait till the legal age I could be tattooed before having any ink, anyway I am going off the point, so at the tender age of 18 and 4 days I went to have my three stars tattooed on my wrist.
I know what some may be thinking: emo, generic, following the crowd, no originality and so on and so on-however to me, at the time it was the most special decision I ever made. I can see from a tattoo artists point of view that someone coming in and asking for stars must be a bit repetitive and boring, however what I have a real problem with is the reaction from some (and I stress SOME, as I have had many good reactions to my 1st tattoo) people within the body modification community and beyond.
YES there are countless people out there with some sort of star tattoo, and star tattoos on the wrist are (I will guess in my non-professional role) very common. However it really gets to me when people just assume things about me because of my tattoo. Especially if they themselves are tattooed-as I can again only assume that they themselves are judged because of their tattoos on a daily basis.
My stars mean something to me, and that is surely all that matters, if anybody wants to ask me about them then I will gladly tell them this: ever since I was a little girl my Nan and Grandpa and I always looked at the stars, and we always looked at Orions belt, with them telling me that it signified the three of us, and that no matter were we are in the world we will always be able to look at those stars and know that we would all be looking at the same thing, thinking about each other. As I have grown up, moved away to University and recently had my Grandparents move away form England to Denmark, I have ALWAYS looked upon those three stars and thought of the story they told me as a child. And that story always makes me smile, cry and love my family so much.
So for the record, next time you go to judge someone because of pre conceived opinions about a particular image, stop and think what story or message your tattoos are telling, and wonder if the person you were about to judge has a story of their own.
I am not about to be na�ve here, I know people get tattoos to "be cool" but that is not always the case with people who have tattoos containing imagery that is common...
Even though I have many tattoos that are superior in terms of their artistic quality, I will always love my three stars dearly, even if I do get told I am "emo" for having them. (just so I don't seem like a bitch-I am not saying there is anything wrong with being emo, the problem I have is when the term emo is used in an offensive way. So I hope that explains where I am coming from :])
So I think I would like to end by saying, that I am proud of my tattoos-not just because of what they mean to me, but also what they have come to mean to my family. So I urge you to just ask about peoples tattoos (lets be honest guys, we love it when people ask about them!) and if you HAVE to make a judgement make it after the reason for the tattoo has been explained.
So what do you guys think? Could the tattooed community be a little more tolerant?