It was once mainstream to cover your entire body in woad, and run into battle with a giant axe...
Culture makes sense if you just accept what you are told is normal. None of it really does, though.
To me, a pierced ear is no different than a gender change, on the basic comparison. It's still a modification of your body, the only difference is the reversibility, the difference the modification makes on your body itself, and the way society looks at it.
If you really think about it, and analyze the basemost elements of these two radically different things, they really aren't that radically different, even though they appear to be so. Why? Society, and severity.
So I say, do what you want with your body. If it means something to you, forget what he/she thinks. Just be smart about it. If you can remove it, that's great. If you can cover it with a work uniform, or a business suit, that's good too.
My tattoos are permanent, being tribal ink, and having been touched up 3+ times each. They are never going away, not with laser treatment, or any other treatment. Even if I did remove them, it would leave my skin horribly disfigured.
Black tattoos just plain can't be removed properly. I'm happy with them now, and know I'll like them less later in life. But I can cover them with clothes, so it's only me I'm hurting.
There really shouldn't be a debate here. Do what makes you happy. Wear what you want to wear, change yourself how you want, cut your hair how you want, just be aware of the consequences of how you make yourself appear, and don't complain if people think it's strange, or you get turned down for a job because of a visible piercing, or tattoo. After all, by 16-18 years of age, you are old enough to understand cause and effect.
Ter13 wrote:
Culture makes sense if you just accept what you are told is normal. None of it really does, though. Nuff said. End this topic. | |
The same thing can be said for surgery. If you don't care for a wound, it could kill you just as quickly. If the proper precautions are taken, there is little to no danger.
Anybody who doesn't wash out their piercings, even after they have fully healed, is at the best of times, stupid. In my opinion, a piercing has no more risk of infection involved than wearing contact lenses. Adhere to proper hygiene, and you will stave off any predictable infection. Staph/MRSA is a known side effect of the use of dirty needles for tattooing and for piercings. Again, though, anyone who doesn't watch their tattoo artist open a fresh set of tools, and sterilize their equipment is at best, stupid. | |
Jon Snow wrote:
Genitalia piercings more often then not seem to cause infections, while piercings of the tongue can, if done improperly, destroy all taste. Both of which are two out of the four piercings I refuse to get. The third is a nosering, the fourth nipple. As to all the other surface piercings and stuff, I have no problem and IMO, getting stuff like my eyebrow ring ripped out didnt hurt that bad, and the scar is wicked cool. | |
Amen.
I may not take as best of care as the experts recommend, but I DO take care of my piercings, even those ones I did myself I am very careful with. | |
Agreed.
And as to tattoos, the acceptable (in my opinion) is: for guys:
for girls:
And for piercings, just about anywhere is acceptable (although there are certain places I wont get) considering they can easily be removed. | |
Yeah <.<
Especially considering it technically kinda did work out for him. I mean, even if you dont acknowledge Christ, you still gotta admit him getting his wrists pierced raised him to immortality as far as his name has lasted as a house-hold name for the last 2000+ years <.< | |
When I see a girl with a lower back tattoo the first thing I think of is a bulls eye (and also, whore).
As far as tattoos go in general, I like how some of these Japanese businessmen get these like, full body suit tattoos, where you can wear a suit over it and you can't even see them. | |
Revenant Jesus wrote:
When I see a girl with a lower back tattoo the first thing I think of is a bulls eye (and also, whore). They're called tramp stamps. | |
More power to them, I say. A little ink doesn't mean she's sleeping around. Herpes, on the other hand...
| |
Cavern wrote:
They're called tramp stamps. They're also known as "California licence plates". ;-) I immediately reject a girl with a tattoo on her lower back, especially if it's big. A girl with a small tattoo on her front, off-centre, above her waist is very sexy, however -- for instance, a little heart immediately below her stomach (in terms of internal biology) is just cute. It has to be off-centre or it takes on the same "bullseye" connotation. I'd never get a tattoo myself, however. I see no point in cosmetically altering my appearance -- for the same reason I don't care about shaving more than once every few days -- and certainly see no point in doing so in a slightly painful way. =) | |
Jtgibson wrote:
I immediately reject a girl with a tattoo on her lower back, especially if it's big. I don't really mind it. I mean, I'll date them, but I won't marry them. | |
Jtgibson wrote:
I immediately reject a girl with a tattoo on her lower back Picky much? =p Ah well, I guess everyone has their own tastes. I personally don't mind them, as long as it looks nice. | |
Dice1989 wrote:
Jtgibson wrote: Mostly off topic now, but I'm very picky about my women. That's the primary reason I'm single right now. The fact that I'm a computer geek is the secondary reason, of course, but I'm decently good looking and could probably get a hottie within a week if I wanted to (assuming I conveniently neglect to mention that computer gaming is a preferred hobby over my other hobby, cycling). I think of myself as looking for someone with similar depth to me, so when I find a girl who is as deep as a shallow pond, I tend not to want to take a splash. ;-) When I do find someone with similar depth to me, it's sometimes difficult to convince them I'm really deep, since I tend to be pretty reserved about my feelings in person. So I'll probably be single for a while. That doesn't bother me, however: any day of the year, I'd rather go single than be with someone I didn't truly love. | |
Yeah, that's how I am. As long as the tattoo is tasteful I have no problem with it.
Although I will agree with Jt that it needs to be slightly off-centre at the least. Of course, regardless of the tattoos and where it is and everything, Ive normally known all my girlfriends for at least a month or so in advance of us going out (well, besides one, who turned out to be rather psychotic. . . and not in the good way), so I have a bit more than tattoos to form an opinion from. That's actually why Im normally single because after ive been friends with a female for a while, we tend to form a brother/sister relationship, which once we reach that point its kinda hard to decide to think of them as a GF. Especially since Im into the deep meaningful relationships, which makes me a rarity at my high school. | |
Stupid bourgeois rules.
Now I'm wondering how many of the older members of the community think that I dress like your typical rebellious teenager. Just sort of amusing, because about the closest I get is having fairly long hair because I haven't bothered to get it cut for a while. No tattoos or piercings, I generally just wear a t-shirt and jeans with black boots. Shirts are more often geeky then anything else - I've got a lovely one with ~30 different physical equations on it, and a list of fundamental constants with values down the back. We're actually forbidden from wearing them in exams. | |
actually a co-worker got a piercing in that "special spot" and within a day she was hospitalized for like a week because of some insane infection that took hold right away, nearly killing her. So I'd say that in those places it's not such a good idea... heh
| |
Rofl. Like I said, there are some places that it just doesnt make sense to get pierced. Although almost everywhere else is fair game (I used a safety pin and pierced the skin above my knuckles before, wasnt deep enough to last long, but it looked cool while it was there)
| |
Jon Snow wrote:
actually a co-worker got a piercing in that "special spot" and within a day she was hospitalized for like a week because of some insane infection that took hold right away, nearly killing her. So I'd say that in those places it's not such a good idea... heh That's why you have to make sure the piercer is using a new, fresh needle. Did you know that about 60% of the time the piercer is using a used needle? They do it to save money. Always make sure you watch the piercer open it out of a new bag or whatever. Otherwise, tell him to get a new one, because chances are, it's been used already. | |
Piercings on the other hand, scream I had a bad life at some point and feel like cutting myself. I don't know why, that's what I sense every time I see someone with a nose ring, or some abnormal piercings. Ears are not abnormal, they're mainstream now.