A wife and 2.4 tattoos

stephen says:

04:50am | 10/12/09

When I was little, only crooks had tatoos. Now I see the kid working down at the chemist has one.
(She has thick glasses, her name is Ruth and she plays the bassoon.)

Joel B1 says:

07:10am | 10/12/09

Tats are great. In order however not to look like a total tool I’ve got some UV-tattoo ink off of EBay and if I can convince my local Hells Angel tattooist I’m doing my entire face in a maori design.

That tattoo will only show up in night-clubs ... and banks (where they have those UV light for cheques) so that’s that sorted.

Tony says:

07:18am | 10/12/09

It’s your body at the end of the day, who cares what anyone else thinks!

Sam says:

07:18am | 10/12/09

Go for it, Rob. I had my first and only tattoo at age 53, the emblem of the soccer club I’ve supported from age 4. Been a chick magnet ever since.

Brando says:

08:20am | 10/12/09

Ah tattoos AKA the Mt Druitt birthmark. It’s a sure sign the wearer is far too easily influenced by popular culture to consider the long term issues.

Sociological studies done by the American Psychological Association, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and other demographic researchers show strong correlative evidence associating tattoos with the high risk behavior, illegal substance abuse and sexual promiscuity that we’d expect from the morons that willingly submit themselves to some idiot injecting ink under their skin.

Tatts are for complete and utter losers and as you rush to the keyboard to give me the serve of abuse abd vitriol that I would expect from people unable to put a complete sentence together without it,  answer me this.

Which suburbs do you think have the higher percentage of tattooed residents? Mosman or Mt Druitt? Pymble of Penrith? Balmoral or Blacktown?

Admit the truth to yourselves? You know I’m right and you just don’t like to face it.

Zeta says:

08:41am | 10/12/09

I’m thinking of getting Ah Puch, Mayan Death God from the Dresden Codex, tattooed on my shoulder for Christmas. Either that or a giant squid eating an old wooden ship.

Chris says:

08:51am | 10/12/09

Tattoos go in and out of fashion, usually with a 20 year hiatus in between. Dont do it they are on the way out again..

Liz says:

08:55am | 10/12/09

Maybe time to grow up and get a real sense of humour.Or you could have ‘G’Day Mate’ on your knuckles

Infense says:

09:10am | 10/12/09

Generalisations are indicative of a weak mind. However here goes - most tattoos make people look like ferals.

megan says:

09:20am | 10/12/09

Brando you’re absolutely right. There probably are less tattoos in the top end of town and while you’re busy feeling superior to the rest of the rabble, we are all having a ball and living life for the moment.
Our tattoos will fade a bit with time but the ugliness inside you will last a lifetime.

Paloma says:

09:41am | 10/12/09

Megan -1.  Brando, you tosspot, come out of your cave. Increasingly, I think you’ll find increasingly those swanning around Mosman, Pymble & Balmoral have the mark of the branded.  I’ve seen my fair share of bankers, marketers, financiers etc jumping on the branded bandwagon if you want to take that road.

Ian F says:

09:53am | 10/12/09

Aside from the ugliness associated with defacing their own skin, the tattooed often face restrictions on donating blood in Australia and there is active discrimination against anyone with visible tattoos in Japan where they are considered to be a characteristic of gangsters (yakuza).

However, do I get some amusement from seeing [non-Asian] Australians with what they imagine are cool Asian character tattoos, particularly on some people who seem to be still struggling with English as their first language.  I saw one recently that was the katakana mori for ‘ka’ (?), which by itself is the equivalent of a question mark and otherwise meaningless.  I expect that some of the more complex Asian character tattoos could mean anything from “cheap and clean” to “beef with bean shoots”.

Jade says:

10:01am | 10/12/09

Wow arn’t there a bunch of prunes on this blog today.

Tattoos are a great form of artistic expression, some people like to look at a picture on a wall, others (like myself) would rather put the art on our bodies.

They are not for bogans either.  You never know what someone is wearing under the long sleave shirt, they could have there whole body done. Trust me I have seen it…

The only thing i would say is that it is your body and who gives a toot what anyone says and think long and hard about what you are getting done because its going to be there for a long time.

Brian Ward says:

10:04am | 10/12/09

The desire to mutilate yourself to look original (just like everyone else) is a sign of a cultural obsession with conformity and a lack of individuality. You are already unique and there is no reason to make further efforts to prove this. To me a tattoo is a sign of a lack of self identity and self confidence.

hoofman says:

10:14am | 10/12/09

I once heard of a nurse giving a male patient a bath. She asked whether he had the name of his favourite beer tattooed on his penis. He asked her what she meant and she said ‘isn’t it the word “Swan”?’ He said, no, it’s the state I’m from, but you can only read it when I’m in a certain state. She asked what she meant and he said ‘it’s “Saskatchewan”’.

Well, you had to be there, as they say.

Beck says:

10:53am | 10/12/09

Ian F: On the topic of giving blood in Australia, you can’t give blood if your tattoo is less than 12 months old. After 1 year, you can give blood again. The same applies for piercings, even if it’s just a woman getting her ears pierced.

As for the topic of tattoos, they shouldn’t be about looking cool or proving you’re tough, it should have meaning to you. I’ve got 2 and they both have a lot of meaning to me since they’re both for family members (my dad who lives overseas and I don’t get to see very often and my grandpa who has passed on). If you want a tattoo it should have meaning. It’s going to be with you for a very long time and you don’t want to regret it.

Brian Ward: You may see tattoos as “a sign of a lack of self identity and self confidence” but chances are you don’t know the story behind their tattoo/tattoos. Saying things like that to people that have tattoos with meaning can be quite hurtful since you might be inadvertently insulting someone they love or their heritage.

To the people that keep saying respectable people don’t get tattoos, do you know what your bank manager has under his or her suit? What about your doctor? your lawyer? your financier? My dad is a 60 year old financier. He wears a suit to work every day. He has a tattoo that he got for his father when he died, and he’s planning his second one at the moment. As the old saying goes: Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

stealth says:

10:58am | 10/12/09

Brando, recent studies done by university colleagues of mine have shown a significant shift in the perception of tattoos and also in the type of people who get tattoos.  While once tattoos were associated with masculinity (think sailors’ tattoos), connotations have now changed.  This has a lot to do with use of tattoos in advertising - David Beckham in his undies sporting a tattoo etc. Still, I think it all depends on what type of tattoo you get. 

oh and Ian F, I’ve never had any problem giving blood despite having a number of tattoos.

alexandra says:

11:06am | 10/12/09

southern cross - enough said

Lexi says:

11:12am | 10/12/09

I have no image that I am so committed to that I would brand myself with it for the rest of my life.  Further, I imagine a scene from my dotage (many, many years into the future):

“Grandma, what’s that?” small child points to my lower back, exposed as I reach for potatoes from the bottom shelf of the pantry.

“That, my sweet grandchild, is a butterfly tattoo.”

“No it isn’t, Grandma…. I think it’s a picture of one of your old beach towels waiting to be washed.  Why do you have that picture there?”

“Well, darling, it was the most fashionable thing to do around 2009.  Everyone was doing it.”

“Oh well Grandma, I’m glad you understand the expression ‘everyone’s doing it’.  Now I can smoke my crack pipe while we watch TV.  Everyone’s doing it.”

I see people with tats as people who want to be an “individual” - just like everyone else.  I do judge people by whether they have tats.  I’m not scared, nor confronted, just sad that so many people can be so lame.  And I wonder, what will it look like when the skin is wrinkled, and the ink has faded?

Givingbackgirl says:

11:14am | 10/12/09

God I love it!  I am one of those “professional north shore” families that invite your kids to pool parties and both of us - the “professional” and the non-professional partner, both have hankerings for a tattoo too, I’ve even gone as far as to step inside the tattoo parlour in Manly, hoping for a smidge of reassurance and some customer service and receiving neither.  I say it’s all about being 40 and having attitude and wanting to show it.  It’s about reclaiming some youth and a flash back to all the stuff you did when you were younger or wish you had done.  (aaahhh, I have plenty of that).  My only advice, lose that weight if you want/need to, just don’t bundle it up with the tattoo.  Make them separate goals and do both!  If you have that hankering, run with it!  Oh and next time look around you when you whip the shirt off at the pool, I bet there will be a stack of 40 year olds looking enviously at your artwork and wishing they had the guts to do the same.

Joel B1 says:

11:28am | 10/12/09

Re losing weight and having some tats done.

Don’t do it that way ‘round. Have your tatts done while you’re (ahem) 10kg over your fighting weight. That way when your skin shirinks when you do lose that blubber your tatts will so much more intense.

Joel B1 says:

11:36am | 10/12/09

And just to follow up, “I have no image that I am so committed to that I would brand myself with it for the rest of my life”

Me too, so I chose a Great Eastern Water Dragon to represent my reptile-like midbrain.

eg “A semi-aquatic, arboreal lizard, often seen lying on branches overhanging water. When disturbed it will drop from great heights to escape. Feeds on a variety of insects and aquatic organisms, including frogs as well as other small terrestrial vertebrates. Grows to about 1 metre in length.”

I’ll be as comfortable with that in 30 years as I am now!

NCG says:

12:05pm | 10/12/09

I’m 26 and don’t get the attraction to tattoos, it seems everyone is getting them regardless of how outlandish they look. For me it seems like people with them are just going along with the crowd; or as I like to put it, being unique like everyone else.

I can’t believe that so much of the population have such a predisposition with butterflies and coy fish. I run a professional services company, and I won’t hire anyone with visible tattoos. At the end of the day its just trashy, no matter how shows like Miami and LA Ink portray it.

If your looking to be “extreme”, how about getting out there and breaking a few bones. Compound fracture scars are a lot better talking point and make those with tattoos look like wimps, it shuts them down every time!

StrawB says:

12:13pm | 10/12/09

Brando -I was married to someone who was part of a charitable bike gang in Canada. He didn’t get his tattoos till late in his twenties but did regret a bit because he was drunk at the time. I meant him well after this time. I was from middle class educated Australia and my parents live in an affluent suburb (I hate generalisations but that is to help people like brando open their minds). I did spend some time at harley ‘pig roasts’ whilst in Canada and admired all the tattoos. It wasn’t until about 4 years after we seperated and in my thirties that I found exactly the tattoo I wanted. My initial. I love it. I have no regrets. I think people spend more energy and forethought on tattoos then other body work such as piercing and for that reason they are often unique, personal and cross any social & cultural barriers. It’s for you at the end of the day. Some people will admire it and some people will think thoughts like ‘mid-life crisis’ but who cares. Its yours.

Joel B1 says:

12:25pm | 10/12/09

Ahh, NCG, you are quite right in what you say.
So have at look at the accompanying pic to the story and notice how the private bits ie tattoos stop before the public bits.

Dress those dudes up in suits and they’d look as respectable as anyone.

I’d check the “anti-discrimination’ laws if I were you.

Razor says:

12:27pm | 10/12/09

Primitive Societies tatoo and body pierce.

Nough said.

DG says:

12:36pm | 10/12/09

My life long dream (read: consistent answer when any one asks about a tattoo, despite my complete apathy with respect to the idea of a tattoo) has been my surname across my back/shoulders with my number (from football) on my back. So that I have my number whether I am playing as shirts or skins.

Now if that’s not “tribal markings [that] normally come with a soccer shirt” I don’t know what is.

The good news is that I wont be getting a club logo over my heart - I’ve played for too many clubs in my years and there is no way that I am ever going to get the call up for the Red Devils. Although if I do get that call…..

Nothing wrong with tats. says:

12:37pm | 10/12/09

Whatever, i’m thinking about getting one and a lot of my friends have them (i’m 20). It’s generational I guess. Brando is probably about 50 years old so his opinions don’t matter to young people like me anyway. Suprisingly to you it may be, none of us live in poor suburbs.. I live in Hawthorne.. one of the cleanest and best suburbs in Brisbane. You don’t want a tattoo? Thats great, really. But dismissing others because they have something you wouldn’t get is just really close minded and ignorant.

NCG says:

12:49pm | 10/12/09

Joel B1: They would pass fine as its not openly visible. Your right about discrimination laws, but I’m hardly going to tell the prospective employee that they didn’t get the job based on tattoos, that would be just plain stupid :D

Joel B1 says:

03:31pm | 10/12/09

NCG, obviously you’re quite correct still.

But think of the benefits. When that 18yo girl with the lovely Kanji on her lower back bends over in “those” jeans that show more than they hide you’ll be able to say “Hey babe, just checking out your tat!”

Otherwise, you might be in trouble…

Graham S says:

05:16pm | 10/12/09

I heard tattoos described as a permanent reminder of temporary insanity…that pretty much sums it up for mine.

Peter Thornton says:

05:24pm | 10/12/09

I’m a bit late responding as I’ve just opened my morning email delivery of The Punch. Busy day, I have a life.

I enjoyed reading this post and mostly all of the replies it provoked. Brando - silence idiot! The days of tattoos being representative of social or geographical background are a thing of the distant past. Learn from it.

Nice work, Rob. Keep coming back.

- p

Lisa says:

05:59pm | 10/12/09

I can’t believe this serious discussion about tattoos! They are a commodified representation of ‘youf culture’  (previously a commodified representation of a commitment to ‘tough’ culture). Tribes pick identifying markings, they pick clothing styles and hair cuts and electronic accessories. Tattoos are like a variety of other goods to be bought. Just like mobile phones!

Dalma Smithy says:

12:27pm | 11/12/09

Once upon a time there were tribal Goths, who displayed their tats as a badge of courage. Then there were those who suffer low esteem and self assertivness, and suffer immolation to impress ! Now, every teeny-bopper craves for one - the real McCoy, or a stenciled logo. Once it was where no one could see. Now it’s up your nose. Like it or not. A generational thing, many who suffer derision in the work place, now opt for removal after adolescence.
In Kiwi Land, the Maori’s thrive on tatto’s as a sign of masculinity - an initiation, like circumcision, to prove you are macho. Like the Hakka, it’s an extension of their warrior status. The uglier, outlandish and bizarre, the more respect it generates. Missionaries were agahst at this paganism which inevitably led to the infamous Treaty of Watangi. Amusing thing, the newer generation are feign to emulate their forebarers !
Today,it’s a status symbol. Yesterday, you were a freak show, and people gawked, tittered and called you names. You were a spectacle in a side-show alley phenomena. Apart from STD, HIV, AIDS and a whole host of transmissable disease’s, you may never cotton-on to in your lifetime, you may be a carrier for life. For short term gratification, in my book the end doesn’t justify the means - not by a long shot.
Happy, nappy, tattooing all !

Dino says:

02:38pm | 11/12/09

I once read that the only diiference between those with tattoos and those without was that those with tattoos DON’T care that those who don’t, don’t. I’d like a tattoo or two, but I’m too soft.

KW says:

08:56am | 12/12/09

I am a wanderer at heart but with children, the best I can do is a couple of times a year throw them in the car and head off on a road trip to somewhere new, to see this wonderful country of ours.  At night with them tucked in bed, I would lie out under the stars and call people I love, tell them to go outside and look up.  Look at the Southern Cross.  There, we are looking at the same thing and we are still all together. 

On the way home from one particularly satisfying road trip up to Mackay and Airlie Beach, I wandered into a tattoo place in Byron Bay and asked for the Southern Cross on my shoulder blade.  He didn’t have it in his book and we made it up from a series of other stars he had.  I felt good.  I’d taken my children a long way up the east coast of Australia.  We’d seen rainforest, platypus swimming in the wild, snorkelled and fed fish on the reef and I shared it with my family and friends at night by telling them to look up.

When I got home, my new tattoo got positive comments everywhere I went.  None of my friends had seen a Southern Cross tattoo before and everyone knew my love of a journey.  I wore it with pride.

Fast forward a few years to the Cronulla riots.  My wanderers pride and love of my family and friends has taken on new meaning.  Every bogan redneck screaming “AUSSIE PRIDE” has a Southern Cross across their chest, their back, their forearms.  A Southern Cross tattoo is now a ubiquitous symbol of intolerance.  I am in my 40’s and absolutely horrified that a meaningful tattoo done with love has linked me with these idiots.  I loved my tattoo and now I get embarrassed every time I wear a singlet or strappy dress.  I know my reason for getting it, but strangers can’t read your mind.

That is the problem with tattoos.  Society is fluid.  Change happens so quickly.  What would people do if, say, a four leafed clover came out as being a secret code to protect pedophiles?  Everyone wearing a “lucky” four leafed clover tattoo would be marked.  My Southern Cross was done well before Cronulla, but I still get the snide comments and the looks.  Take care with your choices… or better still, go for the henna option.  They wash off.

PUGSLEY says:

03:46pm | 09/09/10

I spent 15 years in Mount Druitt, prior to joining the millitary. Yes i started collecting my tramp stamps aged 15,and would do it all again.Also worked in aged care for 20 years with visible art, no drama just bloody good work from all over OZ