"Tramp stamp"

I reckon that if someone invented semi-permanent tattoos - ones that could be erased at will, or would fade after a year or too, they would make a fortune.

I simply don't like tattos. This is not me being judgmental, it is just that I don't like to see people spoiling their looks. I dislike foul language for the same reason - it is ugly. Oh, and it is the same reason I dislike rap: it has ugly words and sounds. And the same reason I dislike graffiti.

I think I'm in the minority but I absolutely detest tattoos and piercings although I rarely volunteer my opinion as I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and in any case people look at me as if I come from another planet. I can't imagine why anyone would put themselves through the pain for a start. Plus, why make permanent marks on your body which you then have to live with for the rest of your days. Why put pieces of metal through bits of your body? I don't think I'm being old-fashioned about this - I just don't see any point . I even hate to see what happens to pierced ears with age - flabby lobes and pierced holes dragged down.
When I was a nurse in the 60s-80s, I rarely saw tattooed women but many of the men I cared for wished they hadn't had tattoos done particularly when the woman's name on the chest was different from the wife's! I suppose there was a lot of peer pressure and maybe that is still significant with the number of young women getting tattoos and piercings. Maybe having been a nurse, makes me wonder why people would "brand" the body that they have been given. It seems such a pity! There are so many ways of enhancing your body in a temporary manner.

I think tattoos can look quite pretty on a young body, but the idea of a tattoo on a 70 year old body is quite revolting (IMHO). Think there are many young people who will regret it in later years. Thankfully neither of my DDs have had one. They have a nose/ear/belly piercing but that can be removed as they get older so that is ok. My elder daughter was going to an interview for her first job out of uni, so I suggested to her that she removed her nose and numerous ear piercings for the interview. Sensibly she did, but came home laughing because the person who interviewed her was covered in piercings!! She didn't get the job......

Daughter No 3 has an apology for a tat on her ankle - a green turtle - more like a splodge really. She had it done when she was about 15 as an act of rebellion and I was not pleased, but it was so small that I think she really didn't want it - testing the water so to speak. Same daughter came home at 17 with a tongue piercing which she refused to move for years. I took her to Harvey Nichs Restaurant for a treat and she started to cough and splutter and spit out her food in front of all the Edinburgh Ladies who Lunch (so embarrassing...) - the wretched thing had broken and she was trying not to swallow it - so that was the end of the stud in her mouth. There is a lady in our village, same age as I am, whose back, arms and probably elsewhere too are completely covered in tattoos. Like Annobel I wonder what she will look like when she is really old and wrinkled, lying in her nursing home bed while the young nurses say ' come on now * * * * time for your bed bath'. I suppose it's all a matter of opinion and taste, but it ain't mine

I"m with you harrigran they make me shudder!! be interesting to see how they age, the old fashioned blue type faded a lot, I wonder what these brightly coloured horrors will look look when the wearers are not as young and beautiful as they are today.can"t imagine a grandad in thirty years time being proud of his tattooed face! coloured wrinkle perhaps!!!!!! theres a thing to think about! (but not just before tea)

Please GNHQ can we have a 'can't stop laughing' smiley ...there are several threads running at the moment that we could use it on!!

Personally don't like that ghoulish grin thing you've got.

absent,

This thread has obviously made an impression on my psyche. Last night I dreamed I had a bright green tattoo on the arch of my left foot. It looked a bit like a calculator and contained both writing and numbers. More excitingly, it also worked as a remote control – although I have no idea what it remotely controlled. When I awoke, I thought I had inexcusably lied earlier on in this thread as I had overlooked this tattoo and had to put the bedside light on to check.

My senior GD, aged 19, has a line from a pop song tattooed over her ribs. What on earth will she think about it in forty, fifty years' time?

I agree that 'too many' tattoos or piercings - particularly on girls - can be unattractive, but it is a very personal thing, and I agree with Twobabes - it's in the eye of the beholder.
Each to their own - live and let live - etc.

But Harrigrann, those who like tattoos don't regard them as disfigurement. It's all in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? Although I've seen some quite hideous tattoos, I've also seen many that were, to me, rather beautiful.
I wonder what was so awful about the flower on the thigh? Or was it the "under age" aspect, and the illegitimacy, that made it seem so dreadful?

I am horrified at the number of people who disfigure themselves in the name of art. The worst one was a teenager, under the age of consent, who had a very large flower tattooed on her thigh and added a diamond in the centre. Her reason, to celebrate her child's birth, under the age of consent again

I've thought about a tattoo in recent years. Just something Celtic as my heritage is Irish, but really not sure if older skin is firm enough? Nothing worse than a saggy tat I reckon
Anyone got any thoughts on this?
2 of my girls have tattoos ... in fact I bought them one each of their bigger ones as birthday presents (One had a large fairy across one shoulderblade, and the other had a phoenix above one hip - which has survived her first pregnancy nicely)
I had my belly button pierced when I went with the same 2 daughters to have theirs done (they persuaded me!)
Middle daughter had her tongue pierced too, and I really really would have liked mine done, but was never brave enough - it hurts like hell!
If tattoos and piercings had been as acceptable back in the sixties I would have had quite a few (always a bit of a rebel ;)

i've got two - a tiny lion on my ankle [i'm a leo] and a pretty blue flower on the back of my left shoulder. i had the lion done when i was 48 and the flower in 2000 [at the age of 53].

i've got quite a high pain threshold but neither of them hurt even though i was told that the one on my ankle would be very painful as it's on the bone.

i've been thinking about having another one but not sure what and where.

i had my ears pierced when i was 18 [i'm now 64] and again about ten years after that - and then again a few years later. i can't remember if it hurt - but they don't now.

i see no reason why tattoos are supposed to be a sign of decadence - i just wanted one and so i had one!! the second is a souvenir of a lovely weekend away with my guy [and i'm still with the guy].

but one thing i won't have done is to have my belly button pierced - i can't find it nowadays!!!

I have a tattoo on my left upper arm of a sunflower. Hardly seen by anyone else as it's invariably under a sleeve. I absolutely love it!
It was my 50 and s-d it moment. Hurt like mad, but so worth it.

Had a dragon tattoo on my right arm, had it done at 40 also had my belly button pierced! never regreted either, both my daughters have tattoos too and eldest son. think they look good if done right.

Thanks for that, absent. I wonder if my GD1 would ever talk to me again if I told her that...

Twobabes Not a lovely phrase, certainly. I think it is applied specifically to a tattoo positioned on the back just above the buttocks, but I'm not sure.

Isn't "tramp stamp" a horrible expression? I'd not heard it before reading this thread.

Seeing I fainted when I had my ears pierced I think a tattoo would be unwise.

My lovely daughter was an extravagantly pierced teenager, (ears, face and body), and had a tattooed stomach. 18 years later she's reduced the metalwork - the ones in her nipples were taken out prior to birth of first child as she was planning to breastfeed and she got fed up with most of the others - but there are quite a few tiny holes left!
I've always hankered after a tattoo somewhere not too visible, an Aubrey Beardsley or Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, maybe, but have never been quite brave enough. Wish I had her courage!

When my daughter was much younger she wanted a tattoo, I was against this but as she was very strong-willed I said, "Oh good idea, I'd love one - we could go together"............complete silence and I never heard another word.....she's 34 now and still no tattoo

I had one while on holiday when I was forty. It is on the back of my left shoulder and it is of a rose and two feathers, native American style. No -one knows it is there unless I choose to tell or show them , it was just something i wanted to do for myself, a little mid-life rebellion maybe!

I have a small ( 1.5cm diameter) spiral on my left upper arm. It has symbolic resonance for me.

I had one as a minor rebellious act when I was 55, a small blue bird on my lower back, that only one man, and my gds have seen! As I don't see it normally, it doesn't bother me at all!