Tattoos: They're Not Just for Sailors and Convicts Anymore

Tattoo.  Just the word may conjure up all sorts of images in people's minds. In the past, many people for some reason associated tattoos with sailors or prison inmates or gang members.

Popeye! From free-extras.com

However, the art of tattoo is becoming more and more mainstream with time. Now, it could be that your doctors, your kids' teachers, and heck, even your lawyers (cough cough) have tattoos.

Why am I writing about this, you may ask? Well, for one thing, tattooing should be recognized as the art form it is, and the importance of self-expression to so many of us should be respected. But I also think (as with so many things) that dispelling myths is important. After all, not every tattooed person has visible ink. And, because more and more people are getting tattooed today, it's important to withhold judgment. You just never know who might have a tattoo.

Maybe this guy just saved your life. (Photo from thetattooedengineer.com)

If the aforementioned stereotypes held true, then I shouldn't have any ink myself. After all, I grew up in the south, a good little Baptist girl who got straight As and sang in the church choir. People like that don't get tattoos, right?

Well, that's probably what my parents thought. To their surprise and initial dismay, I got my first tattoo when I was 21 and a senior in college. (Okay, so my "rebellion" came a little late.) My parents' reaction was amusing. I was home changing clothes after church when my mother opened my bedroom door and saw the tiny Japanese character for "faithful" on my lower right back. I had hoped to conceal it, but alas, the proverbial cat was out of the bag. Coming out when I was 20, a tattoo when I was 21 - what next?! Oh my!

Predictably, she was mortified. People like us didn't get tattoos, probably was the unspoken sentiment. For the spoken sentiment, she went with concerns about hygiene and needles and illness. I assured her everything was sterile and clean and that I would be okay. Then there was this query: What if I didn't like it when I was older? I wasn't concerned about that (and I'm still not).

When I left to drive back to my apartment a couple of hours later, though, Mom hugged me and said with a smile, "Goodbye, my tattooed baby!"  On my birthday the following year, my parents' card involved a joke about tattoos. Although I was out of the nest by then, I was relieved and pleased they had accepted it - and after all, I was only going to have that discreet, tiny, easily concealable one.

But....... as many of you inked readers can attest, tattoos are addictive. I wanted another one for years and finally got the chance in the spring of 2008 a few months before Anna was born, when I got the Sanskrit symbol for "om" on my left arm.

Anna inspired my next tattoo for New Years 2011, which represents her. It's a sun because I have always sung her songs like "Here Comes the Sun" and "You Are My Sunshine."  The kanji on the sun is "gift from above" which is the (very apt) meaning of the name Anna.


Shortly thereafter, I got the kanji for "strength" on my wrist in memory of my late best friend, Ken, who was one of the strongest people I've ever known in his battle with cancer. Recently, I got it embellished a little so it looks better.


Then, I got the character for "brave" - Heidi's 35th birthday present to me - on my right leg because the events of these past few years, and life coaching, have helped me realize I've shown a good deal of courage in the choices I've made. I'm trying to learn not to beat myself up so much for my shortcomings and to give myself credit when I deserve it for doing good things.

And finally, a couple of weeks ago, I got an owl on my left shoulder blade because owls represent wisdom and I think they're such majestic creatures.

The funny thing about the owl is that I told Anna, who loves the movie, The Sword in the Stone, that we should name him Archimedes. She said, "No, it's going to be Blockhead," which is what Archimedes calls Wart in the movie. I vetoed that one promptly, and then she asked, "So when are you going to get Wart and Merlin?"  My answer: "Ummm - never." I do have standards, people.

All of this is to show that you never know what choices someone has made, and, as always, you can't judge a book by its cover, especially when you may not even know what the cover is. After all, if you saw me on the street in a shirt and jeans, the only tattoo you would see is the one on my wrist.

And if I were in court, wearing a suit, you wouldn't even see that. In short, the fact that I'm tattooed has absolutely no bearing on the kind of person, parent, partner or lawyer I am. It's just one of the ways in which I choose to express myself. We've all gotta do something, right?  And, in fact, all of my tattoos have a deeper meaning.  They reflect important people and experiences in my life, and they reflect the values I try to live by and the virtues I hope to possess:  courage, strength, fidelity, wisdom, love, blessings.

One thing I think is really cool is that I have noticed that a number of the teachers at Anna's day care have tattoos, as do a number of the other parents. Our kids will hopefully grow up to think there's nothing wrong with tattoos - and, in fact, they're cool.

For more efforts to dispel the common myths or judgments about tattoos, check out this blog post. Good stuff.  If you have tattoos and care to share any interesting reactions you may have experienced, feel free to share them with us in the comments!