Tattoos: self-expression or self-loathing?
Print Normal font Large font As you'd expect from a bloke who wrote a book titled No Tattoos Before You're Thirty I'm not a huge fan of most skin art, mainly because it's a mistake impressionable kids can't easily undo and also because I've never come across an image, slogan or design that I want to see on my body every day for the rest of my life.
Then there are the people who actually have tatts: although I know many wonderful and adjusted men and women who've cartooned up, there do seem to be an inordinate number of wankers, wannabes and weirdos who equate inking the yin-yang symbol on their bum with being cool.
I know it's very hip nowadays to get ironic tattoos - I remember going to a Sparklehorse gig a few years ago and his percussionist, surely the nerdiest man ever to strut the stage at the Annandale Hotel, sported a flaming violin on his forearm - but this represents the minority of tattoo owners.
Most of the girls I see strutting around with arse antlers and blokes sporting tribal bands and Chili Pepper-style patterns strike me as, well, clueless tools and their "f--- you world" pretensions more of a "look at me" cry for attention.
Throw in the masses of criminals, strippers and junkies whose use of tatts is as original as the business suits they'll tell you they're rebelling against and I wonder if the whole phenomenon is less about self-expression than it is about about low self-esteem ...
Self-esteem is defined as having a "favourable opinion of oneself" according to the Macquarie Dictionary and reflects "a person's overall self-appraisal of their own worth," according to your mate and mine, Wiki.
How we view ourselves is strongly related to how we think others see us and, broadly speaking, people with low self-esteem tend to expect rejection from others, jump to negative conclusions about situations and feel threatened by individuals whom they view as superior.
All of us can feel inferior in a multitude of ways, but one of the most common reasons is because of how we perceive our bodies and physical appearance.
Interestingly, a 2000 study done by Allison, Drews, and Probst found "that tattooed males tended to rate themselves as more adventurous, creative, individualistic, and attractive than those without tattoos".
Which may well point to the reason why someone with low self-esteem might want to get a tatt.
Researcher Shelly Twyman posits: "Say that they do decide to alter their body in some way, in hopes that it will cause someone to notice them?
"It may even be because they felt that they were just like everyone else in the world, but now they can be their own person and have their own identity. Body alterations could even cause a person to have a higher self-esteem than what they had before, all because now they can feel better about who they are, their place in this world, and who they have become."
Other studies of why people get tattoos invariably reflect that individuals see it as a form of self-expression, while others insist it is a method for them to feel unique.
If this is the honest motivation, can I ask you this: why the hell do so many people get the same tattoo?
If carp and skulls and dolphins and geckos and Celtic symbols are your idea of a unique projection of personality, may I suggest you switch off Big Brother for a half hour and pick up a book? (Not Harry Potter).
And in regards to self-expression, riddle me this: why is carving foreign phrases into your flesh so popular - I mean if a word means so much to a person, why write it in a language that you can't understand?
Both Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance have tattoos of Chinese characters which, for all they know, could say: "I love chicken chow mein.''
Tony Cohen, of Sydney's Illustrated Man Tattoo Studio, says clients often ask his artists to copy foreign words from photographs or pieces of paper.
"You have to take the person's word for it that it's been written by someone who knows what they're doing,'' he says. "We have the Chinese herbalist from next door go through the words we've got on our wall and check they're correct.''
(To give you an insight into this mindset David Beckham has his wife Posh Spice's name misspelt in Hindi on his forearm - it actually translates as "Vihctoria'', according to the website Vanishing Tattoo.)
Given, tattooing is an integral part of many cultures, I just don't understand why a white bloke from Adelaide wants so badly to co-opt Pacific Islander culture, or an Aussie pop star the Chinese language?
In the end, I just can't get away from that study that found "males who tattoo themselves rate themselves as more attractive, individualistic, creative, and with many more positive characteristics than men without tattoos".
It reminds me of something a mate once said to me about a mutual acquaintance: "He's so dumb he doesn't even realise how stupid he is."
Now, watch me get knocked out by some bloke with tatts this weekend.
Print Normal font Large font As you'd expect from a bloke who wrote a book titled No Tattoos Before You're Thirty I'm not a huge fan of most skin art, mainly because it's a mistake impressionable kids can't easily undo and also because I've never come across an image, slogan or design that I want to see on my body every day for the rest of my life.
Then there are the people who actually have tatts: although I know many wonderful and adjusted men and women who've cartooned up, there do seem to be an inordinate number of wankers, wannabes and weirdos who equate inking the yin-yang symbol on their bum with being cool.
I know it's very hip nowadays to get ironic tattoos - I remember going to a Sparklehorse gig a few years ago and his percussionist, surely the nerdiest man ever to strut the stage at the Annandale Hotel, sported a flaming violin on his forearm - but this represents the minority of tattoo owners.
Most of the girls I see strutting around with arse antlers and blokes sporting tribal bands and Chili Pepper-style patterns strike me as, well, clueless tools and their "f--- you world" pretensions more of a "look at me" cry for attention.
Throw in the masses of criminals, strippers and junkies whose use of tatts is as original as the business suits they'll tell you they're rebelling against and I wonder if the whole phenomenon is less about self-expression than it is about about low self-esteem ...
Self-esteem is defined as having a "favourable opinion of oneself" according to the Macquarie Dictionary and reflects "a person's overall self-appraisal of their own worth," according to your mate and mine, Wiki.
How we view ourselves is strongly related to how we think others see us and, broadly speaking, people with low self-esteem tend to expect rejection from others, jump to negative conclusions about situations and feel threatened by individuals whom they view as superior.
All of us can feel inferior in a multitude of ways, but one of the most common reasons is because of how we perceive our bodies and physical appearance.
Interestingly, a 2000 study done by Allison, Drews, and Probst found "that tattooed males tended to rate themselves as more adventurous, creative, individualistic, and attractive than those without tattoos".
Which may well point to the reason why someone with low self-esteem might want to get a tatt.
Researcher Shelly Twyman posits: "Say that they do decide to alter their body in some way, in hopes that it will cause someone to notice them?
"It may even be because they felt that they were just like everyone else in the world, but now they can be their own person and have their own identity. Body alterations could even cause a person to have a higher self-esteem than what they had before, all because now they can feel better about who they are, their place in this world, and who they have become."
Other studies of why people get tattoos invariably reflect that individuals see it as a form of self-expression, while others insist it is a method for them to feel unique.
If this is the honest motivation, can I ask you this: why the hell do so many people get the same tattoo?
If carp and skulls and dolphins and geckos and Celtic symbols are your idea of a unique projection of personality, may I suggest you switch off Big Brother for a half hour and pick up a book? (Not Harry Potter).
And in regards to self-expression, riddle me this: why is carving foreign phrases into your flesh so popular - I mean if a word means so much to a person, why write it in a language that you can't understand?
Both Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance have tattoos of Chinese characters which, for all they know, could say: "I love chicken chow mein.''
Tony Cohen, of Sydney's Illustrated Man Tattoo Studio, says clients often ask his artists to copy foreign words from photographs or pieces of paper.
"You have to take the person's word for it that it's been written by someone who knows what they're doing,'' he says. "We have the Chinese herbalist from next door go through the words we've got on our wall and check they're correct.''
(To give you an insight into this mindset David Beckham has his wife Posh Spice's name misspelt in Hindi on his forearm - it actually translates as "Vihctoria'', according to the website Vanishing Tattoo.)
Given, tattooing is an integral part of many cultures, I just don't understand why a white bloke from Adelaide wants so badly to co-opt Pacific Islander culture, or an Aussie pop star the Chinese language?
In the end, I just can't get away from that study that found "males who tattoo themselves rate themselves as more attractive, individualistic, creative, and with many more positive characteristics than men without tattoos".
It reminds me of something a mate once said to me about a mutual acquaintance: "He's so dumb he doesn't even realise how stupid he is."
Now, watch me get knocked out by some bloke with tatts this weekend.
