Current Events > Have tattoos lost their edge? Or is it not about edge anymore?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Tattoos used to be a part of a counterculture and now so many people have them. Would you say the idea behind getting tattoos has evolved over the past ~15 years?
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real men dont get tattoos
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Yeah there are a bunch of different reasons to get a tattoo now. It's not always about looking tough.
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All those posers ruined my tribal tats
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AvlButtslam posted...

All those posers ruined my tribal tats

I still see stereotypical d-bags with those
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LethalAffinity posted...

AvlButtslam posted...

All those posers ruined my tribal tats

I still see stereotypical d-bags with those

Well it is not like it is easy for them to get taken off.
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Tattoo styles have developed so quickly over the past twenty years that as a culture it has completely fractured into a bunch of different things. A tattoo artist friend of mine told me that this is largely due to widescae relaxation of tattoo business laws and biker gangs losing their monopoly on the shops. Tattoo shops are less intimidating and mainstream society for the most part accepts them. There still loads of clichs though and I'd say that at least three quarters of tattoos suck.

Tattoos are now just "this is my favorite pop culture thing! I'm gonna draw it on myself, but permanently!"

Few people ever get actually aesthetically pleasing tattoos. They should be decorations for your body; works of art that give your body some visual style. Not the equivalent of a children's sticker. That's why I never understood the hate for tribal tattoos. They don't represent any sort of dumb "message" or affinity for a brand, they're just cool to look at.

RoboLaserGandhi posted...

Tattoos are now just "this is my favorite pop culture thing! I'm gonna draw it on myself, but permanently!"

Few people ever get actually aesthetically pleasing tattoos. They should be decorations for your body; works of art that give your body some visual style. Not the equivalent of a children's sticker. That's why I never understood the hate for tribal tattoos. They don't represent any sort of dumb "message" or affinity for a brand, they're just cool to look at.

Agreed with you until the tribal point. They were crap, boring and pop culture sticker tattoos for people who didn't know what tattoo to get but got one anyway.

Tattoos are basically stickers now. Something plastered here, another there, I rarely ever see just one continous work of art across a piece of someone's body. Tattooists are artists, not printers >_>
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Not having tattoos is edgier than having them now
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shockthemonkey posted...

Tattoos havent had an edge in 30 years.

This. People get them to either represent important things in their lives or simply because they think they look good.

tats are only edgy if you get them on your actual face.
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shockthemonkey posted...

Tattoos havent had an edge in 30 years.

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Just about every teen girl or 47-yr old chef has full sleeves nowadays.

Tattoo's edginess died the first time a 40 year old white woman got the words "Live, Laugh, Love" tattooed in cursive on their shoulder.
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EnterTheTekken posted...

Just about every teen girl

there's a 20 year old from my job who doesn't look too bad at first glance only to discover her sleeveless one day wearing full bodypaint on both arms.

ugh.
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Most body builders have the rocks tattoo and I cringe every time I see it on someone.
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They're basically the skin version of the funny/cool images people used to post on their Myspace, that no one else but them actually liked.
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it's about "expression" now
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knutjob posted...

RoboLaserGandhi posted...

Tattoos are now just "this is my favorite pop culture thing! I'm gonna draw it on myself, but permanently!"

Few people ever get actually aesthetically pleasing tattoos. They should be decorations for your body; works of art that give your body some visual style. Not the equivalent of a children's sticker. That's why I never understood the hate for tribal tattoos. They don't represent any sort of dumb "message" or affinity for a brand, they're just cool to look at.

Agreed with you until the tribal point. They were crap, boring and pop culture sticker tattoos for people who didn't know what tattoo to get but got one anyway.

But that's so much more preferable of an unoriginal tattoo than pop culture shit because at least they are aesthetically pleasing. If you're going to be unoriginal, at least have the decency not to be an eye sore.

This looks pretty aesthetically pleasing to me, though Id never get a tattoo


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RoboLaserGandhi posted...

knutjob posted...

RoboLaserGandhi posted...

Tattoos are now just "this is my favorite pop culture thing! I'm gonna draw it on myself, but permanently!"

Few people ever get actually aesthetically pleasing tattoos. They should be decorations for your body; works of art that give your body some visual style. Not the equivalent of a children's sticker. That's why I never understood the hate for tribal tattoos. They don't represent any sort of dumb "message" or affinity for a brand, they're just cool to look at.

Agreed with you until the tribal point. They were crap, boring and pop culture sticker tattoos for people who didn't know what tattoo to get but got one anyway.

But that's so much more preferable of an unoriginal tattoo than pop culture shit because at least they are aesthetically pleasing. If you're going to be unoriginal, at least have the decency not to be an eye sore.

Agree to disagree. To me they are dated in the same way tramp stamps or barb wire bracelets are.

tattoos are bumper stickers for your body which is just hilarious and sad
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Tattoos are no longer about edge, they're now about giving everyone a way to feel special and unique
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were they ever about edge for anyone who isn't a tryhard?
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AsucaHayashi posted...

EnterTheTekken posted...

Just about every teen girl

there's a 20 year old from my job who doesn't look too bad at first glance only to discover her sleeveless one day wearing full bodypaint on both arms.

ugh.

Nice.
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