Poll: Best age for first tattoo?

[farouk]

Thanks to all who voted so far in the poll!

If you have not yet voted in the poll, please vote now!

 

[farouk]

I just checked them all.

Thanks for your vote...all your votes!

Interesting that you indeed think that the option "Even under 18 okay if local laws allow it" can be good also.

Maybe you know some under 18s who have had it done successfully, without regret.

I'm sure it can feel good to many under 18s, just as to over 18s; I guess the question of possible later regret does arise, but like you say maturity is not bound to a particular age, so you would say to them also, if mature, Go for it.

 

[Heart2Soul]

Thanks for your vote...all your votes!

Interesting that you indeed think that the option "Even under 18 okay if local laws allow it" can be good also.

Maybe you know some under 18s who have had it done successfully, without regret.

I'm sure it can feel good to many under 18s, just as to over 18s; I guess the question of possible later regret does arise, but like you say maturity is not bound to a particular age, so you would say to them also, if mature, Go for it.

Some cultures require it I believe....Native Americans were fairly big on painting...even their horses...but in early tribes tattooing was part of their culture and it was expected.
Early American Tattooing: The Natives - Tattoo.com

 

[farouk]

Some cultures require it I believe....Native Americans were fairly big on painting...even their horses...but in early tribes tattooing was part of their culture and it was expected.
Early American Tattooing: The Natives - Tattoo.com

Interesting link; thanks!

I see that for various indigenous peoples it was accepted - expected - for women as well as men, and that among some people it was even more widespread for women to have it done than it was for men; and that among some people the role of tattoo artist was open to women.

Do you think it would be good in terms of faith ink opportunities for more Christian women to be open to working as tattoo artists? (certainly it used to be a hugely male profession years ago among European North Americans, but in recent years it's certainly opened up as a profession to women also; I wonder specifically why more Christian women have not noticeably joined the profession...)

 

[farouk]

Some cultures require it I believe....Native Americans were fairly big on painting...even their horses...but in early tribes tattooing was part of their culture and it was expected.

PS:

I suppose you could also say, in terms of the quote from the OP, that for those referred to, below, in the Bible Belt churches it seems to be — if of course not a 'requirement' — still virtually the expected thing to do, right?

Around here (Bible Belt), it is common, especially among evangelical Christians, for the girls under about 40 to have religious tattoos. More do than don't, especially when you get to the under 30 crowd. I hardly know any female at church that is under 30 that does not have a tattoo.

forums dot thewelltrainedmind dot com

 

[farouk]

For my sons it was more ' yes, I am 18, I can make my own decisions - so let's get a tattoo ' ...

For them it was a very deliberate, unregretted thing, then, right?

For you, I guess it was very deliberate, unregretted thing also, but in a rather different way, maybe?

 

[farouk]

To me it's cultural - obviously I do sit on the other side because I have a tattoo , but I did look through scripture and reflect on it before I got one- and it was also something I had to deal with as my sons reached 18 and got tattoos.

As opposed to how you dealt with it as your sons reached 18 and got theirs;

When you did it, after reflecting from Scripture, did it feel good like as a sort of self-discovery?

 

[Butterfly]

With my son's it had nothing to do with my feelings as a Christian, it was more a reality check that they were making decisions that I had little control over.
With me it was more an inspiration , so I felt good about it. Not sure it was self discovery.

 

[farouk]

With my son's it had nothing to do with my feelings as a Christian, it was more a reality check that they were making decisions that I had little control over.
With me it was more an inspiration , so I felt good about it. Not sure it was self discovery.

Great, reflective comment, thanks!

Like you said, with theirs it would have been nothing to do with your feelings as a Christian; I can see that, yes. More like "letting go", I guess...

With yours, I guess, instead, it felt really good to be doing (at last?) something really inspirational that was a decision that you really did have control over!

 

[CoreIssue]

@farouk
Don't answer if you do not wish to. But I am confused why your so heavily into tats.

 

[farouk]

@farouk
Don't answer if you do not wish to. But I am confused why your so heavily into tats.

Glad to answer. It's a very topical subject.

With the prevalence of tattooing, the opportunities for faith based designs have risen enormously, even as in various ways society in the West is more secularized. So in a sense it's an off-spin that provides lots of opportunities that weren't there before.

 

[CoreIssue]

Glad to answer. It's a very topical subject.

With the prevalence of tattooing, the opportunities for faith based designs have risen enormously, even as in various ways society in the West is more secularized. So in a sense it's an off-spin that provides lots of opportunities that weren't there before.

Thanks for the reply.

Over the decades Christian symbols have been used for unchristian meaning.

That leaves you with the question of how others looked at such tats. I honestly believe most do not look at them as Christian in purpose.

In the Bible there are tats, but all pagan.

Just saying this is something you need to think about.

 

[farouk]

Thanks for the reply.

Over the decades Christian symbols have been used for unchristian meaning.

That leaves you question of how others looked at such tats. I honestly believe most do not look at them as Christian in purpose.

In the Bible there are tats, but all pagan.

Just saying this is something you need to think about.

Thanks for your comment, indeed.

Did you also read the quote in the OP? it's also a deeply held perspective by people in the Bible Belt, it seems.

 

[CoreIssue]

Thanks for your comment, indeed.

Did you also read the quote in the OP? it's also a deeply held perspective by people in the Bible Belt, it seems.

I grew up in northern Indiana, the heart of the Midwest and Bible Belt.

The only tat I saw was on my dad, who got it probably in the Army. Not in the Midwest.

None of the people I worked with intelligence had a tat.

Today only the south is called Bible Belt. But having lived in Georgia 31 years now, I would challenge the map. It includes far too many states with good portions of those definitely not heavily Christian.

They are calling Catholic dominated areas Christian.

That is a whole other topic.

 

[farouk]

I grew up in northern Indiana, the heart of the Midwest and Bible Belt.

The only tat I saw was on my dad, who got it probably in the Army. Not in the Midwest.

None of the people I worked with intelligence had a tat.

Today only the south is called Bible Belt. But having lived in Georgia 31 years now, I would challenge the map. It includes far too many states with good portions of those definitely not heavily Christian.

They are calling Catholic dominated areas Christian.

That is a whole other topic.

Thanks for your comment; interesting, indeed.

I guess this was decades back that you are speaking of; which is fine.

In terms of customs widely observed now, it's interesting also that those who are cited in the quote are women; which might not have been the case at the time of your observations. Certainly it's very widespread among both genders of Christian young people; my wife and I talked to a young lady with the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area; it was her favorite Bible verse, and mine also; and I'm sure other conversations have arisen as a result of her willingness to be injected with it.

 

[farouk]

We have a tattoo parlour here in my town but judging from the window displays it's not somewhere I would go in.

PS: You might find that the portfolios would still be interesting and aesthetically pleasing if you could concentrate on looking at them; just an observation.

 

[farouk]

The only tat I saw was on my dad, who got it probably in the Army.

So do you remember the design of your father's tattoo?

Re. army, these days military wives as well as military personnel are a huge demographic that typically gets tattoos, FYI.

 

[Pearl]

PS: You might find that the portfolios would still be interesting and aesthetically pleasing if you could concentrate on looking at them; just an observation.

I'm really not one bit interested in tattoos.

 

[farouk]

I'm really not one bit interested in tattoos.

This is fine, then!

I guess in competitions, also, sometimes there are regulations about not having visible tattoos, and sometimes there are not. Such as Strictly Come Dancing; bodybuilding competitions, etc.; the reg.s about tattoos vary.

 

[CoreIssue]

So do you remember the design of your father's tattoo?

Re. army, these days military wives as well as military personnel are a huge demographic that typically gets tattoos, FYI.

Yes I do.

One was spread across the fingers - LOVE

The other was a nude woman on his arm.