Debate: Tattoos

By Glenn and Jake 

Tattoos--it seems like everybody has them these days. Is having a tattoo a modern version of conformity, or is getting a tattoo just another form of self expression? This debate will definitively answer these questions. If, for some reason, you feel like we did an inadequate job answering any tattoo related inqueries you may have, we will be holding an open forum at 6pm this coming Friday in the common's area. Hope to see you there!

Glenn: The first time I saw a tattoo on a young woman's lower back I was perplexed. Sure I had seen tattoos before, but mostly on Bam Bam Bigelow's head or Kamala's stomach. Little did I know that tattoos on young people would become a bigger craze than Satanism and crazy bands combined. Tattoos, besides slowly killing people through ink exposure, are the saddest of all cliches in the modern age. Right now I expect every man or woman that I see naked to have at least one tattoo. I know many of these tattoos happen during the formative years (18-22) and then later seem less cool. But the same thing is true for other things that might happen during those years (getting an abortion, joining Campus Crusade for Christ) and we would never condone those things so why do tattoos get a free pass? Now I'll let my tattooed opponent attempt to justify a David's Star tattoo on every living American Jew.

Jake: Glenn feels that all tattoos are created equally, but I know better than that. I may not have a fancy degree or even a good pair of running shoes, but I do have a tattoo. Not every tattoo is worthwhile--such as tribal, Chinese characters, barbed wire--but a truly unique tattoo can be interesting like looking at a painting, by which I mean not that interesting. Tattoos are just another form of art, as is pornography.

I am not even against lower back tattoos (currently known in popculture as a "tramp stamp"). Sure, at the moment they are considered trashy and too "mainstream" to be cool, but they will become a lot less common once God starts calling people to Heaven. Those of us left behind will be ecstatic to see a few tramp stamps every now and then. I also hit on possibly the main reason Glenn hates tattoos: they have become mainstream. Glenn feels that popular things have no value, unless it is an album from the 1990s which one can enjoy nostalgically. This is a dangerous thought and many will die because of it.

Glenn: I hate nostalgia. To me, it is just a rung above molesting children (as many Catholic Priests have done) or infantilizing oneself. Tattoos are a unique kind of nostalgia, since you've brought it up. I can put on an Oasis album from the 1990s and enjoy it "nostalgically" - even though I did not own Oasis albums DURING the 90s - but you can't do the same with a tattoo. A tattoo is permanent. It's always on your skin, or whatever skin-like hybrid you have to replace your original skin. That is the equivalent of gluing a pog to your hand or gluing headphones to your ears that only play Dookie by Green Day. It seems like a great idea at the time, but ten years later when pogs have lost 50% of their value and you're turning into a basket case yourself, you wish you had never committed such a permanent act. That is, to me, what a tattoo is. Jake is further correct in my resentment of their popularity. If my best friend was to go out and gauge his ears, I would think it was stupid, probably. But I would also as a sociologist understand the ticket those ears would get him into the gauged ear subculture. These days there is no prominent tattoo subculture - just a collection of sorority girls with swastikas tattooed on their foreheads.

Jake: How does a lack of a prominent subculture make something bad? The last time I checked--and I literally just checked-- many amazing things like caps, french toast and Nickelodeon Gak did not have subcultures based around them, yet those things are still considered fantastic by many Americans.

Tattoos are a form of self expression and art. You are against both of those things unless it happens to be screaming at an Oasis concert or the cover art of an Oasis album. Everything is Oasis to you, which is fine, but there is no reason to shit all over anything that is not. Gluing headphones to your ears would be ridiculous because it would be physically bad for your health. Tattoos are not harmful. Why can't you be against mainstream tattoos and be pro creative tattoos like cartoon characters doing drugs or a recipe for your favorite margarita? I think tattoos are also a good way to gauge whether you would like a person or not. If somebody has a swastika or spider webs tattooed on their bodies, then you know that they are not worth talking to and you will not be convinced to join their murderball team.

Glenn: I actually respect someone who is willing to get a spiderweb tattoo because they firmly believe in what it means to be a spider. My criticism isn't that tattoos are popular. There are tons of things that are popular right now that I fully embrace: crazy bands, Twitter, The View and Oasis. I also enjoy any movie Rob Zombie makes. Some tattoos, such as a forehead swastika, are funny and creative. But the majority of the ones I see around are not. I can't even tell you how many times I've been cruising around Williamsburg in my 2007 Ford Focus only to see women and men walking around with "tat sleeves" depicting the soldiers putting up that flag at Iwo Jima, the Last Supper or thorns. Thorns are cool but they won't be cool in 10 years, let alone 20 years. Tattoos seem short-sighted to me, because I always think about the long term ramifications of my actions. That's why I don't smoke, bind my feet or commit to women. In general I don't find tattoos cool and though they won't kill you like cigarettes will, they will seem as silly in retrospect as deciding to go as Laci Peterson for Halloween.

Jake: Well Glenn, I guess we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this matter. I do not inherently find tattoos to be cool. Some tattoos are cool and some are really lame. Tattoos are a lot like the music from the 90s, in my opinion. While some of the music in the 90s was great, there was still awful acts like Milli Vanilli and Living Colour who scored hit after hit, yet I did not really find either to be all that great. Yet, I loved many of the songs that Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff put out or "dropped" in that decade. The same goes for tattoos.

19 comments:

  1. I hope I didn't offend anyone with tattoos or T.A.T.U.

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  2. I'm sad that Chief Wana Dubie's marijuana leaf tattoo didn't make it into this debate: http://caseyjustus.com/media/1/20060313-chief.jpg

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  3. a french toast subculture sounds like my kind of subculture.

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  4. I hope I didn't offend any members of Oasis.

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  5. There are none anymore because they broke up.

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  6. i really did not enjoy this debate in anyway at all; i feel you went off topic far to many times and made your arguments out to be personal attacks on you opponents without really addressing the issue. Furthermore its in my opinion that you should leave peoples decisions alone, who the fuck are we to judge peoples self chosen athstetic persona, i make my judgements based on character.

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  7. That comment was a shoot, but the debate is kayfabe.

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  8. i googled some tattoo designs and I got sucked into reading this garbage. Get over yourselves. I am a very highly paid professional with a sleeve of tattoos. Go and drink your latte's and go and do some yoga you pansies! You only live once. Grow some peaches. Live life by your own standards.

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  9. I will do some yoga, thank you for the suggestion. It probably is time for me to limber up. I was waiting for a wake up call and hello I'm up now, bro.

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  10. I'm going to get "live life by your own standards" tattooed on my arm.

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  11. hahaha. I enjoyed this. A few valid points and very entertaining. You two should debate more.

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  12. Thanks. We have a lot of debates and still manage to do one every now and then. http://www.oneyearintexas.com/2008/05/debates.html is a list of our debates, although it is in need of an updating.

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  13. while im not going to criticize you for your opinions, i would like too add my insight. i am a soldier and have my left arm fully tattooed, it is my own personal memorial that i carry with me wherever i go, for the friends ive lost. its a constant reminder that life is too short. i have many other tattoos, all with thier own meanings, all of them custom art that no one else will have. everyone has a reason for doing what they do, with tattoos, it could be a way of memorializing something of importance. it could be a declaration of persoanlity. it could be as simple as a wedding ring tattooed on, people like to feel like individuals, like they are living breathing free moving beings, when in reality we all walk the same line, work towards the same things and end up in the same place. tattoos are a way to escape from that. im not saying you should run out and get a swatika on your forhead, but maybe be a little but more open to what they stand for to that person. next time you see someone on the street with a tattoo, dont judge them, but ask them what it means. . .

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  14. Baby's should get tattoos as a sociological experiment. Children are the future, let's put a Barcode on it.

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  15. I like what Ani Defranco said... She got her first Tattoo, and existentially, it's as temporary as she is. Personally, as TubeTop, I would like to get a Tat of a button, and when my future children are freaking me out, i'll be like, "Get over here you little monster and push my button cuz you've been pushing my emotional tigger button all day....now go to your room and do nothing untill your 18 and you get your own button tattoo"
    -TubeTop

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  16. TUBETOP IS MY NEW FAVORITE COMMENTER

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  17. I too came across this in a google search and thought it was some of the lamest shit I have ever read on the net. I have my head completely tatted up and If G-D has a problem with my tatts then I expect him and I to have a very long conversation about it but so far he has blessed my life in ways I never imagined. I am very happy, my wife and family are happy and the haters can suck my d!ck!!

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  18. That comment was some of the lamest shit I have ever read on the internet. You have a family? Good for you, pal. They can fellate me.

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