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We have a outdoor mall here called The Block. I tend to wander over there every now and then to do some shopping. It happens to be a big hangout for today's teens. Wow, are some of them scary or what?
I have a beautiful and intelligent 7 year old daughter. Every time we pass a teen who has taken the above route, we both look at each other in disbelief.
I look at some of these teens today and think to myself, "now, how do they expect the "general population" to react to them? Positive? Negative?
And, exactly where do these kids work? I mean, if I come up to someone who has a bone in their nose during a checkout process, I'm leaving.
I'll know it is really bad when I see our Governor with a pierced lip or something. ;)
I am not impressed with this trend at all. If you want to look like a tribesman, then freakin move to a country where you'll be accepted.
And, as a parent, it is my responsibility to instill in my child that what they are seeing is not normal accepted behavior for the most part. Yeah, yeah, yeah, kids will be kids. Sorry, I don't accept that. Kids will be what their environment molds them to be. Kids are what their parents allow them to be. I'm all for letting kids be kids. But, there is line, don't cross it.
The kids are doing this because they think its COOL. Because their friends are
duing it. Because it drives their parents and other adults nuts.
Ten years from now there will be another youthful phenomenon.
Better to worry about something important like asteroids striking the earth! KF
I don't know, but I would guess that the point is different for everyone, and that some don't give a flip about the Joneses.
Why are they doing it? >>because they think it's cool
Not sure I can assign that motivation to every teen or young adult that wants some body art. Seems a broad brush to paint them all. It's entirely too easy to pigeonhole people.
Is every guy in his fifties that owns a hot sports car suffering from a midlife crisis? Every person wearing overalls a bumpkin? That slippery slope is the same path that leads to every Irishman being a drunk or every Asian being a math whiz. Surely we can get past that?
However to list the different motives that kids have for body art and piercing
would take several pages.
Generalizations in three paragraph post are a necessary device. While it goes without saying that there is more than a few motivations, you have to go with the most obivous one, kids think its COOL! KF
[edited by: King_Fisher at 6:15 pm (utc) on July 22, 2007]
The kids are doing this because they think its COOL. Because their friends are
duing it. Because it drives their parents and other adults nuts.
I am sure that is correct a good bit of the time. But I also think that the cases that are truly bizarre - you know the ones I mean - are sad.
This is a person who craves attention. Any attention. He/she must be discussed, must be looked at. Must be shocking. Can this person ever enjoy life's little pleasures if he/she is so overwhelmed to be noticed?
I would think that people that take body art to an extreme would think societal condemnation to be a badge of honor from a superficial society unable to think past their own hangups.
I certainly don't think the people with extreme body art any less superficial than society, as a matter of fact, I think they may be more superficial.
It's like they are deliberately trying to look shallow.
[edited by: Lilliabeth at 7:37 pm (utc) on July 22, 2007]
I remember my long hair, bell-bottom hip-hugging jeans, boots, the works.
I remember the motivation:
Almost cut my hair
Happened just the other day
It was gettin' kinda long
You could'a said it was in my way
But I didn't, and I wonder why
Feel like lettin' my freak flag fly
I feel like
I owe it
to someone.
-David Crosby-
Point being, I could cut my hair, change my jeans, and switch to shoes... If and when it suited me. But you've got either a bunch of amorphous discoloration, holes, scars, or hefty plastic surgery bills looming in the future with these modern permanent 'tribal' decorations. If you want to self-mutilate, go ahead, it's cool. I'm not going to tell anyone what to do. But it *is* self-mutilation in my eyes -- I prefer a nature-girl every time.
Jeez, now I gotta go dig out that (vinyl) album... :)
Peace,
Jim
I think it all boils down to permissive parents
Exactly.
My 3 year old daughter is not dating until she is 23 :)
But back to the tattooed man. What will he do in the future, work in a circus? Get his picture on the cover of Time? What if he should get a prison stretch - there won't be any place for a tat. What if he gets tired of doing tats for a living? I guess he could become a webmaster. I think that generally he will be shunned in public more than he will be accepted.
Jeez, now I gotta go dig out that (vinyl) album
With the mock leather cover, got it right here. :-)
I always liked tattoos and finally got an armband when I was 45. It was pretty bold then, but it's a mere piffle compared to what most tattooed people have now. I still consider getting a sleeve. Tattoos can have a very serious value to the wearer. I designed my own, and it has spiritual significance for me. They are pricey, though, whooee.
In my town, a very small city in upstate NY, if it weren't for tattoo parlors, we would hardly have a downtown at all, lol! Tatted and pierced people work at the Barnes & Noble here. They are very nice folks. Nobody refuses to buy coffee from them. Another very decorated person around here has a extremely successful printing business. He not only has tons of tats and piercings but wears goat's eye contact lenses, which I think is pretty funny but what the hey.
- Wouldn't you warn your child about gravity?
(Imagine saggy old tatooos draped with long luxurious earlobes that you must sling over the shoulder and gather together with a rubber band on a hot day...too much maintenance :).
On the flip side. I always make it a point to say "Hi" to the "scary" looking teens.
I don't care what anyone says, they DO know the type of impression they give to adults and don't expect one of us to talk to them (that's what makes smiling and talking to them more fun...so not expected). It's funny how often after doing this, the image they convey, is nothing like the way they are dressed, pierced, tatooed. Many times they are almost embarrassed or shy.
I always get the feeling they are just playing "dress-up", but didn't take the time to consider when the fun is over...it's impossible to clean-up after the party.
[edited by: TammyJo at 4:51 am (utc) on July 27, 2007]
with long luxurious earlobes that you must sling over the shoulder and gather together with a rubber band on a hot day
Do you know how much tattoos cost? From the little I've heard, they're often many hundreds of dollars each.
From the prospective employer's standpoint, they scream "I was once in jail or on crack!"
