What is with the sudden appearance of tattoos?

[matrix]

putting ink under your skin has been around for centuries.....

[Winmar7Fan]

hide ya valuables !!
theres a gay thief coming around to look like a twat with drawings on his/her body.

be real...someone has some ink so they are gay? a thief?
talk about programming ffs.
so on that account if i have one on my back from when my pop died, one on my chest celebrating 5 premierships for my footy team and the fish on my forearm symbolising the age of pieces must mean im a a homosexual thief?

so what that two players have their sleeves done in the afl??
as soon as people see tats they think of crime bikies and violence...


ill be getting a saints one this year?
ill post a pic of of me in my gay leathers around at your place stealing ya LCD telly with the new tat in plain site for the photo

idiots

I've been around a bit. I'm not saying that everyone who has a tat is a criminal and everyone who doesn't isn't but being plastered in tattoos doesn't give a very good impression ( and gay is definitely isn't it ).

If your so small minded and naive to not see any of this your the Idiot.

[Winmar7Fan]

putting ink under your skin has been around for centuries.....

So has Rape, Theft, Murder, riding a horse and thousands of other things whats your point?

[matrix]

it doesnt give an impression because they have ink on their skin?
well no wonder when the thought of tattoos=criminal is what most people think....just because some people locked up in the slammer have them?
gawd...release everyone who DOESNT have a tat

i dont look at someone and see two sleeves done and instantly think he is involved in crime.......
the chances of that person being involved in crime are equal to them not being involved.

yeah of course some people who are nasty pieces of works and deserve what they get are covered in ink..and there is plenty of the same type o who abhor any marking of their skin with 'that nasty stuff'.

it doesnt bother me that people dont like it, it bothers me that people automatically think tats=criminal.
but thats just the way it is

[Winmar7Fan]

it doesnt give an impression because they have ink on their skin?
well no wonder when the thought of tattoos=criminal is what most people think....just because some people locked up in the slammer have them?
gawd...release everyone who DOESNT have a tat

i dont look at someone and see two sleeves done and instantly think he is involved in crime.......
the chances of that person being involved in crime are equal to them not being involved.

yeah of course some people who are nasty pieces of works and deserve what they get are covered in ink..and there is plenty of the same type o who abhor any marking of their skin with 'that nasty stuff'.

it doesnt bother me that people dont like it, it bothers me that people automatically think tats=criminal.
but thats just the way it is

I think generally people are more to likely to think that other than being a charity worker that goes to church on Sundays.

Not everyone who wanders through a park at night with a trench coat on Is a flasher or someone who comes out of a house with a TV under their arm is stealing it or some guy talking to a girl in a night club trying to get laid but they give an Impression.

Anyone who thinks "hey so he's standing at the door late at night with a hockey mask on and a chainsaw in his hand I'm sure he can only be here trick or treating" is a naive fool.

[goodie]

As opposed to the gradual appearance?

[loris]

There has been plenty of research conducted over the years on the personality types of those attracted to predominately wearing, clothing (ie T Shirts) with symbols, slogans, messages etc.

This is a Loris' simplification/generalisation of such research, but these individuals are usually the more inarticulate of society and those with a lower self esteem. It is supposedly their way of attempting to mask their lack of and/or limited communcation skills in a world that gives the thumbs up to the loquacious.

No doubt plenty of funding will be directed towards academics for some useless research on the rise of tatts. I'd place my bet on tatts being related to socio/economic status.

Now I wouldn't mind some funding to do some reseach on tattooing. My methodology for data collection would be observation. It would be nice perving on some well sculptured bods adorned with a tatt or two Ofcourse it would all in the cause of social science

[cowboy18]

=No doubt plenty of funding will be directed towards academics for some useless research on the rise of tatts. I'd place my bet on tatts being related to socio/economic status.

Now I wouldn't mind some funding to do some reseach on tattooing. My methodology for data collection would be observation. It would be nice perving on some well sculptured bods adorned with a tatt or two Ofcourse it would all in the cause of social science

Good idea but I think you'll find that this field should be handed over to biologists with a capacity to understand how tattoos enhance the fitness of individuals sporting them.

I think I'll tailor my proposal to the study of those lower back tattoos on attractive young women.

"Tramp stamps: evolution of a phenomenon" .

If the first 3 years get up we may hit them up with

"Biogeography of lower back tattoos: is arse antler popularity driven by socio-economic status?"

and finally

"Evolutionary ecology of slag tags: do receptivity signals enhance mating success?"

[saint08]

I am very anti tattoos, but if the saints won a flag. I wonder .perhaps just 3 little dots in 3 colours?

[loris]

I am very anti tattoos, but if the saints won a flag. I wonder .perhaps just 3 little dots in 3 colours?

It's where you wear those 3 miniscule tri colour dots that will be the decision ......... now just above the heart on the left pectoral might be classy..... if a tatt can be classy eh?

[SaintWodonga]

People don't think enough about what tats will look like when they age. Not only styles of tatts change, but so do bodies..

So why put something on your arm that you wouldn't hang on your wall???

[Bernard Shakey]

Good idea but I think you'll find that this field should be handed over to biologists with a capacity to understand how tattoos enhance the fitness of individuals sporting them.

I think I'll tailor my proposal to the study of those lower back tattoos on attractive young women.

"Tramp stamps: evolution of a phenomenon" .

If the first 3 years get up we may hit them up with

"Biogeography of lower back tattoos: is arse antler popularity driven by socio-economic status?"

and finally

"Evolutionary ecology of slag tags: do receptivity signals enhance mating success?"

Love the idea, but don't forget to do the 20 year followup, tatts on women look great after 20 years or so.

[loris]

No doubt plenty of funding will be directed towards academics for some useless research on the rise of tatts. I'd place my bet on tatts being related to socio/economic status.

Looks like there might be a little bit of empirical evidence about to support my theory on tatts and socio/economic class status.

Here is a snippet from todays 'Strewth' column in The Australian:

Capital gains tats

It's official: the federal Government's stimulus package has resulted in a stampede to the nation's tattoo parlours. But a survey of western Sydney tattooists has revealed that unemployeed stimulees - who received their $950 cash bonuses from the Government first - were far more likely than their employed counterparts to spend KRudd's money on a bum tattoo. Kevin Randall, tattooist at Wicked Ink at St Mary's in Sydney's west, says business has been booming in the past few months, but has dropped off now that the cash payments for the unemployed had been spent. "All of the unemployed people, they spent up big time," Randall says. "They've got their money and they've absolutely caned the shop. We were absolutely smashed. They'd come in and they'd go: just got my Kev Rudd money and I want myself a decent tattoo. We couldn't keep up with the demand. And then this lot, with all the employed people: completely different story."

Now I guess if you are down and out on struggle street with the arze out of your pants, I s'pose its logical to have a bum tattoo on one's nether regions with Kruddy's stimulus money. They have got to get stimulated some way, the poor blighters

[ace]

For those who like statisitics, getting a tattoo is the best single act to lower your life expectancy after suicide.
But don't be mislead it is not getting a tattoo that lowers life expectancy, it is the mindset of people who have tattoos that lower their life expectancy.

Typically, no brain tough guys who settle disputes violently, don't care for their own health, take risks like driving while drunk and smoking at the same time etc.

My advice to those who like tattoos is go ahead, the sooner they leave society the better off society will be.

[No1_Saint]

I am very anti tattoos, but if the saints won a flag. I wonder .perhaps just 3 little dots in 3 colours?

I hate the concept of pain...and tattoos look mighty painful...however if a certain club won a certain game at a certain time of the year...resulting in large amounts of alcohol to be consumed...then I may be convinced to have a certain clubs logo tattooed somewhere.

[Thinline]

I might too.

There seems to be a preponderence of 'hidden' ink at WB's...You know, the tatt under the bicep...

Hawks have a couple of those types too. Croad springs to mind.

I mean, really. You either have one or you don't...Why not just get it out there?

Lame...

That said, the Collingwood blokes who've painted their entire arms all look plain ridiculous ... like they lost a wrestle with the kiddie paints... surely they'll look back in twenty years and think geez, I really did have too much Nintendo time during my stint at Eddiewood....

[Loyal]

Pretty cool tattoo for a Kiwi to have I reckon...

Yeah my cousin in NZ has that and his last name on his back.

that is the gheyest looking defender i have ever seen.

Get's the job done.

not lately mate his foot is busted.
on topic: i couldn't think of anything more gay than being a man and having another man scratch into your skin for an hour and a half, paying money for another man to put you through physical pain and then leaving only to have a scar on your body too forever remember him by. tattoos are fundamentally gay. toughguys are cleanskins.

[saint_kiki]

=No doubt plenty of funding will be directed towards academics for some useless research on the rise of tatts. I'd place my bet on tatts being related to socio/economic status.

Now I wouldn't mind some funding to do some reseach on tattooing. My methodology for data collection would be observation. It would be nice perving on some well sculptured bods adorned with a tatt or two Ofcourse it would all in the cause of social science

Good idea but I think you'll find that this field should be handed over to biologists with a capacity to understand how tattoos enhance the fitness of individuals sporting them.

I think I'll tailor my proposal to the study of those lower back tattoos on attractive young women.

"Tramp stamps: evolution of a phenomenon" .

If the first 3 years get up we may hit them up with

"Biogeography of lower back tattoos: is arse antler popularity driven by socio-economic status?"

and finally

"Evolutionary ecology of slag tags: do receptivity signals enhance mating success?"

Lol I'll be your first participant
Tramp stamp : check (canadian maple leaf with attitude!)
Socio-Economics:

24, female, Middle-class, educated (PhD candidate), working at a university, not involved in crime or drugs - actually quite geeky!

enhance mating success? well thats something you'll never know

[Sainternist]

Tribal and arm band tattoos which were popular in the 90's look so naff today!

It'd be cool to see the odd footy player with a Black Flag tattoo or something along those lines. But most of those guys are a bunch of metro/bogans that seem to have little (if any) good taste

[Dis Believer]

I have a band on my right arm with my two youngest kids names in it. I have a rose on my left shoulder with my eldest daughters name on it and if we grab a flag the ink will be drying on the Saints ink before the sun sets. I am also having an image from my other great lifelong Passion (Iron Maiden) on the back of my right shoulder within a matter of months. I am an executive in a global corporation who plans to live forever!!!

don't pigeonhole folks people - it'll show you up one day.

Oh, and if anyone doesn't like them - don't get them.

For what it's worth, my first thought when I see someone heavily inked is " I wondeer if they play in a metal band". Different strokes.

[stkfc_obsessed]

putting ink under your skin has been around for centuries.....

So has Rape, Theft, Murder, riding a horse and thousands of other things whats your point?

haha.. touche!

I just don't like the idea of tatts being permanent..
especially when you get a pin up girl or a naked woman on your body.. first of all.. your skin is going to sag along with the girls bits as you get older.. and how are you going to explain a pair of boobs on your arm to your grandkids?

[saintbrat]

bit like this maybe
http://player.video.news.com.au/news/#r ... iUGsPG82OY

Human tattoo canvas
Meet Geoff Ostling the human tattoo canvas who wants to...

[clobba]

also in the past there was a lot of taping covering tatts, not a fan of ostentatious inking myself ala sleeves etc but having 2 up on my shoulders for me its a personal choice. Judging people by what ink they have you come across as a bit of a supercilious pretentious twat to me who no doubt misses that good old man johny being the boss probably

[Beekay]

Nothing wrong with tatts.

Not my thing.

I'm more concerned about people who obsess about football and aren't living their lives. Talking about "messages" to kids ffs.

[markinUSA]

Actually, there has been a MAJOR generational change in the nature and distribution of tattoos. While the working class origins of tattoos are widely acknowledged, they became 'chic' in some circles, and many celebrities got them, so after the 1980s some people say there has been a 'tattoo renassiance'. There are such a wide variety of reasons, and contexts, where people get tattoos now. For instance, many women who have had a mastectomy get tattoos over the area - sometimes in the style of a nipple, sometimes simply celebrating survival.

Some of the main reasons people who get tattoos say they did it are:

* It’s a fashion accessory, a thing of beauty and a piece of art.
* It’s a form of individualism, a unique marker of the self.
* It’s connected to a personal story (e.g. loss, trauma).
* Demonstrating a ‘Lust for pain’, toughness, ability to handle pain’.
* It’s connected to group membership – particularly subcultures.
* As a sign of resistance (e.g. against parents or society)
* Spirituality and cultural traditions.
* Addiction.
* Sexual motivations, emphasizing the person’s sexuality.
* Acting on impulse, being drunk or on drugs, or having no particular reason at all.

So... footballers, like many other people, get tattoos for various reasons. And it's not necessarily linked to low self-esteem, or other socioeconomic markers.

I would like to say something in general about why tattoos upset many people. Tattoos, like any sign on the body, are regarded as conveying important social information about self, identity, group membership, culture and behavior.

BUT... there are contradictions in the way society responds to people who alter their body. There are many social norms that look down on people with tattoos -- but we don't look down on people who change their bodies through cosmetic surgery, even though that can be a more profound change!

I am not someone who particularly likes tattoos -- but I do try to keep an open mind as to the many reasons why someone else might get one. It's a personal thing, for me, as it is for them.