Getting a tattoo may seem like no biggie, but it’s actually a lifelong commitment (like a marriage). Some people get tattoos to make personal or political statements. Others get them as a form of expression. And some people merely do it entirely for the mainstream association that tattoos now have. But this wasn’t always the case. What was once reserved for rock bands, bikers and inmates, tattoos no longer carry the ‘bad ass’ implication it once had.
From good girls like Brittany Snow, Hayden Panettiere, Jessica Alba and Hillary Duff to edgy, risk takers like Angelina Jolie, Lindsay Lohan and Zoë Kravitz, tattoos have become the must-have accessory for starlets in tinsel town.
Now, what is my fascination with what is said to scar the sacred temple that is the body? It’s something about the pain, the rush, the feeling you get when you do something you know you shouldn’t be doing. I love it! It’s a liberating feeling. It wasn’t for its mainstream attraction that I got my first tattoo over 7 years ago (summer of 2004 to be exact), it was more about defying my mother. About distinguishing myself as an individual. I was just about to start college that Fall, so it was the perfect opportunity.
But it didn’t stop there. I got addicted to the rush. I now have 11 all placed strategically on my body, having a permanent residence on this sacred temple. Many are hidden by inexpensive, yet very stylish clothes and others are exposed for employers to see. It’s been almost 5 years since my last tattoo and I’m getting the itch. BAD. So bad I think I’m going this weekend. This time around I actually have thought about what I was getting. Normally I get to the tattoo shop, pick from their wide selection and enjoy the pain that will shortly ensue. Thankfully I have loved every tattoo that I have randomly chosen but I’m older now, wiser
